Stick blender recommendation

[Mschwartz]

So I have been making both soaps and lotion with my stick blender. I’m seeing debris in my lotion and in the soaps recently. I’m not putting any colors in the lotions so it’s white. I switched stick blenders and still the same problem. It’s a kitchen aide so I don’t think it’s cheap. Anyone see debris from the stick blender in their products? I’m possibly thinking it could be the raw Shea butter too? Thanks

 

[DeeAnna]

If you switched stick blenders and still see the same problem, I'd say that kind of rules out the stick blender. Why not melt some of the shea and see if there is contamination in that? I can't speak from personal experience, but others here have sometimes said unrefined shea has had contaminants in it, so this might be a likely source.

 

[MelissaG]

It's possible the shea is the problem like DeeAnna said. I stopped using unrefined for that reason.

 

[TheGecko]

I switched stick blenders and still the same problem.

Then it's not the stick blender because what would be the odds of that happening? Unless of course you don't clean your stick blenders.

I’m possibly thinking it could be the raw Shea butter too?

Occam’s razor says yes.

 

[Mschwartz]

I kind of figured. Thanks for the replies

 

[Mschwartz]

Well I got another stick blender with same results so yeah it’s the raw Shea butter. I guess I won’t have to worry about buying stick blenders for a while

 

[AliOop]

It's always nice to have back-up stick-blenders! I like to keep a separate one for lotions so there is no chance of mixing in any soapy bits that might affect the emulsion or preservative. Probably overkill, but since you have the extras now, why not?

You can melt and strain the shea butter to remove some of that debris, btw. I've only had to do that with one batch that seemed to have a lot of dark flecks in it, and I was glad that I did. No one wants body butter with dark flecks, even if you explain that it's natural, etc. etc.

 

[Jersey Girl]

@Mschwartz I bought a large amount of Shea butter from baraka and as I used it I realized I was having a little black floaty things in the melted oils. I realized that the Shea butter had plant fibers, etc in it. I melted it all down and strained it through a couple layers of cheesecloth but it still wasn’t enough. I believe it was @IrishLass who suggested a nut milk bag. Worked like a charm. I couldn’t believe how much gunk was in the Shea butter although I do love it.