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O.K. to Dilute Liquid Germall Plus preservative?
I don’t have a terribly precise scale, so I have diluted my liquid Germall plus with water, creating a 25% Germall solution. I then use the diluted Germall at 2% to yield a 0.5% total Germall in my creations. Recently, it occurred to me that perhaps the Germall is being “used up” in the water, as it sits there. I diluted it many months ago & have some in the fridge & some in an empty, cleaned plastic jug in the basement (cool & dark).
Have I ruined the efficacy of my Germall????
((( I have a sinking feeling I should just buy a new bottle of Germall & figure out the density of Germall, then just add so many drops or droppers full to get 0.5 grams in 100 grams of product.With my scale, the precision is only to 1 decimal place, so the 0.5 grams the scale shows me ranges from 0.50 grams to 0.59 grams, but it would still show me 0.5 grams, know what I mean? That is why I diluted the entire bottle to a 25% concentration. -
5 Replies
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Why? Diluting your preservative with water is not a good idea.If your scale is positively “inaccurate” from 0.5 to 0.59 grams, it will also be positively “inaccurate” from 2.0 to 2.09 grams, won’t it be?
It’s not like adding a bit extra preservative is a bad thing unless you exceed regulatory limits. -
Buy a more accurate scale - they don’t cost much - or make larger batches.
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You can probably dilute it - but I would use propyleneglycol since it is in there already. You will have to count in some extra PG in the formula though.
And @MarkBroussardDiluting 4 times equals a 4 times more accurate scale as long as the accuracy is linear, so it is not a bad idea in theory. I use it frequently to weigh dyes.But on the other hand - 2 decimal places is minimum for developing cosmetics - otherwise you will end up with a lot of diluting or larger batches like Belassi said. -
Propylene Glycol as a diluent! Good idea!
The other reason why I diluted my Germall + is that it is so thick, it’s frustrating to get a small amount out of the bottle. It just glops out of the bottle. GRRRRR.
I also dilute my vitamin E and soy lecithin ( liquid) because both are frustratingly thick, so diluting the E & lecithin in apricot kernel oil to yield a 25% solution of both, works a whole lot better for pouring & weighing. Yes, I take into account the extra oil I’ve used as the diluent in my creams/lotions when calculating the amount of emulsifier I need. -
Vitamin E is not thick… at least, not in comparison to items such as D-Panthenol. Now that’s so thick that I usually use a knife to get it out of the jar. Simply warm up vitamin E in a water bath and it’s quite liquid. I find it pours straight out of the fridge (albeit slowly). Oils are a nuisance - coconut and palm and mamey all solid at this time of year.
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