# Adding Preservative To Body Butter



## Crownite (Aug 12, 2018)

I'm interested in adding a preservative to my body butters to gift to family and friends because I know that at some point these products will come in contact with water. I like the security of liquid germall plus but have noticed a lot of people using optiphen as well. Does liquid germall plus cover oil based products? 

Also, was hoping someone would be able to explain to me how to calculate how much preservative I need for products. I've been doing searches but havent had the best luck. Thank you


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## Cellador (Aug 13, 2018)

Hello! I use the Optiphen or Phenonip for an oil-only product and Liquid Germall Plus for any products that contain water. 
With any preservative, you need to check your vendor's website to see the recommended usage rate. They can differ depending on the application, and not every preservative can be used at the same amount. It's always a good idea to read-up about any ingredients you plan to use


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## lsg (Aug 13, 2018)

Most preservative descriptions will give a minimun to maximum percent to use.  For instance if the maximum use rate is 1%, use a calculator and multiply the total weight in  ounces/grams of your receipe x  .01 and that will be the weight of the preservative needed.

https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/Phenonip-Preservative.html


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## Crownite (Aug 13, 2018)

Hey lsg,

I am new to the science of the butter making but recently got a scale to be more precise. Can I simply go through the process of creating the product and I want and then calculate how much preservative to add after everything has been added or in the final phases?


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## lsg (Aug 13, 2018)

You add the weight of each ingredient and take the total weight times the percent of preservative.  This from Bramble Berry on the use of Phenonip:

"It’s suggested that we use Phenonip in the heated phase of our creations as it dissolves around 60˚C to 70˚C. If you are making a lotion, it’s suggested to divide the product up between the water and oil phases. If you want to use it in a cold product, heat up some propylene glycol or glycerin and add the Phenonip to that before adding it to your product.
Phenonip  is inactivated by some non-ionic ingredients, such as polysorbate 80 (at 5%, Phenonip is completely inactivated by polysorbate 80), and slightly by polysorbate 20 and 80 at 2.5%. It doesn’t do well with ceteareth-20 – it’s inactivated by 5% – but it is not affected by cetearyl alcohol."

Source:  https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/perfectly-preserved/


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## Crownite (Aug 15, 2018)

What happens if I go slightly over the recommended amount for preservative use? For example, I was thinking about making 200g of body butter for my first attempt. I'll be using Optiphen for the oil only body butters at about 1%. Based on my calculation, that means I'll be using about 2 gram of OPtiphen. Now, what if during my weigh, I am only able to get as precise as 2.02g and any time I try to remove some from the scale I go under to about 1.98g? What is the impact of going over with a preservative?


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## shunt2011 (Aug 16, 2018)

You should be fine.  a bit over won't cause any issues.


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