What Coloring to buy?

[brian0523]

Can anyone recommend what's the best coloring to purchase? I see liquid and powdered versions for sale, and a whole slew of different colors that make no sense to me.

I'm trying to color my soaps so that they look a bit more "natural". Kinda muted colors, and not bright crayola colors.

Specifically, I need a green that would work for a green tea soap, a yellow for a cammomile soap, and a purple for lavender.

Thanks much!

 

[morsedillon]

A lot of people swear by the 'natural' colorants. These come primarily in powder form and include things like micas, oxides, and other plant-based colorants like alkanet root, red sandalwood, et cetera.

If you want to stick with the plant-based colorants, you could try the following:

Green: Parsley or Stinging Nettles Powder, Green Tea, Hemp Seed Oil
Yellow: Turmeric Root, Annatto Seed
Purple: Alkanet Powder, Rattanjot Powder

If you're doing cold-process soap, know that the micas often don't show up too well. They're really better suited for clear melt-and-pour soaps. The ultramarines and oxides do fine.

For consistency, you can't beat the FD&C (or just D&C) colorants. The simplest form I've found is the LabColor preparations by Brambleberry, but they are pretty proud of them. The equivalent colorant costs way more than buying the powder and formulating yourself. On the other hand, the mess is much less as they're pre-mixed in oil as pre-measured doses. Either way, FD&C can do muted colors - you just use less of it. I'm a do-it-yourself type so I prefer to buy the raw colorants in powder form and it's really not so bad so long as you don't sneeze into the container

Hope this helps!

 

[FSowers]

I like BCN Gel Tone Colors. They are bright if you use too much.
The Chemistry Store has some that are liquid, and the produce light colors.

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

i did brambleberry's ultramarine violet in CP and it was a really lovely light purple color.

 

[Lane]

i did brambleberry's ultramarine violet in CP and it was a really lovely light purple color.

This is the same purple I use, very nice range in CP soap. I also use the LabColors from BrambleBerry. They have beautiful mist colors. http://brambleberry.com/labolives.html#mists.
10mL makes eight ounces of dye...and when you only need about a teaspoonfull for two pounds...thats a LOT of dye...

 

[Guest]

i did brambleberry's ultramarine violet in CP and it was a really lovely light purple color.

This is the same purple I use, very nice range in CP soap. I also use the LabColors from BrambleBerry. They have beautiful mist colors. http://brambleberry.com/labolives.html#mists.
10mL makes eight ounces of dye...and when you only need about a teaspoon full for two pounds...that's a LOT of dye...

*bookmarking*
for later use, i'd like to add a little color to my CP soaps....

 

[Lane]

I have five different LabColors, already premixed with distilled water and Germanben II. So soft colors, you only need about five to ten drops per pound, for darker colors, I use about 1 tsp for a 30 ounce batch of oils. I have the colors Eucalyptus Mist, Java Beans, Bright Cherry, Watermelon and Razzberry. I LOVE the colors!

 

[brian0523]

Thanks all for the suggestions - I'm going to give those mists a try and see how it goes!

 

[Soapmaker Man]

For the first time in 2 years, I just purchased the Select Shades basic 8 set, 4 ounces at Tradewinds. Friends I know swear by them! I have always used UM's and Mica's. I'm stepping up in the world now baby!

Paul

 

[PhillipJ]

So did you try them yet Paul? I was looking at them and thinking to try them out too.

 

[reallyrita]

OK...here comes another one of those silly newbie questions...I can almost hear the eyes rolling....BUT...when you color CP soaps how does this affect the yellow or tan color that the soap has just naturally? I have not colored my soaps yet because I don't know what will happen when I add a light blue or pink or some other soft color. My soaps are turning out pale cream to dark tan. I have not used any fragrance oils yet that have vanilla in them so I don't think it is that. My oo is very light, I use PO, CO or lard sometimes in place of PO or Crisco in place of PO. I am pretty sure it is my FO's that are turning the soaps these colors. Now, the soaps are an appealing color (except for the one I tried to color with paprika) by themselves but I would like to experiment.

The only truly white white soap I ever made was when I used Lavender essential oil for scent. So....if I use an FO, how do I overcome the yellow to tan look???

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

Hey Lane,
I got some of the Lab colors too and I was wondering what kind of container you diluted them in?

 

[Lane]

I got 6 oz plastic bottles and diluted them with distilled water and added a little GermabenII. I know it says to dilute them in 8 oz of water, but I wanted the colors stronger so I could add less, because I didn't want to add more water to my batch.

I then put a small amount in a little .5 oz dropper and use it by the drop in my batches... This stuff goes a looooong way!

 

[Lane]

...when you color CP soaps how does this affect the yellow or tan color that the soap has just naturally? .... So....if I use an FO, how do I overcome the yellow to tan look???

I add 1/4 tsp of Titanium Dioxide per pound of oils if I want a really creamy white.

But for some FO's you simply have to just work with the color it "makes" and learn to love it...

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

oh, awesome! thanks Lane! I was wondering how you did it drop wise...now i just have to find adorable little biddy droppers!

 

[Lane]

oh, awesome! thanks Lane! I was wondering how you did it drop wise...now i just have to find adorable little biddy droppers!

I have four extra little droppers if you'd like them, they aren't clear, they are all white. PM me.