Natural Additives for Colorants (Cold Process Soapmaking)

If you make your soap by the Cold Process Method, you may find that coloring your soaps can be unpredictable. If you want to use something other than pigments such as ultramarines and oxides, you may choose to go the natural root (no pun intended). Here are some suggestions:

Alfalfa Powder - light green color.

Alkanet Root - pink/blue/purple.

Annatto Seeds - yellow/orange color.

Beet Root – muted pink to red.

Calendula Petals retains their color in soap.

Chamomile Powder - yellow/gold color.

Chlorophyll (liquid) - light green color. You should know that the color will fade over time.

Cinnamon- beige/brown.

Clays will come in white, light green, beige, yellow, pink and red.

Cochineal powder– deep red

Comfrey Root - deep sage color.

Cocoa Powder - brown. For swirling effect add 2 teaspoons to 2 cups of soap.

Curry Powder - yellow/peach color.

Elderberries – steep in lye solution – light brown

Ginger Root Powder - yellow.

Hibiscus Powder - red/purple color.

Indigo Root Powder - blue. Make sure that you mix this powder in real well.

Madder Root - tomato red color.

Mustard Seed (ground) - yellow color.

Orange Peel Powder - orange.

Parsley Powder - medium green color.

Paprika - peach or salmon color.

Poppy Seeds - Blue-grey to light black specks

Pumice, ground - grey

Pumpkin, pureed - lovely deep orange

Rattanjot – lavender to purple

Rosehip seeds, ground - light tan to deep brown

Saffron - yellow. Very pricey spice.

Sage Powder - sage green or tan.

Sandlewood Powder - orange/red/maroon

Saffron - yellow. A very pricey spice.

Spirulina Powder - very fishy smell. This powder can be pricey. And it has been recommended that you only add this powder to strong scents such as Rosemary, Tea Tree, etc.

Titanium Dioxide- bright white

Tumeric Powder - gold/yellow. Will fade over time.


These are just a few additives that you can use to color your soaps. If cannot find what you are looking for then check out this link:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingbasics/a/natcolors.htm
www.snowdriftfarm.com/naturalcolors.html
http://www.soapnaturally.org/naturalcolors.html

For more information on naturally coloring your soaps, check out these websites:

http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/tipstricks/qt/testnatcolor.htm
http://www.cranberrylane.com/soap-techniques3.htm
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50548.asp
http://soapnuts.com/indexcolors.html
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/fruits-vegetables.shtml