Making green soap

[BrewerGeorge]

On the subject of beta carotene, I've been using up a huge jar of coconut oil made for popcorn which is colored with beta carotene. The oil is very orange, and at 20% of total oils, the final soap ends up a sort of sunflower yellow. However, this color does NOT survive long curing. By nine months or so it will have faded completely.

 

[penelopejane]

Great insight! Thank you so much, all of you really, for your feedback!!! It is so great to get on here and get some hands on knowledge via experience. So I was able to easily turn the tube over and tap the cylinder of soap down. I got it a quarter of the way out and stopped, it seems to soft to cut. Boy-o-boy does this batch stink but man do I have some GREEN soap! Hahaha, live and learn, I guess I won't be going the "natural" coloring route any more. Just like the rest of the soaps I've made (all 5, woo-hoo) I'm sure the smell and color will fade over time. Good thing too, in this case.

I forgot to mention that the spirulina soap I made (using infused oil) gave me a terrible all over rash. Don't know why.

 

[dixiedragon]

So I got impatient and went with Spirulina (45g powder) and mixed it at trace, and I mean AT trace. It quickly globbed up on me and I was afraid to mix further since everything was starting to really get thick. I went ahead and poured into the mold and we'll just have to wait and see. On another note I am trying out a cylindrical mold for the first time and I am very scared I'm not going to be able to get the soap out. I used a PVC pipe and lined it with parchment paper. I wanted cut flexible cutting boards and use as liner but I couldn't find any on island that would work. I am crossing my fingers that I can simply pull the parchment paper from the tube today.

Try quilter's mylar. You can get it at a fabric store like Joann's. But watch out it doesn't curl in on itself and you end up pour soap in and around a mylar spiral! Use a binder clip to secure the ends where the mylar sticks out of the top of your PVC.

I also like the French green clay. It is a very soft gray green but very nice.

Look, natural colors SOUND wonderful. But if they were all that great, human kind wouldn't have be trying to create artificial colors since the industrial revolution.

If you want to use natural colors, accept that you will have a muted, limited pallet. Not intended as snark - I love my rose clay!

Just like with fragrance - if you want to go all natural, that means you won't have lilac, jasmine, or raspberry lemonade.

 

[user 21048]

Update

Just wanted to send a quick update since the soap has had a little time to start curing. Boy-o-boy does it stink! I used WAY to much spirulina and I think once I use it it's going to leave an "after odor" so while I am going to let it go the full 2 months to cure, I'm pretty sure I can chalk this one up as a total failure and lesson learned. Hahaha, oh well, that's how we get better right!?

 

[dixiedragon]

The spirulina smell will fade, I think. I've used it only once. The smell faded but so did the color.

 

[HowieRoll]

I made a batch on March 16th of this year using wheatgrass powder and the color has held up very well. I used 3/4 Tbsp wheatgrass in 16oz of oils and it was a nice, olive green. The smell didn't seem to transfer to the soap, but then again I scented it with rosemary and peppermint EOs so those two powerhouses might be covering it up.

I found the powder in the bulk foods section of a natural foods store, so was able to only buy an ounce or two of it to try out instead of having to buy a big, expensive canister.

Otherwise, another green I really like is French Green Clay, as mentioned several times on this thread.

 

[DeeAnna]

There are different types of French green clay too. Some are greener than others depending on where the clay is sourced. I have purchased some I think from Natures Garden, that is a greenish gray (not especially pretty) and another (Frontier brand) from my local bulk foods store that is definitely a grayish green (rather nice).

 

[ngian]

In reality, indigo doesn't work for soap the way it's intended to. When it's used to dye clothing such as jeans, other chemicals are used to change it to a different form (it actually becomes yellow), then oxygen as it dries turns it blue to color the clothes.

I imagine it could dye your hands very effectively, but I don't know if that's the only reason for gloves or not.

When used in the normal way for clothing, indigo is actually a dye. Used for soap, it's simply an oddly-colored bluish pigment. I'm sure it's harmless but it's also overrated as a natural soap colorant because you can't perform the necessary chemistry to get the proper color.

Speaking of indigo, someone can also read more detailed information by Kevin Dunn in this article:

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/education/chemistry/chemistry101-the-indigo-swirls.aspx

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Speaking of indigo, someone can also read more detailed information by Kevin Dunn in this article:

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/education/chemistry/chemistry101-the-indigo-swirls.aspx

Thanks, I didn't know he wrote about this!

 

[snappyllama]

If you want a mostly yellow with a little orange neon color, use sea buckthorn oil. Even at 5%, it is crazy vibrant and does not fade. I bet you could get a green from it and indigo.

Note: do not use rose clay with it - it is horrifying and looks sickly, bleck! I don't know what I was thinking...

 

[ngian]

Thanks, I didn't know he wrote about this!

I'm sorry for the off topic, but wholesalesuppliesplus hosts quite a few articles with Kevin Dunn that are really interesting and include information that some of them have info beyond the one found in his book:

A Gentle Introduction To The Science Of Saponification

Water Discount in Cold Process Soapmaking

To Gel or Not To Gel

Chemistry 101: Partial Gel On Purpose

Chemistry 101: Glycerin Rivers

Chemistry 101: Ashes To Ashes

Crystal Power

Vanilla Browning in Cold Process Soap

Alcoholic Synonymous

I keep going back to their Learning Library / Business Articles section frequently...