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Homogenizer or Stirrer?
I have a stick blender. It honestly sucks. I cant make sample batches of 2-4 oz. I have a mini wisk but it sometimes leaves me with a less smooth result. Im considering investing in a cheap overhead stirrer for now. Im a super beginner formulator so im not looking to spend a lot. Ive heard about homogenizers and heard this is a better option. If Im going to spend $200.00 which is better for basic hair care formulations and lotions? Ive also seen the Dynamic immersion blender but Im afraid I will have the same issue with the amount it will blend. Thanks
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18 Replies
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A homogeniser is good for high speed but won’t help you for slow-medium speed stirring. If you only get one item, a stirrer is probably your best bet. I have this one and it’s fine: https://www.expondo.co.uk/steinberg-systems-electric-stirrer-10030256
I also have a Dremel + rotor stator combination which I love (see this thread https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/7409/homogenizer-specs-question-for-amateur-home-use). It’s perfect for me as I’m never going to make more than 100ml at a time (it’s just for home experimentation). It can probably handle up to 200ml. But if you get something like this and come up with a formulation that only works when you homogenise by rotor stator, and then want to scale up, you’ll then need a decent homogeniser that can handle larger volumes, which will be in the $000’s, unless you take a chance with the cheap ones on eBay/Amazon.
The Dynamix and Misceo homogenisers are only for volumes over 300ml… they’re going to incorporate a lot of air otherwise.
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@helenhelen thanks so much. Im in the states so I will have to look around. That thread you linked was helpful. There is an overhead stirrer Ive been eyeing on Amazon for $90 but wasnt sure if it was just ganna be a load of junk haha. I will link it and see what you think. https://www.amazon.com/CO-Z-Electric-Height-Adjustable-Mixer0-3000-Mechanical/dp/B07TX82NBL/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1LTAEEOSVQ3FU&dchild=1&keywords=overhead+stirrer&qid=1592500577&sprefix=overhead+sti%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-3 But it looks maybe like what you have?
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:@helenhelen thanks so much. Im in the states so I will have to look around. That thread you linked was helpful. There is an overhead stirrer Ive been eyeing on Amazon for $90 but wasnt sure if it was just ganna be a load of junk haha. I will link it and see what you think. https://www.amazon.com/CO-Z-Electric-Height-Adjustable-Mixer0-3000-Mechanical/dp/B07TX82NBL/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1LTAEEOSVQ3FU&dchild=1&keywords=overhead+stirrer&qid=1592500577&sprefix=overhead+sti%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-3 But it looks maybe like what you have?
That looks very similar to the one I have… some small design differences but otherwise all the parts look identical. At $90 it’s worth a go!
By the way, I ended up buying a cheap clamp and bosshead clamp holder from Amazon as the clamp that came with the stirrer wasn’t great - difficult to adjust the fingers and it didn’t open very wide - even 100ml beakers were a struggle to fit.
I bought these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VF0OWSA and https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07R9KGCXX (the clamp is too thick to fit in the bosshead that comes with the stirrer).
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I just bought the Dynamic Mini Pro….And love my new French friend!
ORDER TOTAL: $151.16 Delivered to my door in Hawaii!
It does an amazing job….and I love the fact that It actually has a range down to 0 RPM…hehehe… It doubles as a stirrir for me….of course can not run it contiuously… but when I make my small 240 gm trial batches…it cools pretty quickly, so I will stir it about a minute…6-7 times during cool down. And a quick blast at the end…when I toss in the fragrance/EO’s.
I also sprung for the specialty roto /stator type emulsifing attachment (have not yet received it), which actually cost slightly more than the machine!?!? I look forward to that arriving next week from Canada.
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@helenhelen Thanks so much! I may give it a go.
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@Graillotion $300 total? Why wouldn’t you just opt for a decent overhead stirrer for that cost? Just curious so I can know what might be more beneficial over another.
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion $300 total? Why wouldn’t you just opt for a decent overhead stirrer for that cost? Just curious so I can know what might be more beneficial over another.
Because I need a homogenizer, first and foremost.
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@Graillotion And would $300 be affordable for a homogenizer?
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion And would $300 be affordable for a homogenizer?
I would say that is very affordable. But unfortunately you’d still be stuck with the 300ml minimum volume you should use the homogeniser with. That’s the reason I didn’t go for the Dynamix + homogeniser attachment in the end. Otherwise it looked great.
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion And would $300 be affordable for a homogenizer?
I am a perfectionist. Sometime logical solutions are pushed aside in the pursuit of the perfect solution. 😉
I am making 240 gram samples…and yes…if I am not careful it sucks air into the lotion via vortex. But I have been able to stir that out quite well.
I have been impressed with one of the attachments that came with it….(in the small batches) but felt (maybe wrong…maybe right) that when I scaled up to 4 liter batches….that I would want the roto stator type attachment.
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion $300 total? Why wouldn’t you just opt for a decent overhead stirrer for that cost? Just curious so I can know what might be more beneficial over another.
I would have nothing to stir…if I could not first homogenize it.
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@Graillotion I just purchased a $90 overhead stirrir for now. Hopefully that will be sufficient for what Im doing. I watched some videos on why one would need a homogenizer verse just a stirrer and it seemed like the stirrir was more universal? I guess not everything needs homogenized, but most everything can be stirred? Am I wrong? I know there are some thing that require a homogenizer, but is it more of a preference? Do you have an IG?
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PeaceLoveNaturals said:Do you have an IG?
Sorry…what is IG?
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helenhelen said:PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion And would $300 be affordable for a homogenizer?
I would say that is very affordable. But unfortunately you’d still be stuck with the 300ml minimum volume you should use the homogeniser with. That’s the reason I didn’t go for the Dynamix + homogeniser attachment in the end. Otherwise it looked great.
That’s not true at all! I’ve seen you already mentioned that in several places at the forum, but you can mislead the users which are interested in this device. Dynamix with the homogenizer attachment could cope with 100ml of lotion perfectly. I am doing a lot of experiment at my home and my base volumes are always 100ml. I’ve never had a problem with this volumes.
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ggpetrov said:helenhelen said:PeaceLoveNaturals said:@Graillotion And would $300 be affordable for a homogenizer?
I would say that is very affordable. But unfortunately you’d still be stuck with the 300ml minimum volume you should use the homogeniser with. That’s the reason I didn’t go for the Dynamix + homogeniser attachment in the end. Otherwise it looked great.
That’s not true at all! I’ve seen you already mentioned that in several places at the forum, but you can mislead the users which are interested in this device. Dynamix with the homogenizer attachment could cope with 100ml of lotion perfectly. I am doing a lot of experiment at my home and my base volumes are always 100ml. I’ve never had a problem with this volumes.
Apologies if I have misled anyone - I haven’t used the device personally and that wasn’t my intent. The 300ml minimum was the advice given to me from the Misceo team regarding their smallest homogeniser, Misceo 250, which is the same size as the Dynamix (Misceo and Dynamix are both made by Dynamic). The specs in the product descriptions for both mention volumes of 1-4l, so it seemed a bit of a stretch to go down to 100ml when I was doing my purchasing research… but again, no personal experience, so I’m glad you manage to get it to work with 100ml.
I also saw this video which seemed to get a more aerated result from the Dynamix than her usual homogeniser (which is now discontiued).. although to be fair, she didn’t seem that bothered by it.
The combination of those two sources of information and no one previously telling me otherwise were what led me to conclude the minimum workable volume would be 300ml.
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helenhelen said:I also saw this video which seemed to get a more aerated result from the Dynamix than her usual homogeniser (which is now discontiued).. although to be fair, she didn’t seem that bothered by it.
There was also so much spray when she used the Dynamix (there was product jumping out of the beaker), that it really put me off the Dynamix for small volumes. Although I just noticed that in her test, she used a smaller beaker for the other blender (which meant the blender could go deeper into the liquid)… and maybe she also used too high a speed on the Dynamix… so maybe it wasn’t a fair representation of the Dynamix. But in any case, I was put off by potential aeration which I am very averse to.
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helenhelen said:
There was also so much spray when she used the Dynamix (there was product jumping out of the beaker),
Here is one thing I have noticed with the Dynamic in the few batches I have made with it….. If you turn it on…at high speed….YUP…things want to jump out. However, if you start at low speed, and return to that same higher speed setting, it will not jump out. Therefore start slow, and build up speed. Since the Dynamic Mini-Pro has infinitely adjustable speed…this is easy to do.
I should get my roto-stator attachment this week…and will let you know. -
I ended up buying a $90 overhead mixer. Just used it today. Unfortunately even $200 is a bit out of my budget right now.
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