Does charcoal have to be activated?

[Tara_H]

Here's my problem - I have a batch of soap dough I made yesterday with liquid dye that was a nice black colour at the start but is now a pale brown. I've been to all the pharmacies near by and I can't get activated charcoal; well, one place has it, but it's €12 and in tiny capsules...
We heat our house with a wood burning stove, nothing else goes in there, so the ashes etc are 'clean', and naturally after banking the fire the night before, there's a lot of charcoal in the morning.
So I was thinking, the 'activated' part of activated charcoal seems to be mostly for additional skin benefits, from my reading. If I only care about the colour, could I finely process some of the charcoal I have here and mix it in with my soap dough?

Edit: it occurred to me that it might be possible to 'activate' the charcoal myself so I did some reading and found a bunch of prepping sites which seem to imply it's possible to do, with some care.
We do happen to have a bag of lime and a bottle of hydrochloric acid, so it seems in theory all the necessary parts are here, but I'd love to get a trusted opinion from someone here before jumping on that bandwagon...

 

[ResolvableOwl]

I'd guess for the colour, activation isn't necessary, but milling grade is. Activation is about surface roughness of the carbon particles, which doesn't tell you much about the size of the particles as a whole. Particle surface details are secondary with pigmentation strength, particle size and degree of division is a lot more important for deep colour. I can't really tell if grinding charcoal with household means will yield satisfactory colour, but it won't hurt either. I would pre-grind the charcoal with an electrical coffee mill, sift with the smallest-meshed sieve you have, then wet comminute with mortar/pestle with water and/or glycerol and/or oil, for a looong time. Basically poor man's Indian ink (that is however based on soot/lamp black). I wonder if that might be a suitable replacement as well.

 

[Tara_H]

I'd guess for the colour, activation isn't necessary, but milling grade is.

Awesome, I'll give it a shot then! I have a spice mill attachment for my mixer that should grind very fine, so I'll start with that and then progress to the pestle and mortar if it looks like it needs it.

It certainly can't be worse than this, which was jet black when I poured it...


Right, I did it!

It came out quite fine even with just the spice mill, so much so that I put on a mask because the dust was trying to become airborne!


Then I passed it through a normal sieve, and then a fine screen I had for screening clay.


Result, a very fine powder, and the desired black soap dough to go alongside the white one


(Reminder for any concerned bystanders, I do not sell any soap! I'll only be using this myself and if there are any adverse effects it will be 'art soap' to be admired only.)

 

[earlene]

Right, I did it!

It came out quite fine even with just the spice mill, so much so that I put on a mask because the dust was trying to become airborne!
View attachment 55099 View attachment 55100

Then I passed it through a normal sieve, and then a fine screen I had for screening clay.
View attachment 55101 View attachment 55102

Result, a very fine powder, and the desired black soap dough to go alongside the white one
View attachment 55103 View attachment 55104

(Reminder for any concerned bystanders, I do not sell any soap! I'll only be using this myself and if there are any adverse effects it will be 'art soap' to be admired only.)

Great work, Tara. Next up: test the soap for bleeding. All my soaps with AC bleed grey suds. Not a big deal though because it is not a staining grey.

 

[Tara_H]

Great work, Tara. Next up: test the soap for bleeding. All my soaps with AC bleed grey suds. Not a big deal though because it is not a staining grey.

Good point, I'll update once I've had a chance to try it! Might be a little while yet, I got halfway through assembling my African fabric soap and ran out of steam so will need to continue tomorrow.



It's not sticking together terribly well, I think both the charcoal and the TD are having a drying effect on the dough. It could also be the slightly different recipe I used this time, or a combination of the two.

I'm thinking to use the tip for welding separated soap; if I wrap it tightly, square up the edges using the adjustable baking tin, and gently gel it for a while I'm hoping it will decide to combine into a proper bar.

 

[paradisi]

Something to keep in mind is that activated or other commercial charcoal is made under a quite different process than your woodstove, one that burns off organic contaminants in a way open fire doesn't. So you may well be exposing yourself to irritants and toxins that aren't present in commercial cosmetic charcoal.

I also take issue with the idea of "it's just for me". Why is it acceptable to not take precautions for yourself that you'd take for others? Surely your health and safety are equally important?

 

[Tara_H]

Why is it acceptable to not take precautions for yourself that you'd take for others?

Interesting ethical question! I think it's fair for me to do an experiment like this with soap I plan to use myself because I can decide what level of risk is acceptable. I wouldn't presume to make that decision for anyone else. Given that I know exactly what we put into the woodstove, and have often got the ash and charcoal on my hands when cleaning it out, I feel ok about at least trying this in a soap, where it's not going to be in contact with my skin for very long anyway.

 

[paradisi]

There's good reason that toxicology experts and not random crafters make regulations regarding human health and cosmetic ingredients.

Sure you might know what wood you burnt (and what printed paper you might have used to lay the fire?...) but you don't know what products of incomplete combustion are in your stove ash.

And if the reason you're risking it is to save money, let me suggest that's a false economy.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Since the stated reason was a lack of locally available activated charcoal I'd use this up then consider making your own activated charcoal in a proper manner.
I've made it a couple of times and it's relatively easy.
I use a new paint can from Home Depot to make the charcoal in my burn barrell(for burning paper/box trash at my home)at my house.
The last time I activated it with lemon juice. But the next time I'll try some recently acquired calcium chloride.
Personally I'd think your fine.
I've not ever heard of anyone having issues from standard woodstove charcoal getting on them. I know I've had it on me many times sometimes for hours(fighting wildfires or picking mushrooms post wildfire) and no adverse issues.

 

[Tara_H]

Thanks, @kasilofchrisn! Good to know it's relatively easy, I may try it next time I need some.

If not I can always try the technique my husband has developed after hearing me talk so much about activating charcoal: sneaking up on it and shouting "Go!"

 

[earlene]

Actually the reason 'activated charcoal' is made is to increase the surface area available for adsorption for use as a treatment for toxin removal, such as when a person ingests certain poisons. Removing toxins from the charcoal is not the goal in the first place. The purpose is to create more surface space to allow adsorption of toxins to the charcoal. IF toxins exist in the charcoal the maker starts out with are also removed, surely it is a plus, but that is not the purpose of creating Activated Charcoal.

Here are 3 statements about how activated charcoal is made:

Commercially made AC vs home-made AC link. " Methods for 'activating' charcoal include steam activation and chemical activation."

It becomes 'activated charcoal' when "high temperatures combine with a gas or activating agent to expand its surface area." (link)

"Activated charcoal is charcoal that has undergone a process in which gases like oxygen are added at high temperatures, resulting in pores that provide a high surface area that allows it to bind to other substances." (link on how it is made & it's medicinal uses.)

Using charcoal for medicinal or filtering purposes is not the same as using it in a wash off product. And if the only purpose is to add color, for example, I don't particularly see any cause for alarm, particularly in this case. As long as the person is confident that the wood in the woodstove produces safe wood ash, I don't see a reason to instill excessive fear that they are introducing harsh chemicals into their system. After all, not everything one puts on one's skin is absorbed through the skin, nor does it necessarily even reach the bloodstream. Few people leave soap on the skin for longer than even a minute. Here is an article that explains pretty well a bit about how the process of skin absorption works.

Here is a link on compounds that remain in wood ash, however, it can vary greatly depending on where the wood comes from. And here is another.

Just as a precaution, I will include this article about what we should not be buring in our woodstoves due to toxic ingredients that they may produce (mostly related to off gases & creosote production).

Something to keep in mind is that activated or other commercial charcoal is made under a quite different process than your woodstove, one that burns off organic contaminants in a way open fire doesn't. So you may well be exposing yourself to irritants and toxins that aren't present in commercial cosmetic charcoal.

I also take issue with the idea of "it's just for me". Why is it acceptable to not take precautions for yourself that you'd take for others? Surely your health and safety are equally important?

There's good reason that toxicology experts and not random crafters make regulations regarding human health and cosmetic ingredients.

Sure you might know what wood you burnt (and what printed paper you might have used to lay the fire?...) but you don't know what products of incomplete combustion are in your stove ash.

And if the reason you're risking it is to save money, let me suggest that's a false economy.