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tear free baby wash tip to toe
we formulated a baby wash with
decyl, coco glucoside, coco betaine- 4 % total
xanthum gum- 1 %
soy- 1%
sodium benzoate- 2.5 %
alomond oil - 5%
jojoba- 1 %
glycerin- 2.5 %
glyceryl oleate- 1 %
grapeseed and watermelon for fragrancecetyl alcohol- 2%
citric acid - to adjust the ph to 5 as it was 7 initially
phenoxyethanal - 0.3%rest is water
the texture came very nice and smooth
but it still feels lil drying’
any suggestion?
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46 Replies
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Way too much xanthan gum, oils, sodium benzoateWay too little surfactant (not good choice of surfactnts too)if you want tear free, keep the pH 7 -
can you recommend good mix of surfectant we can use? pls
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This is cold process formula. Cetyl Alcohol is not really required for it. It is not drying and absolutely tear free. I think you have a bit too much of oils (you can increase to 5% is you want). Fragrance is not reccommended for baby producs. There are some researches that show adverse effects of phenoxyethanol on baby rats (not on adult animals though) and I personally believe that parabens are safer, as they are more researched. Glycerine is too low in your formula. You can reduce to 10% if 15% is too much. % of surfactanct in baby product should be below 10%. Check with your supplier but usually surfactants you use have this %W/W: Cocamidopropyl Betaine - 30-38%, Decyl Glucoside - 50%, Coco Glucoside - 45-55% @Tattvas
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Also, if you don’t mind using silicones in your formula, you can try to adding some PEG-8 Dimethicone. It is a water soluble silicone. It gives a very nice feel to surfactant products.
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thanks @ngarayeva001.. we are adding hydrolized soy for protein. i made another batch with same proportion you suggested but PH came near 4.5// can you suggest a safer way to bring it back to 7.. i also wanted to know in general in baby product how to make it alkaline without adding lye?
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@Tattvas, this is a bit strange, because with my formula pH is usually around 8.5 and I add citric acid to reduce it. Can you post your updated formula? Another way to elevate pH is adding Triethanolamine, but there are certain restrictions regarding the % that can be used in the EU and I am not sure about usage of it in baby products. Again it shouldn’t be that low. Also, you don’t need to bring it to 7, 5.5 is ok.
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What is %W/W of your surfactants?
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the citric acid added more than required was the culprit. the surfactants Cocamidopropyl Betaine - 40 % , Decyl Glucoside - 33%, Coco Glucoside - 60%
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Oh I see. Add citric acid in the very end of the process. pH 6 is enough to be tear free. I feel that 7 is a bit too high. I usually make a very concentrated solution of the citric acid in deionised water (it doesn’t typically need a preservative as the pH of the concentrated solution is 1) and then add it by drops. It allows to control the final pH.
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Hello
I could create a new topic I guess but I thought I would ask here as we are discussing tear free: How can we back up the claim “tear free”? All well and good to say it but…. any science out there…? Thanks -
@Max I am not a chemist, but reviewed ingredients lists of many baby products. What they usually mean by tear free is sulfates free.
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Out of curiosity I look at the supermarket, and yes I agree this is the general idea, sulfate free, pH around 7, but not much science regarding the effect on the skin, eyes…. of coco glucoside for example or Cocamidopropyl Betaine…
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I agree it’s worth researching. I know by my own experience that a face wash with SLES irritates eyes more than the surfactants mentioned above. You can apply it on your eyelids and open your eyes. I will post here if find any information from a legit source.
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thanks, at the moment I am reading more on testings/assays…
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If you read about baby shampoos, the tear free benefit is not linked to sulfate free or even pH at 7. It is the selection of the surfactants that being amphoteric surfactants. Here is a great summation from the Beauty Brains webcast; http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/06/how-is-baby-shampoo-different/ -
@ngarayeva001
Is that 10% active Cocamidopropylbetaine?
or 10% as supplied ( about 3% active )Is almond oil (or any other replacement oil) a must? can you remove oils?
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@Gunther ..yes we can remove oil. infact when we add oil the solution lose all its positives of good wash n shampoo.
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@Gunther in my formula it’s 10% as supplied which translated to 3-3.8% of active surfactant. Baby products should be below 10% of active surfactants. I think it works perfectly without any oil. Oat powder isn’t a must either. It is just commonly used in baby products.
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Does glycerin has to be that high? Doesn’t that leave a sticky afterfeel?
Did Xanthan gum leave a slimy feel?
Have you tried this formula with other thickeners, like Guar gum (plain guar gum, not the cationic one), or Carbopol? -
@Gunther in surfactant products glycerine can be high and it doesn’t leave sticky afterfeel. Xantham does have a slimy feel. But it’s a baby product, so perceived safety is more important than aesthetics. I personally prefer PEG-150 (or crothix liquid that also contains peg-150) to carbopol as a surfactant system thickener, but it won’t work for a baby product because of marketing. Carbopol is also ‘a chemical’. I don’t have experience with guar gum.
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High levels of Glycerin can be sticky. In many cases, we decrease the Glycerin. High levels of Glycerin can be used if the Formula uses other raw materials to offset the stickiness.Experienced Formulators will often use a combination of Glycols. For example, my go-to is usually Glycerin, Propanediol and Methyl Gluceth-10.
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I never add more than 3% of glycerin to a leave on products. I my go to combination is butylene glycol, propanediol and glycerin but not sure it will work for a ‘natural’ surfactant product.
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@ngarayeva001 did you use emulsifiers to hold oils in solution?
Did the glucosides act as emulsifiers in that formula?May I ask why do you prefer PEG-150 to carbopol?
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