Vanilla soap

[selah925]

What is a good recipe for a vanilla soap?

I'd like to use only EO, no FO. I think I had also heard that vanilla can be tricky to work with? Why is that?

Thanks!

 

[AshleyR]

I'm a newbie too, but one thing I learned from others on this board was that a lot of vanilla EO's (or FO's... or both??) turn dark brown in your soap. So if you are expecting a nice white "vanilla-looking" soap, you will be disappointed with the colour!

 

[One_Shining_Star]

I have a question: Can you use ground vanilla beans at trace? And where do you get ground vanilla beans?

 

[cdwinsby]

I have a question: Can you use ground vanilla beans at trace? And where do you get ground vanilla beans?

Not sure about the whole beans, I think it would be too sticky to try and grind properly. But then again, you never know.

You can get the vanilla bean seeds from a soap supplier and add them at trace. They don't give any scent to your soap but they do look nice.

 

[craftykelly]

I was thinking this myself. But getting a whole vanilla bean and scraping the seeds out and using those, like you would in a food recipe iykwim. It would still make the soap have the flecks of vanilla throughout but that wouldn't bother me You can get vanilla beans from the grocery store in the section where all the cake decorations/sprinkles/colours etc are (at least in Australia anyway)

 

[beachgurl]

Don't buy them in the grocery store .. they're overpriced and of shoddy quality. Try and find a good farmer's market or something. Here's where I get mine .. worth the extra time and money. Their unstrained honey is also beautiful in soap ... makes for gorgeous golden flecks. I'm sure if you contact them, they'll ship to you; they're absolutely wonderful people. I'm originally from near where Natural Acres is located and had the pleasure of going to their farm last time I went home. They also have saffron (for a better price and of much better quality than you'll ever get in a grocery store) which makes for a beautifully colored soap.

http://www.naturalacres.com/index.html

 

[selah925]

The whole beans sounds nice, but how do I get a vanilla scented soap, then?

 

[soap_lady]

Any recipe can be used to make vanilla soap, because it the EO or the FO that is added where you get the vanilla from.

It's not tricky per say, but vanilla does turn soap any shade from medium brown to a very dark brown depending on the amount of vanilla that is in the product. Least to say a vanilla soap would turn out a dark brown color.

But it's not any trickier than working with most other recipes or FO and EO.


In regards to using the whole bean or part of the bean....... I'm not sure how much of the scent would survive the saponification process. You might end up with a more visually appealing product than scented if you just use the bean itself without any added FO or EO.

Good Luck

 

[beachgurl]

Maybe you could infuse one of your oils with the vanilla beans .. but like it was said .. I'm not sure if much of the scent would survive saponification. You could try using a little titanium dioxide for whitening, but (somebody with more experience here might be better) I think for fragrance properties, you might have to go with a FO if you want a really vanilla-y smell.

 

[natrldsastr]

You can infuse vanilla beans all you like, but there will be little if any, scent. Also, there is no such thing as a vanilla essential oil. You must use a fragrance oil, and vanilla discolors, period. You may lessen the effect w/ some TD. good luck. :wink:

 

[MikeInPdx]

Brambleberry sells a vanilla that's not supposed to discolor, but I've never used it.

 

[Ilovesoap]

One of my favorite soaps is an oatmeal with just a touch of vanilla eo. Yum! The vanilla gives it a very nice color - vanilla will turn your soap brown and it can heat up. (but other than that not hard to work with as long as you know what to expect)

 

[starduster]

Vanilla Beans

http://www.rudanetrading.com.au/
This site has Vanilla Beans.
I am in Australia and recently purchased Coconut Oil from them and found their service very good.
I read The Vanilla Story last year.It was fascinating to read Vanillas torrid past and how it is almost a currency in itself.
What I gathered was that the fresher the better, to this end I am on the look out for a vanilla vine to grow my own ,which wouldn't be easy and would probably require hand polination.
Yes your soap will be a creamy brown colour but I think most people associate that colour with vanilla so no prob.

 

[cdwinsby]

Maybe you could infuse one of your oils with the vanilla beans .. but like it was said .. I'm not sure if much of the scent would survive saponification.

Did it and no the scent doesn't come through. Makes a pretty bar though.

Also, there is no such thing as a vanilla essential oil.

New Directions sells Vanilla essential oil - I just bought some myself - haven't decided if I like it yet though. It's very concentrated so it's hard to tell.

Here is the link for the vanilla http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/vanilla-essential-oil-10-fold-p-367.html

 

[selah925]

Thank you! I will check out some of those links and probably just do an experiment.

 

[SweetBody]

You can certainly get a "non-browning" vanilla fragrance oil. I don't know off the top of my head who has them, but I know they aren't hard to find. I'm pretty sure I got mine from FNWL.

I've put vanilla beans in soap before. What I do, is cut open the pods and then scrape out all the paste and use that. You can also chop up the pods really fine. I'd add them at trace, yeah

 

[One_Shining_Star]

Has anyone used vanilla extract, like from the kitchen? Is that what turns brown?

 

[Jan]

What about using the vanilla in powder form? Just came across some in the grocery. It is mixed with sugar, not bad since this is supposed to increase lather. Has any one used this? It is artificial vanilla. I wonder if this discolors also.

 

[heartsong]

vanilla

www.soapsupplies.net has a great vanilla- bendel bean which does not discolor. i use 1 oz per pound of soap. it sounds like a lot but vanilla is one of the hardest scents to make "stick"-lemon is another hard scent to stick. anyway, i use 1 level tsp of ipanema gold mica for 5 pounds of soap which gives it the most perfect tint of butter-cream which matches the scent.

i am very pleased with paige's customer service. she has bent over backwards for me numerous times.