The role of solvent in dishwashing liquids

shellycoshellyco Member
in General
I wonder what would be the specific role of solvents in some premium dishwashing liquids like ethanol, butyl glycol or others. Is it mainly to dissolve grease or there is another purpose behind ?

For example here is a formula of a premium washing liquid from Kao Chemicals:

EMAL 270 D 40.2
OXIDET DM-20 18.6
EMANON XLF 3.8
Ethanol 5.2
Propyleneglycol 2.0
NaCl 1.6 (approx.) 0.5 (pH ≈ 7) q.s.
Citric acid (50%)
Preservative q.s
Colorant q.s
Deionised Water q.s up to 100%

What would be the role of Ethanol and Propylene Glycol ?

Thank you



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Comments

  • MicroformulationMicroformulation Member, Professional Chemist
    Solvents.
    markfuller@microformulation.com Microformulation.com Microformulation Cosmetic Consulting provides Custom Formulations for both large Commercial accounts as well as smaller entrepreneurs. We can provide Naturally compliant Formulations under the NSF, NPA, Whole Foods and USDA Organic Certifications.
  • Chemist77Chemist77 Member, PCF student
    Foam control plus viscosity control. 
  • GuntherGunther Member
    I have seen some dishwash formulations where ethyl alcohol is the sole preservative (and it helps cut grease a bit).
  • ozgirlozgirl Member, PCF student
    I have seen ethanol used for viscosity control in concentrated dish washing formulas.
  • DASDAS Member
    In order of importance: 

    1) Cloud point
    2) Viscosity
    3) Foam

    Although 1 and 2 can alternate depending on the region/weather.
  • shellycoshellyco Member
    thanks guys for sharing ! When you state that it's used for foam and viscosity control, does it mean it may help increase the foam and viscosity when added at certain level ? Or on the contrary it counters the effect of foam and reduce viscosity ? Thank you. 
    Connecting molecules...
  • ozgirlozgirl Member, PCF student
    Ethanol reduces viscosity and foam.
  • GuntherGunther Member
    As for cloud point,
    you can check this post of mine where I had trouble getting past 15% LABSA in dishwash
    http://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/4804/should-i-dilute-sulfonic-acid-before-neutralizing-it-with-sodium-hydroxide#latest

    Cloudiness usually means it ain't properly dissolved
    I believe propylene glycol and ethanol may work as solvents, increasing solubility for a more concentrated product.
    Propylene glycol usually decreases solubility.
  • shellycoshellyco Member
    edited December 2018
    thank you @Gunther for the clarification. It's better clear for me now !
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