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Glycerin: What is it?
By
Bruce Burnett, CHThe force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age;Dylan Thomas's powerful portrayal of the universal life force is an apt symbol for the activity of glycerin. For what normally preserves dead tissue will usually harm life (e.g. formaldehyde, alcohol) and what generally promotes life will typically contribute to decay in the inanimate (e.g. moisture, oxygen).
Not so with glycerin. In interesting research published in the December 2003 issue of The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Dr. Wendy Boilag and Dr. Xiangjian Zheng, researchers at the Medical College of Georgia, found that glycerin makes skin look, feel and function better by attracting moisture and by helping skin cells mature properly.
The researchers discovered glycerin's role in skin cell maturation while studying phospholipase D, an enzyme that converts fats or lipids in the external, protective membrane. All cells have this layer, but skin cells secrete extra lipids to form a protective barrier. Says Dr. Boilag, "Think about it. If there was not some sort of barrier, when you took a bath, all the water would go into you and you would blow up like a balloon."
This research is not news to natural soap makers who for years have been extolling the virtues of real soap over mass-produced chunks of chemicals that are cheap, but not skin-friendly. For while natural soap makers return the glycerin that is a normal by-product of the soap making process back into the soap, and often add even more, usually from vegetable oils such as coconut or other nut oils, commercial soap manufacturers remove the glycerin to add to more profitable products such as hand creams and other cosmetics.
Hand-crafted soap (from HerbWise Products)
using Glycerin and Essential OilsIt wasn't until 1889 that a viable way to separate out the glycerin from soap making was discovered. In those days the primary use of glycerin was to make nitro-glycerin, which was used to make dynamite. Suddenly, commercial soap making became a lot more profitable, which gave birth to the mass manufacture of cheap soap, to the detriment of the small local soap maker.
But what exactly is glycerin? It is a sweet-tasting, colorless, viscous liquid, which can be dissolved in water or alcohol, but not oils. It is a trihydric alcohol with the chemical formula C3H5(OH)3. Glycerin (sometimes spelled "glycerin") makes a good solvent and is highly "hygroscopic," which means that it absorbs water readily.
Glycerin was first discovered in 1779 in the saponification (the conversion of fats into soap via the addition of an alkali such as lye) process of olive oil. Today, glycerin is found in and sourced from animal fats, vegetable oils and synthetically from petrochemicals.
The uses of glycerin are many. In addition to soap and cosmetics it is used in medicinal ointments, sometimes thickened with finely powdered starch. It is lubricating, emollient, soothing and healing to the skin. When mixed with floral waters (e.g. rose or lavender water) and borax it makes an effective wash for chapped skin. In this form glycerin is toning and astringent. When added to pills, suppositories and lozenges, glycerin will prevent them from becoming hard and moldy. Glycerin suppositories are an excellent remedy for consistent constipation and hemorrhoids.
Glycerin is antibacterial and is a valuable food preservative, being used extensively in the food processing industry. Although not quite as effective as alcohol for extracting the active ingredients in herbal tinctures, glycerin based tinctures are recommended for children or anyone wishing to avoid alcohol.
Finally, to bring us back full circle to the Dylan Thomas quote, glycerin is fabulous for preserving flowers, enabling them to maintain pliability and avoiding the brittleness of air-dried flowers. Dye can be added to the glycerin solution to retain or change the original plant color. It can take up to a week for the plants to absorb the solution, but they will then last for years. Check with your local craft supply store, bookstore or library for information on how to do this effectively.
Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station has some excellent online instructions on how to preserve flowers using glycerin. The information can be downloaded from www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/mf2446.pdf.
One word of caution: If you're adding dye to the solution, don't place the flowers in a bathroom, kitchen or any other area susceptible to moisture. The glycerin will attract this moisture. The plants will weep and you'll have an indelible mess on your hands.
