[ozgirl]

@ledude

Only organic chemicals (carbon containing molecules) are tested in biodegradability tests and because water contains no carbon it is not included. Similarly sodium chloride would not be included. DOC means dissolved organic carbon and the measurement of this value is used in one of the tests.

The high cost of testing is another reason why smaller companies will often just claim that certain ingredients are biodegradable because the testing has already been done by the manufacturer. You can often get discounts if you test several samples at one time.

[ozgirl]

@EliseCortes I am in Australia and have only had to deal with this once to check the environmental claims on our products when were importing them into Canada.

Here is a link to the Environmental Claims Guide for Canada

http://www.bureaudelaconcurrence.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/%20eng/02701.html

Section 10.3 deals with biodegradability claims and Annex D has a list of biodegradability tests (ISO,OECD and ASTM methods) that could be used.

Hope this helps

[ozgirl]

The claim “biodegradable” is really just a meaningless marketing term unless it is backed up by testing.

If your product passes one of the standard OECD tests (or equivalent) when tested as a complete product formulation you can claim that the product it is “Readily Biodegradable”. The OECD test results are a pass/fail outcome and are not qualified with a percentage value (even though they must meet a certain percentage of degradation to pass the test). The OECD tests do allow for some non-biodegradable material to be present in the sample so it is possible for your product to pass the test even when it contains some non-biodegradable ingredients.

If you have information from your suppliers that all of the ingredients or one type of ingredient are biodegradable according to the appropriate test then you could make a qualified claim like “Contains Readily Biodegradable Surfactants*  (* All of the surfactants in this product are classified as readily biodegradable according to OECD 301E)”. This claim is often used on products such as washing detergent powders where they consist of mostly inorganic salts.Only carbon containing materials are tested in biodegradability tests so water and inorganic ingredients can never be biodegradable.

I would stay away from claiming anything with percentages and just make claims that relate to test data that you have available. Personally, if I see a claim that 92% is biodegradable I would be thinking what is the other 8% of the product but if I saw a claim that the product was readily biodegradable and mention of a test method I would feel confident that the product would be ok for the environment.

Also, I am not sure where you are located but some countries (eg. Canada) have standards that relate to making environmental claims such as biodegradability.

[ozgirl]

Have you considered a second hand overhead stirrer? You can often pick up good brand names at cheaper prices if a laboratory is shutting down and they are selling off the equipment. Where are you located? Someone might be able to suggest some traders that sell used lab equipment.

If you are looking at no name products compare the specifications with a well known brand like IKA.

[ozgirl]

The company I work for does some contract manufacturing (cleaning products not cosmetics) and I agree with DavidW that larger customers are generally prioritized but that doesn’t mean that smaller customers are forgotten about.

Manufacturers will usually give you a lead time and will try and stick to that. We have never had any sort of incentives or penalties for meeting / or not meeting a lead time. For your first few orders I would build in an extra week or two into your timeline on top of the quoted lead time to allow for any problems and just to see how the manufacturer is with sticking to their quoted lead times.

One thing you will need to consider is if the manufacturer is supplying the raw materials is whether they are a stock item that they use regularly or if they are only ordered to manufacture your order.  If the manufacturer only orders the raw material for your order you could have long lead times because of the lead times on your raw material.

I would usually expect your questions to be responded to within 24 to 48 hours during the week.

[ozgirl]

If you are at home you really don’t need a lot of equipment to get started. There are few options for heating but one of the best for beginners is probably a double boiler setup. I have in the past just used a saucepan partially filled with water heated on my cook top with my stainless steel bowl sitting on top. I personally don’t like microwaves because of the tendency to overheat or not evenly heat the contents.
There is no need to constantly stir both phases when heating them just give them a stir periodically to ensure that they are heated evenly.

A stick blender is great to mix the two phases together.

Check out swiftcraftmonkey’s blog for lots of useful information.
http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com.au/p/newbie-links.html

[ozgirl]

@Rahma - Perhaps if you tell us what you have tried and what the results were (even failures are results) then maybe we could give you some suggestions of what to try next. Show us your formula and tell us what was unsuccessful about it.

[ozgirl]

Agricultural grade urea will not be of a suitable standard for cosmetics. It often contains small rocks and dirt.

[ozgirl]

The ethylhexylglycerin in your phenoxyethanol / ethylhexylglycerin presevative can cause emulsion instability. Did you include it in your HLB calculations.

[ozgirl]

If this is the complete ingredients list then this is an anhydrous formulation NOT an emulsion. It does not have emulsifiers.

[ozgirl]

@Iaskedbetter Great basic guidelines.

I would like to add that people should introduce themselves in the introduction thread before requesting information/help.

Also, if you are asking for suppliers of a particular chemical tell us how much you want and where you are located. There is no point you telling us that you want xxxx chemical and then we tell you that you can buy 200kg drums of xxxx from a supplier the USA if you are are only making 200 gram batches at home in Europe.

[ozgirl]

What surfactant are you using?

Perhaps using a powdered surfactant with a small amount of binder would work. Try looking up formulations for foaming bath bombs.

[ozgirl]

We use a cloud point of 40oC or higher as the general rule.

[ozgirl]

Maybe try looking for emollients that are resistant to hydrolysis at low pH levels. These type of emollients are often used in antiperspirants. An example is Cetiol OE (Dicaprylyl Ether).

[ozgirl]

You could contact your Dow representative and ask what they recommend since you are getting the Acrysol from them.

I would recommend investigating a benzisothiazolinone preservative (such as Proxel GXL) as these are usually recommended for coatings and are stable over a wide pH range. What pH is your product?

[ozgirl]

A combination of beeswax (~5%) and castor oil (~95%) will give you a similar texture to petrolatum. The beeswax will offer some barrier properties. 

[ozgirl]

Could one sample have been contaminated during transport?

[ozgirl]

I just wanted to add to my earlier comments that I do not suggest that you try to hide ingredients. I was only suggesting how companies are able to get away with it.

[ozgirl]

@Kemist - Maybe Olivem 300 and/or Olivem 400 might work in your application.

[ozgirl]

The regulatory agencies are really only interested to see if there is a list of ingredients and are probably not going to look too closely to see if the list of ingredients is consistent with the product form.

[ozgirl]

I have found that when trying to solubilize some fragrances that a combination of tween 20 and PEG-40 Hydrogenated castor oil worked much better than either raw material on its own. Maybe you could try a combination of these to solubilize your emu oil.

[ozgirl]

A W/O emulsion can be called an inverse emulsion so I am assuming that is what they are referring to for this product.

[ozgirl]

I have tried a sample of Carbopol Aqua CC in a different application (cleaning product with surfactants) at around pH 3 and didn’t have much luck with thickening at that pH but it might work for you at a pH closer to 4.

I am in Australia so I am pretty sure that Carbopol Aqua CC is approved for use. I’m not sure how much you would be looking to purchase but the distributor is Bronson & Jacobs. 

[ozgirl]

The formulas I have come across for reed diffusers use dipropylene glycol (DPG).

I am guessing that because you are using propylene glycol rather than DPG you are having solubility issues.

I have also seen a couple of formulas that use use a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil, sweet almond oil or mineral oil in combination with the alcohol and  fragrance.

Hope this helps

[ozgirl]

If you are reformulating your product I would consider replacing the Cocamide DEA with Cocamide MEA. The Cocamide DEA is now classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans due to the DEA content.
http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol101/mono101-005.pdf

Unfortunately I don’t have any experience with the Bioterge but I would suggest matching your active surfactant levels and starting there.