[icedog]

I never before thought about buying glycerin. Now, to get hopped up lather I find I need glycerin. I never before needed hopped up lather. Now, because of Glen I find I need hopped up lather and the elusive oil called glycerin is the key. I always grouped glycerin with guar gum, xanthan gum, F&DC #6 and other stuff I only know exists because it is printed on product labels. I would have thought it would be easier to find heroin or gelignite but someone wrote they found glycerine at Whole Foods. I went to the nearest Whole Foods but the kid I asked said they had no glycerine. He did however begin showing me various products that had the word glycerin printed on the label. He asked me what I wanted to do with it. I told him I wanted to smear it on my cat. They did have hemp oil. I bought a large bottle of it.

I went straight home and added a little hemp oil to my shave soap. I worked up a lather and spread it on my face. It seemed somehow inadequate so I added more hemp oil and spread more lather on my face. I picked up my razor but I was oddly compelled to put more hemp oil in my mug. I poured a full mug of the oil and just swished my brush around in it. Then I found myself painting my face with the sraight hemp oil. Before long I had forgot why I was in the bathroom in the first place and went into the kitchen to eat a full bag of potato chips.

The next day I went to another health food type store called Mrs. Green's. There I found a bottle marked "vegetable glycerin". I bought it but have yet to use the stuff. I wonder if there is glycerin that is not "vegetable"? I like meat. I want "meat glycerin". Maybe even "pork glycerin". I love pork:
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Pork/

Brad

[Kenrup]

Yep, you can find the stuff in tiny bottles at chain drug stores in the beauty sections. The veg stuff works very well however. And you don't even need a bag of munchies handy.

I like meat too.

[gssixgun]

USP 100% pure glycerin is available at Walmart usually on the same aisle as the alcohol and the witch hazel 8oz for about $4.94 should last ya about "forever"
I do believe I read that it was made from pork by-poducts

[Arthur Dent]

Found mine in the Cake and Baking section at the local my local Krogers, and in soap making isle at Hobby Lobby. The one at Hobby Lobby was in a huge bottle.

[sicboater]

Originally Posted by icedog

I picked up my razor but I was oddly compelled to put more hemp oil in my mug. I poured a full mug of the oil and just swished my brush around in it. Then I found myself painting my face with the sraight hemp oil. Before long I had forgot why I was in the bathroom in the first place and went into the kitchen to eat a full bag of potato chips.

The next day I went to another health food type store called Mrs. Green's. There I found a bottle marked "vegetable glycerin". I bought it but have yet to use the stuff. I wonder if there is glycerin that is not "vegetable"? I like meat. I want "meat glycerin". Maybe even "pork glycerin". I love pork:
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Pork/

Brad

[hoglahoo]

Originally Posted by icedog

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Pork/

Oh my...

I added some shampoo to my lather this morning, saving valuable shower time by combining shaving and face-cleaning in one go. I'm not sure if it was uber-lather or not but my wife did admit I was more bubbly this morning than I usually am before 7 am. I also don't know the exact concentration of glycerin in the shampoo. Trade secret I guess

[Seraphim]

Glycerin

This stuff is so great, they wrote a song about it.

Crank this up in the shave den as you whip up your lather and get your shave on!

[icedog]

Originally Posted by Arthur Dent

Found mine in the Cake and Baking section at the local my local Krogers, and in soap making isle at Hobby Lobby. The one at Hobby Lobby was in a huge bottle.

Yes but are these pork glycerins?

[icedog]

Originally Posted by Seraphim

This stuff is so great, they wrote a song about it.

Crank this up in the shave den as you whip up your lather and get your shave on!

I love Bush glycerin almost as much as I love pork glycerin!

[geoffreyt]

Prompted by this thread I went and purchased me a bottle at Rite Aid for $5. I then put about 4 drops in my mug and lathered up a good lather. Seemed nice enough. Its this new Wapi I have. Ive used it twice and it has bit me each time. I'm not sure I like it. Maybe its the balance of the heavy scales that causes a problem but I see potential in using glycerin.


What is Glycerin?
by Kaila Westerman


Cold Process Soapmakers have it down to a litany. When asked why their soap is better than store-bought, they say (among other things), "Because of the natural glycerin. Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts moisture to your skin. Glycerin is a natural by-product of the soapmaking process and while commercial manufacturers remove the glycerin for use in their more profitable lotions and creams, handcrafted soap retains glycerin in each and every bar."

Melt and Pour Soapmakers have a similar line, "Commercial soaps remove the glycerin for use in more profit producing lotions and creams, my soap has extra glycerin added to it. This helps make it clear, and also makes it a lot more moisturizing."

But what is glycerin, really?

Glycerin is a neutral, sweet-tasting, colorless, thick liquid which freezes to a gummy paste and which has a high boiling point. Glycerin can be dissolved into water or alcohol, but not oils. On the other hand, many things will dissolve into glycerin easier than they do into water or alcohol. So it is a good solvent.

Glycerin is also highly "hygroscopic" which means that it absorbs water from the air. Example: if you left a bottle of pure glycerin exposed to air in your kitchen, it would take moisture from the air and eventually, it would become 80 per glycerin and 20 percent water.

Because of this hygroscopic quality, pure, 100 percent glycerin placed on the tongue may raise a blister, since it is dehydrating. Diluted with water, however, it will soften your skin. (Note: While people say this softening is the result of the glycerin attracting moisture to your skin, there is heated debate as to whether or not the glycerin has some other properties all its own which are helpful to the skin. Summed up, the current thinking is "We know glycerin softens the skin. Some people think its because it attracts moisture, but there could be other reasons.")




Where does glycerin come from?

Up until 1889, people didn't know how to recover glycerine from the soapmaking process, so commercially produced glycerin mostly came from the candlemaking industry (remember, back then candles were made from animal fats).

In 1889, a viable way to separate the glycerin out of the soap was finally implemented. Since the number one use of glycerin was to make nitroglycerin, which was used to make dynamite, making soap suddenly became a lot more profitable! I have an untested theory that you could trace the roots of most big soapmakers (and the "fall" of the small, local soapmaker) to about this time in history.

The process of removing the glycerin from the soap is fairly complicated (and of course, there are a lot of variations on the theme). In the most simplest terms: you make soap out of fats and lye. The fats already contain glycerin as part of their chemical makeup (both animal and vegetable fats contain from 7% - 13% glycerine). When the fats and lye interact, soap is formed, and the glycerin is left out as a "byproduct". But, while it's chemically separate, it's still blended into the soap mix.

While a cold process soapmaker would simply pour into the molds at this stage, a commercial soapmaker will add salt. The salt causes the soap to curdle and float to the top. After skimming off the soap, they are left with glycerin (and lots of "impurities" like partially dissolved soap, extra salt, etc.). They then separate the glycerin out by distilling it. Finally, they de-colorize the glycerin by filtering it through charcoal, or by using some other bleaching method.

Glycerin has lots of uses besides being used to make nitroglycerin (note: glycerin is not an explosive substance by itself. It has to be turned into nitroglycerin before it becomes explosive, so it's safe to work with in your kitchen). Some uses for glycerin include: conserving preserved fruit, as a base for lotions, to prevent freezing in hydraulic jacks, to lubricate molds, in some printing inks, in cake and candy making, and (because it has an antiseptic quality) sometimes to preserve scientific specimens in jars in your high school biology lab.

Glycerin is also used to make clear soaps. Highly glycerinated clear soaps contain about 15% - 20% pure glycerin. Known as "Melt and Pour" soaps, these soaps are very easy for the hobbyist to work with. They melt at about 160 degrees fahrenheit, and solidify fairly rapidly. Because of their high glycerin content, the soaps are very moisturizing to the skin. Unfortunately, this high glycerin content also means that the soaps will dissolve more rapidly in water than soaps with less glycerin, and that if the bar of soap is left exposed to air, it will attract moisture and "glisten" with beads of ambient moisture.

These downsides, however are more than compensated by the emollient, skin loving and gentle nature of this soap which is especially good for tender skin and children.

(1) The pure chemical product is called Glycerol (which shows that it is an alcohol), while the impure commercial product is called Glycerin. This is a technical complexity, so for this article, I'm sticking to the more familiar term, Glycerin.

[hoglahoo]

Originally Posted by geoffreyt

Glycerin has lots of uses besides being used to make nitroglycerin (note: glycerin is not an explosive substance by itself. It has to be turned into nitroglycerin before it becomes explosive, so it's safe to work with in your kitchen).

Huh? I got a good laugh out of this and I don't know why! It's just a weird statement. I'm still laughing! Maybe I'm just tired. Note: being tired is not an interesting state to be in by itself. It has to be injected with caffeine before it lends itself to fits of laughter, so it's safe to be tired in a library, church, or school board meeting.

[icedog]

"The process of removing the glycerin from the soap is fairly complicated (and of course, there are a lot of variations on the theme). In the most simplest terms: you make soap out of fats and lye. The fats already contain glycerin as part of their chemical makeup (both animal and vegetable fats contain from 7% - 13% glycerine). When the fats and lye interact, soap is formed, and the glycerin is left out as a "byproduct". But, while it's chemically separate, it's still blended into the soap mix."


So there really is pork glycerin! I love pork!!!


http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Pork/

[Brad]

Mama Bear uses glycerin in her soaps and they are absolutely some of my favorites for the lather they give as well as the amazing scents.

I have mixed the marauders citrus with my lime shave cream for a super lather, but now I think the glycerin in the soap may make it an uber lather. Either way, it gave an amazing shave with many of the properties listed.

[bevansmw]

After a little hunt for some, I found a bottle of 100% vegetable glycerin at a health foods store along with some pure alum block "crystal" deodorant that I couldn't seem to find anywhere. It's pretty cool, just an alum block shaped into a stick of deodorant in a little plastic case like other deodorants, says it'll last a year on the packaging.

[Roccman]

Funny how so many things are related. I drive a VW Jetta with a diesel engine. iv recently been looking into making bio diesel for cost and environmental reasons. take a guess at the biggest bi product of making bio diesel. yup...Glycerin! if anyone knows anyone in there town who drives around to all the local restaurants and takes there used cooking oil, chances are... there making bio diesel and probably have buckets of glycerin that they would be happy to get rid of. a post up on craigslist should put you in touch with all the glycerin you could ever want.

[Mike_ratliff]

The used cooking oil has been broken down by the cooking process sufficiently that no further refinement is required to use it as diesel... you simply filter out the large particles, and drive...

[Roccman]

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

The used cooking oil has been broken down by the cooking process sufficiently that no further refinement is required to use it as diesel... you simply filter out the large particles, and drive...

You can use straight used cooking oil in a diesel engine however good luck starting it cold. what i am referring to is true bio diesel. its filtered veg oil mixed with methanol/ lye to a ratio determined by titration. and as we know through soap making lye and oil (or any fat) produce glycerin. i may be new to this forum but i do have forum educate, and this tread pertains to glycerin and not alternative fuel methods, however if you would like to debate further on bio diesel id be more that happy to continue in a separate thread. my intentions were only to give a potentially free source of glycerin to anyone interested instead of paying 5+ dollars for a little tube of it.

overly simplified biodiesel possess:

(1) Coarse filtration of oil and drainage of any water present (2) Sample oil and perform titration - determine quantity of catalyst (3) Measure the reactants (4) Dissolve NaOH into methanol (5) Mix the reactants (6) Allow glycerol to settle (7) Drain glycerol (8) * Further processing e.g. washing / drying / additives (9) Filtration of biodiesel


*Glycerol and glycerin are the same compound.*