Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Poly Vinyl Alcohol as a Thickener.

  • Poly Vinyl Alcohol as a Thickener.

    Posted by RedPill on May 24, 2019 at 4:18 pm

    Hello,
    Can I use PVA Liquid as a thickener in my bleach based bathroom cleaner?

    RedPill replied 4 years, 7 months ago 7 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • RedPill

    Member
    May 25, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    Any suggestions? I am asking this because PVA is only available in bulk quantities in my location. Please help if you know.

  • oldperry

    Member
    May 25, 2019 at 4:28 pm

    Most of the chemists here formulate cosmetic products so you may not get any quick replies. You also haven’t provided a list of ingredients in your formula which makes it hard to opine whether the ingredient will work.

    My suggestion is to put it in your formula at 1% then adjust the pH and track the viscosity.  I believe PVA requires an acidic environment to thicken so it probably won’t work with bleach but I’ve not done the experiment so can’t say.

  • RedPill

    Member
    May 26, 2019 at 12:22 pm
    Thank you @Perry for your response. I am posting bellow my base formula which is procured from net after some research.
    How can I thicken this formulation with or without PVA?

    Sodium Hypochlorite  7%
    SLES 5%
    Tridecyl alcohol ethoxylate 4%
    Sodium Hydroxide 1%
    Sodium Carbonate 1%
    water

  • Ganeshan

    Member
    June 21, 2019 at 9:05 am

    @ Red Pill -  Why dont you try XanthanGum starting from 0.5 % of batch size ?

    Please use small batch - and check the results .

    Xanthan Gum can withstand both acidic and Alkaline environment . 

    Hope this helps.

    Br//Ganeshan 

  • pharma

    Member
    June 22, 2019 at 11:47 am
    It is unlikely that xanthan gum will get along with hypochlorite plus NaOH.
    PVA might withstand such conditions; whether or not it still thickens it, I do not know.
  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    June 24, 2019 at 4:11 pm

    Redpill, PVA should be peroxide stable, but check with your supplier for grade acceptance. Case in point, even though Carbopols are said to be peroxide stable, I’ve found some grades to be far less so than others. Xanthan gum for the record is NOT peroxide stable.

  • belassi

    Member
    June 24, 2019 at 11:07 pm

    The obvious thing to do is to find out what commercial products use.

  • ozgirl

    Member
    June 25, 2019 at 3:52 am

    Bleach based formulas are often thickened with Amine Oxide type surfactants such as Lauramine Oxide. I have also seen some Carbopol polymers that are bleach stable.

  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    June 25, 2019 at 3:40 pm

    Good point, and amine oxides are underrated builders in personal care I might add. Peroxide stability = hypochlorite stability. Let’s just say oxidizer stable -  and watch out for those Carbopol analogs too.

  • RedPill

    Member
    July 17, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    Thank you all for valuable comments. Seems amine oxide is the only way to thicken bleach. Sadly only available in bulk packaging.

  • RedPill

    Member
    August 6, 2019 at 10:55 am

    @ozgirl @chemicalmatt
    I procured Lauramine Oxide to text a thick sodium hypochlorite based bathroom clea er. How much LAO should I use to achive a pourable thickness? Can you please guide me to a base formula? 

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