Adding Color to Rebatched Soap

December 14, 2012 by | 17 Comments

I really am on a roll with this rebatched soap! It’s a good thing too, because my soap inventory is running extremely low and these just might be available before Christmas! I’m waiting to see how long it takes for the extra water to evaporate and will keep you posted.

Yesterday’s batches were an experiment in adding color to the base of the soap. The first batch started out as a not-so-pretty brown, so I decided to darken it up with some new moon black mica. As soon as the soap was mostly melted, I added half a tablespoon of mica mixed* with a bit of water to the entire batch. Then I added as many colorful shreds as I could find (I soon realized that my color choices were very limited!) and a vanilla buttercream fragrance that is out of this world! Now, this soap really looks like granite:

What should I call this one?

The next soap was a combination of Lavender Meadows and Bye Bye Bugs scraps. The base was rather light in color, so I figured I could add some purple mica to liven it up. Again, just half of a tablespoon mixed in some water seemed to do the trick! When it was finished, I stirred in some white soap chunks. Since it already had a bit of lavender and citrus scent to it, I just added more lavender, some lime, and a hint of orange essential oils. Such a clean, fresh scent! I believe I’ll call it Lavender Lime.

Lavender Lime Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

I haven’t made any more rebatched soap today – yet. But the day isn’t over! Let me know if you have suggestions for naming the Vanilla one!

*Micas really aren’t hydrophilic, so they tend to resist being mixed with water. However, I think the water helps disperse the mica, so I do it anyway!

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  2. All your rebatched soaps are amazing and I’m so grateful you are sharing them with us! I have a box of scraps that I need to do something with and these are perfect inspirations!

  4. Glad you are having fun with this. I might try some today. They look fabulous, but then all of your soap looks fabulous:-)

  7. @Jackie – Yes, I’ve mixed micas with oil, and I’ve also tried glycerin and both work better as far as incorporating the mica. I just didn’t want to add any more oil to the soap. 🙂

  8. Amy…I LOVE the Granite soap. I would call it Stonegazer. Would this also work with adding the scraps to cold process soap batter, instead of rebatched?

  9. Try mixing the mica with some glycerin instead. Or a teaspoonful of oil. Either or both are just fine in rebatched soap.

  12. Those look great! I LOVE soap that looks like stone. I saw that blog post recently, too, and had the same reaction: Cool! But you beat me to it and actually tried it. Nice job!

  13. @Lynne – Yes, you can certainly add scraps to cold processed soap as well, although it works better if they are somewhat fresh. Once the soap gets rock hard, you may have trouble with it adhering to the new soap. It can also drag through the fresh soap when you cut it into bars.

  14. Great job Amy, these turned out great.

    My name for your black soap would be “Vanilla Charcoal” or just plain “Charcoal”…but I like that it has the scent in the name. 🙂 Good luck with finding a name.

    Have an awesome day!

  16. New fan here from Natures Home Spa, just subscribed. Love the “granite” soap, so sophisticated looking. Resembles a gorgeous marbled pillar I saw somewhere. With that yummy vanilla scent, how about “Sweet Marble Cream”, or “Marbled Buttercream”. I really enjoy your blog Amy, thanks, Anna

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