Natural colorants

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Gigio

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Are there any general rules about achieving different results with natural colorants, or does each behave uniquely? For example, if I want to see flecks of color, not just a smooth tone, should I add my spirulina to the lye solution or to the warm oils, or with the essential oils at trace? Are there any general consistencies that you can count on?
 
You can count on the fact that there are very few natural colours that last in soap. Spirulina lasts about a month before it fades to fawn whether you add it to the lye or to the oils.

Search the forum for natural colour threads.
 
^^^^what penelpejane says above. Tumeric and Paprika seem to hold okay. Spirulina just gets plain ugly after a month or so. Madder root I would always get an ugly gray so no help there. I do add sandalwood powder to a soap but mix it with red. I gave up a long time ago using botanicals for coloring other than tumeric for that I use Tumeric EO now, and coco powder for brown.
 
I've always wondered about natural colorants. Do the colored clays fade too? Amazon has 5 pack sets that I've been considering but they seem a little pricey.
 
I've always wondered about natural colorants. Do the colored clays fade too? Amazon has 5 pack sets that I've been considering but they seem a little pricey.

Clays stick and are generally used at 1 tsp ppo but some require a LOT of clay to make a colour in a soap. Bentonite is one of those. They do effect the feel of the soap, a bit.

Make sure you get cosmetic grade clay as that is the only way you can ensure there are no heavy metals in a clay. Clay for soap is not the same as clay for pottery.

Don't mix directly in with the batter. It is best to mix with a bit of the water from the recipe and let it rest for a while before you then mix it into the batter.
 
I have used spirulina, and my soaps still looks pretty, and it has been almost a year. I did use HP, and not CP. Not sure if that would make a difference.
 
I have used indigo with mixed results. Some really cool, like when it turned by soap a pretty pink, and some really ugly gray. I have had good results with rose clay and the Brazilian clay sampler pack from BB. I have also used Alkanet which turned out to be a beautiful light pink.
 
If you do a little research on how to prepare the natural colorants you will find that some perform differently depending on how you prepare them and add them to the soap. There are 3 fairly common methods of which I am aware: add to the lye solution; infuse in oil (usually a fairly longish infusion time); add directly to oils or batter.

Here is a link with some info: https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/join-jo-coloring-soap-naturally/

Here's one on using indigo: https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/

A simple Google search will pull up several links, although you may need to change your search perameters a bit.
 
Infusing oils can be sped up by gently heating them over simmering water on the stove for 1 - 2 hours or so.
This way you can strain the oil and get the colour without the specks for things like paprika and turmeric both of which hold to some degree.
 
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