Home

Soapmaking

Contact me

Cosmetics making Eco household

Search Website

About me

Buy supplies

Lecithin as an emulsifier part I, how to

dissolve lecithin granules

Marigold hand protection cream

| Views 11638

hom
m
eatresiem
aG
fdeiylcersul
SIGN UP for my
newsletter, and receive
for FREE my 25 page Ebook Making creams with
all natural emulsifier
Olivem 1000
Join almost 2000 followers.

* indicates required
First Name

*
*
Send me my E-book!

Email Address

Glyceryl stearate is a non-ionic low HLB emulsifier and emulsion

stabilizer.
Because it has low HLB, for emulsions oil-in-water it is being used
in combination with another emulsifier. It is said that it brings to
creams and solutions a non-greasy, but rich touch.
As the majority of emulsifiers, it is an ester or simply said, an
organic compound derived from reaction of alcohol and carboxylic
acid. Carboxylic acids are for example fatty acids found in oils and
fats and therefore one can envisage making different emulsifiers at
home simply by reacting an oil of choice with an alcohol of choice.
Such an emulsifier is of course not going to be pure as are those
of commerce this is because we do esterify all the fatty acids in
the oil, not only one. However, we create often an emulsifier with good qualities. Moreover, glyceryl stearate is easy to
make pure, because we can buy pure stearic acid in online craft stores.
I was inspired by french bloggers that are making all kind of emulsifiers:
http://cosmeticshomemadecolchique.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/mon-emulsifiant-ve-glyceryl-stearate-maison/

Follow me

http://tout-naturellement.blogspot.com/2011/03/ve-et-mf-du-commerce-les-faire-soi-meme.html
Glyceryl stearate is an ester of stearic acid and glycerol (AKA glycerin yes, it is also an alcohol!). Because pure stearic
acid is easy to find in soapmaking online stores, we can pretty easily make pure glyceryl stearate at home.

Blog awards

Reaction of carboxylic acid and alcohol is naturally very slow, therefore a catalyst is needed. Adding a solution of acid
helps the reaction to take place more efficiently. The exact amount of acid is not important. Usually, we use citric acid or
vinegar. Also, glycerine should be in excess, just to be sure there is enough to esterify all the stearic acid.
Recipe :
20 g stearic acid
20 g glycerine
40 g of vinegar or 20% solution of citric acid)
Process:
Melt stearic acid in glycerine in water bath, after the stearic acid is melted add your acid and heat for an hour.

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com

Find Soap Making Supplies at

NaturesGardenCandles.com

Recent
Comments
Yasmin: Hi, Id like to ask
which is better in terms
of increasing the
hardness of the soap, the
water discount...
evik: Hi Beatriz! You know
I was already testing
natural soap colorants
and have it all on paper
and on photos, I...
evik: Hi Karin, thank you
for your input, very much
appreciated, I shall give it
a try!
evik: Hi Nicole, funny you
say it is greasy I get a
lot of not greasy
enough feedback from
many...
evik: Hi Jan, indeed, it is a
very good soap. Maybe
a bit hard though, I
would add 10% olive oil.

During this time you will see glyceryle stearate white parts precipitating out of the solution and floating on the top,
creating a solid layer.
After one hour let everything cool, you can use fridge, then extract the solid part this is glyceryl stearate and get rid
of the liquid part this is the rest of glycerol and acid citric and possible other compounds like glyceryl citrate for
example that were created during the process.

Glyceryl stearate is solid, white and fragile. It is of interest to wash it in water just to get rid of all possible liquids. After it
dries, we can break it into peaces and stock for next usage.

Categories

about
ingredients
dermatitis

body

atopic

bath

cosmetics book

reviews cosmetics

experiments

cosmetics
making crazy
soapy ideas

Th is en try w as p o sted b y evik o n Jan u ary 17, 2012 at 07:54, an d is filed u n der emu lsifiers. Fo llo w an y
resp o n ses to th is p o st th ro u gh RSS 2.0.Yo u can leave a resp o n se o r trackb ack fro m yo u r o w n site.

deodorants

eco-friendly household
emulsifiers essential oils
and flower water eyes

face for
beginners hair

Related Posts

#1 written by Rivergirl

Pings (1)

Comments (14)

4 YEARS AGO

hands hydrolates lips

This is so cool! Thanks for posting this!

LUSH-like
massage milk soap

soap
experiments

My
#2 written by Angie Evan

1 YEAR AGO

oils
Thanx!! Question: does it behave like btms or olivem1000?

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com

shaving soap color

soapmaking
soapmaking
basics soapmaking

So glad i have found this, emulsifiers cost a pretty penny, stearic acid is really cheap.
works!

#3 written by evik

i will def try, hope it

1 YEAR AGO

Hi Angie, nope, unfortunately, it is a co-emulsifier, so you have to use another emulsifier to help it

book reviews

soapmaking
techniques
soapmaking
tutorials soap molds

soap recipes
soap tips &
tricks tools

#4 written by Amber

1 YEAR AGO

Hi Evik, its me again! Haha, Im enjoying a lazy Saturday reading through all your fantastic blog posts.
This one has me confused, though; I understand making glyceryl stearate is probably cheaper than buying
something like Olivem1000, but if glyceryl stearate can only be used with a co-emulsifier, would the additional
cost of the co-emulsifier (plus the cost of heating / electricity for melting) mean that in the end it doesnt work
out any cheaper than buying something like Olivem? In addition, this seems more complicated and time
consuming, but perhaps I am missing something What co-emulsifier do you use with it, and do you find it it
easy to get the ratios correct?

uncategorized
#5 written by angie evan

1 YEAR AGO

My Recent Pins
Please provide a valid
pinterest id

so in a recipe that calls for 7% emulsifier, should i add 1/2 btms (or whatever ewax) and 1/2 of glyceryl
stearate?
i just tried to make a cream and put almost 6% glyceryl stearate and 1% of the total 7% ewax was btms and it
was a fail, the water mixed with the oils but i dont see any cream texture, it is still a liquid after about 10
minutes of blending with the mixer.
luckily it was a test batch. only 100 ml.
thanx

#6 written by angie evan

1 YEAR AGO

update: when it dropped under 30 C, it started to thicken a bit, it has now a light lotion texture. i guess when it
cools down completely it will thicken more.

#7 written by Chris

1 YEAR AGO

Thank you for this post! So much fun to make and what difference in the texture of my creams. I wonder if you
know of any other similar home made emulsifiers or recipes?
Thank you again!

#8 written by evik

1 YEAR AGO

Hi Chris, well, actual, I do Just didnt have time to elaborate on it. I tried several different ways how
to make emulsifiers and not all of them actually work. It is for a longer discussion, however, there
were two different approaches I read about, differing in how you approach making esters of fatty
acids: 1. you use a lot of weak acid as catalyst and let oils react with alcohols (e.g. this recipe) or 2.
you saponify first your oils, then you add weak acid to separate the fatty acids and make them react
with alcohols.
I must say I got the best results using the second approach, but I lost my notes when moving.
However, just two days ago, I found everything again! I would like to retry the experiments and if
confirmed, I will post about it!

#9 written by Sheila

1 YEAR AGO

Thanks for this great post, I have all the ingredients & look forward to making this. Youve got me wondering
now thogh, if I wanted to make cetyl acetate (never used this, but its on an ingred. list of a product I like),
would you combine cetyl alcohol with vinegar, or something else? Thanks again for your post,
Sincerely,
Sheila

#10 written by Anna

6 MONTHS AGO

I tried this formula, but unfortunately it didnt work on me. I followed the recipe exactly and when after one

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com

hour nothing had happened, I heated it up to 100 degrees celcius (just to be dure, cause you didnt mention
any temps). Still no positive results. Very dissappointed, cause I love this emulsifier and where I live I cant buy
it

#11 written by Anna

6 MONTHS AGO

Now that the solution has cooled down, there is indeed a solid, white layer on top of the clear solution
underneath. I really dont know if its glyceryl stearate or just the resolidified stearic acid

#12 written by evik

6 MONTHS AGO

Hi Anna,
yes, it is not that good as if it was made with much stronger acid (acid sulphuric). I consulted with a
chemist and some literature online which confirmed some glyceryl stearate is indeed obtained,
however, it is a mix of mono, di and tri glyceryl stearates (and some stearic acid I guess), which is not
what we go for. If I remember well, it is the mono- version that has the best emulsifying properties. I
believe I should update this post

#13 written by Anna

6 MONTHS AGO

Thank you for your reply, Evik. Apparently the process is not that simple, so I think indeed it would be good to
add some nuance to the post. I myself will, unfortunately, continue the search for a supplier offering this
emulsifierHappy soaping!

Name (required)
E-mail (required, will not be published)
Website

Type your comment

You may use these HTML tags: <a> <abbr> <acronym> <b> <blockquote> <cite> <code> <del>
<em> <i> <q> <s> <strike> <strong>

Post Comment

Cancel reply

Comment Feed for this Post

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com

Powered by WordPress and Mystique theme by digitalnature | Copyright: Eva Budinska, Curious Soapmaker
Eva Budinska is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn
advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com Co p y Pro tected b y Ch etan 's W P-Co p yp ro tect.

converted by W eb2PDFConvert.com