Natural colorants

[Catscankim]

I did a search and just cannot find my information.

Can somebody point me in the right direction on using natural colorants in cp soap? I searched here, I searched YT. I just get confused.

Do you use it like oxides, or do you infuse it in oil? Does it make unwanted specks? I found a good-ish video on infusing it in oil, but it has to infuse for weeks, or in a crock pot for hours. Is that the best way to use it in my soap? Can I wrap it up in cheese cloth and plop it in to oil instead of having to strain it after?

Right now I have indigo, matcha, and madder root.

 

[Relle]

Plenty of back threads -
Natural Soap Colours | SoapMakingForum
Natural Colourants | SoapMakingForum
How to use natural colorants | SoapMakingForum
Natural Colorants That Last? | SoapMakingForum
Himalayan rhubarb root and indigo or woad for purple | SoapMakingForum
Carrot juice soap HP | SoapMakingForum
Using naturally coloured oils. | SoapMakingForum
Muller Lane Farm ~ Natural Soap Colors (mullerslanefarm.com)

 

[Tara_H]

Annoyingly the answer is, 'it depends'...

I would suggest choosing a colour you want to achieve, find a natural colourant which will produce that colour, and then look into the specifics of how to get the best results from that colourant. It can vary from one to the next, so trying to apply the same rules across the board will probably give only mediocre results at best.

Since you already have some, you should be able to find specific recommendations for how to deal with each. You'll probably also have to do some trial and error to find what works best with all the other variables in your particular setup.

 

[JuliaNegusuk]

There is quite a lot of info if you Google it. I use natural colours and I found quite a bit if helpful info from the Lovely Greens website. Sometimes a particular colourant can be used multiple ways or sometimes one way is best, as Tara H says, it depends. I use madder root. I have never tried infusing it in oil. I haven't the patience to wait that long. I have mixed it into the soap batter before pouring. This produces a pink, speckled soap (starts off-white with pink speckled and matures pink with darker pink speckles). This is also a bit scratchy. More often I make a madder root tea, seiving out the bits before mixing with sodium hydroxide to make the lye (cool it first!). This makes a uniform medium pink. Don' t be alarmed at the raspberry pink at pouring stage, it mellows. I also use calendula petals into hot lye and leave in for a mellow yellow. You will also find some EOs provide colour. Orange oil gives a nice orangy yellow without further colour additions. However some people don't like natural colourants. They can be a bit unreliable, I have never got good results from alkanet, for example. Good luck.

 

[glendam]

Jo Haslauer colors all her soaps naturally, she has good tips in her book. Like stated above, it does depend on the colorant. She has also written blogposts in LovinSoap and in modern soap making:
https://naturalsoapcolor.com/collections/ebookshttps://www.modernsoapmaking.com/blog/join-jo-coloring-soap-naturallyhttps://lovinsoap.com/2017/06/guest...king-troubleshooting-and-tips-by-jo-haslauer/

 

[Catscankim]

Thank you all for the info.

 

[curlycoat2]

Jo Haslauer colors all her soaps naturally, she has good tips in her book. Like stated above, it does depend on the colorant. She has also written blogposts in LovinSoap and in modern soap making:
https://naturalsoapcolor.com/collections/ebookshttps://www.modernsoapmaking.com/blog/join-jo-coloring-soap-naturallyhttps://lovinsoap.com/2017/06/guest...king-troubleshooting-and-tips-by-jo-haslauer/

Thank you for linking my information! That is super kind of you

 

[glendam]

Thank you for linking my information! That is super kind of you

I didn’t know you were here!

 

[curlycoat2]

Ha I like to be incognito at times hahahah no one needs to hear me bleating about plants all the time! Hahaha thank you for mentioning me.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Ha I like to be incognito at times

Haha. Fat chance! I immediately recognized your avatar! This is my chance to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with natural colorants on Lovin' Soap and Modern Soapmaking!

 

[curlycoat2]

Haha. Fat chance! I immediately recognized your avatar! This is my chance to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with natural colorants on Lovin' Soap and Modern Soapmaking!
View attachment 57303

Ack I have been caught! hahaha I am thrilled you have liked the blog posts that is such great news. I can't thank YOU enough for letting me know. Its a pleasure to share with everyone the plant magic journey. They really are awesome and they do ALL the work, I just get to play

 

[LiliKuenca]

Ahhh definitely. My first time doing anything with natural colorants is because I came across Jo's post is modern soapmaking. I'll be forever grateful.

 

[TheGecko]

Do you use it like oxides, or do you infuse it in oil? Does it make unwanted specks? I found a good-ish video on infusing it in oil, but it has to infuse for weeks, or in a crock pot for hours.

I am not currently using natural colorants (I have purchased a few to experiment with), but from what I have read I have a question for you...do you want moonshine or do you want a fine aged whiskey?

I've had moonshine and I much prefer a well-aged whiskey or scotch. My soap is fine at six weeks, but it's a much better bar at eight weeks...so I wait the extra two weeks. Sometimes I will wait longer...I like my GMS at ten weeks. I have a stand mixer, but I still kneed my dough. I Master Batch my oils/butters and Lye Solution because it's a major time saver for me, but if I thought it affected the quality of my soap I wouldn't do it. Some things just take time.

 

[Catscankim]

At first glance I thought somebody was sending me liquor LOL.

Thank you for the analogy anyway. It totally drove home the point. I will wait for the fine aged whiskey.