Todd Ziegler's VCS

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Thanks for that info, @glendam! I did a little research on sodium bisulfate, and came across this warning:

Warning: It should be used in concentrations not exceeding 1.25% by weight or in solutions. Otherwise it may cause a severe allergic reaction.

Do you know if that warning is only related to consumption of this product, or also to skin contact? I couldn't tell from what I was able to find with a quick search.
 
Thanks for that info, @glendam! I did a little research on sodium bisulfate, and came across this warning:

Warning: It should be used in concentrations not exceeding 1.25% by weight or in solutions. Otherwise it may cause a severe allergic reaction.

Do you know if that warning is only related to consumption of this product, or also to skin contact? I couldn't tell from what I was able to find with a quick search.
Metabisulfite can also cause allergic reactions @AliOop. Apparently the place to watch for sensitization is our hands and face. I’m going to test both and see how it goes.
 
Hi @AliOop I just did some searches again (I remember looking it up before using but since it was last year, I don’t remember what I found then.) in looking up the results I do recall that sodium bisulfate caught my attention because the chemical composition said it had less sulphuric elements, which made me think it would not smell as bad as the meta bisulfate.
Someone in this photography forum post says that if you add metabisulfate to water, it becomes sodium bisulfate (since the oxygen molecules are then added). It is the second response by Peter.
That made me wonder if the usage rate of metabisulfate would apply to sodium bisulfate (which is up to 5% in cosmetic applications according to this, look under Safety Profile subheader). However, I have not found anything specific for sodium bisulfite recommended usage rate in cosmetics. The Wikipedia page only lists exposure limits of 8 hours in some concentration that I do not know how to translate into usage rate. In the end they just said they deemed it safe for cosmetic applications without specifying usage rate.
The material safety data sheet from soapgoods, which can be found under the documents tab here, did not list any human skin exposure results (it seems they did not test in humans but reported in some rabbits it could cause skin irritation) but in the exposure limits they just said “none established.” (?)
To be safe I would probably use the a 25% dilution, 75% being water, and that should stay under the 1.25% ingestion limit even if using at same weight as fragrance (if 1 oz per lb of oils). Anyway, I realize perhaps this is more info that you asked. I wished there was a quick definite answer out there!
 
@glendam that's fantastic info - thanks so much! I'm guessing it can't be too harmful on the skin, since all the commercial VCS products are using it. But I do like the idea of diluting it, using as little as possible, and of course, labeling the product with that specific ingredient so that consumers with sulfur allergies are aware and can decide for themselves. Thanks again!
 
Another ingredient that has worked well for me is sodium bisulfate. It behaves as well as Natures’s garden vanilla stabilizer In soap. I still need to test it with a floral fragrance that has vanillin, but so far it has worked with bakery type scents. You can see a comparison experiment picture I just shared here.
Wow, that's amazing! Love your page too! :)
 
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