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anionic surfactants with cationic guar gum
I recently started my natural cosmetic formulating course with chemist corner so I am at the beginning of my formulation journey.
I made a liquid shampoo using anionic and non-ionic surfactants with cationic guar gum. I really like how its consistency turned out. However I know the fact that anionic and cationic surfactant are not compatible together. Does this rule apply to other ingredients as well? The shampoo looks pretty stable after 48 hours. What should I expect? Any instability later? -
5 Replies
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No it doesn’t apply to cationic guar
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Brilliant. Thank you!
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You can use SLES and non anionic surfactant with guar
You can find this info also at the label of any shampoo. -
Can anyone explain why this isn’t incompatible? Does it have to do with molecular size? My thought is guar gum is polymeric while the surfactants are relatively smaller molecules so they cannot form precipitates
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With strong anionic surfactants and cationic polymers such as Guar HPTC, it is always best to add a hydrotrope with it, otherwise the coacervation will be less than good. Common amphoterics such as cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine or sodium cocoamphoacetate do this job cheaply and well.
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