Witch hazel extract
- Thread starter Medivh
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Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I noticed this year it has been difficult to find witch Hazel with 14% alcohol at a reasonable cost. Most of the stuff you buy has distilled water and recommend that for sure. So the way I see how I would mix it ,1 part extract to 5-6 parts distilled water going by what is on the bottle of my Dickenson's bottle should get you in the ball park. The extract should have Alcohol in it(?) and other good things. Make a small batch first and go from there is my recommendation.
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- #3
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
You should be able to tweak it to what you want, just give it a good shake before use if adding essential oils because oils tends to separate and float to the top over time I have noticed when tinkering with witch hazel and aftershaves. You might get a cloudy mixture when adding different things with witch hazel. Aftershaves have fragrance powders & oils sometimes put in and the witch hazel will suspend them differently.(Example :witch hazel clear, aftershave clear when combined you get a cloudy appearance.)
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- #5
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If you decide to tweak the alcohol content up, don't use isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). To prevent alcohol poisoning, use ethanol (Everclear). When it's absorbed into your skin, your body can metabolize it into less harmful byproducts than either IPA or methanol.
^ This, and a good PSA. Case study report, older but still valid:
A comparison of the absorption and metabolism of isopropyl alcohol by oral, dermal and inhalation routes - PubMed
The admission of a child with an almost lethal level of isopropyl (alcohol 380 mg/dl) after sponge bathing for fever, and questionable ingestion, prompted the present experiment in animals. Twelve rabbits (2-2.6 kg) were divided into 4 groups of 3 each. Groups 1 and 2 were given isopropyl...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
I'm sure it's much less of a problem when adults are getting massages with rubbing alcohol since their larger body mass reduces the toxicity level. However, it's still toxic. Less so than methanol (wood alcohol) but more so than ethanol. When you look at most product labels for cosmetics and the like, and even prescription medicines, it seems like they just use the generic term "alcohol". Unfortunately, a lot of people who try to duplicate their recipes with homebrews don't understand the chemistry involved and use whatever they can find at the store. With today's Covid situation, there have been reports of some companies making hand sanitizer using "alcohols" other than ethanol which resulted in serious effects with the users.
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- #9
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Are you taking the extract internally or externally, I was thinking you were taking it externally?
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As a side note, there is no specific research that demonstrates any benefit from ingesting witch hazel, and in sufficient quantiies it causes liver and kidney damage, and it contains a known (though weak) hepatocarcinogen, safrole. I would personally recommend external use only.
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- #12
I wanted to make it for my face and since i've mixed half of the bottle with water and essential oils for that, I can use the rest of it as food supplement, since it can be used that way according to the label of the bottle. My mixture is rather stinky and i'm not even sure if it's going to do anything positive at all on my skin. I think I should have bought witch hazel tonic from the internet instead of this, but I couldn't find any while I was looking in my area and.... I didn't want to pay for shipping for the tonic and that's how i've got in this situation.
