Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Hair Foaming handwash

  • Foaming handwash

    Posted by Mel55 on July 8, 2020 at 8:00 am

    Hi,
    I would like to make a handwash for use in a foaming bottle - just for myself, not for sale.  I am just looking for something that cleans hands but is not too drying. Could you please advise if I am on the right track with this formula? Should I add some emollients/humectants?

    SLeS 20% (70% active)
    Cocoamidopropyl betaine 10% (30% active)
    Liquid germal + 0.5%
    H2O 69.5%

    TIA.

    Anonymous replied 3 years, 8 months ago 5 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • Mel55

    Member
    July 8, 2020 at 9:25 am

    Oops sorry, didn’t mean to post this in the hair section!

  • LincsChemist

    Member
    July 8, 2020 at 11:18 am

    That looks perfectly reasonable, possibly slightly more SLES than strictly necessary. You might want to play around with the relative SLES:CAPB ratios - more CAPB gives denser foam, whereas more SLES gives lots of loose, open foam. 

    I wouldn’t bother adding humectants etc, there’s very little point in a rinse-off product 

  • Mel55

    Member
    July 8, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    Excellent, thanks so much for your advice.

  • Cafe33

    Member
    July 8, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    I have made similar formulations as tests a few times and it was not satisfactory at all. Leaves hands very dry, so I would definitely add emolients and humectants. The more inexpensive commercial handwashes available here are a mixture of SLES/CAPB, Salt and Polyquat 7. 

  • belassi

    Member
    July 9, 2020 at 2:08 am

    I agree (Cafe33). For me, SLES has a really horrible ‘short flow’ (draggy, dry) feeling to it. Really crummy surfactant, so common for one reason only: It’s the cheapest.

  • Mel55

    Member
    July 9, 2020 at 9:25 am

    Thanks all, so what would be your preferred surfactant/s for an inexpensive handwash? 

  • helenhelen

    Member
    July 9, 2020 at 9:47 am

    I have no idea on the proportions of the ingredients but as a consumer with very dry skin, I really like the very simple Bio D hand-wash. I find most hand washes too drying but this one cleanses well without residue but doesn’t seem to sap my skin. It has a nice lather and I also have it in foaming pump dispensers. I like the fragrance free version.. it has no weird smell.

    https://biodegradable.biz/shop/hand-soaps/bio-d-sanitising-hand-wash-fragrance-free-500ml/

    The ingredients listed on the bottle are:

    Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Cocamide DEA, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Sodium Chloride


    I don’t know why the ingredients listed on the website are slightly different to the ingredients on the bottles…
  • belassi

    Member
    July 10, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    ALS+ALES+CAPB+PEG7 GC.

  • Mel55

    Member
    July 11, 2020 at 7:24 am

    Great, thanks again.

  • Anonymous

    Guest
    July 12, 2020 at 11:25 am

    Adding CDEA make any difference?

  • Anonymous

    Guest
    July 12, 2020 at 11:26 am

    Could any one guid the ratio between SLES 30% & CAPB which would be helpful for beginners.

Log in to reply.