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| Oil colors |
I am getting a little low on soap and I decided to make another batch for my personal use and test my natural colors to see what I happens. I started by making a batch of soap with no superfatting. Since all of my colors are already using oil with my botanical additives.
My list of colors:
Mace
Paprika
Annatto
Alkanet root
Madder root
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| Gelling in the pot |
Rosemary
Black Cocoa
Cinnamon
Yellow Dock root pieces
Comfrey
Turmeric
Beet root
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| Creativity is rarely neat in my world |
Some of these I don't know what to expect, but this is the fun of soaping. Experimenting with color and swirls and discovering new things is part of the attraction for me. As a side note, beets do not share any of their color if you infused dried beets in oil. Since I had tried this with my beets I decided to grind them into a paste instead. This should still work and I won't have to worry about clumps of powder either. ;) After grinding them up I found that a great deal of the color appeared to be in the oil. We will see what happens with the soap.
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| Heart mold |
I started my soap and was mixing each color sample in a 3 oz cup. I had 12 colors to check, so lots of little cups. I stirred the colored oils into the soap, added a little more soap and then placed it in the mold. Each one of these mold openings hold about 3 oz by volume. As you can see, by the time I got to the snowflake mold I was dealing with soap that had already gelled in the pot. I don't know how this will effect my colors. I am looking forward to seeing how all of these turn out. I will add pictures after they come out of the molds.
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| Snowflake mold |
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| Since I had extra I filled my mold. |
After filling all of my molds with color samples, I decided to color the rest and use my log mold. I used the alkanet, mace and madder to color layers and then attempted to swirl it with a skewer. We will see what the result it when I slice it. I am looking forward to seeing the results.
The only issue I can see is the darkness of the alkanet. Although it didn't color the suds, which is the main concern with dark colors.
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| Suds on the alkanet |
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| My log mold layers |
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| The snowflake mold |
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| Heart Mold |
I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com
what an amazing project! thanks for linking up
ReplyDeleteI love all of the natural colors! Thanks so much for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist!
ReplyDeleteCome on over and link up your latest post.
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2013/09/tuesdays-with-twist-22-with-huge.html
How interesting! So, I have a question. Do you mix some of the color into the soap and then also layer it with the soap in the mold? Or do you just layer it in the mold with the soap? -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic site you have. I am new to soap making and have found your information very easy to follow and extremely interesting. Thank you for this.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic.
Australian Natural Soap Natural Handmade Soap
I am wondering where to get indigo powder for soap use, as you said. Is it called something different? Does it go through a different process? The indigo I have came from a dye shop (all natural indigo powder).
ReplyDeleteI am wondering where to get indigo powder for soap use, as you said. Is it called something different? Does it go through a different process? The indigo I have came from a dye shop (all natural indigo powder).
ReplyDeleteSorry that it has taken me so long to answer your comment. I believe it is the same thing. I know that the indigo that I purchased for dye purposes was crystals. The soap kind was a powder. I would think that, as long as it is a powder before you use it, it should work the same. Do be aware that it has a tendency to go grey after a while and it will always be a little speckled (at least in my experience).
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