Natural colorants and grittiness

[lenarenee]

I ordered several natural colorants from Soap Making resource, and I know that infusing them in oils is the way to go. But...I haven't made soap in a month!

Are there any of these that I can use without infusing them, with no or minimal grittiness added to the soap? (For example, for 1lb batch of soap I used 1 teaspoon of green clay for a tinge of green color...I can feel the grittiness, but would prefer to avoid that level of it.)

• 2 Ounces Activated Charcoal (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Alkanet Root (C/S)
• 2 Ounces Annatto Seeds (Whole)
• 2 Ounces Black Walnut Hull (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Burdock Leaf (C/S)
• 2 Ounces Cocoa (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Comfrey Leaf (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Dandelion Leaf (C/S)
• 2 Ounces French Green Clay
• 2 Ounces Madder Root (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Moroccan Red Clay
• 2 Ounces Nettle Leaf (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Paprika (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Red Sandalwood (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Safflower (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Spirulina (Powder)
• 2 Ounces Turmeric (Powder)
• NEW 1/4 Ounce indigo Powder

 

[mintle]

What a lovely set of colorants!
Without infusion - definitely you could use indigo (works best for me if added to the lye water- gives most vivid colour), cocoa, clays (but if you find it scratchy anyway, you could add clay to the lye water and strain it - the minerals &whatever goof there is in clay will stay in the water, however the colour will be gone ) and charcoal (if it is a very finely powdered one). I envy alkanet root - it is difficult for me to get it here.

 

[Susie]

Cocoa, paprika, turmeric should all be fine just added to the soap. I do infuse my paprika into OO, but it only takes half an hour using a water bath. And I understand that you can use it just sprinkled in.

 

[Twiggy]

I have great fun using natural colorants I’m sure you will have one too About herb, I rather to infuse instead to just add plant powder to the soap, as the little particles can be scratchy in use after all. It is very interesting that you find clay scratchy…

 

[Obsidian]

You can use the black walnut hull to make a tea with, just strain the water really well before adding your lye. It won't be super dark but you'll still get a nice brown.

 

[clhigh29]

I know this is an old thread, but I received some colorants from the same source and experimented today with the alkanet root powder. My recipe said to start with 1 tsp (for 2 lbs) and possibly try two tsp, or a maximum of 1 tbl. Two tsp would give me a nice light violet. But omg! I started with a generous tsp and it turned the batter a dark purple/brown. Does anyone know if this lightens up as it cooks?

 

[Bex1982]

It might lighten if you don't gel. It will get darker if you gel. It's been so long since I used it but I remember getting anywhere from grey purple to more of a violet.

 

[clhigh29]

I did gel. As a matter of fact, I got my first ever eruption. The final color did lighten a bit to a greyish violet, but it's not as nice as the color I wanted to achieve. At least it's not brown. I'm going to try the annatto seeds next. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with those. Usually, with oxides, what you see is what you get, so these natural colorants are quite interesting.