Teach Soap

I just had a question as to which preservative is more safe and effective for my products.

I stopped using phenonip because of it paraben content and how that is pretty much all it is comprised of. So now I use optiphen plus.

Which is safer for use in lotions, creams, soaps (liquid, foaming, and bar) and other similar products?
Which is more effective at protecting formulations with lye-water mixers?
Which is better for solutions that have water that is not mixed with lye? Like lotion and liquid soap.

Handmade solid soap needs no preservative. For liquid soap that's up to you. I no longer use Optiphen as it made my lotion formula curdle.
I use liquid Germall Plus for my lotions. A very small amount is needed. I feel the benefits of using it negative any negatives.

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

Germall also contains parabens

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

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Here is a review of 27 preservatives. As you can see vitamin E is not, nor is a grapefruit seed extract as some people claim.
http://www.makingskincare.com/preservatives/

I have tried maybe 5-7 so called natural preservatives and they all failed. There is no natural preservative available to us home crafters that is a broad spectrum and natural.

For anyone that's interested, Sage Script Institute does basic testing at a reasonable price. http://www.sagescript.com/microbiology

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

I have not heard of a natural preservative that is effective either. We do use optiphen here frequently though and have not had issues. It is used in our lotion bases as well.

https://www.brambleberry.com/Optiphen-ND-P5714.aspx

As far as some of them being formaldehyde releasers, from my research it seems as though that only occurs when heated to high temps, which you wouldn't have when making lotions, etc. The preservatives are usually added at cooler temps.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Skin Deep is a scaremongering site. Take what they say with a grain of salt.

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

I did not know that...normally i go on https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ first. By looking at the chemicals structure in a 2D or 3D format i can tell what that particular molecules potential reactivity to the molecules most commonly found in the body. This website also goes into extensive detail about lab test (Even though i do not support this, it is the best possible way to estimate a compounds potential impact on the human body in relation to mammalian cell testing). I haven't researched much about their validity but i don't look at much other than just the potentially hazardous chemicals molecular structure and draw chemical equations to determine the potential of an erratic chemical reaction inside the human body.

I would like to know more websites that give justifiable data with research study reports if anyone has any recommendations this would be awesome.

Here is a good web site with scientific research. http://personalcaretruth.com/

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

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!