-
Making Deodarant
Hi Perry, I’ve recently challenged myself into making my own deodorant and never got past the first step which was dissolving sodium stearate in some denatured alcohol, I covered the ingredients on a double boiler but it may not have reached the desired temp, 225F all it did was evaporate and clump?? Any idea what i’m doing wrong and is SS volatile, i’m a little intimidated, Thanks, Pat
-
36 Replies
-
Sodium stearate is a sodium salt of stearic acid, which is a soap. It is not volatile, but its dissolution in hot water (or alcohol) is quite an onerous task. Having tried the same approach myself, I discovered that saponifying stearic acid and palm oil in the process of making the deodorant is much easier. I dissolve sodium hydroxide (1% of my total formula) in the heated (>= 157F) water phase of my formula, and I add melted stearic acid/palm oil (7% of my total formula) to the lye solution with shear mixing. Because the lye is dissolved in such a relatively large amount of water (as compared to the ratios used in cold process soapmaking), the addition of the fatty acids creates a viscous liquid that can then be made less viscous and more workable by the addition of a glycol (I use propanediol). I am therefore able to avoid the difficult task of dissolving sodium stearate.
-
Try using about 25% Propylene Glycol in your formula. Heat the stearate up in PG & water. it will go in.
-
Thanks to erindlea and DavidW, you helped me a lot, DavidW how much water? :-*
-
@erindlea You mention getting a viscous liquid with sodium hydroxide and fatty acids…could I possibly make a thick flowing gel by following what you say? I’m not trying to make a deo, instead I remember trying to duplicate a clear gel that’s in the market and sold in a tube…I was never able to duplicate it by following the IL (see below)
Water, Stearic Acid, Propanediol, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate,Xanthan Gum, Capric Caprylic Triglyceride, Phenoxyethanol -
@bortopa depening on your formula try 30% to 45% water
-
@joseg, try using potassium hydroxide.
-
Bobzchemist, what are your thoughts on my quest? thanks
-
Mostly, I don’t understand the purpose of it. There are several good starting formulas on the web if you feel compelled to try this, though.
-
If you cannot see this clear stick deodorant recipe that I’ve cut & glued, go to the Hallstar web-site & just enter in ‘DEODORANT’ in the search field.I make deodorant using propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, plus stearic acid and an essential oil blend for the de-stinkifying property.I do not use an antimicrobial agent because I do not use water in my recipe, unlike the recipe down below, which does have water & the antimicrobial.I also COVER the canning jar I am melting my ingredients in, & only unscrew it (wearing rubber gloves) when I want to give it a mix. The lid decreases loss of materials through evaporation. Sometimes I use a fleaker with its lid instead of a canning jar…..
http://www.hallstar.com/techdocs_pci/DeodorantSticksClear&CompleteJZ1-176(PG).pdf
You will also find a clear stick deodorant recipe on the Dupont, Lyle & Tate website. -
@Margreat:
If you do not include an antimicrobial, essentially what you are doing is a masking the body odor with the fragrance of the essential oils (unless you are using essential oils that have some antibacterial properties such as Tea Tree Oil, Sage, Rosemary, etc.). -
Great info.! thanks, @Margreat & MarkBroussard
-
With Sodium Stearate you must first bring your solvent up to the desired temperature … 95C. Once your solvent is at 95C, with very vigorous stirring, slowly sprinkle the Sodium Stearate onto the surface of the solvent. If you add too much, too fast, it will clump. If you sprinkle it in, it will dissolve quite quickly.So, to do this, you will need a hot plate with a stirrer. Without the vigorous stirring, it can get messy to work with.The absolute easiest way to work with it is to place a container of near-boiling water on top of your hot plate so the water is near the top of your beaker containing your solvent … this creates a “heating jacket” to keep your solvent at 95C throughout. If you do not have a stirring hot plate, use a homogenizer or mixer while you add the Sodium Stearate and once dissolved, add your actives and fragrances. Take care to not introduce bubbles into your concoction.As @erindlea pointed out, it is easier to work with a 1,3-Propanediol/Water mixture than Alcohol. Just follow the Dupont, Tate & Lyle formulation that @Margreat referenced. Very easy.
-
Great info. MarkBroussard, and for your references, thanks ^
^ -
If you’re trying to make a solid stick, it would probably be easier to use Sodium Hydroxide and Stearic Acid. Heat your water/zemea mixture to no more than 85C, start stirring, add Stearic Acid, wait until it’s dissolved, add Sodium Hydroxide, mix 30 minutes while reaction completes, (it’s exothermic, so you will probably shoot up to 95C without heating further. If your starting water mixture is too hot, the extra heat from the reaction will make the batch boil - not a good thing) Add your other ingredients and cool down. Pour into sticks at about 60 - 70C
-
Thanks bobzchemist, I may have took on too much for this rookie!
-
Well, maybe the first question I should have asked is why you are using sodium stearate as your gelling agent? There are easier ways to make a solid stick deodorant - they’re not used often because they are more expensive, and almost all deodorant manufacturers are very price sensitive.
-
A home chemist told me you need SS to make deodorant, I ordered some from Russia from E-Bay, tried the first step, to dissolve SS in denatured alcohol, but all it did was clump/evaporate. Thanks again Bobzchemist
-
Bobzchemist, the blog I found this on htt://swiftcraftymonkey.blog.com/….. diy deodarant
-
STICK FORMULATION NO. 22
7% sodium stearate
65% alcohol
25% propylene glycol
3% cyclomethiconeThis one? Follow the blog instructions. -
As a starting base try this. Adjust to 100% with anything you may want in there or adjust water.
The stearate will go into hot propylene glycol. This will set up at about 110F
Water 51.0%
Propylene Glycol 33.0%
Sodium stearate 5.0%
Glycerine 7.0%
PEG-4 3%
Preservative -
@BobZ … curious as to what other gelling agents you are referring to as alternatives to Sodium Stearate.
-
DavidW, could I replace glycerine (too sticky) with something else, or at least 1/2 the amount? I appreciate your input.
-
I’ve seen various natural gellants used - carrageenan, for example.Also:
-
Here’s a very interesting patent using Kappa-Carageenan, Xanthan Gum and water soluble cellulose:
-
You can take it all out and add water or PG. If you want, you can also use some butylene glycol to replace some PG. It will make it less “oily” slippery feeling. Try 10% or so. Play with the base making changes and see what you get. That’s half the fun.
Log in to reply.