Liquid Annatto

[Arlo]

I have a little bottle of liquid annatto that is used in cheesemaking. I wonder if I can use it in soap instead of infusing annatto seeds. The labels says: A water-based coloring naturally derived from the annatto tree. The ingredients are: Water, annatto, potassium hydroxide, castor oil. The suggested usage rate (for cheese obviously) is 25-50 drops per gallon of milk. Has anyone ever used this for soap?

 

[DeeAnna]

I haven't used this product in soap, but I'd be comfortable trying it. The ingredients seem pretty straightforward. I've infused annatto in oil to use as a colorant and got a rich, stable yellow in soap. I would think the water infusion would perform well too. Just bear in mind adding a water-based colorant will increase the total water in your soap, so you may want to compensate by reducing the lye concentration a bit.

 

[Arlo]

Thanks, that's encouraging. I will definitely try it.

 

[curlycoat2]

Sorry I am late to answer this but yes you can use it. If you sell you will have to list all the liquid annatto ingredients but you can use it to color soap. Its pretty much a what you see is what you get when you add it but allow for some fading. Just make sure to gel the soap and you will find its a very nice colorant. The depth of color will depend on your base recipe oils, if you have green in there the annatto may make it less yellow and more mustardish