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Cellulose Thickeners
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
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6 Replies
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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.
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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 -
@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?
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oh oh xantham gum… it really get bad smelling in few days… absolutly comparing to carbomer cellulose derivatives need more powerful preservatives…
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oh oh xantham gum… it really get bad smelling in few days… absolutly comparing to carbomer cellulose derivatives need more powerful preservatives…
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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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