I have at last made some more Lavender and Tussah Silk soap with madder (Rubria Tinctorum). This is using the "tea" method - just mix the powder with boiling water, leave to cool and sieve out. Some pics below:
The madder tea.
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After addition of tussah silk and lye.
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Mixed just prior to pouring.
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In the mould before bunging in the oven to be CPOPed. Wow is that pink!
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Out of the oven the following day. Much lighter colour.
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Two little nub ends that date from when I was putting the recipes together, so about 2 years old. These have been kept in a dark place. On the left madder root added at trace. On the right, madder root added to the lye (with lavender buds aka mouse poo). I later stopped adding to the lye in preference to making the tea in advance because I didn't feel comfortable doing the sieving process with caustic lye. Much safer to do beforehand, and I didn't feel it made much, if any difference to the colour using the tea method.
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General comments. I think it is a good pink and on the whole, lasts well, and is very easy, no steeping for days or weeks or boiling on stoves. I have to agree with an earlier comment that the tea method does bring out a hint of brown, and the pink you get I would describe as dusky rather than bright. It doesn't seem to fade or go brown long term, at least not if it is kept in the dark. I am actually using one of these soaps from a batch I made about 6 months ago. The colour does seem to fade a bit and get a little bit "muddy" towards the end of its life whilst in use, I'm now about three quarters of the way through it. But it is still visibly pink, if not the pure pink of an artificial colourant. I guess if you want to use natural colourants you have to be prepared to accept that they can be a bit variable. I still prefer using them to using artificial colourants and fragrance oils. If I want artificial, bright soap I can buy it from Tesco at a fraction of the price, but I am not into colours and swirls, so that's just me. Hope this is helpful.