Teach Soap

Irena, I guess these are for you.

What's the difference between oil-in-water/water-in-oil emulsions and aqueous formulations?

What's the temperature requirement on the LiquaPar Oil?

What's the pH requirement on Optiphen? What are the applications/uses for Optiphen Plus?

What are the pH and temperature requirements for Phenonip?

Finally, since I've never actually had my hands on any of this stuff, do manufacturers/suppliers provide this information to purchasers?

Thanks.

Anita

Answer to question 5: If you approach wholesalers of ingredients professionally, they will usually provide samples for you to try, without charge. Inolex's rep here recently shipped me half a kilo of some rather pricey preservatives, plus some MEA and Glossamer, and that was a big help in building a formula. Croda France recently sent some Prodizia, I can hardly wait to try it.

The other questions.
1. Just Google it . . . SwiftCraftyMonkey's blog probably has some great info.
2. EMail the company selling it if Google doesn't produce a usage sheet.
3. I think the usage sheets for the other questions should appear with a Google search.

Hope the above is of use.

In simplest terms oil-in-water has oil droplets suspended in water, water in oil has water droplets in oil. It depends what you are making and which ingredients you plan on using.

LiquaPar is paraben based so it's not as temp sensitive. Obviously you would not want too add it to an ingredient that's boiling.

Optiphen needs to be added below 140 degrees (US). I was told there are no pH restrictions, but it makes my formula curdle, so I don't use it.

Optiphen Plus performs best in formulations below 6.0 pH. The difference between the two is that Optiphen Plus has Sorbic Acid so it's best to have a pH meter for this one.

Phenonip is only oil soluble, so in this respect it works best for oil based scrubs. Since it's paraben based, it's not as temp sensitive. As far as I know there are no pH restrictions.

Your vendor should be able to supply you with a MSDS sheet or you can ask for instructions on usage. Large manufacturers might supply you with the MSDS sheets, but their purchasing requirements are quite large. Quite a few online vendors sell preservatives in smaller quantities. For preservatives, I would try The Chemistry Store or search online. Quite a few soapmaking supply vendors also carry preservatives.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.