Thread: Pure Glycerin?

Originally Posted by Alraz

A couple of things:

If anything else fails, you can probably find glycerin (glycerol) at your local supermarket or baking supplies store as glycerin is commonly used to make fondant icing, etc..

It is always good to make the distinction of "pure" when it comes to chemicals, and this applies to any and every chemical. In fact, glycerin is not the name of a chemical, glycerol is. Also, there is no such thing as a "pure" chemical, even the purest of chemicals always has impurities. Chemicals are manufactured in "grades", which means that a set of standards is used to ensure that they conform with certain regulations. it is important to have the word "grade" as reference. I always suggest that people use USP grade for cosmetics or food applications. Perhaps this link would help to understand what I mean with grades:

Glycerin Specifications, Crude Glycerin, Technical Grade Glycerin, USP Grade Glycerin

As you can see, the word glycerin, has not purity attached, the grade, determines the purity and no all "glycerins" are created equal. Low grade synthetic glycerin can contain, among other things, methanol. This link also explains why one may want to buy USP grade:

www.cleaning101.com/oleo/USPGlycerin.pdf

I hope that this brief explanations help to clarify the issue of purity in chemicals, particularly of glycerol.

Al raz.

Why am I not surprised that this data would come from Alraz?

I bought mine on Amazon.

In the UK glycerin sold in chemists is B.P. British Pharmacopoeia. Suitable for internal use if neccessary. It's sold in small bottles, fairly inexpensively.

Yea, Alraz.

That's where I got mine - well at least - in a round about way. You see my wife took this cake decorating course and bought all of the fancy Wilton brand icing bags & tips, food colorings, and other sundries. I wonder how long it will take her to notice the little Wilton brand bottle of glycerin is missing. She bought all of the supplies at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure which. I've never bothered to find out how much she (I mean "I") paid for it that tiny bottle. Since it's Wilton brand, I probably paid 30X what it's worth. Just one more place to check if you can't find it at the supermarket.

Okay, I'm just kidding. She actually gave it to me. Have you ever tasted fondant icing? It really looks cool, especially when your watching those shows on the Food Network, but it tastes disgusting. She decided to never make it again after discovering how bad it tastes. Give me the "royal icing" anytime - after all Crisco mixed with powdered sugar is so much healthier

Greg

Originally Posted by Alraz

If anything else fails, you can probably find glycerin (glycerol) at your local supermarket or baking supplies store as glycerin is commonly used to make fondant icing, etc..
Al raz.

In Canada you should be able to find it at any major pharmacy in the first aid section. Look at the bottle on the very top or very bottom shelves. Usually beside Iodine, Witch Hazel, Peroxide etc

I got a bottle at Target.

I went to my Walgreens and they had to order it, but it was there the next day. $6 for 6 ounces.

Now, how much do I mix with my soap for uberlather?