black soap

[whisks]

how should i go about making black soap?

i've heard that pink sugar FO turns soap dark brown, so i'm thinking that will help - i won't have to use as much black oxide...how much oxide should i use, and what's a good minimum to avoid black sludge. is there another FO which is even darker than pink sugar?

also, no TD..

would gelling the soap help?

any other tips?

i want to make this for a friend who spied some black soap when we were out one day and expressed an interest in it (she couldn't stop making joke about it).

 

[dagmar88]

to make truly black soap activated charcoal (available at any aquarium shop) is the best option.
When you'd use enough black oxide to get a true black color, the lather turns dark gray.
Activated charcoal only slightly discolos the lather.

 

[whisks]

how much do you use, dagmar? thanks.

 

[dagmar88]

around 1 tablespoon per pounds of oil

 

[Just Peachy]

I did it by accident....added 1oz baking chocolate + 4 Tbs cocoa powder to my regular batch tryin to make chocolate soap....smells like dirty socks too! :roll:

 

[whisks]

charming, peachy, charming.....i was hoping for a more sophistiated scent than eau de socks, but thanks for letting me know.....

 

[honor435]

i just made a dark brown soap the fo was french vanilla amber(peak) love the smell, kinda wish it wasnt brown, but dont want to use van stabilizer, people dont seem to mind it brown, as long as it smells good. I did pink sugar, wanted t pink, turned brownsish pink, ugly. Are you sure you want that fo black?

 

[whisks]

honor, which was the darker one? amber or pink sugar? i want it as darkas possible so i don't have to add too much colour/charcoal. it's for my friend who was estatic when she saw black soap. i wouldn't mind doing it either for something different. all part of embracing whatever there is.

 

[TessC]

Daystar's Vanilla of Madagascar came out this color:

It's not black but it's a very dark brown and wouldn't need much charcoal to make it look pitch black. The lather is, unfortunately, fairly dark brown. Dark enough that I probably won't be making it again even though it's a really nice scent.

I keep meaning to buy some of the bamboo charcoal from this place to try a black swirl, but always forget, gah.

 

[whisks]

that looks really good tess, and you're right, it wouldn't need much charcoal/colour to make it black. pity about the lather though. i did think that other thing i could try would be to swirl a little of the darkness through a light colour, but dark suds wouldn't be a good look either, would it? *sigh* it looks so dark and rich...a very beautiful looking soap if there ever was one.

i wonder what the commercial black soap's lather is like.......

 

[honor435]

Yep my soap is just like Tess soap. pink sugar would never get that dark.

 

[ewenique]

I made a soap with coffee for half the liquid and used a vanilla FO. It's a very, very dark brown, like coffee without cream or sugar.

 

[Deda]

I use charcoal, about 1 tbsp in a 1600 g batch.
Soap is pitch black, lather is the palest grey. I can't tell the difference in the lather unless I do a direct comparison to a control bar.

 

[whisks]

i'm going to have to get myself some charcoal.

deda, do you start with a soap which has discoloured to any degree at all?

thanks.

 

[Deda]

not even a bit. the EOs I use in black soap don't discolor at all.

 

[LotusFlowerSoap]

I made some soap w/ Relaxing FO (this was from the Soap Goat) and after only about 2.5 weeks curing, it is a very very very dark brown. Would only take a pinch of charcoal to make it black.

I'm looking to make some soap with Dirt FO (for some men I know) tonight and color it black with charcoal....

 

[whisks]

thanks, deda.

lotus, is that bramble berry's relaxing FO?

 

[LotusFlowerSoap]

No, this was from The Soap Goat. I have some of BB's Relaxing. Haven't used it yet, but it smells just like TSG's, so I expect it to behave the same. BB's site just says it discolors, but doesn't say what color...

 

[whisks]

thanks, lotus. i don't think we can get tsg here, only bramble berry, and yes, i also read BB's relaxing discolours, but nothing on the degreeof discolouration.

 

[LotusFlowerSoap]

Have you checked her site? I'm actually in Kuwait (but get my mail at an APO, so it might be different). She's in Canada, but her site specifically says she ships to Australia.