Thread: glycerine

I'm fairly new to shaving with anything other than shaving cream in a can. All the homemade and storebought soaps/creams I have tried recently have really been good to my face. A lot of the handmade soaps say that they are made with a high amount of glycerine, or that they're just glycerine soaps. So, I figure that more glycerine would be better. And after this morning, I beleive I was right. It seems that adding 4 or 5 drops to my lather really makes my shave more comfortable and my skin is less irritated. But, my question is, are there different types of glycerine, or are they all the same? The reason I ask is because I got a bottle from what I assume was a chemical manufaacturing company who was selling it for what I think I can assume was cheap. It did, however, come with a warning label saying it was a number one fire hazard/health hazard, according to the diagram. So, does anybody know if this stuff is different than what other people might call glycerine/Does anybody know if there are different types of glycerine? I think I remember there being some sort of purity % on there, but I forgot what it was.

Glycerine is not expensive. I pick mine up from the pharmacist at a local drug store. Because of the widespread use in better shaving products, I can only assume that the warning is for actual ingestion of glycerin vice use in a product that goes on the skin.

I remember seeing some threads, here or on other boards, that did warn not to use too much glycerin. I recall something to the effect that it absorbs moisture and at some point, too much will pull moisture from your skin - or something like that. Maybe one of our local soap makers like Colleen or Mama Bear will chime in.

Jordan

Thanks guys. I think it was mamabear's new site that had a bunch of info on it. I found that right after I posted.

Originally Posted by netsurfr

Glycerine is not expensive. I pick mine up from the pharmacist at a local drug store. Because of the widespread use in better shaving products, I can only assume that the warning is for actual ingestion of glycerin vice use in a product that goes on the skin.

Pure glycerine is not a hazard to ingest, unless you're a diabetic-- then, it's way too much sugar for you. Some endurance sports gurus mix in glycerine with a sports hydration drink so as to enable one's body to absorb and retain more water.

Bob

Glycerine is a part of the fat molecule and i don't think you should be worried. The warning you saw on the bottle was probably if you should use it in large quantities. The same goes for regular salt (NaCl) which has a warning sign on it as irritant (if i remeber correctly) in chemist databases,this goes however for large quantities...

Just make sure you dont mix the glycerine with nitrate...BOOOOM!!!

I searched Walgreens site to see if I could get some across the street, and this looked like the only result for pure glycerin.

Africare 100% Glycerin | DSC Products | Beauty & Spa | Walgreens

Makes hair more manageable? Sounds about right. If I'm missing something, please let me know. If not I'll pick some up later today.

Originally Posted by jnich67

I remember seeing some threads, here or on other boards, that did warn not to use too much glycerin. I recall something to the effect that it absorbs moisture and at some point, too much will pull moisture from your skin - or something like that. Maybe one of our local soap makers like Colleen or Mama Bear will chime in.

Jordan

While glycerin is a natural hygroscopic that's not bad thing. It's ability to absorb water means that it will also hold that water which keeps whatever it's mixed in with from drying out. A lot of things are mixed with propelyne glycol for just that reason. As I recall glycerin will absorb around 20% and glycol 50%. I've got some PG that I used to use in my cigar humidor and one of these days I may experiment with adding a few drops of that to my lather and see what happens.

Originally Posted by BigBubba

I searched Walgreens site to see if I could get some across the street, and this looked like the only result for pure glycerin.

Africare 100% Glycerin | DSC Products | Beauty & Spa | Walgreens

Makes hair more manageable? Sounds about right. If I'm missing something, please let me know. If not I'll pick some up later today.

I picked up some glycerin today at Walgreens - they keep it behind the counter with the cold medicine in the pharmacy area. Apparently they are concerned (probably accurately) that someone will get their hands on some form of nitrate(s) and experiment

It's like an arms race...Man works to make dangerous things idiot-proof, Nature goes and creates a bigger and better idiot...