The yellow, greasy substance extracted from wool is useful to us humans for a number of reasons, and thus, it is quite well-known. Take a look at this article so as to know how to make a skin cream out of this, at home.
Lanolin cream is also known as wool wax or wool grease. It is actually the substance secreted by the sebaceous glands of the wool-bearing animals, and is made into a processed cream for many domestic purposes. It can be used as skin ointment, shoe polish, and for waterproofing reasons, as it is waxy in nature and doesn’t absorb water. This property was discovered from the sheep, since their coats are protected from getting wet. There are certain breeds of sheep that produce large amounts of lanolin. This secretion is then extracted from the sheep’s harvested wool to be commercialized and sold in the markets as the ingredient for waterproof creams. It is also used for medical purposes.
Uses
Industrial
Lanolin acts as a rust preventive in various coatings and lubricants. The water-repellent property gives it an advantage of preventing corrosion when starved of oxygen. It is often used as a lubricant for stainless steel.
Medical
It is an ingredient in skin creams as a hypoallergenic material which is bacteriostatic. In medical terms, it is known as Medical Grade Lanolin and is used to treat chapped lips, diaper rash, minor burns, and abrasions.
Cosmetic
This cream, combined with vitamin E, gives quick-targeted moisturizing to the skin and significantly decreases roughness. It is a constituent of almost all cosmetics which have moisturizing characteristics and are used on a large scale all around the world.
Other
Apart from treating dry skin and itchy rashes, this cream is used by baseball players to soften and break their gloves. Shaving creams too contain this substance.
Lanolin Cream Recipe
The cream is quite easy to make at home if you are allergic to the commercial products. Given below is a short and simple recipe using beeswax.
Ingredients:
- 30 ml herbal oil
- 4-5 gm beeswax
- 15 gm lanolin anhydrous
- 30 ml water
- 10 drops tea tree oil
Directions: When you have all the ingredients collected and kept in order, start with the procedure.
- In a jar, put the oil, lanolin, and wax together.
- Pour the water and tree oil in another jar.
- Take a pan with hot water, and place both the jars into it.
- Wait till the wax and lanolin have melted, and then remove the jars from the hot water.
- Pour the water slowly in the jar with the fat, and gradually mix the two together.
- Make sure they are blended well, till you have a thick, lukewarm cream.
- After this procedure, you can simply add conservatives and essential oils to lend color and aroma to the cream. Close the jar and label it.
Side Effects
Along with the various benefits, use of lanolin cream has certain side effects as well. Since this cream is meant only for external use, an oral overdose might lead to diarrhea, rash, vomiting, and other digestive problems. People with wool allergies cannot use this cream. Sometimes, allergies are initiated not due to the pure form, but due to the other ingredients included in commercial products.
Thus, before you use these products, make sure you know what you’re allergic to. If you aren’t allergic to lanolin, you know just the right remedy for dry skin and rashes.
