Eww, mold....

[Cellador]

Hi all. Mold hit one of my lotions! The exact batch discussed here, actually- https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/how-can-i-improve-texture-of-lotion.68728/

This is the first time I've seen mold on any of my batches (I know you can't always see it), but now I'm a little paranoid. How are you supposed to know whether a batch is appropriately preserved?

I do not sell and will not sell for awhile, but that is my goal for the long-term once my kids reach school age. I will pay for challenge testing before then, but how can I ensure the safety of my practice batches? I have gifted some lotions to close friends and family for feedback, so safety is important to me. I really want to do this...and do it the right way.

I am planning on buying some test kits, but I'm confused as to when I should test, the best way to do preliminary "challenge" testing, and whether or not I need to test each batch or each bottle? Only one of three of the jars of this particular batch appears affected, but they are all in the trash now.

Advice from any other lotion sellers appreciated, please. How'd you go about this process?

Sorry for rambling

 

[DeeAnna]

I have become more and more particular about sanitizing my bottles and equipment when making lotion. I used to spray everything with high-proof grain alcohol, but have become more doubtful about the efficacy of this. I still use alcohol for cleaning the countertop and other items that don't need to be super sanitary. A 10% bleach solution supposedly works, but you need to rinse it off and that can introduce contamination. I now use a no-rinse sanitizer called Star-san for my mixing jars, stick blender, product containers, etc.

Carolyn (cmzaha) has mentioned she uses a double preservative system to ensure the product stays sanitary over time. I'm not quite sure what she does or all the issues a person needs to think about when using multiple preservatives, but I do know this is often done for commercial products too.

Another thing is to consider the type of packaging -- product is more likely to be contaminated in some types of containers than others.

 

[Cellador]

Yes, I also use 70% alcohol for sanitizing equipment, but I will look into the StarSan.

This is also the first (and maybe only) time I've used jars for lotion. I usually use a pump top, so I wondered if that was the issue as well.

I also used a high glycerine amount & it always felt like there was a moist layer on top of the cream. I wonder if that also contributed to the issue.

 

[DeeAnna]

I don't have any sense whether the mold problem was aggravated by the glycerin -- hard to say.

I went back and looked at your recipe again. I see it has about 50% fat-soluble ingredients. Most lotions I make have about 20-30% fat-soluble ingredients, so there's a lot more water in my recipes in proportion to the fats.

You didn't say what preservative you used, so I'm guessing here. But if your preservative was water soluble, it may not have protected the fat soluble ingredients as well as it should have.

Think of a typical lotion as a bowl of Rice Krispies in milk (this is what's called a fat-in-water emulsion). The krispies are the droplets of fat and the milk is the water soluble ingredients, including the water soluble preservative. If there are a few krispies swimming around in a lot of milk, the milk will coat the krispies with a bath of preservative. If there are a lot of krispies in proportion to milk, the krispies will not be covered as thoroughly and completely by the preservative-laced milk as is needed.

If you think you have the second situation, a fat-soluble preservative might be a better choice. For example, I use liquid germall plus for my typical high-water lotions, but for anything with a high fat content, I use phenonip.

 

[Cellador]

Thanks for your insight. I also use LGP at it's maximum usage rate. I also have Phenonip, but it's effectiveness is reduced by the e-waxes I use on a fairly regular basis. Maybe I'm better off sticking to BTMS-50, since it seems to play well with most preservatives.
Tricky thing, this cosmetics crafting...