Allergic to Beeswax Chafe cream?

[ny biker]

Curious about the shea butter -- any problems washing it out of your shorts, especially the chamois?

I've used Chamois Butt'r for years, and have no problems with it on my butt where I need it most. But recently I've had chafing with the seams in the front of my shorts. The Chamois Butt'r solves that problem, but also causes a rash of tiny red spots a couple of days later.

[Catrin]

Curious about the shea butter -- any problems washing it out of your shorts, especially the chamois?

I've used Chamois Butt'r for years, and have no problems with it on my butt where I need it most. But recently I've had chafing with the seams in the front of my shorts. The Chamois Butt'r solves that problem, but also causes a rash of tiny red spots a couple of days later.

I have used 100% Shea butter as a chamois cream several times, and it had a quite noticeable odor. I also had to wash my shorts several times, with Shout, to get the odor out.

I have had that container of shea butter for some time so perhaps it is just too old - but am unsure that actually happens The stuff is expensive, so I don't want to purchase another container of it as an experiment. It seemed to work fine though.

[OakLeaf]

I've used Pré de Provence and Organic Essence brand shea butters. They both have a very slight scent, kind of a lard-ish smell. If you put your nose right in the tub, the smell is distinct, but I would never notice it from farther away, in the quantities that I use it. Certainly not among all the other aromas of long distance cycling.

There might be a little bit of whitish residue that doesn't always come out of my chamois in Ohio, but my tap water is very cold. It seems to come out completely in Florida where the tap water is closer to 70°F. It's no more residue than I've experienced with any other lubricant that actually, you know, works rather than dissolving in my sweat. I figure that anything water-soluble comes out in the wash and any part of the shea butter that isn't water-soluble won't hurt me, particularly since I dry my shorts in the sun (probably not the best thing for the fabric, but one of my few concessions to modern bacteriophobia).

[Catrin]

Oakleaf - thanks for this information - there must be something off with my shea butter because the odor was almost overpowering...I only tried it because I was riding by myself...

I haven't tried Chamois Butt'r, so will check it out.

[Owlie]

Depending on what conditions it's stored in and how old it is (and what else may be in it), it can probably go rancid.

[GLC1968]

Depending on what conditions it's stored in and how old it is (and what else may be in it), it can probably go rancid.

I was going to suggest this, too. Foul odor in a fat-based product...randicity is likely.

As far as that original cream is concerned - I cannot put mineral oil of any type on my skin or I break out in little bumps that if left untreated, get very itchy. Mineral oil can be pore clogging...so that might be the culprit as well.

[colorisnt]

See, I didn't think about that, but I do remember my mom's BFF (the skin care guru) stating that it could be very irritating to skin and is in a number of products claiming to be "natural", so that could be it.

Well, I got my shea butter 2 days ago and haven't ridden with it thanks to migraines happening. They took me off the med that makes me prone to kidney stones and now they came back with a vengeance! I am now on an Alzheimer's med that is supposed to help my type of migraines (pretty new, just started clinicals this year) and it seems to be helping, so I will be back soon I hope! I did apply it to my legs arms and belly today after a bath, though, and I haven't had any allergic rxn so far. It feels great and now I know why it is in my conditioning treatment!