Helping Cosplay Community Hygiene

For many years I have had a hobby that involved creating bath and body products from perfumes and colognes to shave soaps and facial masks. It was a fun little experiment that started when I regained my lost love of chemistry from my youth and created a perfume specifically for my wife.

Eventually this hobby evolved a bit and started to sell online under the name Kitsune Perfumery. As the years went by and products were added and removed, I realized I had many friends in the cosplay and furry communities that had costumes but little amount of quality products were available in the market to keep them a bit more fresh while at their conventions.

By fresh I mean smelling less like body odor and more like...well, anything else. Now there was a few products around from a select couple of makers but none of these were designed in a proper way. What I mean is that by evaluating the products, I would find that both their ingredients and process produced a mixture and not a solution. The difference you might ask? Well a mixture is something that when you put items together, shake it, it will mix temporarily much like Italian dressing. A solution is something that when blended and mixed will not separate on its own and creates a final product. Another problem with most products on the market was that they were not true disinfectants. The amount of disinfectant they used was diluted and usually improperly with tap water. A big no, no when making a sterile or unadulterated product.

In comes my idea. I would create a product that would apply perfumery techniques as well as other chemistry procedures to make a well formed product that will disinfect as-well-as have a proper lasting scent. This would solve to problems of lackluster scents, improper disinfection and be available for the same price point as what was already on the market.

Initially we would choose a set of fragrances to apply, all of which were either therapeutic or aromatherapy grade, and release this as a test. Eleven scents were selected some of which were Cotton Candy, Blueberry Muffin, Lavender and more. They were released at one of the local area conventions via donation for auction where the proceeds went to a local shelter. It was a small success.

Now making a basic disinfectant solution is not that hard as you can use IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) with a rating of 70% or higher as the base. This is enough to disinfect topical areas of fabrics. Mixing oils directly into this will work in some cases but many times it will not make a solution. The cheapest way (not our way because we can't release the proprietary formula) is to increase the value of the IPA to 91%+ or first mix 10% of the volume as oil into 91%+ and shake it to dissolve. Doing this for at least a week before mixing that part into the 70% to give it the scent you want.

It really is that simple to make a basic disinfection spray. Though our process is a bit more complex so that the scent lasts longer and disinfection is a little better than straight IPA values, what I provided will do the job.

This solution can be used on many types of fabric items. It can also be sprayed on chairs to take the scent of your behind off of it or in the car as an air freshener when applied to the seats. If you increase the IPA to have an overall volume of 95%+ it works wonders for deodorizing your shoes!

Hope you enjoyed this little read. I will add more over time as I have it but figured this would be a fun thing to do. Good Luck!