# Shelf Life?



## Angezzz (May 2, 2016)

I am thinking of making a shampoo, conditioner and lotions for my daughters gift store. I was wondering the shelf life on homemade products.


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## DeeAnna (May 2, 2016)

It depends on the shelf life of the ingredients and whether you use a good preservative or not. Short lived oils like hemp might be good for 6 months in a product that contains a good preservative, maybe longer if you also use an effective antioxidant. If you use an ineffective or no preservative in a lotion or conditioner, the shelf life is only a few days to a week regardless of the other ingredients. Shampoo might be longer lived if its pH is high, but it too needs a preservative if it has a synthetic detergent base and a neutral to slightly acidic pH.


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## Angezzz (May 2, 2016)

Thanks...Is there any common preservative that I could use in shampoo, conditioner, lotions etc? Or are they different for each product?


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## DeeAnna (May 2, 2016)

A good all purpose preservative for home crafters is Liquid Germall Plus. I can't say it will work for everything you might want to make, however -- you need to learn its limits. For example LGP is not suitable for preserving an oil-only product, since LGP water soluble.


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## cmzaha (May 2, 2016)

Angezzz said:


> Thanks...Is there any common preservative that I could use in shampoo, conditioner, lotions etc? Or are they different for each product?


If you are asking these questions I am assuming you just started making thes products. My recommendation I would not sell them without challenge testing. You cannot always see dangerous ickies is such products. I had one lotion I was testing go moldy after 3 months, was really glad it had not gone to market


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## DeeAnna (May 2, 2016)

I really recommend Susan's blog http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/ as a good resource for info about lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and similar products.


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## cmzaha (May 2, 2016)

^^^ I second that

ETA: Please make surfactant based shampoo not Soap, and be aware it is not very cost effective. With a high end clientele it can be profitable if you can get the price necessary to make money. You have to make a profit and so does the store


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