Soap Making Dye

The types of soap making dye that are used today vary greatly amongst soap makers. Some prefer the completely natural approach, while others don't mind using a small amount of synthetic ingredients in order to make their finished product visually appealing.

The question is: Are you willing to sacrifice the naturalness of your soap's composition just to make it look bright and pretty?

As for me, my answer is no. I actually prefer unique natural dyes. In fact nothing screams "natural" and "homemade" quite like earthen colored soaps and that's the exact feel I'm personally trying to go for.

If you feel the same way, and prefer to use natural colorants in your soap, please refer to the bottom of this page for a list of ingredients you can use as non-synthetic soap making dye. If not, click here for a great selection in man made colorants

Please understand that using non synthetic colorants is merely my personal practice based on a desire to create a completely natural product. Everyone is unique and has different purposes for creating soap at home. Yours may not be focused on avoiding synthetics.

Maybe you're just making soap for fun and don't really care if you have a small percentage of unnatural material in your soap if it means a beautiful finished product.
Maybe you're making soap with your children and they prefer a bright synthetic soap making dye over a drab natural colorant.
Maybe you're creating your soap specifically for decoration and therefore need bright and pretty colors.

We all have our own purposes for homemade soap making, so you should choose the type of dye that best fits your needs.

Natural Colorants in Soap Making

Natural soap colorants can be produced with a variety of herbs, spices, clays etc. Here is a list of natural soap making dyes:

Light/Dark Brown	yellow	Green	red	Salmon	purple
cinnamon	curry powder	Liquid Chlorophyll	Annatto extract	Cayenne pepper	alkanet root
ground cloves	turmeric	alfalfa	beet root	paprika
all spice	saffron	cucumber	grapeskin extract
nutmeg	calendula petals	sage

How much colorant should you use? For every 10 pounds of soap, I use anywhere from 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup depending on the shade I'm going for and the type of soap dye I'm using. There's no way of telling exactly how it will turn out.

Keep in mind that the shade of these colors can drastically change from recipe to recipe. The final results depend on which oils and fats are used, the amount of lye called for, the types of nutrients added, and sometimes which essential oils or fragrances make up the soap's scent.

Not knowing exactly what it will look like is part of the excitement! Have fun and experiment with the various colors available to you. If you use the above table as a guide, and use common sense when combining colors, your soap will always look good no matter what... maybe different every time, but good.

Adding the soap making dye

Soap making dye, whether synthetic or natural, should be added right before pouring the soap into the mold during the cold process soap making procedure.

Keep in mind that during this stage in the cold process, the big bully lye is still active and will react and change most natural colorants. This is not necessarily a problem as long as you understand that the colors may turn out differently (not worse) then you expected. Most synthetic dyes that are made for soap making do not have the tendency to change.

If you want the soap colorants to remain the same and produce more consistent results, do not add the dye while the soap is still a liquid, but use the rebatching method to color your soaps instead. This will prevent the lye from interacting with the colorant.

Remember to always use soap safety precautions when working with both natural and synthetic colorants.

If you decide to experiment with coloring soap, be sure to review each material before using it.

Make sure that it's not a common allergen.
Make sure that it's not irritating to the skin.
Make sure that it has a pleasant scent.

It's always better to be safe then sorry.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how to color your soaps, and what to expect during this process. Keep in mind that soap making is often difficult and frustrating for the perfectionist. You need to be flexible and excepting of the results, especially when it comes to coloring.

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