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Questions about how to use Xanthan gum
Hi, all.
Two-part question, please, for those who use Xanthan Gum:-1- Many prefer to use it after the emulsion is created rather than in the water phase. Is there any evidence that using Xanthan before emulsifying interferes with the creation of the emulsion (when it comes to certain emulsifiers)?
-2- For those who add their Xanthan into the water phase, how long do you let it hydrate before adding in your oil phase? I just saw online that SkinChakra, at least for one recipe, was allowing for 15 minutes for her Xanthan to hydrate before doing so. I didn’t realize that this much time was needed, but perhaps it depends on your emulsifier etc?
Thank you.
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18 Replies
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1. Use it to gel your water phase. This way you will see if you have any fish eyes or clumps. Not that it would matter that much is you use homogenizer. This should solve the issue.
2. The best way how to incorporate Xanthan Gum is to slurry it in some humectant, such as Glycerin. Mix those two and then simply add to your water phase under low shear and you will see how easily it goes in. No fish eyes, no problems. No waiting needed. -
I use Siligel…and it seems to be foolproof…just dump it into the water phase under agitation…and absolutely no issues.
Even when I was using X-gum soft…I had no issues…but I was using a good homogenizer throughout the process.
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Mixing it with preservative or your fragrance or oil phase all works. And you don’t need to wait.
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Hi, all.I already slurry it with my glycerin, but I thought that this facilitates dispersion, not hydration? Basically, you all seem to be saying to add it into the water phase (not after the emulsion is made) and that there is no need to wait to ensure the gum is fully hydrated?
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suswang8 said:Hi, all.I already slurry it with my glycerin, but I thought that this facilitates dispersion, not hydration? Basically, you all seem to be saying to add it into the water phase (not after the emulsion is made) and that there is no need to wait to ensure the gum is fully hydrated?
Yeah. Xanthan gum no need to wait
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suswang8 said:Hi, all.I already slurry it with my glycerin, but I thought that this facilitates dispersion, not hydration? Basically, you all seem to be saying to add it into the water phase (not after the emulsion is made) and that there is no need to wait to ensure the gum is fully hydrated?
Same with the Siligel…if you add it to the water phase before heating…by the time you could possibly heat, and combine phases etc….it will be essentially hydrated. I tried once….ONCE…to combine with the glycols….what a mess. Why create messes like that…when it goes into water so nice. I think Siligel…has some kind of nano-coating….cause it goes into water…soooo nice.
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One reason to add the xanthan after emulsification is that if your water phase is too viscous from the xanthan, it may take a longer time to homogenize and waste more energy. Adding the xanthan slurry after emulsification would be an option since you will need to spend time mixing in low shear anyway. It normally shouldn’t take that long to hydrate fully, so making sure you have a good dispersion would be fine.
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suswang8 said:Hi, all.I already slurry it with my glycerin, but I thought that this facilitates dispersion, not hydration? Basically, you all seem to be saying to add it into the water phase (not after the emulsion is made) and that there is no need to wait to ensure the gum is fully hydrated?
As @@Paprik mentioned, it’s a common practice to use a glycol to disperse Xanthan gum, which would help prevent agglomerates to form (that sometimes hapens if you add it directly to water) and make hydration faster. You still need to add Xanthan gum to the water phase, so you can have it as part of the emulsion; if you add it after the emulsion, Xanthan would rather go to the free water, and will make it thicker, possibly destabilizing your system overtime.
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The easiest way to integrate Xathan is to pre-hydrate it with Pentylene Glycol or Propanediol and add it to the water phase with stirring. As the glycols coating the Xanthan dissolve into the water it exposes the surface of the Xanthan to the water to begin hydration. These glycols are not as messy to work with as Glycerin.
Note that this is primarily to prevent the formation of fish eyes and really does not significantly affect the hydration of the Xanthan.
How long depends on the product. If you are using the Xanthan to thicken a water-based formula like a Shampoo, let it hydrate for 15 to 30 minutes or so. If it’s going into an emulsion, not as critical, but why not let it hydrate as you are heating your water phase.
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Thank you, @MarkBroussard and @Graillotion.
What I should mention then is that I am doing (or trying to do!) cold process. Sounds like I am better off allowing the gum to rest/hydrate for a few minutes before proceeding?
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I would add xanthan gum and do the rest of my work.
If it hydrates immediately, why wait?
If it need some time, i would continue my work in lower viscosity that is even better and at the end it will hydrate anyway. So again why wait?
To find hiw much time it needs, mix 1% xanthan gum with glycerin or glycol ,add to water and mix with high shear. The see how much time it take to thicken.
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If you are doing a cold process formulation, just add-in the additional ingredients while your Xanthan is hydrating. It’s all a function of how much Xanthan you are adding and the product format … if it’s a small amount (0.2% or so) then you are good to go.
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MarkBroussard said:The easiest way to integrate Xathan is to pre-hydrate it with Pentylene Glycol or Propanediol and add it to the water phase with stirring. As the glycols coating the Xanthan dissolve into the water it exposes the surface of the Xanthan to the water to begin hydration. These glycols are not as messy to work with as Glycerin.
Note that this is primarily to prevent the formation of fish eyes and really does not significantly affect the hydration of the Xanthan.
Does the creation of fish eyes negatively affect things when you go to combine phases (as part of an emulsion)? Thank you.
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suswang8 said:MarkBroussard said:The easiest way to integrate Xathan is to pre-hydrate it with Pentylene Glycol or Propanediol and add it to the water phase with stirring. As the glycols coating the Xanthan dissolve into the water it exposes the surface of the Xanthan to the water to begin hydration. These glycols are not as messy to work with as Glycerin.
Note that this is primarily to prevent the formation of fish eyes and really does not significantly affect the hydration of the Xanthan.
Does the creation of fish eyes negatively affect things when you go to combine phases (as part of an emulsion)? Thank you.
Yes
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Thank you. Any specifics?
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(I use my homogenizer to hydrate the gum in the water phase, but I sometimes go a bit crazy and introduce air/fish eyes.) -
**Sorry: correction: I believe “fish eyes” is a reference to clumps. If so, that is not what I have. I have tiny air bubbles after homogenizing the xanthan in my water phase. Is this bad?
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Air bubbles in emulsion is not good because it will not go away like it does in shampoo so avoid introducing air bubbles
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Yeah, try to limit the air you introduce into the formula.
You need to make enough product to keep the head (of the homogenizer) under the surface so it does not suck air into the product.If you have some fish eyes, you will get rid of them when you homogenize your emulsion.
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