Colour infusions in water

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

penelopejane

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2015
Messages
5,588
Reaction score
4,526
Location
Sth Coast, NSW, Australia
Hi,

I have made a tea colour infusion which is red.
I can only add this to the entire batch can't I?
I can't do two separate colours this way, can I?

If you add a puree this counts as the water and would also have to be included in the whole batch wouldn't it?

Are adding clay or powdered or liquid colours the only way to colour a partial batch?
 
http://thenerdyfarmwife.com

I have gone back to the source and now realise that the "herbal infusions" that she does do absolutely nothing except waste time because further down she adds colours of various sorts to get the pumpkin colour or the rose colour. :oops:

I have tried to do the infusions with oil but the rose hips have not turned the oil pink (or any colour at all).

Does anyone know what to use to get a pinkish colour from an oil infusion?

I guess it might depend on what the tea is made from? All the tea I've tried has turned brown, even the pretty red ones I made.

My rosehip tea water is a beautiful colour. Such a waste to throw it out, but I definitely don't want brown soap. :cry:

So anyway. I have to add oil infusions at the beginning to the entire batch don't I?

And a puree would have to be the entire batch too, wouldn't it?

This soap making is so difficult. I can't only make Castille soap and even that has problems :(
 
No, you can add infusions/puree to separated batter. Say you are making a 1lb batch and you want two colors from infused OO. I would go with roughly 2 ounces of infused oil in each portion so when you make your main recipe, you withhold 4 ounce of OO, after you separate the two portions, you would add the 2 ounces of infused to each portion.
You do the same with puree but you would start by making the main batch with a 50% lye solution, then adding in puree to bring the liquid to where you want it.
Really, its so much easier to use micas, clays, oxides or powdered herbs if you are making multi colors.
 
Thank you for the info. I have printed it off.

I can't use many of the herbs and spices (paprika etc) because I am allergic to them and to many colours as well, that is why I was trying to find specific ones I can use and I thought making them myself would give me control over what was in them.

But I think you are right, I will have to just buy some colours and use them sparingly in soap.
 
For a light pink you can use madder root but I've not had good results with infusing it, works better to add it directly to soap batter but it might work as a tea. You can also use rhubarb root for pink but I don't remember how you extract the color.

Unfortunately, rose hips will turn brown regardless of the method used to get them into your soap. Same with beet powder or any other pretty pink berry/fruit.
Are you allergic to food coloring? Red #30 makes a really nice pink but its super easy to use too much.
 
Last edited:
rhubarb root is a great way to achieve pink colour! you cook it in water for 5-10 minutes, strain and use a bit as your water in the soap. you can get great results from lightest pink to intensive burgundy/salmon colour and the whiter the base oils, the better results (with yellowish oils you can get orangey salmon effect instead of pink. I add the rhubarb water at trace.
 
Thank you, mintle! I now have another color to try!

If anyone can get watermelon this time of year without paying an arm and a leg, you can puree it and get a nice pink. If you just use the juice, you are going to get orange if you use any yellow oils.
 
rhubarb root is a great way to achieve pink colour! you cook it in water for 5-10 minutes, strain and use a bit as your water in the soap. you can get great results from lightest pink to intensive burgundy/salmon colour and the whiter the base oils, the better results (with yellowish oils you can get orangey salmon effect instead of pink. I add the rhubarb water at trace.

Thank you so much. How exciting because I can eat as much rhubarb as I like.

Thank you Mintle, I really want to try rhubarb but I hate to sacrifice any of my plant.

Typical, isn't it Obsidian, that you have to use the root of the silly plant when it practically grows wild above ground!

Thank you, mintle! I now have another color to try!

If anyone can get watermelon this time of year without paying an arm and a leg, you can puree it and get a nice pink. If you just use the juice, you are going to get orange if you use any yellow oils.

Susie,
That is another plant I can use in moderation. Would you use the puree instead of the water by weight? So 500g water = 50 g watermelon puree?
 
Susie,
That is another plant I can use in moderation. Would you use the puree instead of the water by weight? So 500g water = 50 g watermelon puree?

I use it as a straight substitution for the water. So, 500 g water = 500 g watermelon puree. And I freeze the puree before adding the lye to prevent burning.
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the info. I have printed it off.

I can't use many of the herbs and spices (paprika etc) because I am allergic to them and to many colours as well, that is why I was trying to find specific ones I can use and I thought making them myself would give me control over what was in them.

But I think you are right, I will have to just buy some colours and use them sparingly in soap.
I love using clays for pink, French pink clay and Australian pink clay both have nice colour.
 
No, you can add infusions/puree to separated batter. Say you are making a 1lb batch and you want two colors from infused OO. I would go with roughly 2 ounces of infused oil in each portion so when you make your main recipe, you withhold 4 ounce of OO, after you separate the two portions, you would add the 2 ounces of infused to each portion.
You do the same with puree but you would start by making the main batch with a 50% lye solution, then adding in puree to bring the liquid to where you want it.
Really, its so much easier to use micas, clays, oxides or powdered herbs if you are making multi colors.

Obsidian,

DISASTER!
I had my recipe in front of me and all your instructions and calculations worked out.
I had the subtracted 45g of infused oil to go in the small batch and the subtracted 45g plain oil to go in the main batch.

I mixed up the batch to light trace (I thought) then separated out the small batch. Then I turned to the main batch and it was setting so I quickly dumped it in the mold. Then I mixed the 45g infused oil into the small batch and poured it onto the main batch with no colour.

THEN I saw the 45g of plain oil that had to be added to the main batch. :cry::cry::cry:

Wrecked and ruined.
I am amazed at the wonderful soap people make. I can turn out a moderately acceptable castile soap but that is it. :cry:

I think I should try a basic plain batch of my recipe first and try to perfect it. I am giving up on oil and infused colours and am going to put an order in for some clay and oxides.
 
Susie,
Did the watermelon colour stick in your soap?

Not so much. I made the mistake of using yellow OO, so I still ended up with a pale coral/orangey shade. It is very pretty, but not what I was going for.

Learn from my mistake-use clear oils and white fats.

Starting with simple first is always best. And perfecting your recipe trumps pretty every day. If you have an awful soap that looks pretty, no one is coming back for another. But if you have a wonderful soap that is plain, folks will come back. You see, they are all well trained by commercial soap that soap is plain looking. Use wonderful scents to draw them to the soap.
 
Last edited:
Not so much. I made the mistake of using yellow OO, so I still ended up with a pale coral/orangey shade. It is very pretty, but not what I was going for.

Learn from my mistake-use clear oils and white fats.

Starting with simple first is always best. And perfecting your recipe trumps pretty every day. If you have an awful soap that looks pretty, no one is coming back for another. But if you have a wonderful soap that is plain, folks will come back. You see, they are all well trained by commercial soap that soap is plain looking. Use wonderful scents to draw them to the soap.

Good advice, Susie. Thank you.
I am only making soap for family and friends but the advice still applies.
 
Back
Top