Cocoa powder
Tan to brown. 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
Unsweetened cocoa powder, as sold for baking.
USDA FoodData Central primary source
How much
- 1 tbsp per pound of oils filled in Lovin Soap supplier or guide
- 2 tsp per pound of soap Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
The calculator fills in 1 tbsp per pound of oils: 11.9 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: into the oils.
- Also used: at light trace.
- Mix it first with a little of the recipe’s oil, about a teaspoon of powder to a tablespoon of oil, so it spreads without specks.
Lovin Soap supplier or guide, Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Worth knowing
- Its colour fades with light and time. Lovin Soap supplier or guide
- Gel phase brings out its colour. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
- Too much colours the lather. Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book, 3rd ed. primary source
- 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 ≈ 1.8 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 5.4 g
- 1 cup ≈ 86 g
USDA FoodData Central primary source
INCI name
Theobroma Cacao Seed Powder
- CAS number
- 84649-99-0
- EC number
- 283-480-6
Recipes that use it
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."
Lovin Soap, soapmaking additive chart: clay 1 teaspoon, oatmeal, coffee grounds and cocoa 1 tablespoon per pound of oils; cocoa into the warm oils; silk, "1 pea size pinch per pound of soapmaking oils".
Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016), chapter 5, "Herbal and Other Additives for Soap", each at "2 tsp powder per pound of soap": olive leaf powder, "Yellow/green", "Will fade with exposure to light"; comfrey powder, "Light green", "Gel phase enhances the color. Will fade substantially with exposure to light"; nettle leaf powder, "Green"; spirulina powder, "Deep green", "Color is enhanced by a hot gel phase, but will fade substantially with exposure to light"; indigo powder, "Blue/gray", "added as a dispersed powder ... or added directly to hot lye-water before combining oils"; alkanet root powder, "Purple/gray", "Infusion will fade over time; dispersed powder is more color stable"; paprika, "Red/orange", "Gives a speckled appearance"; rose clay, "Rosy pink", "Disperse in distilled water instead of oil"; madder root powder, "Dark red"; yarrow powder, "Yellow/tan", "Dispersed powder can be added at trace, or the dry powder can be infused into lye-water to create a more yellow hue"; cocoa powder, "Rich brown", "Gel phase enhances the color, as does exposure to air". For the chart’s soaps "all powdered additives were dispersed at a ratio of 1 part powder: 3 parts oil"; "The colorants were added at trace and went through gel phase." Oil infusions: "most soapers use at least 2 tablespoons of herb for every 4 ounces of oil. I prefer to use a tablespoon of herb for every ounce." Clay in the water before the lye: "The heat reaction from the lye-water will produce a deeper color than will adding the clay at thin trace".
Lovin Soap, colouring soap: pigments "color lather if too much is used"; natural colourants "do tend to fade".
Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book, 3rd edition (Adams Media, 2013), chapter 13: "Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): Dried and fresh flowers and leaves release a bright yellow dye into boiling water, lye infusion, and in oil"; "Bamboo sap powder is a gentle and thorough exfoliator, but it is best to start with 1 teaspoon bamboo sap powder per pound of oils"; cocoa powder, "in high concentrations it will produce brown lather"; calendula for a sun-infused oil, "Use about 3 tablespoons of petals per pound of oil".
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.
USDA FoodData Central, food 169593: Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened.