I have read on this forum that some people preserve their distilled water by the gallon so as not to have to preserve it every time you make one product. I tried doing that for my room sprays with Germaben II. I just put it in a new gallon and shook it up. I thought it was fine until I went to use it again and it looks like it has flakes floating around in the water when I shake it up. Anyone have this happen or is there a process I should be doing to mix it better? Thanks!
Preserving in bulk
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You really don't need to preserve water so I'm unclear as to why you would do it. The amount of preservative needed in a recipe goes by water + oils + additives not just the water. I have a hunch someone is playing with you....
You have to preserve any product with water in it so this is just an easier way to add it without having to do it every time you make a room or body spray. Here is one of the posts I found on it...
For body spray I use distilled water that has been preserved with Germaben, e/o modifier, fo, and glycerin. I use the almost the same for room/linen spray, but use poly instead of the modifier (poly 20 makes it cloudy, the modifier doesn't) and take out the glycerin.
I know I read about it more than once so people are doing it. Maybe I'll try and contact the writer of this post. Thanks!
For body spray I use distilled water that has been preserved with Germaben, e/o modifier, fo, and glycerin. I use the almost the same for room/linen spray, but use poly instead of the modifier (poly 20 makes it cloudy, the modifier doesn't) and take out the glycerin.
I know I read about it more than once so people are doing it. Maybe I'll try and contact the writer of this post. Thanks!
Just because they posted it does not mean they are correct. There are people who swear they don't ever have to use a preservative and they are dead wrong, but they posted it.
If you want to learn how to do things right then you need to accept that people who have been making and selling for years using recipes that have been accepted by the regulating bodies might just know what they are talking about. If you don't want an answer that differs from your opinion don't post the question.
If you want to learn how to do things right then you need to accept that people who have been making and selling for years using recipes that have been accepted by the regulating bodies might just know what they are talking about. If you don't want an answer that differs from your opinion don't post the question.
I'm sorry if I touched a nerve. Not what I was going for.:-( I look to this forum all the time for answers and insight and its impossible for me to know how much experience one has just from a post. The post I found earlier was just one of many that I had read so I thought that this is a common practice among experienced bath and body creators. I take everyone's advice seriously including yours. I have decided to ditch that gallon of preserved water because of the separation issues I was having and I'm just going to do it as I was normally doing it. I don't want to second guess if my preservative is working or if I have enough. Thanks for your help!
No problem but I see it so often here. People ask for help and then dispute it because the answer doesn't suit them.
One of the things I have found over the years is that if I see something new, or a new idea my first test is logic.
One of the things I have found over the years is that if I see something new, or a new idea my first test is logic.
I sincerely agree with Lindy. Add preservative to the product at the time of manufacture, not to the water or any other separate ingredient in advance.
If I did decide to add preservative to my distilled water for whatever reason, I would use that prepared water solution immediately and throw out any left overs when I was done. I would never store the water-preservative solution for any length of time.
I would be highly unlikely to do that, because I use a "heat and hold" method of making lotions. (I realize you are making a body spray.) In this procedure to make a lotion, you heat your oil phase (oils, butters, thickener, emulsifier) and your water phase (water, glycerin, other heat stable ingredients) to 160 deg F (70 deg C) and hold them at that temp for 20 minutes. After that, the warmed oil and water phases are blended together to emulsify them, then the lotion is cooled and fragrance, preservative, and other heat sensitive ingredients are added.
The "heat and hold" method improves the emulsification process and sanitizes the ingredients. Most preservatives are not heat stable, however, so you have to wait to add them until the lotion cools down. I add my preservative (Germall Plus) after my lotion cools to 120 deg F (50 deg C). Depending on the preservative you are using, you might have to cool your lotion even more. If you add the preservative to the water, you will inactivate the preservative in the heating step, so there are no advantages to doing that.
Even if you don't use "heat and hold" to make your products, the preservative diluted in water will degrade due to hydrolysis. (Hydrolysis is when water reacts with other chemicals.) The preservative will also degrade with exposure to light -- there's a reason why preservatives are packaged in dark containers. You could quite easily end up using a totally ineffective preservative in your products, and you won't know your preservative isn't working until it's too late to do anything about it.
I also agree with Lindy that just because someone writes something intriguing in a blog or wherever on the internet, doesn't mean it is good practice. If information cannot be confirmed by other reputable sources, I am skeptical. So kudos to you for asking your question here. I hope our comments have been helpful!
If I did decide to add preservative to my distilled water for whatever reason, I would use that prepared water solution immediately and throw out any left overs when I was done. I would never store the water-preservative solution for any length of time.
I would be highly unlikely to do that, because I use a "heat and hold" method of making lotions. (I realize you are making a body spray.) In this procedure to make a lotion, you heat your oil phase (oils, butters, thickener, emulsifier) and your water phase (water, glycerin, other heat stable ingredients) to 160 deg F (70 deg C) and hold them at that temp for 20 minutes. After that, the warmed oil and water phases are blended together to emulsify them, then the lotion is cooled and fragrance, preservative, and other heat sensitive ingredients are added.
The "heat and hold" method improves the emulsification process and sanitizes the ingredients. Most preservatives are not heat stable, however, so you have to wait to add them until the lotion cools down. I add my preservative (Germall Plus) after my lotion cools to 120 deg F (50 deg C). Depending on the preservative you are using, you might have to cool your lotion even more. If you add the preservative to the water, you will inactivate the preservative in the heating step, so there are no advantages to doing that.
Even if you don't use "heat and hold" to make your products, the preservative diluted in water will degrade due to hydrolysis. (Hydrolysis is when water reacts with other chemicals.) The preservative will also degrade with exposure to light -- there's a reason why preservatives are packaged in dark containers. You could quite easily end up using a totally ineffective preservative in your products, and you won't know your preservative isn't working until it's too late to do anything about it.
I also agree with Lindy that just because someone writes something intriguing in a blog or wherever on the internet, doesn't mean it is good practice. If information cannot be confirmed by other reputable sources, I am skeptical. So kudos to you for asking your question here. I hope our comments have been helpful!
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