Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating 1st Post - Shampoo solid-to-liquid Recipe Feedback

  • 1st Post - Shampoo solid-to-liquid Recipe Feedback

    Posted by Anonymous on February 29, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    Hello! I’m a newb shampoo hobbyist with no chemistry background, who’s playing around with environmentally-friendly shampoo formats and would like to get some feedback from you lovely people! 

    I’m trying to make a solid, concentrated, water-activated Shampoo “Ball”, that when dropped into a bottle of water, dissolves, and turns into a bottle of normal liquid shampoo. Using biodegradable, ECO-cert ingredients.

    I made the ball last night (fail), dropped it into water to dissolve, and noticed hours later, the foam subsided into a crumbly white layer on top, with bits of surfactant (SCI?) floating around. It’s also watery because I haven’t yet added thickener.

    Recipe at bare minimum (prefer biodegradable ingredients as I have young kids and am paranoid)

    - 3% SLSa - powder, for cleansing,

    - 3% SCI - noodle form, which I mash into powder, for cleansing
    - 1% Decyl Glucoside - to tame the primary surfactants. Would like to avoid CAPB as it’s uncertain whether it’s safe for aquatic life (?)
    - 5% Baking Soda - for Acid-base ‘fizzing’ reaction
    - 5% Citric Acid - for Acid-base ‘fizzing’ reaction
    - 1% Glycerin - to bind the powders…but I found this made some of the ball fizz away and turn gooey
    - Water too 100%

    My questions: 
    1- Would adding an emulsifier like Olivem 1000 help the SCI mix with the water better? Can Olivem 1000 be used for a mild shampoo? Yes, I can just buy it and try but it’s $$$ so wanted to ask first, and I’ve read it’s used more for lotions vs shampoo?
    2- What conditioning ingredient can I add that will blend in with the shampoo (assuming Olivem 1000 can emulsify the ingredients)? 
    3- What mild thickeners do you recommend ? I have xanthan gum, aloe powder on hand..

    I showered with this recipe last night. With fine hair, it felt dragging during rinse-off, but once hair dried, it feels nice, but staticky!

    Thank you x 1000!

    EVchem replied 4 years ago 5 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Cafe33

    Member
    March 2, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    Wow, you are taking on quite an advanced project. First you can never use Glycerine in this formulation as it will bring water and kick start your effervescent reaction. Also, you have no business using water other than in small amounts as a binder followed by drying since it will also make your product unstable. 96% Ethanol is a more suitable binder. 

    SLSa for some reason unknown to me also makes this kind of product unstable. It created many problems during bath bomb formulations. Surfactants in general usually have that effect. Also, decyl glucoside is nearly around 50% water. So that is also out. 

    Olivem 1000 is not an easy emulsifier to use for beginners and it will not do what you are suggesting. 

    Mashing up SCI noodles will not give you the same small particle size as the industrially manufactured powder. Also, the noodles tend to contain stearic acid which will not dissolve in water. 

    To be honest, what you are aiming for is hardly feasible. If you are truly interested in continuing look at compressed solids formulations (Pharmaceutical Tablets). You would need readily soluble powdered surfactants like SLSa (Evoniks makes a powdered CAPB), Silicon Dioxide to increase cohesion and flow, and some form of super disintegrant that would dissolve the tablet almost instantly when added to water. You would also need a water soluble lubricant (not magnesium stearate). And you also have to think of thickness of the shampoo. It may require a form of cellulose or PVP, luckily those types of items are easily available as tablet excepients. The fragrance you use would also have to be encapsulated with a wall material that would be water soluble and already dissolved in a solubilizer.  

    Anyway, sounds like fun. 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    March 2, 2020 at 10:52 pm

    SCI isn’t readily dissolvable in water. That’s why no one used it as primary surfactant in a conventional shampoo. What would bother me the most with such creative concept is how to preserve it. What the final ph is going to be with all that bath bomb combo? 

  • lmosca

    Member
    March 3, 2020 at 2:50 am

    What is more concerning for me is the fact that you have product that releases gas while ‘activating’ in water (citric acid + sodium bicarb)
    I do not know what is the average size of your “shampoo pellet”, but if it needs to generate enough shampoo I suppose it is not “pill sized”.

    How do you trust the customer not to cap the bottle tightly, come back after 10 minutes to take a shower, and have a mentos+coke geyser in their faces, or, at worst, an exploded bottle of shampoo?

  • alchemist01

    Member
    March 3, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    I know of one brand that does something similar: https://www.blueland.com/products/the-clean-essentials?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyMLJ0c_-5wIVR5yzCh3OyAAeEAQYAiABEgJvtfD_BwE

    I would look through some of their ingredient lists and get some ideas. I would also perfect the tablet before shelling out for fancy ingredients.

  • EVchem

    Member
    March 3, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    https://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/personal-best-exfoliating-cleansing-balls.html here’s one  version 
    This formula is from Univar for a loose flowing cleansing powder. The second formula is a moisturizer that looks like wet sand but could also be a source of inspiration (i recognize the materials here are not all exactly green but that might be one of your issues).  

    I’m sharing these but I do agree with some of the other posters this is not a very easy starting point

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