Scented Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 It has been years since I have soaped and I feel like a beginner again but something strange happened yesterday. I made a batch of lilac and the batter turned brownish purple on me using Peak's oil. Granted the fragrance oil was an orangish red, but to change the entire batch to a brownish purple when there's no vanilla in the fragrance oil just caught me off guard. Still, I've soaped this fragrance many times and not had that happen. I went ahead and continued to color it and the purple and pink in it so far remain unaffected. The log is too soft to unwrap and I guess I'll see what happens to it. So I got to thinking what other colors could pop up out there and alter the look of the soap. It's always been an instant yellow that gravitates to darker yellow and then brown when a fragrance has vanilla in it. Any others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponiebr Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 On 8/31/2018 at 2:37 PM, Scented said: It has been years since I have soaped and I feel like a beginner again but something strange happened yesterday. I made a batch of lilac and the batter turned brownish purple on me using Peak's oil. Granted the fragrance oil was an orangish red, but to change the entire batch to a brownish purple when there's no vanilla in the fragrance oil just caught me off guard. Still, I've soaped this fragrance many times and not had that happen. I went ahead and continued to color it and the purple and pink in it so far remain unaffected. The log is too soft to unwrap and I guess I'll see what happens to it. So I got to thinking what other colors could pop up out there and alter the look of the soap. It's always been an instant yellow that gravitates to darker yellow and then brown when a fragrance has vanilla in it. Any others? Well... It depends a lot on what the colorant was. Oxides, can morph in the presence of lye. Yellows and oranges made from iron oxide being the worst offenders but hydrated ultramarine, tin and manganese oxide purples can roll to varying shades of gray and blue also. IME Oranges won't shift back once they get that crappy brown muted look, but I've had yellows turn from infant poop brown back to a seemingly pleasant-ish yellow after they've cured. Vegetable colorants can go ALL OVER the map. Alkanet could be pink, gray, blue, purple, brown, just whatever it feels like at the moment... FWIW I didn't have almost any issues with oxide morphs in HP, mostly I suspect, because the colorants were added after the cook and after I added the FO so I could adjust as needed. Even though I know it should have happened I can't remember ever getting any serious vanilin browns with the HP either... If I know for a fact I'm headed for a vanilin brown I try and incorporate the brown into the actual coloring scheme, like with my pumpkin pie scented soap I will not add the FO to the highlighted portion of the soap and I'll add just a little yellow to the main body of soap so that it ends up turning a pumpkin pie brown and the orange ends up looking like bits of pumpkin... (I'm good at shooting around walls too...) I see I haven't actually answered anything... (Tsk, tsk... Well, that's just typical...) So, yeah vanilin isn't you're only color changer, the alkalinity and the type of colorant can cause the color changes, some of which are permanent and some temporary... Yeah... Imma go cut some lemons up... HTH! Sponiebr The Executor of Bad Ideas and Sundry Services Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 Before colorant is added not after, but appreciate your answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 I have a few fragrances that make odd soap batter colors. Some go really light white. Some gold purple. Some go pink or even gray. Usually they end up ok, but some go deeper in hue for whatever reason. Lilac from tsw turned purple then ugly grey from what I remember. When not in a hurry, Ill make small tester bars to test for weirdness like that to see how a small amount ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 I was thrown off from the purple. Never had one go that way. There was a time when a fragrance with a green hue to it went green in the end. Just wasn't prepared for purple. Gold purple would be interesting or even a pink. I have soaped this lilac for years but never got a purple out of it. Haven't cut into the log yet to see what's inside, but outside the darker purple and pink colors are still holding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Could be that the fo is just aging and changing how it deals with lye. French vanilla oak from Ahre turned purple in the bottle. Then super dark purple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 (edited) Yes, fo's can turn soap batter WACKY colors when you first mix the batter. I've had olive drab, baby poo green, grungy gray, bright orange-pink, bright yellow / chartreuse ... it's hard to think of a color I *haven't* gotten. LOL But often the funky colors will settle down eventually. To me, the first weird colors are just a signal that I may get some eventual discoloration in the finished, cured bars. Sometimes the D doesn't show up for some time into the cure! And I hate working with purple colorants. In raw soap batter, it can look ugly gray, but it usually does cure out to a nice purple. I just have to keep scrupulous notes on each batch so I can repeat results. Edited September 10, 2018 by Crafty1_AJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 A few turn my soap an ugly pink long after the fact. Those are awful. And you’re so right about purple. So many don’t ome out true. Oranges all fade on me. The struggle is real. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jcandleattic Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 A lot of my FO's change the color of the batter (I add the FO in with the oil before adding my lye solution) however I find as long as I gel my soap, the color will 'turn' back to what it's supposed to be. And I use a VS that works wonders and can stave off any discoloration of a vanilla in a soap for at least a year, sometimes indefinitely depending on the vanilla content. As for colors, for me, to get a true purple, I have to mix three different micas, but it remains true to what I want even after cure. To get a true orange I have to add neon orange to my regular orange. It does fade with time, but I find that with adding the neon, it fades to the orange it is supposed to be (or the orange I want it to be). To get a true dark black, I mix AC with black oxide, and sometimes still end up with grey if I dont' get the mix JUST RIGHT. Same with my true red which is a bit of red oxide with neon pink. This mixture also has to be just right or it gets the pink hue, or the barn red. Most of the time I can get it right unless I'm in a hurry. LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapandessentials Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 Hi, I have a question for Jcandleattic in reply to the post dated 12 September,2018. What is the “VS” that you use to stave off the discolouration of vanilla in a soap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 19 hours ago, soapandessentials said: Hi, I have a question for Jcandleattic in reply to the post dated 12 September,2018. What is the “VS” that you use to stave off the discolouration of vanilla in a soap? I have not seen JC around for a while so I figured I would jump in. VS is vanilla stabilizer. I believe she uses the one from bitter Creek. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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