Yesterday we made a wool wash bar specifically for washing wool articles. Because wool requires a little extra TLC after washing to keep the fibers soft and smooth, I wanted to make a conditioner. While you could possibly use this conditioner in human hair, individuals with fine hair may find this a little too heavy for daily use. It still is a spectacular product for making the hair silky and shiny.
Wool is very similar to our own hair. Soap or shampoos clean the hair by raising the pH and attracting the dirt to water. This raises the platelets in our hair, which is why your hair can feel rough after just washing with shampoo. These raised platelets are also what cause those horrible tangles. A conditioner lowers the pH, causing the platelets to relax and form a smooth shaft of hair. This is why after using a conditioner we have soft, silky hair.
SUPPLIES
IngredientsCitric Acid |
EquipmentScale |
RECIPE
| Recipe in Ounces 0.14 oz Citric Acid 0.56 oz Rice Bran Oil 0.28 oz Lanolin 0.56 oz Meadowfoam Oil 1.13 oz Hydrovance 1.76 oz Conditioning Emulsifier 0.14 oz Liquid Germall Plus 23.99 oz Water |
Recipe in Percentages 0.5% Citric Acid 2% Rice Bran Oil 1% Lanolin 2% Meadowfoam Oil 4% Hydrovance 6.25% Conditioning Emulsifier 0.5% Liquid Germall Plus 83.75% Water |
INSTRUCTIONS
Weigh everything but the Liquid Germall Plus into a microwave safe container. I like to weigh out my citric acid and other water soluble ingredients first. This makes it easier to ensure the citric acid has dissolved completely. Once everything has completely melted, use your immersion blender to mix everything completely.
 Adding Hydrovance. |
 Weighing oils. |
 Weighing Conditioning Emulsifier |
 Ready to Heat |
 Heated and Ready to Mix |
 Mixing Wool Conditioner |
Allow the conditioner to cool below 120° F. When the mixture is below 120° F, add your preservative and mix well. From here you can package your wool conditioner. I like to use large bottles with pumps or disk tops, because they are easy to use when I am up to my elbows in wet wool.
Good day,
I am finding this mini-series of posts Extremely interesting since I work with a local farmer, making/selling goat’s milk soap with her herd’s milk, and knitting for her using the mohair fleece she has processed into yarn and rovings. I am looking forward (at the earliest opportunity) to trying your wool wash soap, and I do want to try this product too. I had a couple of questions, … could you please explain Why you selected the oils you did for this conditioner? (Not the lanolin, but the other two.) Are there any good substitutes for them? And what classification would something like this conditioner fall under? Surely if you marketed it exclusively for wool it wouldn’t be a cosmetic?
Thank you very much for the posts and your assistance!
Yours sincerely,
Grey Dove
Sometimes we choose oils that are on hand or are a focus of our attention. Rice Bran and Meadowfoam are gentle to the skin and I would use them on my own hair. I am sure this is why Taylor has chosen these for her conditioner. If you have other oils on hand, please substitute!
Tina
How/when do you use this conditioner?
Cee,
You would use this after you wash an item. It is very similar to putting conditioner in your own hair. I have a fabulous post going out tomorrow that will show how to wash your wool items and use both items we just made.
I am super excited about it!
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