Are you wondering what is it about activated charcoal that everyone seems to love? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Lately it just seems to be in everything from facemasks to toothpaste. Turns out that activated charcoal has an unprecedented ability to absorb. It is amazing at absorbing oils from our skin and is said to have detoxifying properties too.
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What is activated charcoal and how is it different from regular charcoal?
So you might think of the fuel charcoal, used in a bbq grill, but that is not what this is. In order for activated charcoal to become ‘activated’ it goes through a process that involves really high temperatures and steam. Basically the charcoal is burned until there is nothing left but carbon. This is important because charcoal without the ‘activated’ in front of it is dangerous to your health. So you want to make sure you are working with activated charcoal.
INCI Name: Activated Carbon
Shelf Life: 3 years
Use Rate: .01 – 10%
Solubility: Oil soluble, insoluble in water
Appearance: Black fine powder
Odor: None to a slight sulfer smell
Storing: Store in an air tight container, in a cool dry space.
Looking for recipes that use activated charcoal?
- Detoxifying Activated Charcoal & rose Petal Face Mask
- French Green Clay & Charcoal Detox Soap Recipe
- DIY Dry Shampoo for Light and Dark Hair
- Oreo Cookie Melt & Pour Soap
Absorption and Surface Area Explained
If you want to know why activated charcoal is so good at absorbing, it’s simple – it has a large surface area. (Let me explain). If you were to look at the activated charcoal at a microscopic level, you would see that each piece has a bunch of holes and divots. These holes and divots can attract and catch things, like dirt and oil.
The holes and divots allow the activated charcoal to hold onto more things than if it were to be smooth. This is why each tiny spec of activated charcoal is able to absorb like crazy. It is filling up all its holes and divots with dirt and oil.
Handling With Care
If you have ever worked with activated charcoal, you know of the mess it can make. Since the powder is so fine, it doesn’t take much to go everywhere. And it will leave black stains behind on everything. I recommend wearing gloves when handling, not because it is dangerous more so the mess it leaves behind.
When putting your activated charcoal into a bowl to use, be super careful when scooping it in. Make sure that you don’t have a fan on or window with a breeze open. (That would be a disaster waiting to happen). After I am done handling it, I found that spraying my gloves with rubbing alcohol and wiping on a paper towel really helps with clean up.
Storing
You will want to store in an air tight container. If you leave the activated charcoal out, it is going to go about the business of absorbing things that are in the air. Including moisture and anything else that’s in the air. You will notice that over time it will clump up if it’s not in a sealed container.
Getting it to Mix
Since activated charcoal is not water soluble, you can always add a smidge of polysorbate 80 to get it to mix into water based formulas.
How to use in soap
When you are using activated charcoal in soap, either melt and pour or cold process, you want to prepare it first. Technically, you can add it in powder form, but it will clump up and takes a while to mix in. (I learned this when making my Oreo Cookie melt and pour soap).
To premix your activated charcoal, put your desired amount in a bowl, then add rubbing alcohol to it. You want to use just enough rubbing alcohol to get it to mix in. Then it is easy peasy, to add to your soap. Step by step instructions on premixing can be found in my French Green Clay & Activated Charcoal Detox Soap post