Black walnut hull powder
Speckled brown. A scrub. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Black walnut hull powder is the ground hull of the black walnut. Fisher lists it as a speckled brown colour that also scrubs.
Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide
How much
- 1–3 tsp per pound of soap filled in Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
The calculator fills in 1 tsp per pound of soap: 7.4 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: at light trace.
- Stir it in as it is.
Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Lovely Greens supplier or guide
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Worth knowing
- Coarsely ground it scratches: grind it finer for a gentler bar. Lovely Greens supplier or guide
- Caution: Too much can stain skin and washcloths. Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
- In the EU soap is a cosmetic, and may be coloured only with the colourants in Annex IV of the Cosmetics Regulation. In the US the colour additives allowed in cosmetics do not include this one; a true soap sold as soap alone is not a cosmetic there. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009; 21 CFR 73 primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 2.36 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 7.08 g
- 1 cup ≈ 113 g
Voyageur Soap & Candle supplier or guide
INCI name
CosIng has no single INCI name for it: label it by what it contains.
Guides that discuss it
Sources
David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018), p. 20: dyes "give a full range of hues—from subtle to bright and bold", but "can bleed between layers or swirls of soap, especially in melt-and-pour soap. Some are not stable in cold process soap, so test them first"; oxides "are very stable and strong in soap". Natural colours, pp. 82–84. In an infused oil: "Annatto: yellow-orange"; "Alkanet: light to deep purple, depending on the amount used"; "Paprika: orange-peach". In the lye solution: "Indigo: light to deep blue"; "Madder root: pinkish-red"; "Rose clay: deep rose pink". Added to the oils or at trace: "Activated charcoal: light gray to deep black"; "Black walnut hull (ground): speckled brown, also an exfoliant"; "Calendula flower petals (whole or ground): nice, warm yellow"; "Carrots (puréed or juiced): muted orange"; "Cinnamon: reddish tan to brown"; "Cocoa powder: tan to brown"; "Cucumber: pale yellow-green"; "Rosehips (ground): speckled reddish brown"; "Sage: muted green"; "Spirulina: pastel green/blue-green". For "a bright, white bar of soap": "Add titanium dioxide: about 1 teaspoon per 1 pound (454 g) of oils."
Lovely Greens, natural soap colorants: cinnamon, "use up to 1 tsp ground cinnamon powder PPO. Be aware that cinnamon leaves a slightly gritty feeling"; beetroot, "Warm to dull brown", "Unfortunately, beets do not color CP/HP soap red"; black walnut hull powder, "Add powder at trace and be aware that they create a scratchy or exfoliating texture"; red sandalwood, "Add 1/4-1/2 tsp powder PPO at trace after premixing in a little oil. Can be very scratchy if you use more than this"; woad, "Add 1-2 tsp powder PPO to the lye solution"; rose hips, "Up to 1 tsp ground rosehip powder PPO"; nettle leaf, "muted green", "Premix dried and powdered nettle leaf with a little water and add at trace. Use 1-3 tsp PPO"; kelp, "Dark green", "at trace at up to 3 tsp PPO. Pre-mix in an equal amount of distilled water"; sage, "muted green that fades with time", or "1 tsp PPO dried sage at trace for dark speckles"; peppermint, "1 tsp PPO finely ground peppermint leaves at trace"; liquid chlorophyll, "stunning greens from using about 1 TBSP PPO", fading "into a greeny-yellow"; cucumber, "initially green but usually fades to a muted yellow"; chamomile, "Infuse flowers in distilled water and use the strained liquid to make the lye solution"; green tea, "Brown-green"; rhassoul clay, "Brown"; French green clay, "pale pastel green to earthy green"; "plant-based greens tend to be fugitive". PPO is per pound of oils.
Wholesale Supplies Plus, beet root, black walnut and chamomile powders, and green zeolite and sea clays: "Common use levels are 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per pound of base"; for the beet root and black walnut powders, "Test your final product to insure optimal performance and no staining."
EU: Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, Article 14(1)(c), a product may contain as colourants only those in Annex IV. US: 21 CFR Part 73 Subpart C lists the colour additives for cosmetics, and turmeric, paprika and spirulina are listed for food only; under 21 CFR 701.20 a true soap, sold only as soap, is not a cosmetic.
Voyageur Soap & Candle, botanical product pages, "Approx. Cups/ Lb": lavender flowers 17; calendula petals 44; chamomile flowers, whole, 21; red and pink rose petals and buds 22; peppermint leaf, cut and sifted, 15; eucalyptus leaf, cut and sifted, 7; sage, ground, 8; kelp powder (Ascophyllum nodosum) 3; black walnut hulls powder 4. Peppermint and eucalyptus leaves "can be sprinkled into the soap mixture when at a light trace to create a speckled effect"; comfrey leaf goes "into the lye water to create even color distribution which produces a natural green bar, or sprinkle it into the soap mixture when at a light trace". Density = 453.6 g ÷ (cups × 236.6 mL).