Preservatives required in everything with water???

[cdc]

Hi!

I have been seeing a bunch of people selling different products, and it has got me thinking about preservatives. Can you tell me if these products will require preservatives, and if there are any natural preservatives that work? Does Tea Tree oil or Vit E or GSE work in these?

Lanolin Spray, with water and Lanolin + EO.
Brown sugar scrub with salt?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Guest]

(inflammatory/trolling posts will be removed by SMF Admin)

 

[heartsong]

x

hi there!

www.lotioncrafter.com is a great site with a lots of info. if you have any questions, they're always helpful, especially with us beginners!

they have nice quality and unique supplies.

 

[IrishLass]

First, why in the world would anyone want to spray lanolin on themselves?? Sounds like a rash waiting to happen.

She might not be making it to spray on herself. There are lots and lots of lanolin sprays on the market that are used for the care and upkeep of products made of wool. There's actually quite a market for them. But there are also many lanolin products made for the body as well. Some people do very well using lanolin products on their skin. Like all ingredients, it all depends on individual sensitivities if one will get a rash or not.


cdc- I agree with heartsong. Lotioncrafters is an excellent site for learning about preservatives and what products to use them in. I've found Jenny of LotionCrafters to be very friendly and helpful with my own questions, as well as prompt in her answers.

Another excellent site for preservative info is this one:

http://southernsoapers.com/news/?p=477

You can add Tea Tree Oil and Vit. E and GSE to any of your products, but I've learned that they are not considered to be sufficient enough in water based B&B products to retard all the different bacterias, molds and fungi that can invade such products. Instead, they are used mostly for their anti-oxidant abilities in helping to retard rancidity of your oils.

HTH!
IrishLass

 

[Tabitha]

IMHO, every product containing water needs a preservative or you run the risk of bacterial growth.

 

[Tabitha]

As a nurse, I use lanolin topicaly quite a bit, on my patients.

 

[Guest]

(inflammatory/trolling posts will be removed by SMF Admin)

 

[Harlow]

I am going to have to agree with Tabitha. Preseravtives just make good sense unless you have unlimited resources for testing, which 99% of the members on this forum do not. I would much rather find an FDA approved preservative in my product than bacteria or mold. Better safe than sorry.

I have found mold in a number of items I have received in forum soap swaps. Most recently in a tube of bath salts, which just goes to prove "products with a certain level of salt" do indeed need additional preservatives.

 

[cdc]

Thank you all for your opinions! Lanolin spray is indeed used for wool, and so does not need to be as stringent as body use products I would guess, but I was not sure that lanolin would go rancid. It is different from other oils, more of a wax I understand....so perhaps some gse, tea tree or vit E might be enough. Hmm.

 

[Guest]

(inflammatory/trolling posts will be removed by SMF Admin)

 

[cdc]

Ok, I DONT make and sell lotion or other water based body products, but just out of curiousity, how do you test for this stuff? Where? How much does it cost?

 

[carebear]

First, why in the world would anyone want to spray lanolin on themselves?? Sounds like a rash waiting to happen.

uh, not everyone is allergic to lanolin. I use it daily on my skin, I work with wool and love how it makes my hands feel, women use it as a nursing balm...

 

[Guest]

(inflammatory/trolling posts will be removed by SMF Admin)

 

[Guest]

(inflammatory/trolling posts will be removed by SMF Admin)

 

[carebear]

oops, sorry my error.

 

[carebear]

Care bear...not every rash is the result of an allergy, F.Y.I.

Sue

really?!? oh my! I never knew!!!

and not everyone gets a rash from lanolin.

see, even you found it wasn't the lanolin. so what exactly is wrong with using it on oneself?

 

[carebear]

items that need preservatives are those with nothing else to prevent the growth of nasties. items that are high in salt, for example, may be low water activity systems, as are jams and jellies thanks to the high levels of sugar. so in theory scrubs don't need a preservative. but that's making an assumption that the system won't be disturbed. unfortunately consumers are likely to disturb that balance by introducing water with wet hands, condensation, and splashing from the shower. the excess water pooling in your scrub container may not have enough salt or sugar to "take up" the water - and so leaving it free to support life - yanno, molds and bacteria.

so you not only need a good preservative in formulations that contain water, but also those into which water might be introduced.

 

[rupertspal42]

So using a preservative is just an extra safety pretty much right?

I have really dry skin and the army had to medicate a lotion to me and it's made with lanolin, waxes and some type of wool wax (never heard of it) it's SUPER thick and I have to use it almost everyday or my skin will crack open and chap horribley!! If I don't use it i'm effed but when I do use it i'm happy! I have sensitive skin already so I have to be careful :wink:

 

[carebear]

So using a preservative is just an extra safety pretty much right?

well, yes and no.

in a perfect world - yea. but we live in a world of dirty fingers so except in some anhydrous products where it's unlikely water would be introduced a preservative is really a necessity.

I wouldn't use a properly preserved moisturizer unless it's been produced in a sterile environment and packaged in a way to avoid contamination (they do exist, they are expensive, and your pharmacist can order them for you).

I love lanolin. It causes me no rashes of either the allergic nor non-allergic type.

 

[rupertspal42]

Oh I see, yeah don't know about doing that whole expensive thing.. haha