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Slow or stop the thickening of a shave cream product over time
Thanks to the advice from those on this board, I have been producing a shave cream based on palmetic acid, stearic acid and glycerin. The product has met with very favorable reviews from those that have tried it, and I am about to accelerate my marketing efforts.
I market this in a “tottle” tube: one that sits “inverted” so the dispensing cap is the base of the bottle allowing the cream to feed toward the lid as the bottle is used.
One challenge I have noticed in my formulation is, over time, the product thickens a bit, and what seems great for a couple of weeks after the manufacturing, tends to become a slight bit thicker and remains in the tube so that it can not be completely exhausted over time of use. The addition of a small amount of water will thin the soap enough to continue, but I’d like to determine if this is preventable with the addition of some other agent to maintain consistency before I do a massive marketing push.
I have seen other products such as this contain propylene glycol, and I have tried using this in previous early batches. But have been uncertain as to how much to add to the blend because I found early batches tended to separate the glycerin and/or propylene glycol from the soap, and was undesirable. So, I am not completely sure what if anything can be done to maintain the less viscus nature of a fresh batch.
In summary:
Is additional water-over-time the solution (and if so, I will need to address in the instructions/labeling)
Would another ingredient be the best solution to this type of formulation? Would this be the function of the propylene glycol, or additional glycerin?
Many thanks for the advice. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to this forum and those so generous with advice in my start up process.
Mark Roberts
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10 Replies
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Submerge the container in hot water and problem solved. Cheap and easy.
Or does the consistency change drastically even in airless pots?.
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The product is in the Tottle bottles and sealed. When opened, the consistency has thickened, and this is what puzzles me. I am wondering if there is some chemical reaction/cause of this, or if the product is dehydrating through the thick plastic bottle. It is a MDPE bottle, so I would think the plastic is a sufficient barrier to dehydration, thus leaving me to wonder if there is a certain thickening over time with the formulation - is just fine when I complete the initial saponification and resting phase, but thickens over time.
I’m stumped as to why and wondering if anyone can shed some light on this. Any additives needed to prevent this?
Thanks!
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Change in consistency with this type of product is the nature of the beast! Often shaving cream batches were left to cure for several weeks for this to occur and pearlessence to develop. If your product is too firm after this period then you have to change the water percentage or adjust other liquid components like glycerin or other humectants until it is lighter at this point of your production. Experimentation is crucial!
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Hi David:
This is what I was thinking as well. I have let some of the product sit for 2-3 months, and perhaps I might wait to bottle it until the time has elapsed. Thanks you for your feedback.
I also have done a search on your posts on this forum as was recommended for me to do in another thread in answer to adding fragrance to a shave soap. To this end I have discovered a Kindred spirit in the manufacturing and tinkering with Shave products. I have enjoyed your posts and progress reports on your experimentation. Connecting offline sometime would probably be an enjoyable conversation 🙂
Many thanks for the insight offered on this issue. I think it confirmed my suspicions. My shave product uses a Palmetic Acid based formula, and is a very smooth and creamy consistency when finished, and I really like it personally. I have sampled quite a bit to friends and acquaintances, and all seem to report the same thing: Smooth, comfortable and very slick. My main issue has been lack of any fragrance (outside of the Menthol version I have made) and adding this to the mix will be important moving forward. So, the tinkering continues 🙂
Thanks again.
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Well, not surprising really; palm oil contains lots of stearic acid. Right now mine is solid so I cannot make soap; the container is too big to heat.
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Belassi: Interesting - so a Palmetic/Stearic acid blend would require a “seasoning” period after manufacturing before sale/bottling…?
Would that make the best sense for this?
Thanks for taking the time to respond to this. You were one of the ones that really helped me when originally starting this whole process. I have not forgotten your help and appreciate your advice.
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In my experience all saponified mixtures tend to change somewhat over time. EG “curing” for CP soap. But HP soap also cures… I have been wondering for years why this is. No info. I suspect that following the initial reaction, a cascade of minor reactions follows, causing new more complex compounds.
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could also be due to the slow evaporation of water over time; this type of product generally doesn’t contain much water and is relatively solid, so it’s very prone to evaporation
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Soap is thixotropic so viscosity increases with time so formulate in anticipation of this allowing for the increase during the shelf life.Bar soap absorbs water as a result of its thixotropy in the soap dish and gels as-compared to syndet bars which form slop/slush.One approach is a small amount of polysorbate 20 which should help.
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Great info all!
I really appreciate the help from the group. Based on this information I will make the initial batches more water intensive, and let cure for 1-2 months before bottling. Also will research Polysorbate 20. I use a fair amount of glycerin in the initial mix, but other additives my help the thickening issues.
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