Need preservative help

[donna4909]

Can someone recommend paraben free preservatives for the following recipes? I read that Optiphen Plus & Germall Plus are paraben free, but I don't which ones are used for oil or water based products.

Lotion:

Water 73%

Honey 2%

Stearic acid 2%

Soybean oil 17%

Ewax 4%

Preservative 1%

FO 1%

Sugar Scrub:

E-wax 10%

Stearic acid 8%

Olive oil 25%

Castor oil 40%

Shea butter 14%

FO 2%

Preservative 1%

Also, do I need the EDTA stuff that everyone on the soap dish talks about? I was under the impression that Optiphen Plus and Germall Plus are broad spectrum, and should take care of everything. :undecided

[Spellkast]

I don't make lotion (yet) but I use Optiphen in my sugar scrubs at 1%. I'm pretty sure it covers everything as well. I always thought EDTA was strictly a preservative for food products- but since we use edible ingredients, I'd imagine that it would work- but NOT for everything. I searched on the internet a while back and found a whole buttload of info on preservatives...it was very interesting reading and made me switch from liquipar to optiphen...I'll search all my links and post it if I find it. Optiphen is also *good* for lotions, but like I said, since I've never made them, I can't tell you from personal experience how great it is.

[Carrie]

This is from a book that Bunny published here on CandleTech about preservatives. If you want the whole thing you can search for posts by Bunny with the keyword preservative and it should come up.

If your formula contains water, you can use:

Germaben II - less than 25% oil

Germaben II-E - more than 25% oil

Germall Plus

Liquid Germall Plus

Phenonip

Liquapar PE

Liquapar Optima - ph restrictions

Optiphen

Optiphen Plus - ph restrictions

See Bunny, I told you I'd save it to my computer.

[donna4909]

So, Liquid Germall Plus has no restrictions?

If so, I'll use it because it's a lot cheaper than Optiphen Plus.

[cindym]

I see EDTA in combination with another preservative in lotions that contain goat's milk.

[RobinInOR]

EDTA helps boost the efficacy of preservatives in hard to preserve products, like Cindy's goat milk lotion. I've seen it used a lot in combo with Liquid Germall + If you're not adding a lot of milk, or silk/oat/wheat, or lots of other bug food, you should be fine without it.

ISP makes the Germalls, Optiphen, and Liquipars - here's a bunch of info http://ispcorp.com/products/preservatives/index.html

You can look at the ingredients and find out which are paraben free.