Natural emulsifier for leave-in hair product?

[DeeAnna]

With your scale, any measurement you make has an error of + or - 0.5 g. That's not bad for large quantities of material, but iffy for smaller ones. If you weigh 10 g total, for example, your measurement could be as much as 5% off the mark. That means you'll get a fair amount of variation from batch to batch.

Also, with those larger capacity scales, the initial smallest weight the scale can measure is usually not 1 gram. That means the scale will hang on zero as you add more and more material, and then it suddenly jumps to 3 grams or whatever. That is not a recipe for happy success when weighing tiny amounts of stuff like Germall Plus.

I use a gram scale like yours for general soaping, but I am much happier with my lotions now that I have a decigram scale (measures to 0.1 g).

 

[FlybyStardancer]

At least for mine, I've found that it seems like measuring into a weighty bowl (like glass) helps with the accuracy of the smaller weights, even when zeroed out. I think it's because even once I've hit the tare function, the scale does keep track of how much total weight is on it so it can let the user know when it's reaching max capacity. (Like if you have a slow cooker crock on it and are measuring out several ingredients by weight, taring after each one.) At least I noticed a difference when measuring out things like citric acid (which I usually use only 5g of) or FOs.

It's still a lot of room for error, though, I agree.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Okay, the last of the ingredients I needed came in yesterday while I was helping a friend, so I'm thinking of trying to make this tonight. I ended up with a couple of last-minute questions! (Am planning on following Anani's suggestion, but upping it to 600g to make the measuring of the Germall easier.)

Would a #5 plastic container work for heating up the wax and oil? I have a large salsa container that I've been using for soapmaking that I think would hold everything, and is good for using a stick blender on small amounts (tall and fairly narrow). If not, my only other real options are the stainless steel pot I've been using to make the marshmallow tea in (not the best, since I would still need to make the tea, and it doesn't really fit into anything for a double-boiler), or a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup that was designed to be wider instead of taller...

If I wanted to add a little Vit E to it, would I have to either up the ewax or use it to replace some of the jojoba? Or can I just add a little bit and be fine?

And for adding citric acid... Would that just be a part of the tea mixture, or do I have to work it into the recipe amount? I'm only planning on adding between 1/24th to 1/6th tsp of it, which is smaller than my scale can even really measure.

 

[anani]

I'm not sure about the plastic...would it not melt or warp a bit in boiling water? I guess you could test it first. My next suggestion would be a 1 quart canning or pickle jar. Most of us have one or two of those kicking around in the cupboard or the back of the fridge. They work great for small batches of lotions etc as they're very heat stable and you could stick blend in in easily. You don't need to have too much water in the bottom of your double boiler pot. A couple of inches would be enough. Set the jar in until your oil phase melts and then add your hot tea. Vitamin E usually goes in at 1% (6 grams in your case) You could take out the 6 grams of Jojoba, but I think you'd be okay just mixing it in.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Keep us posted!

 

[DeeAnna]

Something with some weight will be helpful when you heat and hold -- otherwise the dang container wants to float around in the water bath. Grrr! I usually use a pyrex measuring cup or a glass canning jar.

Here's Susan (swiftcraftymonkey) making a hair conditioner: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-DykYvONlLG1Y4Ur5ftyVQ/videos Might get some tips from watching this one. (Although I suspect you might have made your product already!)

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I haven't made it yet. Got distracted!

And thank you. I ended up buying a newer 4 cup pyrex, one that's better shaped for use in this!

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Look at what I'm doing right now!

 

[FlybyStardancer]

It ended up too thick to be a conditioning spray, so it's a straight-up leave-in conditioner. And it's a creamy pale tan. Luckily I had some leftover shampoo bottles cleaned out.

I also ended up doing trial lotion bars and CP LS soap, so it was a productive evening!

 

[DeeAnna]

Cheers! Bravo! Much clapping of hands from the audience!!!! ;-)

I'm glad it turned out well for you, even if it's not quite what you were aiming for. I hope it works well for your hair.

 

[amandaeiben]

So I see im a bit late to the emulsifier question but if you ever find yourself wanting to try out another emulsifier I really recommend you look into Plantamulse. It's perfect for sprayable stuff and it leaves skin feeling soft, not sure how it would do on hair as I use it for bug sprays and body mist but im sure itll have similar effects. I'll put the link in so you can check it out I prefer to use this as opposed to poly 20 or poly 80 because I get itchy when I put poly into my stuff for some reason lol.
http://www.theherbarie.com/PlantaMulse-Liquid.html

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Okay, I tried using my conditioner today for the first time... And apparently the emulsion broke! Makes me sad. Will need more tweaking.

amandaeiben--That looks interesting!

 

[Lindy]

Sometimes it will do that. Shake it back up. When I first started making lotions this happened to me a lot. I now use my SB to make my lotions and no more separation.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I have shaken it up, it's just a pain with the pump on top. Heh.

I did use my SB to make it, though.