• polawax

    Posted by ltruong on May 24, 2017 at 4:34 am

    Hi all
    a very popular all in one emulsifier is polawax, INCI: cetylstearyl alcohol and polysorbate 60 which are both high HLB emulsifier.
    is that possible to create a good emulsifier system with high HLB emulsifiers instead of combination of low and high HLB?
    thanks

    johnb replied 6 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • bill_toge

    Member
    May 24, 2017 at 6:56 am

    cetearyl alcohol is not an emulsifier, although it is surface-active

    Polawax / emulsifying wax does work, but you have to use a lot of it to get a  reasonably stable product - personally I prefer to use a combination of emulsifiers instead of relying on one material

  • johnb

    Member
    May 24, 2017 at 6:58 am

    Cetylstearyl alcohol is NOT a high HLB emulsifier. I think you are confusing “required HLB” with HLB.

    Required HLB means the HLB of an emulsifier that is suitable for that material in question (in this case cetylstearyl alcohol).

    To answer your question “is that possible to create a good emulsifier system with high HLB emulsifiers instead of combination of low and high HLB?”

    The answer is yes but a detailed response is so wide ranging, it is impossible to give a quick and easy answer.

  • ltruong

    Member
    May 24, 2017 at 11:12 am

    thank you @Bill_Toge and @johnb for your inputs !

    so is the purpose of having cetylstearyl alcohol to thicken/stabilize  the emulsion like cetyl alcohol in cream?
    and is it better to use Polawax with a low HLB emulsifier otherwise we need to use alot of it in order to make a decent stable emulsion?
    thanks

  • johnb

    Member
    May 24, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    so is the purpose of having cetylstearyl alcohol to thicken/stabilize  the emulsion like cetyl alcohol in cream?

    Exactly so.

    is it better to use Polawax with a low HLB emulsifier otherwise we need
    to use alot of it in order to make a decent stable emulsion?

    Not necessarily. There are so many variables that a simple answer is not possible

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