I'm having trouble combining some chemicals into a solution & can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I *think* it's just my order of work, but I could be missing something.
Components and appx amounts by volume:
Purified water, 85%, liquid
Glycerin (vegetable), 10%, liquid
Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, 3%, fine powder
Cetyl Alcohol, 2%, waxy flakes
Cetostearyl Alcohol, 1%, waxy flakes
Grapefruit seed extract, .5%, liquid
I've tried with & w/o the GSE. I don't know the chemical composition of it. It comes as 60% GSE & 40% vegetable glycerin.
I heat the water to about 150F and melt the cetyl & cetostearyl alcohols in it, stirring gently. they only partially dissolve into the water
Then I slowly stir in the glycerin
then i slowly stir in the sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
last I stir in the GSE
It appears to be a uniform solution at this point and has the same viscosity as whole milk.
As it cools to room temp, it thickens slightly to the same viscosity as motor oil.
So far so good - everything is what i want.
But after it has cooled & gelled some, I see some separation. It has what appear to be small globs of something. I don't see these while it's warm.
I'm thinking this *should* emulsify & stay in suspension, and it mostly does.
I'm making skin cleanser BTW, but you've probably figured that out by now
I've tried melting the alcohols into the glycerin first but they don't mix at all. I haven't tried dissolving the sodium lauryl sulfoacetate into the glycerin yet but that's my next attempt. I figure with enough trial & error, i'll stumble on to the right process, but if anyone has any ideas it will save me lots of time & wasted materials. I might need an additional emulsifier or a higher ratio of the fatty alcohols to sodium lauryl sulfoacetate? I'm trying to keep ingredients to a minimum and trying to avoid ingredients that irritate skin as much as possible.
Also, is there a better way to agitate the solution to mix everything other than slowly stirring? I'd love to drop a stick blender into it, but I need to keep foaming to an absolute minimum.
Thanks!