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Batch Consistency - Need Machinery advice
Hello,
Can anyone give me Mixing machine suggestions for hair products? I think I need something that is covered to prevent evaporation and here is why:
I have been in the process of scaling up the batch sizes of my hair products. In this process I have encountered an issue with evaporation. Currently I use a double boiler and laboratory mixer. I have the water phase in a separate pot that is covered to avoid evaporation and only uncover at the time of mixing the oil and water phase, then mix the final product uncovered for about 6 minutes before pouring.
I have noticed that depending on the size of the pot and the size of the batch, along with temperature (because that is a pain to regulate with a double boiler) -the consistency of the product changes: thinner or thicker. I am having difficulty finding method of batching that allows me to scale up without changing consistency.
Any suggestions?
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4 Replies
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I don’t make hair products but I imgaine you should do what we do for hot-process skincare: weigh out the final container you mix in and hold onto that number. You should also know the weight of your batch size (ex 300g batch). After mixing a little less than your standard time (say 5 minutes) you should get the weight of the container+batch. If it doesn’t add up to what you expect you add the water needed to get the proper weight. then mix for another minute or two and you should get a more consistent product.
Ex. a 400g container and a 300g batch
if you weigh the batch and container at the end and it doesn’t weigh 700g (say 690g), add 10g of water and mix it in before pouring. Hope that makes sense! -
Good thought, I will look into that.
Also, when using smaller batches I heated the water in a microwave, and with larger batches I used a double boiler on the stove top. Both are covered with plastic wrap and measured to the gram. Could the form of heating (microwave vs stove top) affect the mixing and cool down phase?
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I wouldn’t think so as long as the microwave and the stove top are heating the water to the same temperature
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The viscosity on my past patches had been slightly low so I had reduced the water ratio by 2% which seemed to work well. But these latest batches I had to go to 101.6% of what the water in the thinner batches use to be in and it still is thicker than it should be. The top has a firm layer where the normal product is soft to the touch.
I measure to 1/10th of a gram and the only thing that has changed is the supplier for some of my emulsifiers, namely peg-100 glyceryl stearate and steareth-21. The old company went out of business.
Has anyone ever experienced emulsifiers providing different consistency based on the supplier?
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