# The liquid soap, the preservatives, and you



## bumbleklutz (Mar 14, 2017)

I know everyone is going to have a different opinion on the necessity of using a preservative in liquid soap; but I'm curious to see what everyone thinks.  

I've only made one batch of liquid soap so far, and I'm leaning toward adding a preservative to it; just to be on the safe side.  I don't sell; but I do gift to friends and family and I don't want any nasty situations.  I've been trying to research different preservatives, but I've successfully confused myself.  :headbanging:  

Some can only be used in certain ph ranges or temperatures, and others are inactivated by polysorbate 80 or 20.  I do use polysorbate 20 to make my FO soluble in my liquid soap because I already have it and need to use it up.  I intend to use polysorbate 80 in future batches; not only for FO; but also for super fatting my soap.  

Some (Suttocide A) seem to be very effective for bacteria and mold; but not so much for yeasts and needs a secondary preservative for help in that area. 

As you can see, my head is swimming. So gentle soapers, do you preserve your liquid soaps?  What preservative do you use?


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## IrishLass (Mar 14, 2017)

I personally don't use any in mine, but then again, I also don't sell. I just make it for me and my close family/friends that I trust to treat the things I make for them with care. 

Although I have not lab-tested either of my 2 formulas, I have kept a close visual watch on certain dilutions of them for long periods of time (at least 2+ years of observation), and neither has ever come down with mold nor any other detectable problems or off-smells during that time-frame. That's not to say they _never_ can go bad, but my normal sanitation procedures along with my long-term observations have given me enough confidence in my formulas/procedures to believe that the dilutions I make of them can be counted on to stay fresh for _at least_ the usual amount of time it normally takes for a bottle of it to get used up (which is 1 to 2 weeks or so).

I came to my decision to not use a preservative after much reading here, there and everywhere, but especially instrumental in my decision was a very informative discussion on a very looooong thread on the subject of glycerin liquid soap over at the Dishforum. On Page 40 of that thread the subject of preservatives came up: http://www.thedishforum.com/forum/i...7-glycerin-method-liquid-soap/page-40?hl=edta (I'm not sure, but you might need to become a member to be able to see the thread). If you can see it, great! Scroll down that page to post #997 written by silverdoctor (a retired MD)....Start reading there and don't stop- you need to continue reading all the posts beyond that for the next page or two. All the reasons why I chose not to use a preservative in my liquid soap are contained therein.

Having said all of that, though, if I ever decided to sell, I _would_ use a preservative, because you just never know how folks you don't know or trust will end up treating the stuff you make.


IrishLass


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## Susie (Mar 14, 2017)

^^What she said!


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