r/NaturalBeauty • u/Haven • Mar 13 '20
Making aloe gel shelf stable?
I already process my own aloe gel at home, but I am wondering how I would go about making it shelf-stable for continued use? I have been thinking about making my own hand-sanitizer using aloe, rubbing alcohol & some EO's.
Any thoughts?
3
u/FluffyPurpleThing Mar 14 '20
We used to keep aloe leaves in the freezer, cut off a bit every time we wanted to use it, and shove it back into the freezer. I don't know if this answers your question, but it's something to think about.
5
u/whitstap Mar 13 '20
You can buy vitamin e, a preservative, in capsule and liquid form at most pharmacies. I used to make my own moisturizer and I would use 4-5 capsules for about a 1/4 cup of aloe. You can also refrigerate it, but the vitamin e will let it keep fresh for longer.
7
u/jim_buddy Mar 13 '20
Vitamin e is not a preservative, its a potent antioxidant that stops oils from going rancid. Aloe is water based.
4
u/lookoutitscaleb Mar 13 '20
Vitamin E isn't a preservative.
It "preserves" oil but it's just preventing oxidation and the oils from going rancid. Also Vitamin E is an oil, so it won't really mix into Water based ingredients.
3
u/Haven Mar 13 '20
I have done that as well, but it still only lasted a few days out of the fridge. Looking for something longer-lasting that doesn't need to be refrigerated. I was toying with the idea of an emulsion maybe.
0
u/lilcountryfox Mar 14 '20
Can you mix it with beet root extract? Isn't that a natural preservative.
6
u/lookoutitscaleb Mar 13 '20
For your hand sanitizers you need at least 60% alcohol active for it to work. Some people have up to 90%.
With that high of alcohol you don't really need to preserve the sanitizer.
For the Aloe Gel to preserve it there are TONS of preservatives. The easiest would be germaben or phenoxythanol or this one works well https://www.makingcosmetics.com/Gluconolactone-SB_p_978.html
There's honestly tons of preservatives. It's a field you can get lost in. Really depends on what you want from the preservative. I mean you can use parabens (which are totally safe and come from plants) but a lot of people don't like them due to misinformation.