Tips on Getting the Right Color in your Soaps

Here are some thoughts other soapers have submitted to help you get the right color in your soaps. Everyone has different experiences with colorants in soaping, so the best tip I can give you is to experiment. Maybe you have a tip you would like to add to this list. If so, contact Mel to have it added here.

Red
  • Red Oxide makes a great red colored soap
Orange
  • dragon's blood can make a nice red-orange colored soap
  • paprika can make a burnt orange (might be irritating)
Yellow
  • Annato seed
  • Turmeric
  • Pam B. wrote: "I haven't used paprika to color, but have used tumeric to color my honeysuckle batch. I took out about 1/2 cup of my lightly traced soap, mixed in about 1 tsp of tumeric and mixed very well. I added my scent to the main batch, then mixed in the soap that was mixed with the tumeric last. It made it a nice yellow with some speckle, but not overpowering. This was done in a four pound batch (about 65 oz)."
Green
  • spirulina makes a really nice dark green
  • use 1 tsp powder "as is" in 1 pound soap to make very dark olive green. True to powder color. What I have done that makes a very soft but fresher green is mix green tea powder with lavender powder and alfalfa powder. = parts. Then I use only 1/4 -- 1/2 tsp per pound. Combined with EO, it makes a great colorant that keeps Green Tea Soap all natural.
Blue
  • blue ultramarine
Purple
  • alkanet root infused into oil, or use the powder mixed with some oil in your soap. A little goes a long way.
Black
  • black oxide
Brown
  • Try cocoa bean, or cocoa powder
White
  • Titanium dioxide
  • Avoid the use of oils known to create an off-white or yellowish soap.

Other Great Tips

  • When using powdered oxides I add mine to the oils while they are warming. I stick blend the oils very well until I no longer see specks settling on the bottom of the pot when I tip the pot slightly. After this is done, then I add my lye water and bring to trace. Perfect colors everytime with no specks of colorant in spots, just smooth even coloring.
    CL

 

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