Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Cellulose Thickeners

  • Cellulose Thickeners

    Posted by ledude on February 9, 2015 at 9:45 pm

    Well, after many failed attempts using a Carbomer to thicken up a formula I finally decided to take a look at Cellulose Thickeners. More specifically I’ve been working with MethylCellulose and Hydroxyethylcellulose. I am using 1% Cellulose with 1% Triethanolamine to thicken and getting great results. No more air bubbles or stringy flow!!

    My only question is really with regards to stability and preservation. We normally use a DMDM to preserve, but a few years back had a bad batch due to excessive use of Xantham Gum. Do the cellulose thickeners need any special preservation techniques? Or anything else which help enhance a formula’s stability. 
    Thanks :)

    braveheart replied 9 years, 1 month ago 6 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • mikebavington

    Member
    February 12, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    Hydroxyethylcelulose is an excellent thickener. It is used in KY sex lube.

    Here is an ingredient list for their KY Liquid 5oz offering:

    Water, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Benzoic Acid, Methylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide

    They use Benzoic Acid and Methylparaben as the preservatives.

  • bill_toge

    Member
    February 13, 2015 at 8:04 am

    from a microbiological point of view, the big problem with xanthan gum is that it’s an untreated polysaccharide, so it sustains microbial growth

    cellulose thickeners are synthetically altered, and can’t be digested by microbes, so the risk factor is much lower
  • gfeldman

    Member
    February 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    @ledude thank you for sharing your experience with the cellulosic thickeners.

    I use cellulose based thickeners as secondary thickeners on occasion and I have been exploring the idea of using them as a primary thicker as well. Many of my formulations require low pH’s (3-4) though, so I am curious, do cellulosic thickeners function well at this low of a pH? If so, which would you recommend as a primary thickener?

  • nasrins

    Member
    February 14, 2015 at 10:38 am

    oh oh xantham gum… it really get bad smelling in few days… absolutly comparing to carbomer cellulose derivatives need more powerful preservatives…

  • nasrins

    Member
    February 14, 2015 at 10:39 am

    oh oh xantham gum… it really get bad smelling in few days… absolutly comparing to carbomer cellulose derivatives need more powerful preservatives…

  • braveheart

    Member
    February 14, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    I would always stick my vote for guar gum, a little of it goes a long way! I have a large bag of xanthan gum and have lost interest, it has not impressed me one bit since I started using it.

    But, as suggested in one of the threads here, why not try konjac? 

    I am testing a combination of guar gum and konjac - if anyone has tried that before, what is your experience like?

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