# Color?



## ScotG (Dec 31, 2008)

I have been browsing the sites and looking at all the possible colors and now i am MORE confused than I was when I started. Remember I just did my first basic recipe so PLEASE bear with me . What is a good way to dye my soap and also maybe add a swirl to them? Is there a tried and true way to do it or things to add or should I just buy one of the liquid dyes I see advertised? Any suggestions or sites would be a great help.

I think i am going to try one of the combined scents but I would like it to be pretty so my daughters stop teasing me about my plain white lard soap lol.

Scot


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i like using the clays and dry pigments...like the oxides. aussie red clay is a good one and so is chromium green. they give good "bang for the buck".

i use them a bit differently than some other folks. i figure a touch of extra water won't hurt much, so i dedicate a small jar, like a mushroom or baby food jar, and i mix the pigment with a little water. i don't use much, but i use enough to make the pigment "mobile" in the water. i shake it up really good right before i use it. i do this so that it mixes well with the soap and so it has no clumps. i have used dry pigments in the past and i ended up with little bits of pigment that would actually color the skin in the shower. i add the pigment suspension at the light trace stage and continue blending. (i do cold process)

i would start with a solid color first. in my experience, it takes a bit of practice to coordinate removing a portion of soap at light trace and mix in pigment for making swirls. you can reserve uncolored soap for light swirls or you can use colored soap for colored swirls. you almost need to make sure it is tracing before you remove it or you then have two batches of soap to blend and bring to a trace. you need to work fast sometimes as one part of it can get thick while you are working on the other. i don't like to take chances on soap separating because it is not tracing before i try to swirl it in the mold, so i go ahead and make sure it is tracing and then add the color. i swirl it in a log mold by adding one color on the top of another. some folks seem to be able to combine colors in one pot and swirl by dumping just that one pot into the mold, but i am not that skilled yet.


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

Thankyou Meloc for explaining that so well....I am looking forward to using color in my next batch.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

One of my favorite ways is to use green or rose clay and mix it with a little of the soap at thin trace. After the clay is mixed in with the small amount of thin soap, dump it in with the rest and mix well to incorporate. There are several natural methods of coloring such as using paprika, carrot juice. Look on Miller's soap site. I believe she has a list of natural colorants. Here is another site with a list:
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingbasics/a/natcolors.htm


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

for first time coloring, you can look to your spice rack also! I recommend infusing your oils with spices, then straining the spices out (not actually needed, but some spices can be scratchy)

Here are a couple other natural soap colorants:

http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/soapcolors.html 

http://crafty.dyskolus.com/coloring/coloring.html

Personally, I use clays, oxides & ultra marines. I mix them with a bit of glycerin first.


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## Blossomgapfarm (Jan 23, 2007)

Also, some scents, like vanilla and those with vanilla in them, add color to your soap so you may end up with a tan or even darker colored soap just by using scents. Very pretty.


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## ScotG (Dec 31, 2008)

OK I am on brain overload LOL.....Time to keep reading and learning. I guess I need to dive in and try a small batch. I want to make a nice vanilla scent with a slight tone to it of some sort for my daughters and wife. After that I will try more daring and adventuresome types . What have I gotten myself into lol.
Thanks for bearing with me in this new endeavor
Scot


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## Humburger (Sep 13, 2007)

I have used spices, also, for color. I use cinnamon for varying shades of brown and paprika for varying shades of salmon/pink. Those two and just plain white are about all the color I do. I am not into really fancy soap. I use color when I think the soap may not be pure white, so I head off the ugly soap with colors. The reason it may not be pure white is the fat is not good quality, which is my own fault, but sometimes it happens and I just go with it. It is only for my personal use, so no big deal.

Anyway, cinnamon and paprika are good for coloring soaps. I think I used lavender flowers one time and they actually turned a lovely soft green and were very pretty in the soap. They didn't add any scent, but they did make the soap pretty.


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

What color is Titanium Dioxide? It is a white powder..:shrug:


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## designer (Aug 19, 2004)

I ordered a sample pack of powdered soap dyes from a soap supply online store. It had lots of colors in small plastic baggies. It was a good way to get multible colors at a low price. I don't remember the site, it's been years since I made any soap. But you could search for places that sell samples.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I think MMS (thesage.com) or has sample packs of UM & oxides


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

td is white.

sooooooooo, it your soap is slightly off-white (most will be) it can make a white swirl. Or lighten a green to make it several shades of green (or red or black or whatever) to add color dimension to your soaps.


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## Shazza (Nov 20, 2004)

Thanks Gailann....so if my green is toooo green I can add the td to break it up? Would it have put white swirls in the OPs soap?  ( I meant the OP of the Blue soap thread.  )


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

sorry, didn't see the blue thread yet...

yes, you can make either white swirls or varying shades of green by mixing the td with the green and then adding to your soap to swirl.

Or you can have a white swirl and a green swirl and mix them as such.

Just make sure you mix any color well or you can get "dots" or "specks" of color instead of the swirl of color (or band of color) you wanted...

I'll check the blue thread and get back...


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

Yes. Blue soaper could have used td because td is STARK WHITE. 

Think clown grease-paint. That's td. ...or the stuff you put on your nose as a skier to keep from burning it off ala Michael Jackson... td again...

I think the blue is lovely - simply lovely. Just too overwhelming to the eye. The eyes "smell" something other than what the nose smells.

Do this sometime. Put green coloring in with cinnamon scent and ask someone what it is. If they have an excellent trained nose, they may know. If not? They will tell you stuff all over the board. Even peppermint can be confusing. The eyes trick us. Think "traditional" colors for scents. Peppermint is red, cinnamon is brown-red, lilac is purplish, rose is rose/rosie-red, etc... 

That's why for a violet scent color? I would use a base-neutral soap ONLY with a um (um = ultramarine) pink or um violet swirl. Just a hint of color and call it Spring Violets or some such... That way you don't run the risk of coloring someone's washcloth or body BLUE or VIOLET or PINK and having an essentially unsellable soap.. 

Red oxide, as I mentioned, snags me REGULARLY. I like it as a swirl in Dragon's Blood scent and then I overdo the red and am SOL unless I re-do. Good luck! Just remember that you can OD on td too... WHITE is a COLOR too... Have fun!


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

p.s. Cocoa is an EXCELLENT color to work with. Yes, baking cocoa. 

Make sure any colorant powder (whether it's paprika, chili powder, cocoa, ums, td, etc.) you use is not dumped into the soap as powder. It will speckle the soap or make icky dry color spots if you aren't careful. I like to put a little water in a shot glass and add my colorant to dissolve. If I'm using a lot of color, dissolve it in water (some folks use a little oil - you are trying to hydrate/suspend the colorant) put it in a large bowl (not aluminum of course) and add the soap that I want to color to it and mix very very well.

Have fun! You prob have some colorants I am not familiar with that you could use right in your cupboard. DO NOT USE FOOD DYES. IT WON'T WORK and could possibly ruin your soap.

...all kinds of french clay, oxides, charcoal (yep, gorgeous black), etc.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Gailann Schrader said:


> Red oxide, as I mentioned, snags me REGULARLY. I like it as a swirl in Dragon's Blood scent and then I overdo the red and am SOL


Gailann,
The dragon's blood fo I use discolors to a dark, dark, dark brown. How do you use a red to swirl with it??? I get my DB from Tony's FO (now Southern Gardens, I believe)


Another suggestion for using spices as colorants. Infuse your oils with the spices, then strain your oils. It will pick up the color but won't have the speckles or scratchiness


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

hmmmm... I'll have to check my DB and see where it comes from. It does discolor some, but not very dark. I have a second DB from another vendor that I've not soaped yet - it may discolor quite a lot... 

When I have trouble with discolor, I use td to lighten that chunk (I let the bulk of the soap stay darker/discolored) to use as a swirl and then make a second swirl of color (red) to show it off. I suppose I could td it then add the red oxide to make it a permanent, lighter color...

I need to soap some DB so I'll see what it does.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

I know I had some DB left from the vendor but can't find it. I'm thinking SaveOnScents.

The "new" stuff I have is already dark dark brown. It will prolly have to be td'd to add any color to it at all.


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## beaglady (Oct 7, 2002)

The DB from Save on Scents doesn't discolor nearly as dark as most of them do. That's what I use, too.


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## beaglady (Oct 7, 2002)

ScotG said:


> I want to make a nice vanilla scent with a slight tone to it of some sort for my daughters and wife.


Most vanilla fragrances discolor to a dark brown. If you don't know that you might be unpleasantly surprised with your end result.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

I soaped over the weekend... So sorry, it was Apache Tears by DayStar...

It doesn't seem to discolor as much...

They HAD it as Dragon's Blood, but renamed it Apache Tears... 

don't know why...


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