5 Natural Dyes for Homemade Soap

Making your own soap not only is a lot of fun, but it allows you to control the ingredients that go into the soap so you can be sure that they are natural and good for your body and skin. Many commercial soap dyes can have unhealthy side effects that can make your otherwise natural soap not so great for you. A better alternative is to choose a natural dye that will let you make beautiful colored soap that is good for you too. Here are 5 natural dyes for homemade soap that you can experiment with.

1. Liquid Chlorophyll

What could be more natural than cholophyll? Liquid chlorophyll is often used as a dietary supplement and can be found at most health food stores near the vitamins and herbal remedies. This will give your soap a lovely natural green color. You can vary the intensity of the green by adding more or less chlorophyll to the soap so play around with it until you get a shade you love.

2. Turmeric

You can find Turmeric in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. This highly scented herb will give your soap a beautiful, natural pale gold to a rich antique gold color depending how much you add to your mix.

3. Beet Powder

If you are looking for a lovely pale pink shade for your soap look no further than beet powder. You may be able to find this at your local grocery store, or you may need to shop online for it depending upon the stores in your are.

4. Red Cabbage

The funny thing about using red cabbage as a dye is that it doesn't produce red like it's name would suggest. Instead, it will give your soap a lovely blue color which can range from pale blue to a deeper, more saturated blue depending upon the strength of the liquid you create with it. To make dye from red cabbage, boil the cabbage in a cup or two of water until the cabbage leaves are pale. The leftover water will contain the color from the cabbage and can be added to your soap mixture.

5. Coffee

Brew some very strong coffee and add it to your soap to create varying shades of brown. Both the strength of the coffee and the amount you add will effect the final color of the soap.

Keep in mind that natural dyes can vary greatly between batches so if you are looking for consistent color you may want to opt for synthetic instead. However, experimenting with these synthetic alternatives can be fun and can yield great unexpected results, so I would encourage you to play around and have fun with them!