# Making lotions?



## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Not sure if this if the right forum, or if it should go in crafting- but we are working on a lotion/soap/glaces/body scrub basket (I say we- that means I am teaching it to a bunch of young moms from church, so they can have Christmas gift ideas) - anyway, I have lotion books, and it is confusing. The ingredients I have are almond oil, emulsifying wax, citric acid, Germabem II, veg. glycerine ,steratic acid- do I need other ingredients? Can you recomend a website where the instructions are basic? A lotion calculator would be nice! Also, can I use a hydrosol other than rose for ingred? (have lavendar- noticed on Cyndi's website she used lavendar hydrosol) What ingred. are interchangeable? If someone can point to some instructions, that would help. Thanks!


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## Madfarmer (Mar 22, 2008)

There's SOME lotion info/discussion on the soap page at dairygoatinfo.com. Lotion is harder than soap, requires higher standards of sanitation. Rather than starting cold in October for this Christmas, you might want to look at other scented products, like candles, lip balms, bath salts. Just a thought.

Madfarmer


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Just google "lotion AND recipe", just like I have typed it without the quotation marks. You should come up with several recipes. 
I make my lotion in my blender. I think the trick to lotions is to make sure your oils and water or liquid are the same temperature. I use OptiphenPlus as a preservative. Make sure to sanitize all the equipment and your containers before using. I use sodium percarbonate to soak all my equipment and containers. It is not listed as a sanitizer, but dissolved in water, it releases hydrogen peroxide and soda ash (sodium carbonate).
Most light oils like sweet almond, macadamia nut oil, apricot Kernel Oil etc. are interchangeable in a recipe. Make sure that you have the right preservative in your lotion. I have read that the PH affects how well each preservative works. Here is a link to Snowdrift Farms that shows a chart of preservatives.

http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/preservetables.html

Here is a link with some lotion recipes:

http://www.pinemeadows.net/recipes.php#r2


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Linn, I can see why you use optiphen as a preservative, according to the snowdrift site. The other site had recipes for the ingred. we have- thanks! It looks like with sterilizing I can throw everything in boiling water... will read up on it more. I do not have to be an expert here, just able to make a basic lotion. I like the challenge, and the pressure to teach motivates me to learn it more thouroughly. (like homeschooling for 20 years did) 
With doing the lotion in the blender, do you use the blender for food use too? I use stainless for soap making, and am wondering if it's safe for food consumption after cleaning.....


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

I use a separate blender for my soap and lotion making. Both of my blenders have glass jars, but I always just play it safe. A stainless jar would probably not hold fragrance or essential oil scents. You can pick up a cheap blender at WalMart to use for lotion making if you are worried.
Be careful putting pouring boiling water into plastic containers. I tried that with some lotion bottles once and got warped bottles. LOL Some people spritz the inside of their lotion bottles with alcohol.


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Here is another question, on Muller's Lane site there is a recipe for JoJo's lotion- she uses percentages instead of grams/oz. how do I convert that? 
When you say spray inside bottle with alcohol, what type of alcohol? Is that an ingredient a lotion maker should have on hand? 
Thanks for the Walmart tip- wont try it in the Vitamix


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## InHisName (Jan 26, 2006)

Found a lotion recipe for goat's milk lotion! http://www.theuddergoatsoap.net/Recipes.html can't wait to try it. On the soap making forum http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2792 it says do not use more than 10-15% GM as the liquid, so I think will stick to that. Also found recipe for different hydrosols: chamomile, yarrow, lavender. The GM lotion calls for aloe vera gel, Linn, can I use a hydrosol instead? Would I have to add something to thicken it, like xanthan gum? I just am not sure what I can change with ingred., guess just have to do it and see. If someone knows how to deal with percentage recipes, would like to know. If it is not necessary to be exact in lotions, that would be good. (like cooking) - but in the germaben II, not a natural ingredient, it says to not use more than 1% (if I remember right) to the recipe, so that is an exact.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Figuring percentages is not really hard. Just figure out how much lotion you want to make, say 30 ounces. If your liquid is 60 percent, just multiply .60 X 30 and you come up with 18 ounces. 1 percent of 30 ounces is .3 ounce.
I have used rubbing alcohol to swish out bottles and caps. I just poured a little in the bottle, put the cap on and shook it good. Then I turned the bottles and caps upside down on paper towels to drain and to keep them from becoming contaminated again.
If you are using emulsifying wax and stearic acid, you could just add a tiny bit more of that when using a hydrosol. I would probably follow the recipe for my first couple of tries at lotion making. Our WalMart used to handle aloe vera jel.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Here is a link that discusses several lotion calculators:


http://www.soapdisharchives.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=63190


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

Wow, I haven't thought of LabRat in years. That was a great loss when he died.

Jenny at lotioncrafter has a wide range of ingredients, various emulsifiers, preservatives, et al.


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