Red clay (illite)
Red.
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe with this additive in it. No source gives a dose to fill in, so enter your own.
What it is
Red clay here is red illite, which Aroma-Zone sells as a superfine powder.
Aroma-Zone supplier or guide
How much
- 1 tsp per pound of oils The Nerdy Farm Wife supplier or guide
- up to 0.34 % of the batch in rinse-off products, the highest reported use: not a recommendation CIR primary source
No dose to fill in: enter your own.
When and how
- Usually: into the lye solution.
- Also used: at light trace.
- Stir it into the lye while it is still hot.
- At light trace: Mix it with about three times its volume of the recipe’s water, held back for it: a teaspoon of powder to a tablespoon of water.
The Nerdy Farm Wife supplier or guide, Bramble Berry supplier or guide, 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
- Stirred into the hot lye solution, it gives a deeper colour than at trace. The Nerdy Farm Wife supplier or guide, Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
- Stirred in dry, it leaves specks: mix it with a little oil or water first. The Nerdy Farm Wife supplier or guide
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 4.63 g (4.34–4.93 g)
- 1 tbsp ≈ 13.9 g (13–14.8 g)
- 1 cup ≈ 222 g (208–237 g)
Aroma-Zone supplier or guide
INCI name
Illite
- CAS number
- 12173-60-3
Guides that discuss it
Sources
The Nerdy Farm Wife, Brazilian clay soap: "1 teaspoon clay PPO", mixed into the hot lye solution.
Bramble Berry, clay in bath and beauty projects: clay "dispersed in distilled water ... 1:3 ratio of clay to liquid".
Lovely Greens, colouring soap with clay: "The general rule to make soap with clay is to use 1 tsp of clay for every 1lb (454 g/ 16 oz) of soaping oils"; after trace, "pre-mix clay with three times its volume in water".
Cosmetic Ingredient Review, natural clays (2023): kaolin 1–5 %, bentonite 0.22–4.7 % and illite up to 0.34 % in bath soaps and detergents; montmorillonite up to 3 % in rinse-off products.
The highest concentration reported to CIR in industry surveys: what has been used, not a recommendation.
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".
Aroma-Zone, superfine red clay (red illite), table of equivalents: a level 5 mL scoop 4.4 g, a 2 mL scoop 2 g (0.88–1.0 g/mL).