French Pink Clay

[deafsoaper]

I made French pink clay soap some days ago and seamoss soap with indigo powder last night and just cut it a few hours ago but I was aiming for some shade of blue for the seamoss to represent water or sea lol. The ones at the back are unscented and no colorants

I put the indigo in the lye solution and then add it to the oils/fats. I used 1/8tsp or .5g of indigo for 410g of oils/fats. It turn into a bit light green/pastel green because the small amount of unrefined hemp seed oil doesn't help lol and it trace quick when I add the seamoss.

Should I try to bump up the indigo powder? Want to make sure it doesn't turn lather/bubbles blue-ish

 

[KiwiMoose]

They both look lovely! I haven't used indigo - but from what I understand it can be a random in what colour it comes out. Maybe someone with more knowledge will chip in soon.

 

[AliOop]

Did you use indigo in its unprocessed form, like what you would use on hair? If so, that will produce a green color. If you want a blue color, you have to buy "processed" or "reduced" indigo, or you can process it yourself before putting it into soap. Here is an explanation of how that is done:

Measure out the amount of powder needed, because indigo powder, once mixed with water, cannot be stored for a second-time use. Place the powder in a non-metallic container - as a rule of thumb, glass bowls are the choice of container for mixing it. Add warm water and a pinch of salt. Mix well to form a thick paste. Soak the mixture for 20 - 30 minutes, so the indigo powder will start releasing the dye. You will know when to use it as the dark dye will start to collect on the corners of the bowl.

 

[deafsoaper]

Did you use indigo in its unprocessed form, like what you would use on hair? If so, that will produce a green color. If you want a blue color, you have to buy "processed" or "reduced" indigo, or you can process it yourself before putting it into soap. Here is an explanation of how that is done:

Measure out the amount of powder needed, because indigo powder, once mixed with water, cannot be stored for a second-time use. Place the powder in a non-metallic container - as a rule of thumb, glass bowls are the choice of container for mixing it. Add warm water and a pinch of salt. Mix well to form a thick paste. Soak the mixture for 20 - 30 minutes, so the indigo powder will start releasing the dye. You will know when to use it as the dark dye will start to collect on the corners of the bowl.

This is indigo powder I bought it from

https://www.windypointsoap.com/products/indigo-powder

 

[AliOop]

Well, that is processed indigo, so it should not have given you green.

 

[deafsoaper]

Well, that is processed indigo, so it should not have given you green.

Maybe not enough indigo?

 

[AliOop]

Maybe not enough indigo?

Totally possible. It could also be that it it reacted to a chemical in your FO or EO, if you used any?

 

[deafsoaper]

Totally possible. It could also be that it it reacted to a chemical in your FO or EO, if you used any?

No scents.... thinking of my soap concept to be no scents and no chemical colourants added ... trying to make skin safe, allergy safe soap as possible

 

[Mobjack Bay]

You probably need more indigo powder. Check out this link for a nice set of experiments using different types of indigo added at different concentrations and using various methods:

https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/
Is the soap in the back uncolored? If so, your oils may be contributing to the green, which is super nice by the way. Just earlier tonight I made a test batch with indigo and a little red palm oil to see what kind of green I could get. Palm oil colors soap yellow at 1-2% of total oil weight. Creating greens by mixing other plant colors involves trial and error, but I keep trying because natural green plant colors are notorious faders due to the fragile nature of the chlorophyll pigment. Congratulations on making two more nice batches.

 

[deafsoaper]

You probably need more indigo powder. Check out this link for a nice set of experiments using different types of indigo added at different concentrations and using various methods:

https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/
Is the soap in the back uncolored? If so, your oils may be contributing to the green, which is super nice by the way. Just earlier tonight I made a test batch with indigo and a little red palm oil to see what kind of green I could get. Palm oil colors soap yellow at 1-2% of total oil weight. Creating greens by mixing other plant colors involves trial and error, but I keep trying because natural green plant colors are notorious faders due to the fragile nature of the chlorophyll pigment. Congratulations on making two more nice batches.

Thanks for the link i will check it out

Yeah the soap at the back is uncolored and no scents.. just plain base soap

 

[user 56151]

I think it may have turned green because your base oils are creamy yellowish. Blue and yellow make green. I love the colour you got from the pink clay, mine always turns an unattractive brown.

 

[deafsoaper]

I think it may have turned green because your base oils are creamy yellowish. Blue and yellow make green. I love the colour you got from the pink clay, mine always turns an unattractive brown.

Yeah I expected to turn green... was hoping it was enough blue to turn it more blue-greenish ... gonna try double it up to 1/4 tsp and see how that turn out

 

[deafsoaper]

Update: Made another seamoss soap with doubling up the indigo powder at 1/4 tsp or 1g for 410g oils/fats

The first picture isn't great... but in person it show more of blue-Greyish ..at least it a step in the right direction to represent the sea

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Update: Made another seamoss soap with doubling up the indigo powder at 1/4 tsp or 1g for 410g oils/fats

The first picture isn't great... but in person it show more of blue-Greyish ..at least it a step in the right direction to represent the sea

Beautiful!

 

[deafsoaper]

Beautiful!

I'm bump it up one more time to 1.5g per 410g and see how that look and decide ...obviously the first one is out of the running lol

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Made another seamoss soap with doubling up the indigo powder at 1/4 tsp or 1g for 410g oils/fats

That's good to know! Thank you!

 

[Kimimarie84]

After some research for using indigo powder myself, I’ve learned that indigo must be dispersed in oil for it to work best. When I’ve added it to water, it didn’t color things as well.
And I had the same thing happen to me with it turning green before I realized I needed to buy processed indigo for it to be blue. The green wasn’t bad though, so now I had the unprocessed for shades of green.
I’m still learning, and next time I’m going to use more indigo because the blue in my soap has faded to a light grey.

In the pictures, the first soap I used a lot more indigo powder, and it stayed more blue. The second soap started out dark, but did fade to a grey-blue after a couple weeks.