Coloring Black and White a Soap

[SoapSap]

The last time I colored my soap black and white I used Black Oxide powder for the black, and Titanium Oxide for the White. It was beautiful to look at but the black created black lather and temporarily stained the wash cloths. And in the soap that I swirled seemed over time to have the black bleeding into the white.

This time I am planning to use Activated Charcoal for the black. I read it does not create black lather. Or at least not as much.

I am having some difficulty finding information on how to use it. My questions regarding this ingredient are: 1). How much of it should I use per pound of oil? 2). Should I pre-mix it in oil, or distilled water? 3). Will it morph into the white color if I do a pot swirl, or spoon swirl?

 

[shunt2011]

I use bamboo charcoal for black All the time. It will leave color on wash cloths but washes out. I do not have black suds though. I use half to a full teaspoon ppo and get good results. I mix it with a bit of the oils in the batch.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Activated charcoal is definitely non bleeding, I also use it all the time for black.
It will make lather slightly grey, not quite black, especially if it's used in more than half of the soap.
I usually add maybe about teaspoon/teaspoon and a half per 500 gr which is about a pound.
I just add it a trace and mix in with the whisk. It's one of the colourants that are really easy to mix in without any residual lumps.

 

[not_ally]

Shunt (or anyone) is bamboo charcoal different from activated charcoal w/r/t creating colored suds/lather? I'd like to make a black soap without colored lather but when have tried w/AC using about 1tspn ppo (it doesn't get dark enough otherwise) it definitely produces dingy looking lather. Don't care if it makes washclothes darker so long as it washes out.

I've also tried black mica, mixing black mica w/AC, but a solid black (rather than grayish black) always seems to produce colored suds.

Thanks for any input ....

 

[cmzaha]

I do get gray bubbles when using activated charcoal for a nice shiny black, but is the only product I use for coloring black. I get mine on Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/q96yd7x

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I always thought any charcoal for cosmetic use is labeled activated? Only made with different ingredients.
One I now use is made from bamboo. And I have spare 100gr made from coconut.
Might use it next time to see if there's any difference.
Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to get stronger colour without some degree of coloured bubbles, especially with reds, blacks etc. But someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I even get orange bubbles with the tiny bit of orange added. I don't mind it actually as we use shower puffs.

 

[Logansama]

I play with black quite a lot, and unfortunately, to get a good black you will wind up with grey lather. I generally incorporate black into a swirl and that certainly lessens the greying. I've also used black oxide and haven't found a lot of difference.

I'd suggest the AC and starting at about 1/2 tsp per pound of soap, then add until you get a good color. Also, try to gel your soap, that'll intensify it.

Here's a black I did, as you can see, its darker in the center where it gelled. This one actually doesn't lather grey.

 

[not_ally]

Very, very pretty Logansama. I think black and white combos are really elegant. I don't really mind the colored suds, but the people I give them too do, they seem to think it means something is wrong. For those who sell (I don't) do people complain about colored lather?

 

[SoapSap]

I have made black and white combinations for my Dragon's Blood soap that I do for the men in my family. Of the three men, one had an issue with the black oxide coloring the suds and wash cloth. He won't use the soap on his body but uses it as a kitchen hand soap. The other two men never said anything so I asked them about it and neither were concerned about the color of the suds and just loved the unique Black and White soap.

I think like every other soap, it will be "different strokes for different folks".