The latest in our series of soap making inspiration:
Have you ever wondered why commercial soaps can leave your skin feeling DRY, IRRITATED and ITCHY?
Are you concerned about the ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT of commercial soap making processes and products?
Making your own soap at home can ensure control over the quality of the ingredients and is a more environmentally friendly option for you and your family.
Learn more and get started on our free blog at https://soapmakingadvice.com/
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).
The Soap Making History dates and stretches far back!
The origin of cleanliness dates back to prehistoric times.
The earliest people then know that water has cleansing properties. They didn’t know just yet about soap.
This article briefly explains the properties of lye and the importance for lye as part of the soap making process. Please click here to read our full, comprehensive article on soap making with lye, including a free basic soap recipe, or to learn more about homemade soap download our free soap making guide.
You may have asked this before, what exactly is lye?
Lye is a caustic alkaline chemical that dissolves substances like fat, and has a high degree of reactivity with other materials.
It is also known as Sodium Hydroxide.
If you know about soap or have been making soap, you would know that almost all handmade soaps are made of Sodium hydroxide except for a few liquid soaps that are made of Potassium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide, unknown to many, is also a type of lye used to make liquid soap.