Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Geogard ECT and heat

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  • Geogard ECT and heat

    Posted by echidna89 on October 3, 2024 at 11:06 am

    I’m a formulation hobbyist, not a professional yet, so here’s a question posed purely out of curiosity.

    What happens if you heat a formulation containing 1% geogard ect to 70 or 80 Celsius? Is there any chance of toxicity developing? Does the preservative become totally ineffective? And should I just throw out the accidentally heated batch?

    Here’s what happened: I was making aloe gel from my plant, and forgot to heat the gel before mixing in the geogard ect and sepimax zen. So I heated the gel with sepimax zen and geogard ect in a water bath to 75 Celsius, let it cool, and added 1 % vitamin e oil as well as 0.4 % iscaguard PEG. Is this a safe product to use now?

    Thanks for helping a newbie!

    echidna89 replied 18 hours, 37 minutes ago 3 Members · 9 Replies
  • 9 Replies
  • Graillotion

    Member
    October 3, 2024 at 3:34 pm

    Yes, I would throw out anything with a Geogard preservative! How did you expect to cover Gram negative bacteria?

    The poor job that Geogard preservatives do on the other aspects of the formula, are very pH dependent, and you did not even mention pH??? Above a pH of 5.5, the product isn’t doing much on the Gram +, and YMF.

    Just because other beginners use poor preservation, does not mean you should follow the herd. Consider the health of your customers, and family.

    This link… might be a good place to start, not written by beginners.

    Preservative Reviews - (makingskincare.com)

    • Graillotion

      Member
      October 3, 2024 at 3:37 pm

      You should understand that very clever language is used to manipulate those without the science backgrounds…. everything down to the worst of the worst….will use meaningless terms like ‘broad spectrum’. I cannot think of two more meaningless words in cosmetics!

      I have seen the method that beginners use to select their preservation systems…. They will …. wait for it …. survey other beginners on what to use. Do you see any concerns with that?

  • echidna89

    Member
    October 3, 2024 at 3:53 pm

    Thanks!

    Well, considering that I did add 0.4 percent iscaguard PEG and 2% tocopherol with the geogard ect(benzyl alcohol, sorbic acid and salicylic acid), and my ph is 5.1-5.4 (using precision test strips), should I still be scared? The batch will be used up in a month or two anyway.

    The Geogard line seems to have a wide variety of products, with differing active ingredients. Are they all useless, or would geogard ultra(Na benzoate gluconolactone) work better?

    • Graillotion

      Member
      October 3, 2024 at 7:27 pm

      The entire line is weak on Gram - , hence why it is mostly relegated to beginners. Granted you can use them as a starting point… and build off of them….but why bother, when it is simply easier to preserve correctly right out of the gate? The link I sent…addressed the additional version you inquired about.

      It actually brings a new set of problems….and that is pH drift with the Gluconolactone.

      By the way Vit E has no effect on preservation. It is an antioxidant, not a preservative. And worse yet, at the rate you used it….it is a pro-oxidant vs the desired outcome. In cosmetics….it is quite often the case….that more is worse. The E rate that will be sufficient will be .05% - to .2% if you think your product is old and low efficacy (the darker it is…the more oxidized it is).

      • This reply was modified 1 day, 5 hours ago by  Graillotion.
      • Graillotion

        Member
        October 3, 2024 at 7:32 pm

        Ahh…………..

        Yes the iscaguard PEG will help. We don’t work in brand names….just INCI.

        So I finally looked it up….and it contains phenoxy….which will get the gram -.

        Good luck. (Going forward…..tell us what is in things…. we don’t memorize brand names). 😉

        • Graillotion

          Member
          October 3, 2024 at 7:38 pm

          Back to your original question….let’s call in the expert, Dr Geis…. @PhilGeis Do you see any concerns with heating a preservative containing: Benzyl Alcohol (and) Salicylic Acid (and) Glycerin (and) Sorbic Acid

          To a temp of 75C?

          PS: Time to buy a pH meter. 😉

          • This reply was modified 1 day, 5 hours ago by  Graillotion.
        • echidna89

          Member
          October 4, 2024 at 12:52 am

          Thank you for all the help! Actually I have been trying to register here for a few months now, but the process wouldn’t work until now…hence all the misinformation that’s got into my head.

          I’ll be looking into all the links from makingskincare, thanks again!

  • PhilGeis

    Member
    October 4, 2024 at 4:46 am

    Think the compounds are stable at temp - don’t know that extends to this formula.

    One can do what they want for personal use - in any other context, this batch should be scrapped.

    • echidna89

      Member
      October 4, 2024 at 6:47 am

      Thanks for the input. It would really help if you could let me know if I can use the below preservative blend in a 75Celsius heated aqueous gel:

      Phenoxyethanol 0.5%

      Benzyl alcohol 0.5%

      Salicylic acid 0.1%

      Sorbic acid 0.1%

      Propylene glycol 0.05%

      Tocopherol 0.1%

      Glycerin 0.15%

      Total preservative concentration becomes 1.5 %, and I use Sepimax zen 0.5 to 1% as a solubilizer.

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