Last time I did this, I made a very strongly brewed black tea. Start the tea like 2 hours before you plan to soak, use 3 or 4 tea bags. I also used a thicker, recycled paper that had a bit of a spongy feel to it. Drew the map, tore the edges, then let it soak in a shallow pan filled with tea for about 10 minutes or so (until the colour was right). Pat the excess off, then into the oven for 5-10 min on low heat until dry. It came out looking kinda pale, but had a great weathered parchment effect.
@@BobWorldBuilder definitely is the “traditional” method. I wonder if your soy sauce method would work better with a looser weaved or thicker paper? Can’t help with the soy sauce smell though!
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how much Bob *CARES* about his viewers? He not only takes feedback from his audience, but goes forward to perfect the technique!
fun fact, [the short edge being harder to tear] actually has nothing to do with the length you're tearing. its actually because of the direction of the fibres the paper is made from. which apparently is usually along the long edge
The times I have done this, I used tea bags, left over after brewing a cup of tea, then using the still-wet tea bags to "paint" the paper. It may take more than one tea bag, but you can add layers as much as you like, as long as you are happy to drink more tea.
I just made coffee. Got the cheapest stuff I could, and made it crazy extra strong so that the water that's staining will be nice and dark. Soak the paper and then hang it to dry on a drying rack like for cookies, no oven required! Took 5 minutes to brew the coffee, and then let the paper dry overnight. Look nice and aged, and then once it was dry I worked the paper a little bit with my hands just to keep it from getting too crispy
It has been a number of years, but I tend to use coffee. Not grounds, mind you, but rather straight espresso and I dab it from the cup to the paper using a sponge.
Instant coffee works pretty well as well. (for people who doesn't want the Soy sauce smell) You brew that rather thickly with hot water (You can microwave it together), and diolute to your needs. More water will make it ligher, and less water will make it darker. No oven required because you're literally brushing it on in layers to get the effects you want. Watercolor style. Then let it sit and dry (if you tape it down on the surface you're working on, it will lay flat, but if you don't care and want the paper to actually use that water to crinkle more, then don't bother. If in a book, make sure you let it dry standing up because it'll keep the pages from sticking together. This is the method I used to age up my halloween party sign in book pages because I didn't want to murder the thing wih the oven, and it turned out better aged this way because it actually looks more realistic than if you pre wrinkle it. also pretty readable) Also you can do this with the tea method. It actually dries faster if you do it in layers and build up from there, also again has a better aged effect. Lipton Tea seeps the quickest the darkest. (You can put in two bags in the microwaveed water for about 5 minuets) and but make sure you put in LESS water than you would with normal tea. Add water for the effects you want. Again much like Watercolor. If you feel like you want to darken the edges more without the tea? there's also aging distress inks you can get the smaller spudges for cheap and just use a spundge to get the edges and you're done. But you can do the similar thing with he thickest sludge of the tea/instant coffee. This is how a lot of crafters actually age their stuff for the vintage feel. I'm suprised people don't know to go thicker on the tea/coffee than you would normally go drinking it.... You use the water in this case to actually get less pigment. (then again, I noticed Jazza didn't realize to go thicker either until he played around some more and got the effects he wanted)
I use coffee! I have a coffee machine that has a smaller filter portion for a couple tablespoons of grounds at a time and use it daily, so if I'm in need of a stain for D&D papers, I run the coffee machine with the used grounds, and the resulting weak coffee produces a light staining liquid. I put the papers onto a rimmed baking tray and pour the coffee over them until they sit in the thinnest-possible layer of coffee and are fully soaked, then I pop it in the oven at 170F, it does take longer than 5 minutes (usually closer to an hour) for all the water to evaporate off, and I have to carefully peel them off the tray at a certain point to get them to fully dry out, but the stain comes out nice and even. Optionally, to make them look more grimy, I add some of the used grounds across the papers before evaporating.
I just rubbed mine with leftover, used coffee grounds. The colour, texture, and smell are all great. I let them dry naturally overnight, then brushed off the grounds. Nothing was wasted, the results are consistent and good.
I've been a subscriber for a while and enjoy the positive attitude and the calm tone of this channel. This video gives me serious Henry' Kitchen vibes though and I couldn't help but laugh, not in a bad way though. Henry is a comedy channel who makes meals for one and has to divide his ingredients. Like here, so I take 3/4 tbsp, move it from a cup to a measuring spoon to a spoon, then divide that by 1/16 to get the amount needed to test. That's Henry to the letter lol. Anyway, still a good video enjoyed it as always.
I've used tea with good success. I've also used lemon juice too (look up lemon juice invisible ink). I crumple afterwards because its easier to spread the liquid evenly.
I make 100s of pages a year. Tea and coffee work better- but what you use has to be strong enough to dye the page immediately. I use a mix of 3 parts of 70% alcohol to 1part water, mix in instant espresso or coffee powder. Put in a fine spray bottle and spray pages while they lay flat. It dries in minutes, you can play with the strength of coffee. I add 1 drop of essential oil if you don’t like coffee smell. The odor will go away. Use a hair dryer to dry papers faster if needed. Be sure to check your ink to see if it is waterproof- some inks will fade quickly in water. The paper will make an amazing crinkle sound, but isn’t as fragile as the oven dried paper- if players are using it over time- that might be a creative consideration. **To everyone out there**There are numerous how to make tea stained paper RUclips videos- watch a few. Lots of junk journal and altered book makers are TTRPG players as well and show off their journals if you are interested in creating one or, just want to see what the do with their ideas. Have more fun creating- don’t let not being sure what will happen stop you- just give making things and telling stories a try. It is only paper and a little time. Love you BOB❤
I like to imagine "young bob" wish-casting to his future of being a RUclips sensation, who has not one, but two videos on the internet of "how to cook paper in soy sauce". Love your work man, you just keep doing you.
I made a treasure map like this once. After sketching out a schematic map and covering it with cryptic clues written with a calligraphy pen in elvish script (Tolkien's Tengwar), I crumpled up the paper, stained it with tea, then tore it into five or six pieces and burned the edges of each piece. The players discovered pieces as they explored the dungeon. Because of the burned edges it was hard to piece the map together properly, making it quite a puzzle. Some of the PCs could read elvish and were finally able to piece the map together by figuring which bits of text carried over from other pieces. A hit with the players!
Lots of cool ideas. Here's the method I'd do whenever I was after this effect... Supplies: Old used (but functional) iron (OK - you CAN use your normal iron if you want... but better to get a cheap iron from a thrift store or online) Cotton balls Milk Saucer or shallow dish / container - Take your printed paper. Pour a bit of milk in to your container and dab the cotton ball in it. - Paint a thin film of milk over the surface of your paper. Let it soak in for 30 sec or so. -- If you want some additional texture to your finished work, carefully crumple up the paper a bit then flatten out. - Set iron to a low temp. Iron wet paper. - Hot iron should begin to scorch the milk in the paper, leaving an uneven brown stain. Crumples will darken even more, giving that additional texture. -- Less-than-ideal outcome is some scorched milk on the iron (not hard to clean up - but still better to have a craft iron) and the distinct whiff of burned milk. I always found this to be fast an effective. Burn smells aside - I don't recall ever almost burning down any house.
I’m a ride or die coffee guy- I drink mine black and I bit on the strong side which may skew the results a tad lol, but I just wad up a paper towel into a semi-firm brick and dunk that into the coffee to then use that to spread it onto my maps. Throw it in the over on low for about 10 minutes afterwards and it comes out awesome from my experience! Also: putting the paper right on the oven rack dries faster than the baking pan, but you’ll get white creases from the hot rungs in the oven haha so be warned.
Tip 1: if a part tears off the map by “accident” during the edge tear, that good! Have it become an area that the players have trouble seeing for some reason. It can end up as a red herring, a potential pot hook, somewhere to hide bonus stuff, a funny cameo joke area, or even a path to another dungeon. For example have a wall covered in vines, a corner that is spewing noxious yellow spores, a bubbling ooze coating the end of a hallway, deep shadows that even devil sight cannot seem to pierce, a wall that shifts ever so slightly more than it should when you look at it… This works even better if you have players gather maps in downtime, and have to use map fragments to make the dungeon map (which may not always be accurate or up to date) or have to fill in the rest as they see it. Tip 2: if you are having trouble with the color of a stain like this showing too light, instead of a bath of it (which will give a light, but even coloration, and will take a long time) try using droplets, with how stains work the edge of them gives the most color and does so as they dry, so, if you drip tiny droplets (you can change what size you use to give different effects, or even froths or foams, those are like half way between soak and drops) and then use external heat to keep them drying quickly, you can very rapidly darken an entire page. Tip 3: although longer to seal in in some cases, use of an oil based stain can make for beautiful patterns and coloration, while also making it repellent to many future stains and scuffs, slightly translucent for better lighting, lock in the marks on the page, but also make the pages last longer later on. Added bonus is almost instant color change with most oils. The time to set is the one downfall Tip 3: using a dark vinegar or alchohol based sauce will dry out even faster and likely give even richer color than most water based options, it also tends to be cleaner to handle. Only problem is that they can become Too dark. Tip 4: mixing various methods is not a bad idea at times Tip 5: once a page is soaked in a liquid of choice you can “flour”/“bread” the page with ultra fine ground materials like coffee grounds/powder, cocoa grinds (not chocolate or cocoa drink mix powder), tea grounds, cinnamon, pepper flakes, macha, or other materials (some materials react to certain soak bases better, some give interesting colors) to both help it dry and impart additional color to the page, and then you just dry it off afterward. This will make a layered dye effect. Tip 6: different papers react to different proccesses in fully different ways, try out various material combos Tip 7: 100% dark cocoa syrup + blackberry syrup/extract/powder (or other dark berries) = how to make a black magic/unholy script coating that looks and Feels like its just flat out wrong to hold if you are a normal person Tip 8: make a jello bath thats a color you want and pour it thinly onto a page. If it sets lightly you can brush most off to make a “slime eaten scroll”, or, if you cook until it hardens it makes a unique… semi-shell-like leathery effect, possible good choice for like dragon hide or something
Just make some really, really strong dark coffee, pour it into a 9 x 11 pan and submerge your sheets of paper, then transfer them to a baking sheet and dry them in the oven. Submerging the sheets will prevent streaking. Then after they dry crumple the sheets or tear them as desired.
I tested a quarter sheet in the toaster oven using a strong tea. I used 1 tea bag with only about 2 or 3 tablespoons of boiling water. I probably let it steep for 20 minutes, I don't remember I walked off and got busy. But when I came back I just squeezed out the bag and spooned a bit on the paper and rubbed it around like Bob did with the soy sauce and stuck it in the oven for a couple minutes. It's a bit uneven, but I'm satisfied and no weird smells.
I've been doing stacks of maps and handouts for a COS game I'm prepping for, I used tea for most and some had a layer of super thinned out acrylic paint. The tea took about 4-5 bags to make a cup of liquid. When I'm happy about how dark they are I dry them on a window screen over the heat vents or in the sun.
Hi Bob. As a former bartender, I’d measure the amounts you’re using in ounces or milliliters. If you make cocktails at home and have a bartending jigger, that would work great for measurement. Also, the conversion of ounces to milliliters is really easy. 1 ounce = 30 milliliters.
When I do it, I put the soy sauce in a small cup and dip my paintbrush in it to spread across the paper. Dropping it directly on the paper always made it soak in too fast. The cup and brush also allows me to see what I miss and touch up the white spots immediately. My only complaint is that the smell does linger for a little while on the paper.
Done this before and definitely print out multiple copies because you will miss a spot while brushing. Plus having multiples that you can choose the one you like the best is nice. Such a quick and easy way to make a fun hand out. Yes it does smell of soy sauce but hey I'll take it if it makes things easy. Thanks Bob!
Here's my recipe: Printer paper, wrinkle lightly then smooth out. Mix one drop of dish detergent with 8 oz. water. Mix up a wash of your color of choice. It'll be about 2 oz. Get a water color brush of substantial size. Wet the paper with the dish detergent solution but don't soak it. Brush on the color wash and let a few drops pool here and there for texture variety. Set aside in a well ventilated area to dry. Could take an afternoon so keep pets away. No funky smells, no open flames, no brittle paper and no sticky sticky. :)
Thinned water-based acrylic craft paint can also be used! No baking, stickyness, or funny smells as well. If you really want a cool look, try adding a tiny amount of isopropyl alcohol to the thinned paint (or spritz the wet sheet).
You can also use water to dilute the color more or less for really good control over the color. You can also leave pools of the coffee to dry on the paper to create darker stains.
The variation in color looks better. It shows the inconsistency in creation and exposure. This looks great and will have to give it a run. Thanks again.
Pros and cons are exactly as stated on the tin, and I'm gonna keep on coffee and tea staining as a result. You can get a SUPER dark stain almost immediately. The stench of soy sauce though is genuinely overpowering. I get the feeling the topic of conversation would be less "cool map" and more "what smells like burnt teriyaki?" I did a side by side of one map, cut into 3 sections. One tea, one coffee, one soy sauce. God I wish I had just stuck to the prior two. Godspeed.
I want to comment to recommend my 5 minute method for aging paper. I don’t like dealing with pigments if I don’t have to, and this works best with single pages. I’ve tested it on laser/toner prints just fine, but can’t comment on inkjets. Just put a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice in a spray bottle and saturate the page. Then blast the page with a heat gun (hotter than a hair dryer) moving in quick swirling motions to spread the heat. The paper will randomly swell from the moisture and rapidly dry, causing a lot of texture to appear. Then, as the page is almost completely dry, a chemical reaction occurs that yellows the paper thanks to the acid. Just a tiny bit longer with the heat gun and the paper will even start to blacken anywhere it gets hot enough. Sometimes I’ll take a candle to just the edges to bring it all the way to burned once I’m done. Something else I like to do to paper is to attack it with some coarse sandpaper to give it some grit, though this may destroy parts of a printed image. With heavy pen inks it shouldn’t matter, or you can make your drawings after the paper is aged. I’ve tried to do this in the oven with mixed results as it’s harder to control, and it doesn’t work well for large stacks of paper, like for a book. But for a very small journal or just a few pages I find this really convenient and satisfying, thanks to the chemical magic involved.
Honestly never heard of using tea or soy sauce. I usually get some cold black coffee in an aluminum baking container that could fit a whole piece of paper, fill it with the coffee a little bit, then dunk in my paper.
That's the same start to my method - I usually dry the paper off with my heat gun, the quick drying forces a wrinkling/crinkling of the paper that (I feel) artificially ages it more as well. I haven't torn the edges of the pages as I will usually assemble them as part of a book though.
I don't like cooking vids. I don't like cooking shows. I don't like cooking, beyond the like 3 things I make that are awesome. I liked this vid! And the prequel! And the accurate title!
I think soy sauce has protein, and perhaps sugar, both of which would contribute to browning through the Maillard reaction. You might be able to use lemon juice as well (it makes an excellent invisible ink!). Although clear when applied, with heat lemon juice will also develop a brownish color.
The white patches are possibly caused more by the glue and/or different types of fibers in each sheet of paper versus how evenly the liquid was brushed on. These variances absorb the coloration at different rates, and react to heat at different temperatures. The higher the quality of paper, the more likely you'd have consistent, even coverage as the paper itself is more likely to be manufactured with the same fibers throughout, versus a hodgepodge mass of randomness.
You can get a packet of thick parchment paper from a craft store for $5. They even usually have specialty paper that is already frayed on the edges and has splotches / age marks.
you can also alter the intensity by diluting the soysauce in water and by brushing directly instead of poor and brush. extra dark spots can be added directly with less diluted sauce. you can also try coffee and baking soda ( to neutralize the acidity of the coffee ) as a darkening agent.
My setting is Victorian steampunk, so that really dark parchment look would be too much colour for me. Personally, I fill the bottom of a pan with instant coffee (making sure it's completely dissolved before I dip anything), then before I tear (or more commonly cut for a less medieval look), I soak the page for a few seconds and hang to air dry. This method is pretty tough on one or two corners of the paper as one gets too much colour and the opposite corner gets too little, but for the rest of the page the colour is even, and that is why I cut or tear the edges after the colouring. Also, when dealing with wet coffee paper, be real gentle, gravity will tear it to pieces, and it's very likely to stick to itself which creates spots. It's a bit of a hassle, but it works.
Hello, British person here. The reason tea wasn't working for you is because you didn't brew it for long enough and you didn't use boiling water - a common error in a nation that seems to think ice cold salt water is the best medium for a brew.
I LOVE ALL ALDIS VIDEOS!! Also your kitchen spoons are two different sizes and are named as such, teaspoon and tablespoon. I use them according to their names when measuring ingredients and have never destroyed a meal doing so.
I have in the past attempted a coffee soaking method (it was okay) and have also tried to heat up the page so that it's gets a dark color from being slightly burned... it just caught fire. This process seems much promising. Thanks Bob!
I enjoyed your contributions to Mike's video. (And while I'm currently exclusively playing online, I enjoy this sort of 'how to make physical handouts' video)
If you do find the smell bad, or some of the stain coming off, get some hair spray and spray on both sides. It will fix the pigment, and the smell, inside.
To think that all the time I've been following your channel, I've been having to stop myself thinking of the channel name as Bob the World Builder, and now you go and lean into Bob the Builder, albeit with the spooky musical sting! 😊😅😂😂 Nice update on your original map colouring video. 👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
The smell from my first attempt of this still haunts me to this day. It was probably too much or the brand or something else, but I don't know that I can ever bring myself to try it again. But thanks for doing some testing to at least narrow down what might work.
Next up: how to hide clues in irl snacks... (Seriously though, after watching this I love the idea of making "edible paper nachos" and my group unsuspiciously eating the map during the session...)
The reason for the back looking different from the front is likely from it being farther away from the lower heating element in your oven than the top. You are literally toasting your paper, you should do a control and see how a non treated sheet of paper will do in five minutes using just water instead of soy saucee. (to prevent ignition)
If you do something like that again may I suggest using a kitchen scale. As your cat themed spoons are fun. Weight is easy and better or random kitchen spoon.
@@BobWorldBuilder Bob, be honest now. Would you rather go on a first date with someone you really liked smelling like a fresh cup of coffee ... or soy sauce?
By the way if using volume you don't need a scale as your using volume... But yes a fine sauce scale would be more accurate and they can be in US customary or metric with a single button press... But I doudt you can find one cheap for a video like this fast and any that won't be cheap won't be fast... So good choice which by the way that is the reason why the US used and still uses volume in the home kitchen because it's cheap and acrate like what everyone before some war and the invention of metric made it easier to switch to weight.
If you love the soy sauce effect but want a less sticky result (even if you use less sauce), trying using tamari or a soy sauce without wheat. In my experience even in humid situations or with accidental saturation, the maps were dryer overall. I'm thinking that might have been due to the lack of wheat gluten in the sauce. I hope this helps.
I recommend not using soy sauce at all. All you actually need is sugar dissolved in hot water. Ulike with tea we're not staining the paper with the dark sauce colour when using this method, but rather burning a layer of sugar on the surface. All the other stuff in the sauce is what's making it sticky, and making the quantity hard to control. Sugar water is also much, much quicker, under the grill for a minute or two tops. Don't leave it unattended, just watch until it starts to brown then take it out. I find by the time I've painted the next sheet, the first one is done.
I tried similar looks for some handouts and after some fails with tea and coffee (haven't tried soy sauce) I just resorted to put an "old scroll texture" as background in whatever I was printing out
I wonder if those white spots on the darkest test water because bubbles were trapped underneath and the liquid was pooling on the pan so you got darker effect where the paper was making contact with the pan and it was lighter where the bubbles were.
Great breakdown! I remember using tea and coffee back in the day, as well as just scorching with a lighter or match. Soy sauce and an oven seem so much easier with better results (as well as safer!). Tucking this nugget away for the day when I can resume gaming in person again. Glad Mike's house is ok. I used to subscribe to him, but found his insertion of politics off-putting (I know we all have our political leanings, but I don't look to my D&D personalities for political commentary). Thank you, Bob, for not injecting politics. I really appreciate that!
For a limited time, you can actually get a free 30-day trail of any dScryb tier with code BOB!
💥 dScryb (affiliate): dscryb.com/?aff=267
Last time I did this, I made a very strongly brewed black tea. Start the tea like 2 hours before you plan to soak, use 3 or 4 tea bags. I also used a thicker, recycled paper that had a bit of a spongy feel to it. Drew the map, tore the edges, then let it soak in a shallow pan filled with tea for about 10 minutes or so (until the colour was right). Pat the excess off, then into the oven for 5-10 min on low heat until dry. It came out looking kinda pale, but had a great weathered parchment effect.
this is the way. if you use a nice earl grey they smell like bergamot... you could probably use different teas as a "scent based" clue
@@lordgrendellI like these ideas guys
Nice! Sounds like the more traditional method. The benefit of this one is that it only takes a few minutes total.
@@BobWorldBuilder definitely is the “traditional” method. I wonder if your soy sauce method would work better with a looser weaved or thicker paper? Can’t help with the soy sauce smell though!
Probably smells better.
I love how this entire video sounds like a D&D cooking and chemistry video at the same time.
I was better at chemistry in school than I am at cooking now haha
I can't believe I could stayed interested watching a guy spreading soy sauce on paper for 10 minutes... You really are a great entertainer!
I appreciate the reality check on this video lol
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how much Bob *CARES* about his viewers? He not only takes feedback from his audience, but goes forward to perfect the technique!
“We’re gonna fix it” HE SAID THE THING!
New tshirt?? Haha
@@BobWorldBuilder , seriously please do
fun fact, [the short edge being harder to tear] actually has nothing to do with the length you're tearing. its actually because of the direction of the fibres the paper is made from. which apparently is usually along the long edge
The times I have done this, I used tea bags, left over after brewing a cup of tea, then using the still-wet tea bags to "paint" the paper. It may take more than one tea bag, but you can add layers as much as you like, as long as you are happy to drink more tea.
Mmm. Tea!
Also, some herbal tea will give you different colors, some bold, some subtle.
I just made coffee. Got the cheapest stuff I could, and made it crazy extra strong so that the water that's staining will be nice and dark. Soak the paper and then hang it to dry on a drying rack like for cookies, no oven required! Took 5 minutes to brew the coffee, and then let the paper dry overnight. Look nice and aged, and then once it was dry I worked the paper a little bit with my hands just to keep it from getting too crispy
two B.W.B videos back to back?! we are truly blessed! 🙏
My pleasure! The survey one was pretty spur of the moment, and I'm glad I put it out quick because apparently the wotc survey went down that same day
And that's not counting the Questing Beast quizz
@@drillerdev4624 or Professor DM's take on the quizz too!
So much fun. J.P. Coovert also had some good advice for his Dune map.
JP Coovert is truly the map pro!
It has been a number of years, but I tend to use coffee. Not grounds, mind you, but rather straight espresso and I dab it from the cup to the paper using a sponge.
Instant coffee works pretty well as well. (for people who doesn't want the Soy sauce smell) You brew that rather thickly with hot water (You can microwave it together), and diolute to your needs. More water will make it ligher, and less water will make it darker. No oven required because you're literally brushing it on in layers to get the effects you want. Watercolor style. Then let it sit and dry (if you tape it down on the surface you're working on, it will lay flat, but if you don't care and want the paper to actually use that water to crinkle more, then don't bother. If in a book, make sure you let it dry standing up because it'll keep the pages from sticking together. This is the method I used to age up my halloween party sign in book pages because I didn't want to murder the thing wih the oven, and it turned out better aged this way because it actually looks more realistic than if you pre wrinkle it. also pretty readable)
Also you can do this with the tea method. It actually dries faster if you do it in layers and build up from there, also again has a better aged effect. Lipton Tea seeps the quickest the darkest. (You can put in two bags in the microwaveed water for about 5 minuets) and but make sure you put in LESS water than you would with normal tea. Add water for the effects you want. Again much like Watercolor. If you feel like you want to darken the edges more without the tea? there's also aging distress inks you can get the smaller spudges for cheap and just use a spundge to get the edges and you're done. But you can do the similar thing with he thickest sludge of the tea/instant coffee. This is how a lot of crafters actually age their stuff for the vintage feel. I'm suprised people don't know to go thicker on the tea/coffee than you would normally go drinking it.... You use the water in this case to actually get less pigment. (then again, I noticed Jazza didn't realize to go thicker either until he played around some more and got the effects he wanted)
I use coffee! I have a coffee machine that has a smaller filter portion for a couple tablespoons of grounds at a time and use it daily, so if I'm in need of a stain for D&D papers, I run the coffee machine with the used grounds, and the resulting weak coffee produces a light staining liquid. I put the papers onto a rimmed baking tray and pour the coffee over them until they sit in the thinnest-possible layer of coffee and are fully soaked, then I pop it in the oven at 170F, it does take longer than 5 minutes (usually closer to an hour) for all the water to evaporate off, and I have to carefully peel them off the tray at a certain point to get them to fully dry out, but the stain comes out nice and even. Optionally, to make them look more grimy, I add some of the used grounds across the papers before evaporating.
I just rubbed mine with leftover, used coffee grounds. The colour, texture, and smell are all great. I let them dry naturally overnight, then brushed off the grounds. Nothing was wasted, the results are consistent and good.
I've never shouted "just use tea" quite so much as watching this bizarre art project.
10/10 no notes
I've been a subscriber for a while and enjoy the positive attitude and the calm tone of this channel. This video gives me serious Henry' Kitchen vibes though and I couldn't help but laugh, not in a bad way though. Henry is a comedy channel who makes meals for one and has to divide his ingredients. Like here, so I take 3/4 tbsp, move it from a cup to a measuring spoon to a spoon, then divide that by 1/16 to get the amount needed to test. That's Henry to the letter lol. Anyway, still a good video enjoyed it as always.
Definite Henry's kitchen vibes.
I've used tea with good success. I've also used lemon juice too (look up lemon juice invisible ink). I crumple afterwards because its easier to spread the liquid evenly.
I love how honest you are about your SQRL process in your videos! More. Always more, please.
I make 100s of pages a year. Tea and coffee work better- but what you use has to be strong enough to dye the page immediately. I use a mix of 3 parts of 70% alcohol to 1part water, mix in instant espresso or coffee powder. Put in a fine spray bottle and spray pages while they lay flat. It dries in minutes, you can play with the strength of coffee. I add 1 drop of essential oil if you don’t like coffee smell. The odor will go away. Use a hair dryer to dry papers faster if needed. Be sure to check your ink to see if it is waterproof- some inks will fade quickly in water. The paper will make an amazing crinkle sound, but isn’t as fragile as the oven dried paper- if players are using it over time- that might be a creative consideration.
**To everyone out there**There are numerous how to make tea stained paper RUclips videos- watch a few. Lots of junk journal and altered book makers are TTRPG players as well and show off their journals if you are interested in creating one or, just want to see what the do with their ideas. Have more fun creating- don’t let not being sure what will happen stop you- just give making things and telling stories a try. It is only paper and a little time.
Love you BOB❤
Good to know!
**yoink** Thanks for the recipe!🙏
I like to imagine "young bob" wish-casting to his future of being a RUclips sensation, who has not one, but two videos on the internet of "how to cook paper in soy sauce".
Love your work man, you just keep doing you.
I made a treasure map like this once. After sketching out a schematic map and covering it with cryptic clues written with a calligraphy pen in elvish script (Tolkien's Tengwar), I crumpled up the paper, stained it with tea, then tore it into five or six pieces and burned the edges of each piece. The players discovered pieces as they explored the dungeon. Because of the burned edges it was hard to piece the map together properly, making it quite a puzzle. Some of the PCs could read elvish and were finally able to piece the map together by figuring which bits of text carried over from other pieces. A hit with the players!
Cool!
Lots of cool ideas. Here's the method I'd do whenever I was after this effect...
Supplies:
Old used (but functional) iron (OK - you CAN use your normal iron if you want... but better to get a cheap iron from a thrift store or online)
Cotton balls
Milk
Saucer or shallow dish / container
- Take your printed paper. Pour a bit of milk in to your container and dab the cotton ball in it.
- Paint a thin film of milk over the surface of your paper. Let it soak in for 30 sec or so.
-- If you want some additional texture to your finished work, carefully crumple up the paper a bit then flatten out.
- Set iron to a low temp. Iron wet paper.
- Hot iron should begin to scorch the milk in the paper, leaving an uneven brown stain. Crumples will darken even more, giving that additional texture.
-- Less-than-ideal outcome is some scorched milk on the iron (not hard to clean up - but still better to have a craft iron) and the distinct whiff of burned milk.
I always found this to be fast an effective. Burn smells aside - I don't recall ever almost burning down any house.
I’m a ride or die coffee guy- I drink mine black and I bit on the strong side which may skew the results a tad lol, but I just wad up a paper towel into a semi-firm brick and dunk that into the coffee to then use that to spread it onto my maps. Throw it in the over on low for about 10 minutes afterwards and it comes out awesome from my experience! Also: putting the paper right on the oven rack dries faster than the baking pan, but you’ll get white creases from the hot rungs in the oven haha so be warned.
Tip 1: if a part tears off the map by “accident” during the edge tear, that good! Have it become an area that the players have trouble seeing for some reason. It can end up as a red herring, a potential pot hook, somewhere to hide bonus stuff, a funny cameo joke area, or even a path to another dungeon. For example have a wall covered in vines, a corner that is spewing noxious yellow spores, a bubbling ooze coating the end of a hallway, deep shadows that even devil sight cannot seem to pierce, a wall that shifts ever so slightly more than it should when you look at it…
This works even better if you have players gather maps in downtime, and have to use map fragments to make the dungeon map (which may not always be accurate or up to date) or have to fill in the rest as they see it.
Tip 2: if you are having trouble with the color of a stain like this showing too light, instead of a bath of it (which will give a light, but even coloration, and will take a long time) try using droplets, with how stains work the edge of them gives the most color and does so as they dry, so, if you drip tiny droplets (you can change what size you use to give different effects, or even froths or foams, those are like half way between soak and drops) and then use external heat to keep them drying quickly, you can very rapidly darken an entire page.
Tip 3: although longer to seal in in some cases, use of an oil based stain can make for beautiful patterns and coloration, while also making it repellent to many future stains and scuffs, slightly translucent for better lighting, lock in the marks on the page, but also make the pages last longer later on. Added bonus is almost instant color change with most oils. The time to set is the one downfall
Tip 3: using a dark vinegar or alchohol based sauce will dry out even faster and likely give even richer color than most water based options, it also tends to be cleaner to handle. Only problem is that they can become Too dark.
Tip 4: mixing various methods is not a bad idea at times
Tip 5: once a page is soaked in a liquid of choice you can “flour”/“bread” the page with ultra fine ground materials like coffee grounds/powder, cocoa grinds (not chocolate or cocoa drink mix powder), tea grounds, cinnamon, pepper flakes, macha, or other materials (some materials react to certain soak bases better, some give interesting colors) to both help it dry and impart additional color to the page, and then you just dry it off afterward. This will make a layered dye effect.
Tip 6: different papers react to different proccesses in fully different ways, try out various material combos
Tip 7: 100% dark cocoa syrup + blackberry syrup/extract/powder (or other dark berries) = how to make a black magic/unholy script coating that looks and Feels like its just flat out wrong to hold if you are a normal person
Tip 8: make a jello bath thats a color you want and pour it thinly onto a page. If it sets lightly you can brush most off to make a “slime eaten scroll”, or, if you cook until it hardens it makes a unique… semi-shell-like leathery effect, possible good choice for like dragon hide or something
I love all Bob the, yes "the" Worldbuilder videos! ☺
Thanks for commenting!
@@BobWorldBuilder and for creating some „the“-engagement 😁
Just make some really, really strong dark coffee, pour it into a 9 x 11 pan and submerge your sheets of paper, then transfer them to a baking sheet and dry them in the oven. Submerging the sheets will prevent streaking. Then after they dry crumple the sheets or tear them as desired.
I tested a quarter sheet in the toaster oven using a strong tea. I used 1 tea bag with only about 2 or 3 tablespoons of boiling water. I probably let it steep for 20 minutes, I don't remember I walked off and got busy. But when I came back I just squeezed out the bag and spooned a bit on the paper and rubbed it around like Bob did with the soy sauce and stuck it in the oven for a couple minutes. It's a bit uneven, but I'm satisfied and no weird smells.
I've been doing stacks of maps and handouts for a COS game I'm prepping for, I used tea for most and some had a layer of super thinned out acrylic paint. The tea took about 4-5 bags to make a cup of liquid. When I'm happy about how dark they are I dry them on a window screen over the heat vents or in the sun.
Hi Bob. As a former bartender, I’d measure the amounts you’re using in ounces or milliliters. If you make cocktails at home and have a bartending jigger, that would work great for measurement. Also, the conversion of ounces to milliliters is really easy. 1 ounce = 30 milliliters.
It gets confusing converting liquid measurements when you’re using measurements for baking like teaspoons and tablespoons and such.
When I do it, I put the soy sauce in a small cup and dip my paintbrush in it to spread across the paper. Dropping it directly on the paper always made it soak in too fast. The cup and brush also allows me to see what I miss and touch up the white spots immediately.
My only complaint is that the smell does linger for a little while on the paper.
I love all of Bob the World Builder videos!!
Thanks for commenting!
This was a great follow up video
Thanks!
0:23 Wow, I have been watching this cannel since the DoIP days and did not realize its title was a reference to that cartoon until this very moment.
Done this before and definitely print out multiple copies because you will miss a spot while brushing. Plus having multiples that you can choose the one you like the best is nice. Such a quick and easy way to make a fun hand out.
Yes it does smell of soy sauce but hey I'll take it if it makes things easy. Thanks Bob!
Here's my recipe:
Printer paper, wrinkle lightly then smooth out.
Mix one drop of dish detergent with 8 oz. water.
Mix up a wash of your color of choice. It'll be about 2 oz.
Get a water color brush of substantial size.
Wet the paper with the dish detergent solution but don't soak it.
Brush on the color wash and let a few drops pool here and there for texture variety.
Set aside in a well ventilated area to dry. Could take an afternoon so keep pets away.
No funky smells, no open flames, no brittle paper and no sticky sticky. :)
The perfect recipe for cooking a map in soy sauce. This is peak DnD. I love it.
Thinned water-based acrylic craft paint can also be used! No baking, stickyness, or funny smells as well. If you really want a cool look, try adding a tiny amount of isopropyl alcohol to the thinned paint (or spritz the wet sheet).
Great idea!
I love ALL Bob World Builder videos!
Thanks for commenting!
JP Coovert recommended watercolor (iirc) in a video he made after watching yours. Either way is great
Great idea if you have watercolors on hand
I’ve always found that instant coffee with just a little bit of water works super well and it smells really nice afterwards.
You can also use water to dilute the color more or less for really good control over the color. You can also leave pools of the coffee to dry on the paper to create darker stains.
The variation in color looks better. It shows the inconsistency in creation and exposure. This looks great and will have to give it a run.
Thanks again.
1000 likes and Bob "The" World Builder will eat one of his umami creations.
Pros and cons are exactly as stated on the tin, and I'm gonna keep on coffee and tea staining as a result. You can get a SUPER dark stain almost immediately. The stench of soy sauce though is genuinely overpowering. I get the feeling the topic of conversation would be less "cool map" and more "what smells like burnt teriyaki?"
I did a side by side of one map, cut into 3 sections. One tea, one coffee, one soy sauce. God I wish I had just stuck to the prior two. Godspeed.
Well, that was a fun video
I want to comment to recommend my 5 minute method for aging paper. I don’t like dealing with pigments if I don’t have to, and this works best with single pages. I’ve tested it on laser/toner prints just fine, but can’t comment on inkjets. Just put a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice in a spray bottle and saturate the page. Then blast the page with a heat gun (hotter than a hair dryer) moving in quick swirling motions to spread the heat. The paper will randomly swell from the moisture and rapidly dry, causing a lot of texture to appear. Then, as the page is almost completely dry, a chemical reaction occurs that yellows the paper thanks to the acid. Just a tiny bit longer with the heat gun and the paper will even start to blacken anywhere it gets hot enough. Sometimes I’ll take a candle to just the edges to bring it all the way to burned once I’m done.
Something else I like to do to paper is to attack it with some coarse sandpaper to give it some grit, though this may destroy parts of a printed image. With heavy pen inks it shouldn’t matter, or you can make your drawings after the paper is aged.
I’ve tried to do this in the oven with mixed results as it’s harder to control, and it doesn’t work well for large stacks of paper, like for a book. But for a very small journal or just a few pages I find this really convenient and satisfying, thanks to the chemical magic involved.
I always appreciate the expermiment videos. Thank you, Bob!
These kinds of videos are exactly what I love about your channel!
Honestly never heard of using tea or soy sauce. I usually get some cold black coffee in an aluminum baking container that could fit a whole piece of paper, fill it with the coffee a little bit, then dunk in my paper.
That's the same start to my method - I usually dry the paper off with my heat gun, the quick drying forces a wrinkling/crinkling of the paper that (I feel) artificially ages it more as well. I haven't torn the edges of the pages as I will usually assemble them as part of a book though.
I don't like cooking vids. I don't like cooking shows. I don't like cooking, beyond the like 3 things I make that are awesome.
I liked this vid! And the prequel!
And the accurate title!
I tried something similar with coffee and turmeric recently. Was a bit gritty but it gave a very nice yellowed and worn parchment look.
I like the addition of turmeric idea!
I think soy sauce has protein, and perhaps sugar, both of which would contribute to browning through the Maillard reaction. You might be able to use lemon juice as well (it makes an excellent invisible ink!). Although clear when applied, with heat lemon juice will also develop a brownish color.
I love the scientific approach here. There's something very satisfying about using the scientific method to create fantasy. :)
The white patches are possibly caused more by the glue and/or different types of fibers in each sheet of paper versus how evenly the liquid was brushed on. These variances absorb the coloration at different rates, and react to heat at different temperatures. The higher the quality of paper, the more likely you'd have consistent, even coverage as the paper itself is more likely to be manufactured with the same fibers throughout, versus a hodgepodge mass of randomness.
I was not expecting to have the inferiority of the imperial system underlined here but that's a nice bonus to an otherwise excellent video.
I love scientific method Bob :) Kudos and congrats!
I love all Bob World Builder videos
This works great. I found that if you lay the paper down on cooking parchment paper, the back side is more even, though a little lighter.
You can get a packet of thick parchment paper from a craft store for $5. They even usually have specialty paper that is already frayed on the edges and has splotches / age marks.
does it work well (or at all) with laser printers? I'm not good at drawing so I print most of my handouts
@Matti2ooo8 Yeah, absolutely. It's A4 format and ink comes out clear. I don't draw anymore either lol.
you can also alter the intensity by diluting the soysauce in water and by brushing directly instead of poor and brush. extra dark spots can be added directly with less diluted sauce.
you can also try coffee and baking soda ( to neutralize the acidity of the coffee ) as a darkening agent.
My setting is Victorian steampunk, so that really dark parchment look would be too much colour for me.
Personally, I fill the bottom of a pan with instant coffee (making sure it's completely dissolved before I dip anything), then before I tear (or more commonly cut for a less medieval look), I soak the page for a few seconds and hang to air dry.
This method is pretty tough on one or two corners of the paper as one gets too much colour and the opposite corner gets too little, but for the rest of the page the colour is even, and that is why I cut or tear the edges after the colouring.
Also, when dealing with wet coffee paper, be real gentle, gravity will tear it to pieces, and it's very likely to stick to itself which creates spots. It's a bit of a hassle, but it works.
I've never done the oven step and never had a problem using tea or coffee.
Hello, British person here. The reason tea wasn't working for you is because you didn't brew it for long enough and you didn't use boiling water - a common error in a nation that seems to think ice cold salt water is the best medium for a brew.
I LOVE ALL ALDIS VIDEOS!!
Also your kitchen spoons are two different sizes and are named as such, teaspoon and tablespoon. I use them according to their names when measuring ingredients and have never destroyed a meal doing so.
You can also use canola oil to yellow it and give it a weathered look. Use a paper towel to dab after.
I have in the past attempted a coffee soaking method (it was okay) and have also tried to heat up the page so that it's gets a dark color from being slightly burned... it just caught fire. This process seems much promising. Thanks Bob!
I typically use instant coffee. I brush it over the page before baking it and it’s always worked fine for me.
I enjoyed your contributions to Mike's video.
(And while I'm currently exclusively playing online, I enjoy this sort of 'how to make physical handouts' video)
Less soy sauce and a little water ought to give you a nice golden color. I might try that.
If you do find the smell bad, or some of the stain coming off, get some hair spray and spray on both sides. It will fix the pigment, and the smell, inside.
To think that all the time I've been following your channel, I've been having to stop myself thinking of the channel name as Bob the World Builder, and now you go and lean into Bob the Builder, albeit with the spooky musical sting!
😊😅😂😂
Nice update on your original map colouring video.
👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
Instant coffee work fairly well. I've had good results with it
papers are sometimes coated, often on only 1 side.That could explain why the 1/4 sheet/1 tsp test looked different on the 2 sides.
The smell from my first attempt of this still haunts me to this day. It was probably too much or the brand or something else, but I don't know that I can ever bring myself to try it again. But thanks for doing some testing to at least narrow down what might work.
Next up: how to hide clues in irl snacks...
(Seriously though, after watching this I love the idea of making "edible paper nachos" and my group unsuspiciously eating the map during the session...)
I can't tell if this is an ad for the soy sauce or for the cat themed measuring spoons
Do a shot every time Bob says soy sauce! Go!
Interesting. I think this would make a good arts & crafts project with my daughter. Thx Bob.
The white spots are probably from the excess sauce bubbling during the baking.
Great method! Only problem I had is that I couldn't resist eating all the delicious soy maps before any session could occur with them.
The reason for the back looking different from the front is likely from it being farther away from the lower heating element in your oven than the top. You are literally toasting your paper, you should do a control and see how a non treated sheet of paper will do in five minutes using just water instead of soy saucee. (to prevent ignition)
If you do something like that again may I suggest using a kitchen scale. As your cat themed spoons are fun. Weight is easy and better or random kitchen spoon.
Coffee. Smells better than soy sauce.
True, but its wired it smells so good but tastes like crap
Opinions are opinions too
@@BobWorldBuilder Bob, be honest now. Would you rather go on a first date with someone you really liked smelling like a fresh cup of coffee ... or soy sauce?
Packing Paper. It means you'll have to draw the maps out, but I don't see that as a loss.
Nerdiness to the max :) I love it!
By the way if using volume you don't need a scale as your using volume... But yes a fine sauce scale would be more accurate and they can be in US customary or metric with a single button press... But I doudt you can find one cheap for a video like this fast and any that won't be cheap won't be fast... So good choice which by the way that is the reason why the US used and still uses volume in the home kitchen because it's cheap and acrate like what everyone before some war and the invention of metric made it easier to switch to weight.
If you love the soy sauce effect but want a less sticky result (even if you use less sauce), trying using tamari or a soy sauce without wheat. In my experience even in humid situations or with accidental saturation, the maps were dryer overall. I'm thinking that might have been due to the lack of wheat gluten in the sauce. I hope this helps.
What I did previously was print the page with an aged background, crumple the paper, then lightly burn the edges.
Aldi soy sauce? you’re a man of the people, Bob
Great video boss! I’m going to try this on a hand out I’m making
Throughout the video, me singing, "I'm a map, I'm a map, I'm a map!"
I can't wait to try this!
bob must be reading my mind I was just thinking about prop building for my next session
Great video! I appreciate the work you do.
This is what I’m looking in for!
I recommend not using soy sauce at all. All you actually need is sugar dissolved in hot water. Ulike with tea we're not staining the paper with the dark sauce colour when using this method, but rather burning a layer of sugar on the surface. All the other stuff in the sauce is what's making it sticky, and making the quantity hard to control. Sugar water is also much, much quicker, under the grill for a minute or two tops. Don't leave it unattended, just watch until it starts to brown then take it out. I find by the time I've painted the next sheet, the first one is done.
Thank you bob for this inspiring video.
I tried similar looks for some handouts and after some fails with tea and coffee (haven't tried soy sauce) I just resorted to put an "old scroll texture" as background in whatever I was printing out
I wonder if those white spots on the darkest test water because bubbles were trapped underneath and the liquid was pooling on the pan so you got darker effect where the paper was making contact with the pan and it was lighter where the bubbles were.
Great breakdown! I remember using tea and coffee back in the day, as well as just scorching with a lighter or match. Soy sauce and an oven seem so much easier with better results (as well as safer!). Tucking this nugget away for the day when I can resume gaming in person again.
Glad Mike's house is ok. I used to subscribe to him, but found his insertion of politics off-putting (I know we all have our political leanings, but I don't look to my D&D personalities for political commentary). Thank you, Bob, for not injecting politics. I really appreciate that!