Hello, So I made a new batch of soap using indigo powder. It was just as an experiment to see if I could accomplish a blue hue, but as you can see from the photos it turned out to be a very beautiful purple. So needless to say I’m not disappointed with the color, but just trying to figure out how this could have happened. I mixed 1tsp of the indigo powder in a 3tbs of my base oils and set aside to add once I reached a light trace. I decided to insulate my batch after I poured it into the mold to sit. After 24 hours I checked my batch and it was purple. So I’m not sure if insulating could be the issue. I have read that indigo powder can be very unpredictable. Maybe I used too much or it didn’t disperse evenly. I have no idea. Has anyone worked with indigo powder and if so may I ask for any recommendations.
Indigo powder
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I don't have any recommendations. I just want to say I love the color of your soap! The purple is so beautiful!
Those are so beautiful! Did you add any FO, EO, or other additives that might have contributed to a color change?
I've used indigo twice. Both times I got green. The first time, I used just a teaspoon or two of olive oil with a little (maybe 1/2 tsp) indigo powder mixed in to color a small portion for a swirl. It faded completely in a month. Last week I replaced 20% of my batch oil with indigo-infused olive oil and got this deep sea/blue-green color. I am interested to see how quickly it fades.
I guess mine might have turned green because the olive oil I used for the infusion was too yellow. The rest of my recipe was white oils - tallow, lard & coconut oil. I think I'm going to try and make a new infusion in castor oil and use a different, lighter olive oil to see what color that produces. Lots of people have recommended high oleiac sunflower oil as a substitution for olive oil (I guess it's not as yellow as olive oil) but I haven't tried that yet, partly because I don't know where and how to get it.
Edited to add that I love the purple color you got!
I guess mine might have turned green because the olive oil I used for the infusion was too yellow. The rest of my recipe was white oils - tallow, lard & coconut oil. I think I'm going to try and make a new infusion in castor oil and use a different, lighter olive oil to see what color that produces. Lots of people have recommended high oleiac sunflower oil as a substitution for olive oil (I guess it's not as yellow as olive oil) but I haven't tried that yet, partly because I don't know where and how to get it.
Edited to add that I love the purple color you got!
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curlycoat2
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Hello!
Gorgeous purple you have - gorgeous!
You have purple rather than blue because you soaped cooler or your environment was cooler. Indigo loves heat. I know you insulated but I am not sure how much you insulated it. I also don't add indigo into my oils but neither the insulating or the addition of it into oils would have done this. My thoughts are this is purely temperature related unless you have used a different species of Indigo (ie the easiest way to get blue is to use Indigofera Tinctoria). My money is on the temperature factor.
If you take photos over the next few weeks you will see a change towards blue in the photos. It is a slow process and will be a darker blue than pastel for example.
Again, gorgeous color and ALL plants can be unpredictable. Makes it more fun that way.
Gorgeous purple you have - gorgeous!
You have purple rather than blue because you soaped cooler or your environment was cooler. Indigo loves heat. I know you insulated but I am not sure how much you insulated it. I also don't add indigo into my oils but neither the insulating or the addition of it into oils would have done this. My thoughts are this is purely temperature related unless you have used a different species of Indigo (ie the easiest way to get blue is to use Indigofera Tinctoria). My money is on the temperature factor.
If you take photos over the next few weeks you will see a change towards blue in the photos. It is a slow process and will be a darker blue than pastel for example.
Again, gorgeous color and ALL plants can be unpredictable. Makes it more fun that way.
BenjaminRay
New Member
That purple is beautiful! Indigo is tricky in soap and often goes purple due to pH. Your concentration of indigo is fairly high, which likely contributed. Insulating could have played a small part too. Try using less indigo next time if you want more blue. It's a lovely result though!
I use indigo quite a bit and I get huge variations in color, from gray to green and sometimes, sometimes, a lovely indigo color. I only use one recipe, I only soap at one temperature, and I CPOP everything... so very very consistent conditions.
So to me, personally, I attribute the color changing to the FO.
So to me, personally, I attribute the color changing to the FO.
Thank you! Yes I added FO to my soap, but the company I purchased it from said in their test notes that there was no acceleration or discoloration.
Your soaps are very beautiful! This was my first time using indigo and it was a bit intimidating. I have read that some add the indigo to their lye water and it produces a more vibrant blue. I will experiment some more. May I ask what temps you work with? The temperature of my oils was at a 108 degrees and my lye water was 118 degrees so I’m not sure if that played a part in it. I’m still in the learning phase. Soda ash is another thing I have been struggling with.
I typically just wrap my soap with a towel because I have been struggling with soda ash. The temperature of my oils was 108 degrees and the lye water was at a 118 degrees. If you have any advice on the temperature I would truly appreciate it.
