Body wash and preservatives

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Lazyday

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I was wanting to make a body wash similar to an Olay moisturizing one. I'm brand new at this so forgive me if I sound like an idiot :)

I'm thinking of using Dr. Bronners liquid Castile as the soap and adding in my butters/oils/fragrance. I would need an emulsifier, but not a preservative, correct?

What if I added some aloe? Would I need preservative to cover that?

Finally, what if I used grated soap and water? I'm assuming I would the need a preservative?

I'm trying to avoid preservatives in the lotions I want to make by ticking to solids, but this body wash idea has me flummoxed, particularly because google is telling me that nobody makes body wash. Is there a reason for this? I've not used homemade soap before, but I've always found Castile soap to be too drying in the high desert, but I would really like to start avoiding the purchased stuff.

Thanks!
 
Anytime you add water you need to add a preservative. If your aloe contains a preservative, then you probably won't need to add extra for just it, but if you add water to the solution, you will need a preservative.
 
LSG is right! ANYTIME you use water you will need a preservative!

Is there any particular reason you're looking to stay away from preservatives? I used to avoid them like the plague, but after finding preservatives that meet my needs as well as the guiding principles of my company, they're not so bad anymore!

I def agree about castile soap being too drying, though! Have you thought about maybe using some premade bases for your body wash? Or trying to make some solid body bars?
 
I'm not avoiding preservatives so much as trying to not use them at the same time as I am trying to learn about everything else. There is so much debate about preservatives and which ones are okay and which ones will kill you (okay, exaggerated, but still) that I thought I'd start with what I could without them.

I've been reading about making liquid soap, and I think I might start there, but it confuses me, because it is diluted (after the lye water ) and nobody mentions needing preservative for it. I was thinking soap didn't need preservative because of the saponification process, but diluting doesn't seem to be apart of that.

I really need a book, but my library doesn't have any at all.

Anyways, I think I'm going to get both types of lye and try soap and lotion bars over Thanksgiving when there are more adults around for baby/kid watching.
 
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