Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, everyone, I am an exchange student from China, it's my first time to attend a science fair. My subject is will Vitamin E make cotton cloth change color. The reasons I chose this subject is since I used a new kind of facial foam with Vitamin E inside, some of my tower have changed color. The towers are made of 100%cotton.I want to search some information online, but I always cann't find what I want(maybe it's because language problems).
Can you help?

jane910602 wrote:Hi, everyone, I am an exchange student from China, it's my first time to attend a science fair. My subject is will Vitamin E make cotton cloth change color. The reasons I chose this subject is since I used a new kind of facial foam with Vitamin E inside, some of my tower have changed color. The towers are made of 100%cotton.I want to search some information online, but I always cann't find what I want(maybe it's because language problems).
Can you help?

Hi. I looked around too, and I did not see anything. I think maybe it is not the vitamin E, but some other ingredient. Does your towel look bleached? Some things that can bleach your towels are whitening toothpastes or facial cleaners with Benzoyl peroxide. Maybe you want to change your topic to investigate which ingredient is causing the color change?

I would try looking for the other ingredients. Also, you could try calling the company and telling them of your problem and asking what chemical they think is causing the problem.


Hope this helps.


Louise

Louise wrote:

jane910602 wrote:Hi, everyone, I am an exchange student from China, it's my first time to attend a science fair. My subject is will Vitamin E make cotton cloth change color. The reasons I chose this subject is since I used a new kind of facial foam with Vitamin E inside, some of my tower have changed color. The towers are made of 100%cotton.I want to search some information online, but I always cann't find what I want(maybe it's because language problems).
Can you help?

Hi. I looked around too, and I did not see anything. I think maybe it is not the vitamin E, but some other ingredient. Does your towel look bleached? Some things that can bleach your towels are whitening toothpastes or facial cleaners with Benzoyl peroxide. Maybe you want to change your topic to investigate which ingredient is causing the color change?

I would try looking for the other ingredients. Also, you could try calling the company and telling them of your problem and asking what chemical they think is causing the problem.


Hope this helps.


Louise

Thanks so much for your help, :) I will call the company to ask the questions.
My dark blue tower turns purple, and my green pilowcase turns yellow. but they are like small and big spots, not the whole thing.

jane910602 wrote:

Louise wrote:

jane910602 wrote:Hi, everyone, I am an exchange student from China, it's my first time to attend a science fair. My subject is will Vitamin E make cotton cloth change color. The reasons I chose this subject is since I used a new kind of facial foam with Vitamin E inside, some of my tower have changed color. The towers are made of 100%cotton.I want to search some information online, but I always cann't find what I want(maybe it's because language problems).
Can you help?

Hi. I looked around too, and I did not see anything. I think maybe it is not the vitamin E, but some other ingredient. Does your towel look bleached? Some things that can bleach your towels are whitening toothpastes or facial cleaners with Benzoyl peroxide. Maybe you want to change your topic to investigate which ingredient is causing the color change?

I would try looking for the other ingredients. Also, you could try calling the company and telling them of your problem and asking what chemical they think is causing the problem.


Hope this helps.


Louise

Thanks so much for your help, I will call the company to ask the questions.
My dark blue tower turns purple, and my green pilowcase turns yellow. but they are like small and big spots, not the whole thing.

Good luck. Let us know what you find out. I'm guessing it some sort of bleaching agent, like peroxide or a related chemical.

Louise

I think the easiest thing you can do in the mean time is pH your solution. Various bases and acids can effect fabrics in various ways. If you can narrow down if the solution is basic or acidic, you can narrow your "suspects" for a viable hypothesis.

I like that you are using a real world puzzle as your science project. That to me is the best kind - something relevant to your real life.

If you are getting it in spots, that's a sign that something is being rubbed or splashed on the cloth before it is washed.

If this only happened after you used the new facial foam and only on things that touched your face then probably there is something in the foam being left on the towel that is reacting badly with your laundry soap.

As facial soaps are complex though, and bathrooms contain lots of other stuff that gets on your face and on the towel (eg, acne cream, makeup, hand soaps) and also others may be using the towel, you should verify your hypothesis that it is the foam by taking a fresh towel, that nobody else has used since it was last washed and putting foam on a portion of it, then washing it like you did the other towels. (by itself, you don't want to ruin more towels/clothing).

If it behaves the same way, it's the foam. If not, then something else is at fault.

Assuming it is the foam, look at the ingredients. Talk to your chemistry instructor about whether it is possible to isolate the different ingredients. Also look at a soap you use that does not cause the bleaching and see what is different. Somebody suggested checking if the foam is acidic or basic, and how much (PH balance). This is a fairly easy test that your chemistry teacher can teach you. PH is relative though - it will be less the more water you add. So you need to compare to a soap that doesn't cause the effect, with same amount of water.

I do think that you should focus the question on what is causing the change, rather than assuming Vitamin E causes the change and investigating Vitamin E.