gigisiguenza
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- Joined
- Jul 11, 2015
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I think I found a way to use the indigo and get a successful true blue!
I was setting up my water for my batchlets, one of which would be colored with indigo, so it needed separate lye water. The plan was to use the indigo infusion I'd made weeks ago that was boiled and simmered down to be more concentrated. I was just gonna add a pinch more of the indigo powder to it, to help boost the color, since it worked on my butterfly swirl attempt, but the color was too pale and thin.
But I got distracted by a phone call and when I came back, I grabbed plain water instead, added the lye, and only after I started stirring did it occur to me what I had done. So I said screw it and tossed a healthy half teaspoon of indigo powder into the container with the half dissolved lye crystals and stirred it up.
Right away the indigo did it's weird smell thing and turned deep dark green. I was worried I'd messed up the lye solution because I realized too late that now I would have no way of telling if all my lye had been dissolved. But kept on stirring, figuring if need be, I could clean the drain and start over LOL.
Much to my surprise, not only did the lye dissolve, so did the indigo. I mean it nearly liquefied, breaking down immediately to such a fine substance that it was impossible to see it without really looking for it. Even while I was stirring, I couldn't feel any grit on the bottom of the container. So I let it sit and cool and grabbed an old nylon knee high, figuring I was gonna need to strain the lye solution into the oils.
When I went to pour it, however, there was virtually no sediment at all. Just a rich denim blue solution. It was already turning blue in the batter by the time I got the batchlet to emulsion. So I poured a small portion of it into a teeny container to cure separately. If it stays true to color, I'm engraving the method in stone on a tablet on my wall over my dining room table (where I soap) so I can remember to use it again.
I've got my fingers and toes crossed that it stays true and that the final soap doesn't bleed blue or stain.
G
I was setting up my water for my batchlets, one of which would be colored with indigo, so it needed separate lye water. The plan was to use the indigo infusion I'd made weeks ago that was boiled and simmered down to be more concentrated. I was just gonna add a pinch more of the indigo powder to it, to help boost the color, since it worked on my butterfly swirl attempt, but the color was too pale and thin.
But I got distracted by a phone call and when I came back, I grabbed plain water instead, added the lye, and only after I started stirring did it occur to me what I had done. So I said screw it and tossed a healthy half teaspoon of indigo powder into the container with the half dissolved lye crystals and stirred it up.
Right away the indigo did it's weird smell thing and turned deep dark green. I was worried I'd messed up the lye solution because I realized too late that now I would have no way of telling if all my lye had been dissolved. But kept on stirring, figuring if need be, I could clean the drain and start over LOL.
Much to my surprise, not only did the lye dissolve, so did the indigo. I mean it nearly liquefied, breaking down immediately to such a fine substance that it was impossible to see it without really looking for it. Even while I was stirring, I couldn't feel any grit on the bottom of the container. So I let it sit and cool and grabbed an old nylon knee high, figuring I was gonna need to strain the lye solution into the oils.
When I went to pour it, however, there was virtually no sediment at all. Just a rich denim blue solution. It was already turning blue in the batter by the time I got the batchlet to emulsion. So I poured a small portion of it into a teeny container to cure separately. If it stays true to color, I'm engraving the method in stone on a tablet on my wall over my dining room table (where I soap) so I can remember to use it again.
I've got my fingers and toes crossed that it stays true and that the final soap doesn't bleed blue or stain.
G
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