Showing posts with label handmade soap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handmade soap. Show all posts

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Natural colorants and fluid hot process soap method experience.


A few days ago, I finally got around to using a botanical and a clay as colorants for my soap! I also experimented with the fluid hot process soap method.

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Natural colorants
In this soap, I made my normal soap recipe using the hot process soap method. I left half of the soap without colorant.

The other half I split and used spinach powder and rose kaolin clay as colorants. I used 1 tsp./lb dispersed in carrier oil, then another tsp. because it didn't get dark enough.

I was hesitant to add any more since I didn't know how it would turn out. Then I did a hanger swirl and topped with ground rosehips. Now that I know it dries lighter, I think I will try and go darker in the next batch.



Fluid hot process method experiment
I had been wanting to try the fluid hot process soap method so that I could be more creative with my soaps. 

Most fluid hot process recipes include an ingredient called sodium lactate and yogurt to make the soap pourable.

But I would prefer not use sodium lactate due it's chemical sounding name. And I omitted yogurt because it's not vegan friendly. I could probably try plant-based yogurt but generally they are more expensive. So I left both out and I replaced with coconut milk and agave nectar.




I decided to use the recipe from Lovin Soap Studio as a guide. I used my normal recipe and incorporated the following suggestions:  adding sugar (agave syrup), maybe extra water, using plastic wrap on the lid and minimal to no stirring during the cook. 


While I am pleased with the results, the soap has a caramel color, which is from adding the milk and sugar while the soap was too hot. I prefer a creamy white soap so that the colors are more distinct.


Next time, I will eliminate the milk and sugar and just use extra water. When I mixed the colorants with water and added to the soap, I noticed the soap got more fluid.




I chose to name this soap, Happy Soul, because the scent blend makes me feel happy in my soul. It's an earthy, unisex blend of patchouli, cinnamon, lemongrass and lavender. You're gonna love it!