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How safe is diluting shampoo?
  • akurah
    I like to dilute my shampoo to a just-barely-thicker than water consistency, and I put it in a foam soap dispenser to make it foam up when I pump it out. However, diluting shampoo also dilutes the preservatives in the shampoo, which makes me wonder how safe my dilutions are.

    Other than not diluting, the only thing I can think of that might make it safe (if it were not) would be to add my own preservatives.

    Or am I fine, and worrying for nothing?
  • Left BrainLeft Brain
    You should be worried since you are correct, diluting does dilute the preservative.

    This is fine if you are going to use the product up right away. But if you are going to have it sitting around for weeks you'll grow bacteria. It may not be harmful bacteria but do you really want to be washing your hands with bacteria?

    If you dilute, add preservative.
  • Sariel
    i like that idea. though, where can i get a foam-pump bottle, and where can i get the preservative to add to it?
  • TailFeatherTailFeather
    How about keeping a small plastic container with a lid in the bathroom, and putting a small amount of the shampoo or conditioner in with water and shaking it up as you use it? It'll foam up nicely, and no worries about bacteria. I use an old Hidden Valley Ranch mixing thingy sometimes, and it works fine.
  • akurah
    sariel: I reused a hand-soap foam pump bottle.

    I've done some looking online, and I haven't found a suitable retailer of preservatives nor have I decided on a preservative I want to use should I start diluting my shampoo again (threw out my old stuff). Apparently the amount of preservative you are supposed to use is incredibly minute, and I don't want to use too much lest I risk irritating my skin.

    If I come up with anything good, I'll post back.
  • PurpleRulesPurpleRules
    How much water are you adding? I don't know if it would be prohibitively expensive but there are preservatives in saline solution. I don't know if the sodium level is high enough to have an impact (I assume sodium in your shampoo is not a good thing) but the level might be low enough that it wouldn't matter. This may also be a totally stupid idea.
  • Left BrainLeft Brain
    Sodium chloride (salt) is found in almost all shampoos. It's used to adjust the thickness, or viscosity as we say in the cosmetic science business. It will not have much impact on your shampoo performance except maybe sting your eyes a bit if you put in too much.

    Here's an interesting experiment you could try. Take 2 parts shampoo and mix it with 1 part water. This will thin out most shampoos. Add a pinch of salt and it will thicken back up. This happens because of the chemical structure of the detergents in the shampoo.
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