vanilla soap

[59caddy]

my wife and i are about to give up on making vanilla soap. we have made 8 batches using different fo's and all have turned into a mess. most seize up or become a mess. they all turn brown or some awful color. any suggestions.
we have used TD and other micas and pigments with no results. most of the time we just get the brown or at best a dark yellow color. some of the soap starts to separate. i know it can be done because i buy shaving soap from a woman on ebay and it is great, nice white smooth and great smelling...please help

 

[Ishbel]

Vanilla is a pain sometimes. I use one called French Vanilla from Gracefruit but thats coz im in England, I dont know where you come from. You could try checking out
http://soapscentreview.obisoap.ca/?sid= ... 189b702326
The Soap Scent Review Board is brilliant, you can look at other peoples postings and experiences of using fragrances from a huge list of suppliers/manufacturers all over the world. This may help. the one I use does thicken up very quickly and I have to work really fast but it only discolours to a light tan colour and smells divine.

 

[IrishLass]

Vanilla is just one of those tricky fragrances. The majority of them turn dark brown, and they also can lather brown or yellow and no amount of colorant or TD will prevent it. Some companies make discoloring vanilla fragrances, but some of them have a tendency to have a plastic-smelling undertone to them. I would check on the link that Ishbel gave to you so that you can read reviews of the different vanilla fragrance oils that are out there to see which ones would be up your alley. The reviews also include info on if a fragrance causes seizes, separation and the like.

Some companies make a special product called Vanilla Stabilizer that you can add to your vanilla fragrance oil to prevent it from going brown. I haven't tried it, but there have been some threads here on it if I remember right. That would be a good thing to look up in the search area, or hopefully someone who has used it will chime in.



HTH!
IrishLass

 

[SilverMaple]

Try Sweetcakes. They have a lovely non-coloring FO called White Vanilla. If you mix it with their Special Edition Vanilla you will get a nice creamy tan color. I think it's one part WV to 2-3 parts SE Vanilla.

I've never had this combo discolor darker than a cream or very light tan, and it smells wonderful. Some have had it go a bit darker, but not a lot.

 

[AshleyR]

Just to warn you, some of those "non-discolouring" vanillas still discolour just the same as the regular vanillas. I have used two "non-discolouring" vanillas from two different companies in the last few weeks and BOTH turned dark brown, as usual.

 

[Milla]

Bitter Creek North has a vanilla stabilizer that you mix with your FO. It works on FOs that contain vanilla, but not full vanilla. So maybe you could try it with the FO that silvermaple suggested since they only discolor to tan. You mix it in the same proportion as FO. If you have one ounce FO you'd mix it with 1 once stabilizer. Since the stabilizer is water soluble, be sure to remove 1 once of water from you lye mixture otherwise you will have too much liquid in your soap!
http://secure.candlesupply.com/cata...ctCodeID=49&ProductSubCodeID=330&NewProduct=0

 

[gekko62]

Perhaps you should just embrace the discolouration & try a swirl so you have pretty two tone soap.Or keep aside a portion & pour on top of the vanilla part,fluff it up a little so it looks like frosting on a dark vanilla base. Yummm. :wink:

 

[Guest]

I have not used vanilla, I have stayed away from it for these reasons.

 

[kittywings]

I just threw caution to the wind and bought Vanilia de Madagascar from Scent Works... it says it discolors to DARK brown, I may try the hp process that one lady said kept it at a light tan, but if not... dark brown's not that big of a deal... is it?

I think I've bought dark colored soap before.... :?

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

I use a "nature identical" EO blend which I get from my local South African supplier. Smells exactly like a really good Vanilla extract.
I use this in my Whipped Soap and the resulting colour is a very pale Beige.
Delicious soap.

 

[IrishLass]

I just threw caution to the wind and bought Vanilia de Madagascar from Scent Works... it says it discolors to DARK brown, I may try the hp process that one lady said kept it at a light tan, but if not... dark brown's not that big of a deal... is it?

I think I've bought dark colored soap before.... :?

I've soaped Vaniglia del Madagascar from Scent Works and can verify that it goes DARK brown. The suds lathered brown on me, too, unfortunately.

I actually don't mind dark brown vanilla soaps since the natural color of vanilla is dark brown, but brown lather is a turn off for me. Ick!

I'm in the middle of doing experiments with Pink Sugar from Scent Works right now -a lovely, sugary vanilla scent that is notorious for turning dark brown and causing yellow or brown suds . I'm trying to see how strongly I can scent my soaps with it, but without the suds turning yellow/brown.

IrishLass

 

[beautifulbay]

The only way I've kept a vanilla scented soap white is by making it with lard in the recipe...lots of it.

 

[carebear]

The only way I've kept a vanilla scented soap white is by making it with lard in the recipe...lots of it.

Really? Lard? I soap with 75% lard sometimes and my vanilla soaps are still brown - seriously brown.

 

[kittywings]

EEW, I was hoping the lather wouldn't be brown... hmmmmm....

 

[Saltysteele]

is there anything wrong with brown lather?

it doesn't turn your skin brown, or anything, does it? hey, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. people pay good money to go get stuff sprayed on them to turn them orange (fake baking)

 

[MikeInPdx]

Personally, I just "embrace the brownness"

 

[Guest]

I embrace it to , it is still great soap , I put a crocheted soap rug under the soap to catch the brown drips .


Kitn

 

[MikeInPdx]

I embrace it to , it is still great soap , I put a crocheted soap rug under the soap to catch the brown drips .


Kitn

I'm a lefty and it's been impossible to teach me to crochet, but I do knit. Do you have a picture of the soap run you would be willing to share? I think that's a GREAT idea.

 

[beautifulbay]

The only way I've kept a vanilla scented soap white is by making it with lard in the recipe...lots of it.

Really? Lard? I soap with 75% lard sometimes and my vanilla soaps are still brown - seriously brown.

Yes, I've made gm soap with lard, soybean and coconut oil and used a vanilla FO and it stayed white, it's the only recipe that ever does for me.

Generally, I don't mind the beige colors it usually turns. This means I dont have to color it.

 

[lecheymiel]

I have no problem with brown color... :wink: I use FO vanilla for my avene soap... is a very beautiful granma cake brown.

I tried non discolouring vanillas but, the smell is better this, I think...

Later I´ll show you a photo... (I have to do it)

Bibs