Natural Colorants
- Thread starter Dean
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dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
I do like those pics!
I would like to see those same soaps in 3 months. I did a gorgeous alkanet infusion, but the color faded in just a few months.
I would like to see those same soaps in 3 months. I did a gorgeous alkanet infusion, but the color faded in just a few months.
I like them too. I've had a lot of fading after 3-6 months with many natural colorants. Though sometime my soaps sit in the sun somewhat at shows and that may have caused it. I don't use them anymore except charcoal and I use cocoa powder quite frequently.
penelopejane
Well-Known Member
The clays and AC will stay the same colour.
Dawni
Well-Known Member
I have a whole Pinterest section about natural colorants that I collected in my research before I started soaping.
You guys want more links?
https://lovelygreens.com/how-to-naturally-color-handmade-soap/
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/02/natural-soap-colorants-cold-process-soap/
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...-tricks/natural-colorant-testing-inspiration/
https://www.diynatural.com/natural-soap-colorants/?awt_l=51mHY&awt_m=3fU_AHMKuAtFQkt
https://simplelifemom.com/2014/05/28/adding-color-to-homemade-soap/
And yes, in all of them, only the clays and charcoal keep their color
You guys want more links?
https://lovelygreens.com/how-to-naturally-color-handmade-soap/
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/02/natural-soap-colorants-cold-process-soap/
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-b...-tricks/natural-colorant-testing-inspiration/
https://www.diynatural.com/natural-soap-colorants/?awt_l=51mHY&awt_m=3fU_AHMKuAtFQkt
https://simplelifemom.com/2014/05/28/adding-color-to-homemade-soap/
And yes, in all of them, only the clays and charcoal keep their color
Love the picture @Dean ! Very pretty colors
Every time plant based colors come up, they come with warnings of fading. Since I'm only using plants and clays I've been looking up articles on color fading and actually the only thing I've found until now are these two mentioning fading:
At the bottom of this article Jo Haslauer claims plant colorants only fade slowly. She gives an example of Ratanjot (the post is from 2017, one bar is from 2013 and has faded completely, but the other bar is from 2015 and still looks pretty to me).
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/06/g...king-troubleshooting-and-tips-by-jo-haslauer/
Here soapqueen shows fading after 5 months (mainly of spirulina)
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/natural-colorant-rainbow-cold-process-soap/
My (very limited) experience is similar: depending on the colorant used, I've gotten at least 6months to a year of nice colors (can't say much about longer cure times since I didn't keep samples of my first soaps *facepalm*). Except spirulina.. that one just disappeared after about a year Since I only make soap for myself and occasionally give some to friends, I don't really mind too much if colors start to fade at some point, though I would be bummed if it would happen at 3 months already! I understand that would give an aversion to using plant based colors and wanting to keep others from experiencing the same.
Would it be useful to compare notes on how quickly which colorant fades? or is there already a thread or some other source about this?
I think there are a lot of people interested in plant colorants, but there are also a lot of people with bad experiences. Of course a plant colorants will never stick for years and years, like some other colorants might, but if you know the life-span of a certain colorant you can play with it and keep the colors that fade faster for soaps that need less cure time (e.g. no spirulina for a castile-type soap).
Just for reference, I'll leave my own experience here, though I'm guessing I'm now stepping (further) into thread highjacking territory..
orange juice+peel (yellowish orange, lasted a year, then used the last bar),
cinnamon (still light brown at 6 months, though only have it on a small part of a soap. had a one year old bar with a cinnamon swirl but used it up)
cocoa powder (great color as everyone knows.. does stain for me, so still looking for a good usage rate),
spirulina (good at 6 months, gone at 1 year)
wheetgrass (strong fading after a year, but no complete color loss like spirulina)
annatto (gorgeous deep orange color at 6 months)
cucumber+5%EVavocado oil (very light green, might have faded a little around one year)
indigo (pretty at 4 months, but who knows what will happen?)
alkanet - never managed to get a good color out of that one in the first place.
Every time plant based colors come up, they come with warnings of fading. Since I'm only using plants and clays I've been looking up articles on color fading and actually the only thing I've found until now are these two mentioning fading:
At the bottom of this article Jo Haslauer claims plant colorants only fade slowly. She gives an example of Ratanjot (the post is from 2017, one bar is from 2013 and has faded completely, but the other bar is from 2015 and still looks pretty to me).
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/06/g...king-troubleshooting-and-tips-by-jo-haslauer/
Here soapqueen shows fading after 5 months (mainly of spirulina)
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/natural-colorant-rainbow-cold-process-soap/
My (very limited) experience is similar: depending on the colorant used, I've gotten at least 6months to a year of nice colors (can't say much about longer cure times since I didn't keep samples of my first soaps *facepalm*). Except spirulina.. that one just disappeared after about a year
Since I only make soap for myself and occasionally give some to friends, I don't really mind too much if colors start to fade at some point, though I would be bummed if it would happen at 3 months already! I understand that would give an aversion to using plant based colors and wanting to keep others from experiencing the same.Would it be useful to compare notes on how quickly which colorant fades? or is there already a thread or some other source about this?
I think there are a lot of people interested in plant colorants, but there are also a lot of people with bad experiences. Of course a plant colorants will never stick for years and years, like some other colorants might, but if you know the life-span of a certain colorant you can play with it and keep the colors that fade faster for soaps that need less cure time (e.g. no spirulina for a castile-type soap).
Just for reference, I'll leave my own experience here, though I'm guessing I'm now stepping (further) into thread highjacking territory..
orange juice+peel (yellowish orange, lasted a year, then used the last bar),
cinnamon (still light brown at 6 months, though only have it on a small part of a soap. had a one year old bar with a cinnamon swirl but used it up)
cocoa powder (great color as everyone knows.. does stain for me, so still looking for a good usage rate),
spirulina (good at 6 months, gone at 1 year)
wheetgrass (strong fading after a year, but no complete color loss like spirulina)
annatto (gorgeous deep orange color at 6 months)
cucumber+5%EVavocado oil (very light green, might have faded a little around one year)
indigo (pretty at 4 months, but who knows what will happen?)
alkanet - never managed to get a good color out of that one in the first place.
Dean
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Love the picture @Dean ! Very pretty colors
Every time plant based colors come up, they come with warnings of fading. Since I'm only using plants and clays I've been looking up articles on color fading and actually the only thing I've found until now are these two mentioning fading:
At the bottom of this article Jo Haslauer claims plant colorants only fade slowly. She gives an example of Ratanjot (the post is from 2017, one bar is from 2013 and has faded completely, but the other bar is from 2015 and still looks pretty to me).
https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/06/g...king-troubleshooting-and-tips-by-jo-haslauer/
Here soapqueen shows fading after 5 months (mainly of spirulina)
https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/natural-colorant-rainbow-cold-process-soap/
My (very limited) experience is similar: depending on the colorant used, I've gotten at least 6months to a year of nice colors (can't say much about longer cure times since I didn't keep samples of my first soaps *facepalm*). Except spirulina.. that one just disappeared after about a year
Would it be useful to compare notes on how quickly which colorant fades? or is there already a thread or some other source about this?
I think there are a lot of people interested in plant colorants, but there are also a lot of people with bad experiences. Of course a plant colorants will never stick for years and years, like some other colorants might, but if you know the life-span of a certain colorant you can play with it and keep the colors that fade faster for soaps that need less cure time (e.g. no spirulina for a castile-type soap).
Just for reference, I'll leave my own experience here, though I'm guessing I'm now stepping (further) into thread highjacking territory..
orange juice+peel (yellowish orange, lasted a year, then used the last bar),
cinnamon (still light brown at 6 months, though only have it on a small part of a soap. had a one year old bar with a cinnamon swirl but used it up)
cocoa powder (great color as everyone knows.. does stain for me, so still looking for a good usage rate),
spirulina (good at 6 months, gone at 1 year)
wheetgrass (strong fading after a year, but no complete color loss like spirulina)
annatto (gorgeous deep orange color at 6 months)
cucumber+5%EVavocado oil (very light green, might have faded a little around one year)
indigo (pretty at 4 months, but who knows what will happen?)
alkanet - never managed to get a good color out of that one in the first place.
Feel free to use the thread as you wish.
I've never given fade much thought. I use carrot juice to color my soaps. I notice the bars get lighter with use. Maybe there is some fading going on.
