Embracing the Brown

[John Harris]

I've got 40 fluid ounces of an FO called "White Vanilla" just staring at me. (I've mentioned it before.) I made a test batch of 4 bars. The smell is divine but, my goodness, it discolored to a dark brown!

Do any of you avoid dark brown soap? Or do you not care and just make it anyway? I know there is something you can add to ward off the brown for a time, but it's only temporary, which disappoints me. I would love to hear your thoughts and practices on the matter.

 

[Misschief]

I embrace it and consider it when making my soaps. I'll also let customers know that some fragrances discolour. I've not had anyone complain about the colour yet.

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Why not make a small(ish) “overexposed” batch with 3…4 times the final FO load, shred it, and add it to an unscented batter as confetti? Or add it just to a minor component in your ITP artistry?
It seems that vanillin doesn't migrate too strongly/quickly through soap, at least judging from Cheeky Goat Soapery's wood grain ITP.

What did help for me to scare off the discolouration, was threatening the batter with the proximity of ZCS.
One of my ideas what is happening there is that ZCS does migrate, to a degree where it can effectively suppress the browning throughout the whole bar? I don't know.

 

[AliOop]

I use the vanilla color stabilizer from Bitter Creek North, and have bars that are over a year old with no discoloration yet. I hear reports that the homemade version linked here is also very stable over time. I plan to try it as soon as I finish up what I have of the BCS version.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I embrace the brown... simply because any vanilla fragrance sells well. People don't seem to care that it's dark brown or light. It's a knee buckling seductive scent.

 

[John Harris]

"knee buckling". HAHAHAHA!!!

 

[TheGecko]

I hear reports that the homemade version linked here is also very stable over time.

It does. I'm using the simple version of ZVCS (23.1% metabisulfate, 76.9% distilled water) 1:1 with my FO.

This is Autumn Harvest by Elements Bath & Body. It discolors to a dark brown (sorry, this is all I have left of the original soap I made with it and it's in the bathroom).

This is Autumn Harvest that I made on 10/30/2021 using the simple version of ZVCS:

This is the same soap that I just now (three months later) took a picture of:

While I am happy to "embrace the brown" with most discoloring FOs, this was one FO that I had had such plans for (brilliant autumn color swirls) and didn't know what I was going to do with. Now with ZVCS, I can do the design that I want...maybe...we know how that works. LOL

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

 

[ResolvableOwl]

Wow! But – context?

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

Sorry. I was embracing the brown. I used vanilla FO in half and none in the other half. It was a leap of faith swirling the two batters as they looked the same. Next time I'll add a bit of Cocoa powder so I can see it better.

 

[TheGecko]

Sorry. I was embracing the brown. I used vanilla FO in half and none in the other half. It was a leap of faith swirling the two batters as they looked the same. Next time I'll add a bit of Cocoa powder so I can see it better.

If I'm going to go brown, I always add a little bit of brown colorant (mica or cocoa powder) to make sure the color is even. Except for my Chocolate Espresso Soap, I'll scent the entire batter and then separate a little and add TD to it and then do a swirl.

 

[Quilter99755]

I embrace the brown. I have read all the articles on ZCVS but haven't purchased any of the supplies to make it. Just don't know if it's worth the effort for my Plain Jane soaps. I'm even too lazy to do an ITP swirl! I'm making soaps to get away from all the chemicals and back to nature, then I go add a bunch of chemicals so my soap doesn't turn brown when I use an FO that has vanilla in it?
I haven't soaped since June of last year so I have until I start soaping this year to make up my mind what to do. My list of things to buy and possible things to do is growing by leaps and bounds. In the meantime, I'm off to Phoenix to take in a quilt show and quilting retreat.

 

[Megan]

I almost always avoid discoloring fragrance oils. The few I can't, I work into the design. I've tried VCS a couple of times and I'm not a fan.

 

[AliOop]

I almost always avoid discoloring fragrance oils. The few I can't, I work into the design. I've tried VCS a couple of times and I'm not a fan.

Megan, which VCS did you use, and what didn't you like about it? I ask because it is my understanding is that the ones from Brambleberry and WSP are well known for not being as effective as the one from BCN, or the recipe that @Todd Ziegler developed.

 

[Megan]

Megan, which VCS did you use, and what didn't you like about it? I ask because it is my understanding is that the ones from Brambleberry and WSP are well known for not being as effective as the one from BCN, or the recipe that @Todd Ziegler developed.

I used WSP. I found that it did not combine with my FO very well and when I used it, any part of the loaf that was in contact with air still browned immediately as it saponified. I could plane that off of my rectangular bars but I don't like the extra step and I don't like that it doesn't last forever anyway. I also think it changes the scent of the FO even though they say it doesn't...there's just something not quite right.

As a note: my lemon poppyseed bar is almost a year old and is just now starting to discolor to a light tan at the corners so it does last a while.

 

[AliOop]

I used WSP. I found that it did not combine with my FO very well and when I used it, any part of the loaf that was in contact with air still browned immediately as it saponified. I could plane that off of my rectangular bars but I don't like the extra step and I don't like that it doesn't last forever anyway. I also think it changes the scent of the FO even though they say it doesn't...there's just something not quite right.

As a note: my lemon poppyseed bar is almost a year old and is just now starting to discolor to a light tan at the corners so it does last a while.

Reports like yours are why I bit the bullet and got the BCN version; I haven't heard anyone be that happy with the WSP stuff.

So far, BNC's has been great, although I did feel like the scent wasn't quite as strong. The problem with ordering from BCN is that shipping is a killer, even if you add on some other FOs to lower the overall shipping cost per item (which means you are still spending more than you wanted).

It's pennies on the dollar to order the ingredients for the homemade stuff, once I finish up the last of the BCN stuff - probably two more batches of soap.

 

[TheGecko]

I embrace the brown. I have read all the articles on ZCVS but haven't purchased any of the supplies to make it. Just don't know if it's worth the effort for my Plain Jane soaps. I'm even too lazy to do an ITP swirl! I'm making soaps to get away from all the chemicals and back to nature, then I go add a bunch of chemicals so my soap doesn't turn brown when I use an FO that has vanilla in it?

I just went with the simple version...it was $10.80 for a pound on Amazon. It was easy to mix and I keep it in a water bottle. So far I have only used it with two discoloring FOs...Ancient Sedona (BB) and Autumn Harvest (Elements) simply because the discoloration just didn't go with the scent. BB doesn't sell Ancient Sedona anymore so it's no longer an issue, but I really like Autumn Harvest so I will continue to use it with that. Other discoloring FOs that I have, I have been able to work the discoloration into a design that go with the scent. And let's be honest...when it comes to selling soap people first look with their eyes, then they pick it up and smell it...then they might look at the ingredients. No matter how great your soap is, or how great it smells, odds are good that if it doesn't look nice, people aren't going to want to buy it. Something I learned with a batch of Baby Powder Soap when the blue mica turned a sickly shade of greenish-grey...it smelled great, but I couldn't even sell it for a buck a bar...no one wanted it.

But I totally respect you not wanting to add a chemical to your soap.

 

[John Harris]

I just went with the simple version...it was $10.80 for a pound on Amazon.

Hi Gecko!
I'm missing something. You went with the simpler version of what?

 

[TheGecko]

I'm missing something. You went with the simpler version of what?

There are two recipes for ZVCS; one contains Metabisulfate , Thiosulfate and Distilled Water and the other is just Metabisulfate and Distilled Water. The first one is closer to the VCSs that are found commercially, but the second one works just fine as illustrated from my photos above.

 

[John Harris]

Does anyone have a source to buy sodium thiosulfate? I've been scouring the net but I can't seem to find anything. A Canadian source would be great, but I am realistic and something from the USA would be fine.