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Making natural soap colorant from red onions

Recently we received a question from one of our newsletter subscribers (sign up with the form just to the right) regarding making a natural soap colorant with red onion skins:

Hello, I tried your recipe for making red dye from red onion skins;
however, the liquid dye smells of onions. Is there something I can add
besides fragrance to eliminate the odor? Thanks for your help.

Here was our response, which we wanted to share with all of you, if you are interested in experimenting with natural soap colorants.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for sending through the question!

You should be really careful just to use the very outer skin from the red onions for the dye, which won’t have much smell – if you take a layer or two of the onion flesh with the skin there is a chance that the dye will smell.

By the time you boil the onions for 15 minutes or so, most of any remaining smell should be boiled out of the liquid for the dye, but once it is added to the lye any remaining onion smell should disappear as well.

Good luck with it, if you have any more questions please send them through to us (see the contact us page in the menu bar at the top).

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Natural Soap Colorants

There are many natural options for coloring your soap. Photo courtesy of Flickr user jules-stonesoup

There are many natural options for coloring your soap. Photo courtesy of Flickr user jules-stonesoup.

There are many options when it comes to coloring your homemade soap. Artificial colorants are often more vibrant than natural colorants, but many people like the idea of using all-natural ingredients in their soap. This post focusses on natural soap colorants, but you can read more about the various soap colorant options in our comprehensive post by clicking here.

There are also safety concerns with some artificial colorants, and they can have some unanticipated effects on the final soap product. If you decide to use natural colorants for your soap, there are endless possibilities to choose from, and you can give your soap almost any hue you desire.

Many of the natural materials you can use to color soap can be found in your kitchen, or local supermarket, and many are already used to color food and drug products. Continue reading “Natural Soap Colorants”

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Synthetic Soap Colorant Options

Synthetic soap colorants can be used to great effect. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Horia Varlan

Synthetic soap colorants can be used to great effect. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Horia Varlan.

Many soap makers prefer to use natural soap making colorants for their soaps, as opposed to synthetic ones. However, if the natural colorants don’t work for you, or are too expensive or unpredictable, there are a variety of synthetic colorants that can be used.

This post focusses on synthetic soap colorants, but you can read more about the various soap colorant options in our comprehensive post by clicking here.

Pigments, micas, and FD&C colorants are some of these.

Pigments are colorants that were originally mined, but now, due to FDA regulations, are manufactured in laboratories.

Many natural oxides contain toxic materials, so the FDA chose to approve only synthetic colorants for use in soaps and cosmetics.

The synthetically made pigments have the same molecular structure as the natural ones, but they have a low enough concentration of toxic metals that they are considered “safe” by the FDA. Pigments tend to be pretty stable, and the color that they will impart to your soap is predictable. The liquids are extremely easy to use, but the powders must be mixed with liquid before they are added to the soap batter, and they may clump.

The easiest way to liquefy the colorant powder is to: Continue reading “Synthetic Soap Colorant Options”

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Adding Color To Your Homemade Soap With Soap Colorants

There are many variants for soap colorants

There are many variants for soap colorants – Photo courtesy of Flickr user necrocake.

Do you want to learn how to make soap at home?

There are many different ways you can make soap and sometimes you want to have colored soaps for more variety. Soap colorants give your homemade soap a unique look and there are numerous ways you can color soap.

Most soap colorant in the soaps you buy in the store is made with synthetic dyes and other chemicals. This article focuses more on natural dyes for your homemade soap, but for our full, comprehensive guide to soap colorants please click here. Continue reading “Adding Color To Your Homemade Soap With Soap Colorants”

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Which Soap Making Colorants Do You Choose?

There are many variants for soap colorants

There are many variants for soap colorants – Photo courtesy of Flickr user necrocake.

Soap Making Colorants—which one to choose?

There are several different soap colorant options that are available for soap makers.

Natural soap colorants are more favored by expert soap makers as it is much safer to use. You can get amazing results with natural dyes and you don’t need to go the synthetic route to get soap that people buy. The best soap making advice I can give you is to try the natural dyes and see how things turn out. Of course you’ll need some practice but this is part of the learning process when you make your own soap.

For example, saffron can give your soap a yellowish glow, indigo root can be used to give your soap a deep blue color and Moroccan red clay can be used to give your soap a brick red color.

Continue reading “Which Soap Making Colorants Do You Choose?”