Adding activated bamboo charcoal

[gsc]

I have never worked with activated bamboo charcoal. Can anyone tell me how
much to add per pound of oils and the best way to add it

 

[artemis]

Here you go! http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59802

 

[BattleGnome]

I add roughly 1tsp PPO and let it hydrate in water before I start measuring everything else. Depending on my water discount I will later subtract the water I used for hydrating from my lye water.

The useage rate will vary depending on the intended color (grey vs black) but for the most part everyone will agree on the hydrating. (TL;DR treat it like clay)


ETA: Artemis was faster

 

[KristaY]

I don't know anything about bamboo charcoal. Is it much different than the standard AC we normally use? If not, hydrate it in water until you get a thin slurry. I usually use a couple Tbsp then add the water. Sorry, I can't give you exact water weight since I don't measure. I always hydrate many hours (or the night before) I make soap to give it plenty of time to fully hydrate (I do the same for all clays too). Then I add it to the batter to get the color I want. I've found wet batter always looks darker than cured soap so I try to use a bit more than I think I need. I've made many a gray soap instead of black.:cry:

ETA: Artemis & BattleGnome were faster, lol!

 

[cmzaha]

For black swirls I always add it directly to my separated batter when it just hits emulsification and sb it in. Any soap I have with black swirls is made with AC. If you want true black it has to be a very deep shiny black to turn out black in your soap. If I make charcoal bars I do not aim for black, (after all they are charcoal) just a dark gray since it takes a lot of AC to make true black. If you really want a full black bar it helps to add in black mica. If adding dry AC to batter it will plume up a bit. I push the ac down into the batter before turning on the sb.

When using AC for swirls I do not mix it with liquid because I always end up with a thinner batter than my other separated batters and can never get it to the same consistency of my other separated batters due to the extra liquid. I would rather deal with the slight plume of ac than a thin black and thicker colors for swirling. I have used AC for black since I began soaping, because I hated working with black oxide plus I like the pore cleansing factor of AC

 

[Spice]

I must have been doing the AC wrong all this time. I never hydrate my AC. I just mix it with some oil just before mixing into my separated batch. This is the first I've heard of hydrated AC and clay! But I haven't had an issue, my swirls look good, and I haven't heard of any complaints either. I don't use Bamboo, the one I buy is from wood. So am I doing it wrong? I need to hydrate?:neutral:

 

[cmzaha]

I must have been doing the AC wrong all this time. I never hydrate my AC. I just mix it with some oil just before mixing into my separated batch. This is the first I've heard of hydrated AC and clay! But I haven't had an issue, my swirls look good, and I haven't heard of any complaints either. I don't use Bamboo, the one I buy is from wood. So am I doing it wrong? I need to hydrate?:neutral:

As I mentioned above I never hydrate mine. I use Hardwood AC most of the time but have used Bamboo AC the same way. My soaps are never scratchy from the AC and I just spoon it into thin batter. Been doing this for 7 yrs

 

[mistral]

Where can one buy Activated Bamboo Charcoal. Googled it, Amazon is the only place coming up for me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Where can one buy Activated Bamboo Charcoal. Googled it, Amazon is the only place coming up for me.

Elements in Colorado has it. I used the smooth type to make Lumps of Coal soaps for Xmas (ho ho ho)... 2% is too much... it dirties the wash cloth.

https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1&q=charcoal&keep_https=yes

 

[cmzaha]

Elements in Colorado has it. I used the smooth type to make Lumps of Coal soaps for Xmas (ho ho ho)... 2% is too much... it dirties the wash cloth.

https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1&q=charcoal&keep_https=yes

Which is way I have a warning that states do not use a $20 White Wash Cloth.

 

[Nao]

For what it's worth, I once made an AC soap using a more coarse bamboo AC. I didn't grind it up properly and the soap ended up scratchy. So don't do that.
Also CPOP it will make the color darker and more even.

 

[newbie]

You can also add oil to your bamboo charcoal as it absorbs that as well. If you look closely at the surface after adding the oil and stirring, you can see slight effervescence from it. I have learned to always mix with either water or oil before soaping because of this property; too often, I've added charcoal to batter and since it is absorptive, that part of the batter can get thicker before the other parts. Very annoying. I don't use tons of either medium so there is not a huge difference between the black and the rest of it.

To get a true black, add some charcoal to your batter and mix well. Then dribble a bit more on top. If you can tell the difference between the drops and the batter, you won't get true black in your soap. Keep adding slowly until you can't see any difference, and your batter will look oily black.

I use bamboo charcoal. Uncertain if it is different than AC powder, for soaping purposes, but I've used the bamboo stuff for years.

 

[Spice]

I add roughly 1tsp PPO and let it hydrate in water before I start measuring everything else. Depending on my water discount I will later subtract the water I used for hydrating from my lye water.

The useage rate will vary depending on the intended color (grey vs black) but for the most part everyone will agree on the hydrating. (TL;DR treat it like clay)


ETA: Artemis was faster

Why do you hydrate the AC? Does it help in some why?

 

[BattleGnome]

Why do you hydrate the AC? Does it help in some why?

I add liquid to all my colorants, it's very rare that I would add a powder directly to my oils/batter. I even try to incorporate my exfoliants into a liquid before adding them at trace.

The main reason I add everything to a liquid is easy dispersal. I don't want to find chunks of anything in my soap, especially in the shower. The second reason is that I read a blog post early in my soaping career that mentioned the possibility that clay could absorb the lye and it scared me. It was an unsubstantiated claim, but paranoia is paranoia and now I make sure anything absorbent absorbs something before lye is introduced.

 

[newbie]

I also find that because it absorbs liquids, adding AC powder directly to batter tends to thicken up that portion of batter. I pre-hydrate to prevent this.

 

[dalsignum]

mine is 1tsp to 1TSP PPO... attached pic is my 1.25tsp PPO Activated bamboo charcoal soap.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

THUNK! (That's me falling backward in amazement...) BRAVO! :clap:

 

[redhead1226]

To get a true black, add some charcoal to your batter and mix well. Then dribble a bit more on top. If you can tell the difference between the drops and the batter, you won't get true black in your soap. Keep adding slowly until you can't see any difference, and your batter will look oily black.

I use bamboo charcoal. Uncertain if it is different than AC powder, for soaping purposes, but I've used the bamboo stuff for years.

Newbie - Are you adding the AC directly or mixing with oil or water first?

 

[dalsignum]

don't mix it with water... pre mix it with oil.. or mix it at emulsion not in trace... mixing it in heavy traced makes a clumpy and uneven mixing...

 

[IrishLass]

If I'll be making a solid black soap, my go-to amount of activated charcoal is 1 tsp. ppo., and I add it via either one of the following two different ways: 1) by mixing the charcoal with some of my water amount beforehand, or 2) dumping it directly into my melted oils/fats and stick-blending to smoothness before adding my lye solution. Either way has always worked great for me without any issues.

If I'm going to do a black swirl with activated charcoal instead of coloring the whole soap, I mix it smoothly into glycerin with my trusty Badger mini-mixer beforehand so that it blends smoothly into my swirling batter. That works great for me, too.

For what it is worth, here is one of my 100% CO/20% s/f soaps with 1 tsp. activated charcoal ppo where I stick-blended the charcoal directly into my oils before adding my lye solution:

Today, I will actually be doing something with activated charcoal I have never done before. Inspired by this month's Black Background Challenge, I'll be making a black background soap with colorful swirls in it. My charcoal has been prepped by mixing it with some glycerin. I'm excited, yet apprehensive. lol I hope it comes out as cool-looking as my mind is envisioning it. We'll soon see.


Edited to add- the 1 tsp ppo amount of activated charcoal that I use gives me white suds, but will mark a white washcloth with very faint/light grey stains, which wash right out.


IrishLass