Glycerine

[jkchuma]

I noticed that the pharmacy section of Walmart has small bottles of Glycerine. Now I wonder if I put a couple drops of this in my bowl or on my brush while loading will it improve my lather? Some soaps already have Glycerine but my VDH Deluxe does not. I know VDH makes a Glycerine soap but I can't buy it at the store. Not to mention if it works it could possibly be added to any soap.

My concerns are will it have any effect on the brush? Does anyone think this is a bad idea? Has anyone tried this? How did it affect the shave? Is it not worth the trouble?

If nobody has tried it then I will pick up some Glycerine tomorrow, try it out on Thursday, and let you know what happens.

 

[Leche]

Glycerin in itself doesn't have any lathering properties. What it will do is add glide/slickness and it hydrates the skin. Shouldn't damage your brush.

 

[joshmpdx]

glycerin in itself doesn't have any lathering properties. What it will do is add glide/slickness and it hydrates the skin. Shouldn't damage your brush.

+1, a couple of drops will do. and i find it an unnecessary step.

the VDH soaps, to my understanding are glycerin based.

 

[Hughies_online]

I add glycerin all the time. No problems at all (I use silvertip brushes)

 

[rickboone1]

Many of us here use this.

 

[jkchuma]

Good to know I should give it a try.

 

[michiganlover]

I noticed that the pharmacy section of Walmart has small bottles of Glycerine. Now I wonder if I put a couple drops of this in my bowl or on my brush while loading will it improve my lather? Some soaps already have Glycerine but my VDH Deluxe does not. I know VDH makes a Glycerine soap but I can't buy it at the store. Not to mention if it works it could possibly be added to any soap.

VDH Deluxe is most certainly a Glycerin based soap. It has Propylene Glycol, which is just a different variation of glycerin as I understand it.

Also, pure glycerin is a byproduct of the soap making process, and is actually removed from many soaps for usage in other products. It seems a small amount always remains.

Further, it is possible that Glycerin is not listed as an ingredient if it is the result of a chemical reaction, rather than an actual raw ingredient of the soap itself.

 

[Monkeydad]

VDH Deluxe is most certainly a Glycerin based soap. It has Propylene Glycol, which is just a different variation of glycerin as I understand it.

Also, pure glycerin is a byproduct of the soap making process, and is actually removed from many soaps for usage in other products. It seems a small amount always remains.

Further, it is possible that Glycerin is not listed as an ingredient if it is the result of a chemical reaction, rather than an actual raw ingredient of the soap itself.

Not sure if Deluxe if a Glycerin soap or not. I use it now.

They DO make a soap that is translucent orange and specifically says glycerin on the label:

 

[jkchuma]

Not sure if Deluxe if a Glycerin soap or not. I use it now.

They DO make a soap that is translucent orange and specifically says glycerin on the label:

This is why I thought maybe the Deluxe could benefit from a few drops of Glycerine. I'm going to try it anyways.

 

[insomb]

VDH Deluxe is most certainly a Glycerin based soap. It has Propylene Glycol, which is just a different variation of glycerin as I understand it.

Also, pure glycerin is a byproduct of the soap making process, and is actually removed from many soaps for usage in other products. It seems a small amount always remains.

Further, it is possible that Glycerin is not listed as an ingredient if it is the result of a chemical reaction, rather than an actual raw ingredient of the soap itself.

I don't know if anyone knows this or not but apparently Propylene Glycol has various health hazards associated with it. I sort of went ape**** on cosmeticsdatabase.com recently typing in most of the ingredients I have a hard time pronouncing to find out what they were. I use Classic Brand Shaving Cream Unscented, and Pre de Provence... both of which didn't have any harmful ingredients other than the fragrance in the Pre de Provence, but my Neutrogena face lotion, and Cetaphyl sound extremely bad for my skin. I'm not positive but I think Propylene Glycol is different than Glycerin. If anyone has any more knowledge about it, I'd really like to know as I was planning on trying VDH myself as I thought it was made of Glycerin and not Proylene Glycol.
Interesting links below regarding Propylene Glycol (which happens to be in a lot of skin care/shaving cream products) along with cosmeticsdatabase.com where you can type in ingredients/products and view evaluations on ingredients. I actually think I might post a thread about this later on to see what others think.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/705315/PROPYLENE_GLYCOL/

http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/propylene-glycol.html

http://antiagingchoices.com/harmful_ingredients/toxic_ingredients.htm

 

[gollum83]

VDH Deluxe is most certainly a Glycerin based soap. It has Propylene Glycol, which is just a different variation of glycerin as I understand it.

Propylene glycol is a completely different chemical. There is a reason it's called propylene glycol after all and not glycerin.

I don't know if anyone knows this or not but apparently Propylene Glycol has various health hazards associated with it...

It's completely safe. Some people seem to mix it up with ethylene glycol, which is toxic if large amounts are ingested.

 

[mr_economy]

I don't know if anyone knows this or not but apparently Propylene Glycol has various health hazards associated with it. I sort of went ape**** on cosmeticsdatabase.com recently typing in most of the ingredients I have a hard time pronouncing to find out what they were. I use Classic Brand Shaving Cream Unscented, and Pre de Provence... both of which didn't have any harmful ingredients other than the fragrance in the Pre de Provence, but my Neutrogena face lotion, and Cetaphyl sound extremely bad for my skin. I'm not positive but I think Propylene Glycol is different than Glycerin. If anyone has any more knowledge about it, I'd really like to know as I was planning on trying VDH myself as I thought it was made of Glycerin and not Proylene Glycol.
Interesting links below regarding Propylene Glycol (which happens to be in a lot of skin care/shaving cream products) along with cosmeticsdatabase.com where you can type in ingredients/products and view evaluations on ingredients. I actually think I might post a thread about this later on to see what others think.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient/705315/PROPYLENE_GLYCOL/

http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/propylene-glycol.html

http://antiagingchoices.com/harmful_ingredients/toxic_ingredients.htm

While I applaud the EWG (the group responsible for the Cosmetics Database) for their safety concerns, if you believe their ratings nearly all of us should have already dropped dead of cancer by our 5th birthday.

Most of the studies pointed to on that site show a tiny amount of potential toxicity in non-human test animals at huge doses. Unless you're going to be eating, drinking, bathing in, and sleeping next to all of those ingredients nearly nonstop for the next several years, you're probably alright.

Propylene Glycol is General Recognized as Safe by the FDA, and it's found in tons of food products as well as skincare.

 

[cymric]

I sort of went ape**** on cosmeticsdatabase.com recently typing in most of the ingredients I have a hard time pronouncing to find out what they were.

Let me put it like this: the site you are referencing is a horrible source of information for anyone without extensive knowledge in biology or chemistry. They scare people without such a background ****less for no good reason whatsoever. Yes, all ingredients used in whatever cosmetic product you care to name have health issues. It's Paracelsus' Law: the dose makes the poison. The problem is that the site only searches out the bad news, doesn't specify under which circumstances the bad news was reported or how the information was weighed (was it just one study? were it several? was it a clear significant signal? etc.), does not report on studies were no or statistically insignificant health issues were reported, and finally carefully omits the concentrations allowed and/or found in products, leaving you none the wiser and hopefully a lot more scared, and a lot more inclined to purchase products which are all-natural, all-organic, and all-lord-knows-what-else. There is nothing wrong with aggregating scientific and medical literature---it is on the other hand very wrong to not aggregate them completely and to make the process to 'classify' suspect compounds as opaque as possible.

Not convinced? Try searching for something like limonene. That is, for non-chemists, the stuff that makes orange smell like orange and lime like lime, the difference between the two being a beautiful illustration of a phenomenon known as optical isomerism. But I digress. It gets an '8' on a scale from 0 to 10, where anything beyond 7 means 'avoid'. I guess that means all citrus fruit is now officially labelled as suspect until we can locate something more appropriate, right? Now extend this way of reasoning to the other entries in the database. I have extensive knowledge of chemistry and so can put some nuances to the presented effects. Most other people cannot.

Bottom line: propylene glycol is safe for use in the way it is intended in VDH shaving soap. Because it is known to cause irritation in some people, it may cause irritation with you. We don't know why that is so. One of those things. If that happens, move on. If it doesn't, well, great. Just don't eat the soap and don't go wearing lather on your face around the clock, and you'll be fine.

 

[gollum83]

Let me put it like this: the site you are referencing is a horrible source of information for anyone without extensive knowledge in biology or chemistry. They scare people without such a background ****less for no good reason whatsoever. Yes, all ingredients used in whatever cosmetic product you care to name have health issues. It's Paracelsus' Law: the dose makes the poison. The problem is that the site only searches out the bad news, doesn't specify under which circumstances the bad news was reported or how the information was weighed (was it just one study? were it several? was it a clear significant signal? etc.), does not report on studies were no or statistically insignificant health issues were reported, and finally carefully omits the concentrations allowed and/or found in products, leaving you none the wiser and hopefully a lot more scared, and a lot more inclined to purchase products which are all-natural, all-organic, and all-lord-knows-what-else. There is nothing wrong with aggregating scientific and medical literature---it is on the other hand very wrong to not aggregate them completely and to make the process to 'classify' suspect compounds as opaque as possible.

Not convinced? Try searching for something like limonene. That is, for non-chemists, the stuff that makes orange smell like orange and lime like lime, the difference between the two being a beautiful illustration of a phenomenon known as optical isomerism. But I digress. It gets an '8' on a scale from 0 to 10, where anything beyond 7 means 'avoid'. I guess that means all citrus fruit is now officially labelled as suspect until we can locate something more appropriate, right? Now extend this way of reasoning to the other entries in the database. I have extensive knowledge of chemistry and so can put some nuances to the presented effects. Most other people cannot.

Bottom line: propylene glycol is safe for use in the way it is intended in VDH shaving soap. Because it is known to cause irritation in some people, it may cause irritation with you. We don't know why that is so. One of those things. If that happens, move on. If it doesn't, well, great. Just don't eat the soap and don't go wearing lather on your face around the clock, and you'll be fine.

Cymric, you're my hero.

 

[cymric]

More fun: citric acid. This stuff is what gives lemons and limes their sourness, and is a hugely popular additive for anything that needs its pH lowering. We've been gorging ourselves on the stuff for milennia. It is a major intermediate in the chemical industry with a total production rate which is measured in millions of tons each year. What does the database say? Under neurotoxicity it is written: 'One or more animal studies show brain and nervous system effects at very low doses', under non-reproductive organ system toxicity: (amongst others) 'One or more animal studies show gastrointestinal effects at very low doses', and under skin, eyes and lung irritation: 'One or more animal studies show skin irritation at moderate doses'.

Think about what this means and what compound we're dealing with here. Then consider citric acid's score of 4, which means it is suspect at the very least.

 

[jkchuma]

Just don't eat the soap and don't go wearing lather on your face around the clock, and you'll be fine.

Uh oh...

 

[gollum83]

Uh oh...

Time for the stomach pump.

 

[jkchuma]

So what if I ate the soap AND have been wearing it all day?

 

[insomb]

I see what you're saying, although the U.S. restrictions over ingredients differ from other countries and we are particularly known for having bad health, consuming questionable products, not really giving a crap. It's very similar to the reasons many of us might switch from aerosols to soaps in the first place. I'm going to take the FDA's approval with a grain of salt as I have sensitive skin. If it's potentially harmful and I eliminate it... I'm maximizing the possibility of me getting a non-irritated shave. The stuff I use now doesn't say Organic or Natural, it's completely by chance that I didn't get anything with ingredients listed on that site (as I do agree that site has a looooong list of no no's and they probably do have things on their that are overly excessive.) Hovever, I have noticed many companies are removing parabens, alcohols, and other ingredients such as tallow. If it's not harmful it makes me curious why they are. The restrictions on ingredients in most products are far from promoting health over profit. We have one of the highest, if not the highest use of GMO's, pesticides, obesity... just about everything. So I just am wondering what the purpose of Propylene Glycol in a shaving soap is? Other than being a filler for a more expensive ingredient that would reduce profit. Is there a beneficial aspect that I can't get from another ingredient?

 

[insomb]

Anyone know what the VDH select has in it? It say's hypoallergenic...