Rose clay
Deep rose pink. 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
Rose clay is kaolin coloured pink with iron oxide: suppliers list it as Kaolin (and) Iron Oxide, and sell it as a powder.
From Nature With Love supplier or guide, Bramble Berry supplier or guide
How much
- 0.5 tsp per pound of soap filled in Soap Queen supplier or guide
- 1–3 tsp per pound of soap Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
- 2 tsp per pound of soap Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
The calculator fills in 0.5 tsp per pound of soap: 5 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
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, 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
- Stirred into the hot lye solution, it gives a deeper colour than at trace. Modern Soapmaking supplier or guide, The Nerdy Farm Wife supplier or guide, Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
- Rose clay is usually kaolin coloured with iron oxide. From Nature With Love supplier or guide
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 3.15 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 9.46 g
- 1 cup ≈ 151 g
Bramble Berry supplier or guide
INCI name
CosIng has no single INCI name for it: label it by what it contains.
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."
The Nerdy Farm Wife, rose clay soap: "Carefully stir the rose clay 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".
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".
Soap Queen, natural colorants: "1/2 tsp. of colorant per pound of cold process soap"; indigo reconstituted in the lye solution for a darker blue.
Wholesale Supplies Plus, rose kaolin clay: "1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon per pound of base".
Modern Soapmaking, natural colourants in the lye solution: a "darker pink than if added at trace".
From Nature With Love, rose clay: "INCI: Kaolin (White Clay) (and) Iron Oxide".
Bramble Berry, rose clay safety data sheet: "Bulk Density: Approx. 40 lbs./cu ft." (0.64 g/mL).