Best preservatives for cold processed/lye based soaps

[sang90]

Could someone please suggest me the best preservatives for cold processed/lye based soaps
Looking for both natural & safe chemical options.
Preservative should also be able to tackle DOS.

Please advise.

 

[jcandleattic]

Cold processed and lye based soaps should not need a preservative. A preservative will not prevent DOS. Something that would help is to use a anti-oxident in the oils when they are first opened, using fresh oils, making sure when curing the soaps are in a cool dry place, and not exposing them to metals with will speed up oxidation.

 

[cmzaha]

Using Chelators such as Sodium Gluconate, Edta, Citric Acid, etc can help stop DOS issues.
There is a lot of good info written here by our very helpful resident chemist & Soapmaker DeeAnna.
Table of contents | Soapy Stuff

 

[sang90]

Hi,

Thank you for your response.
Understood. Would you please be able to suggest a few anti-oxidants that could be used and in how much quantity?

Using Chelators such as Sodium Gluconate, Edta, Citric Acid, etc can help stop DOS issues.
There is a lot of good info written here by our very helpful resident chemist & Soapmaker DeeAnna.
Table of contents | Soapy Stuff

Thank you.
Please suggest a best & effective chelator out of the three

 

[DeeAnna]

They all work. Pick the one easiest for you to obtain.

 

[amd]

Also, I suggest you do some reading on making soap to fully understand it's properties. If you're asking about preservatives you don't have a clear understanding. The beginners forum here has some wonderful pinned information.

 

[Hope Ann]

Hi,

Thank you for your response.
Understood. Would you please be able to suggest a few anti-oxidants that could be used and in how much quantity?

Thank you.
Please suggest a best & effective chelator out of the three

I would suggest reading the links provided,, searching the forum, then making test batches of whichever you've narrowed it down to, to see for yourself which you like best.

Hope

 

[sang90]

thank you ... i have been adding citric acid in soaps ... so far so good
just another quick one ...can we use a combination of sodium gluconate and citric acid in soaps & ROE in oils
is it fine or does it effect the chemistry of the soap in any way
please advise

 

[DeeAnna]

I use just one chelator and I also use ROE. I get really nice results from this combination. Why do you think two chelators will be better than just one?

Salts (which chelators are) can cause unusual problems, especially when people use several types at the higher end of the recommended dosage range for each salt. They all add up. Citrate (from citric acid) seems to be the most tricky.

My suggestion is to not use multiple salts unless you have a good reason for doing so AND you pay careful attention to the amount of each salt and the total amount of all salts.

KISS it -- Keep It Simple, Soaper.

 

[sang90]

Thanks DeeAnna
If citrate is the tricky one, for a beginner would you suggest using sodium gluconate instead of citric acid

 

[DeeAnna]

...If citrate is the tricky one, for a beginner would you suggest using sodium gluconate instead of citric acid

You were asking about using both gluconate and citrate, and that's the question I responded to. Citrate isn't any trickier to use in soap than gluconate as far as how it is used when making soap.

I got the impression you were feeling the need to get experimental with the use of the two chelators. In that case, you will have gone outside the boundary of what people know will work well and it's possible (not certain, but possible) the use of both would affect the overall properties of the soap. If you're a beginner, it's probably not the wisest decision to get too experimental, hey?

I personally would use the gluconate, because it appears gluconate is a more effective chelator than citrate. That said, many soapers use citrate with good results.

 

[ilonaliss]

I was actually wondering if I should combine citric acid and sodium gluconate in my next batch. I made one soap with 2% citric acid so far and still have some weeks to let that cure and test, and sodium gluconate just arrived in the post. I have very hard water and was tempted to use citric acid at 1.5% and sodium gluconate at 0.5% of oils in my next 50% lard recipe (my lard has no preservatives), because I read somewhere that using two chelators is more effective than one. Does anyone have experience in combining these two chelators in soap?

 

[sang90]

The reason I was thinking of experimenting with both is I am using unrefined oils in my recipe(unrefined mowrah butter, crude rice bran oil). Different chelators bring in different properties. So,I thought the combination could may be contributing to a better results.(I might be wrong)
I was hoping if some had good results using a combination of chelators

 

[winusuren]

recipe(unrefined mowrah butter, crude rice bran oil

Hi, Where do you purchase them in India? I couldn't find crude ricebran oil.