| There are many options when it comes to coloring | | | | Red cabbage, oddly enough, produces an inky blue |
| your homemade soap. Artificial colorants are often | | | | dye, which can be used to color soap pastel to deep |
| more vibrant than natural colorants, but many people | | | | blue. |
| like the idea of using all-natural ingredients in their soap. | | | | Shred one head of cabbage, and boil it in two cups of |
| There are also safety concerns with some artificial | | | | water until the cabbage itself is a pale blue. |
| colorants, and they can have some unanticipated | | | | If the dye you get using these methods isn't |
| effects on the final soap product. If you decide to use | | | | concentrated enough for your tastes, simply boil the |
| natural colorants for your soap, there are endless | | | | mixture longer to evaporate more water. |
| possibilities to choose from, and you can give your | | | | Be sure to strain the liquid through cheesecloth before |
| soap almost any hue you desire. | | | | use, to ensure that any vegetable matter is removed. |
| Many of the natural materials you can use to color | | | | Typically, you will add your homemade dye at trace, or |
| soap can be found in your kitchen, or local | | | | when hand-milling a batch of cold-process soap. |
| supermarket, and many are already used to color food | | | | You can use spices to dye soap as well, but the dye |
| and drug products. | | | | needs to be oil-based, instead of water-based. |
| These dyes can easily be extracted from fruits, | | | | Making an oil-based dye from spices involves three |
| vegetables, spices and even your morning coffee. | | | | simple steps. First, mix two teaspoons of the spice |
| For example, beets will yield a dye that is bright purple, | | | | with two tablespoons of oil. Let the spice soak in the oil |
| and depending on how much you use, will turn your | | | | for a while. |
| soap pale pink to a deep red. To make the dye, cut | | | | Next, heat the oil and spice mixture in the microwave |
| the beets into half-inch slices, and boil three cups of | | | | for one to two minutes. Finally, strain the mixture |
| beet slices in two cups of water. | | | | through cheesecloth, or a coffee filter, to remove the |
| Red onions will produce a red dye that will turn your | | | | spice particles, and you'll be left with an oil-based dye |
| soap reddish-brown; to make the dye you'll use only | | | | that retained the color of the spice you used. Here is a |
| the skin, so the onions can be used for cooking later. | | | | list of some common food-based, homemade dyes, |
| Remove the outermost dry layers of skin, and the first | | | | and the colors they will yield in your soap. (Always test |
| moist layer; boil two cups of skins in three cups of | | | | dyes before use, to avoid unwanted results in final |
| water. | | | | soap product. |