Need a preservative for my lotion

[Hausfrau007]

I've made the following lotion (which went moldy on me after four weeks). I love the recipe, and the consistency is perfect, if only it had stayed fresh longer. I'm so dissappointed. My online supplier has Optiphen for a preservative -- what do you think? Is there a more natural way to keep lotions fresh longer? If the Optiphen is okay (paraben and formaldehyde free), how much do I add, and at what stage?

Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup emulsifying wax
1/4 cup butters and oils (I used a mix of coconut oil, mango butter and shea butter)
eo for flavour (I used lemon)

Any tips would be much appreciated -- I stupidly went ahead and bought 30 4-oz lotion containers (to give away for Christmas), and now I'm extremely discouraged from trying again for fear of wasting all those expensive ingredients again. Thanks in advance!!

 

[lsg]

I like Liquid Germall Plus or Optiphen Plus in lotion. Here is a link with info on preservatives:

http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... ervatives/

 

[Hausfrau007]

See? I've been to that link, and the amount used (0.5% to 1.5% of total weight of lotion) is just so tiny! Not knowing anything about anything, could that little really prevent spoilage? A small amount of that preservative would last me forever (I would like to make lotions 2 or 3 cups at a time, just for gifting).

 

[judymoody]

Yes, that small % can be effective. Use the amount that the manufacturer recommends. More is not better. Also you will need to know when to add the preservative as some have to be added within a certain temperature range (generally but not always at cool down).

I assume that your first batch didn't have a preservative of any kind? If so, I'm not surprised it went bad.

For future reference you might want to check out this blog: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... otion.html

She also sells ebooks about lotion making that are invaluable. The money goes to fund youth groups.

Also for future reference, it's better to measure ingredients by weight rather than volume.

Good luck with your next batch!

 

[Hausfrau007]

You're right, I didn't use any amount of preservative in my first batch and was expecting spoilage but just didn't know exactly when. That link is very helpful, thank you very much.

I do have a digital scale, so measuring by weight isn't a problem (after all, I'm a soap maker, ha!), it's just that the recipe I found for which I had all the ingredients at hand was measured in volume. It was just my warm-up batch -- I'm screwing up my courage to try my hand at lotions again.

How long will the lotion last with the preservative? My aunt told me that she has a jar of lotion from Germany that's 13 years old, and it's still good! Can I expect the same kind of results with my lotions once I include preservatives??

 

[Frigga]

I have made a few batches of creams, and found out some things from trial and error.

1) Make sure you use distilled water as your water portion, or a hydrosol. The distillation process removes a lot of things that will make your cream go bad.

2) Make sure you use as high quality of stable oils as you can, even if you only use a small amount of the ingredients to preserve it. I use jojoba and vitamin E and rose hip seed oil, and coconut oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax in my creams. Jojoba oil is very very stable, so a small amount of it, along with the other oils should help preserve your creams.

I have a batch that I made at the end of April (7 months ago) and I have a little jar of it left, and it's in just as good of condition as the day I made it. But a suncream I made a week after that, with green tea infusion, and no rose hip seed oil or vitamin E oil went moldy on me within a month, even the jars that had essential oils in them. I was so upset!

 

[judymoody]

Jojoba, rose hip seed oil, and vitamin E are not effective preservatives. Vitamin E is an antioxidant. Essential oils also aren't effective preservatives, at least at the % rate that is safe to use in lotions.

Just because it looks and smells fine, doesn't mean that it isn't swarming in harmful microbes.

DIY herbal infusions are likely to go bad more quickly because of the organic matter they contain. I'm not surprise the green tea lotion spoiled.

Yes on distilled water and hydrosols. Heating and holding your ingredients (minus cool down stuff) at 170 degrees F for at least 20 minutes will also contribute to longer lasting water-based products like lotions, creams, hair conditioner etc.

I cannot say enough good things about the blog I recommended above. Take the time to read through it and you will learn a lot about all sorts of ingredients and how to use them safely. And, of course, read any product safety sheets offered by your supplier.