Daily handwashing can cause your hands to become dry, chapped and even cracked. Keeping hands moisturized is a very important task, especially during cold and flu season, to keep hands from becoming raw and losing the skin barrier. If you run out of lotion and want to make some on your own, don't be intimidated! Making your own lotion is very easy and uses many ingredients that you may already have at home. Here is some useful information for lotion making beginners and a basic recipe to follow!
A simple lotion consists of water, oils, emulsifying wax, stearic acid, glycerin, vitamin E and a preservative. We have a very easy worksheet to follow that will give you the percentages you need HERE. We followed the percentages for a Hand & Body Lotion.
75% Water – Distilled water is best but you may not have this available. Tap water is fine to use. 15% Oils – Use any oils you might have available. You can use one or a combination of a few to equal the percent in the recipe. 4% E-Wax – You can use any emulsifying wax you might have (traditional, soft & silky, conditioning or conditioning plus). 2% Stearic Acid -This is used to thicken the lotion. You can also substitute cetyl alcohol or myristyl myristate. 2% Glycerin – This is a humectant to keep moisture locked in your skin. You can purchase this at your local pharmacy or even grocery store. If you need to leave this out, simply add 2% more of your oils. 1% Vitamin E – Works as an antioxidant for the oils in your lotion. 1% Preservative – Use any water-soluble preservative you have at home. If you do not have any, keep the lotion stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
How do you turn these percentages into a recipe? Simply plug the ingredients into our Batch Calculator. Add the amount of lotion you want to make; we chose 8 ounces. Add in each ingredient at the percent listed. Click “calculate” at the bottom and it will list each ingredient in the type of measurement you chose (ounces, pounds, milliliters or grams).
Here is our recipe using ingredients we had available. We made an 8 ounce batch:
6.0 oz. Water
1.2 oz. Rice Bran Oil
0.32 oz. E-Wax Traditional
0.16 oz. Stearic Acid
0.16 oz. Glycerin
0.08 oz. Vitamin E
0.08 oz. Water-Soluble PF Preservative
Directions:
To a microwave-safe measuring cup, add the oils (rice bran), e-wax and stearic acid. Heat until completely melted.
Add water to a second microwave-safe measuring cup and heat in the microwave for 2 minutes. Slowly add water into oil/wax mixture.
Using a hand mixer or stick blender, mix until lotion thickens.
Add glycerin and Vitamin E and mix until blended. If adding a fragrance or essential oil, you can add 1% and mix in.
Check temperature restrictions for the preservative you are using. Germall Plus needs to be added below 122 degrees so we had to let our lotion cool before adding. Once cool, mix in preservative.
Lotion is now ready to use. Place into a jar or other available container. If placing into a bottle, put lotion into a plastic food bag and snip off the corner. Pipe lotion into bottle.
To Use: Apply to skin as needed to keep moisturized.
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