Abstract: An improved process for preparing water-soluble copper salts of carboxylic acids is described. More particularly, the improved process comprises the steps of(A) providing a mixture comprising(A-1) as a copper source, copper metal, a copper oxide or mixtures thereof,(A-2) at least one organic monocarboxylic acid containing about 10 to about 30 carbon atoms,(A-3) at least one alkanolamine compound characterized by the formulaR.sub.1 (R.sub.2)NHwherein R.sub.1 is a hydroxyalkyl group and R.sub.2 may be hydrogen or a hydroxyalkyl group, and(A-4) water,(B) treating the mixture with oxygen at a temperature up to about the reflux temperature of the mixture until the desired water-soluble copper salt is obtained, and(C) recovering the copper salt as an aqueous solution.The mixture (A) can be modified to include one or more dyes to produce colored solutions of the water-soluble metal salts.