-
Clarifying “soaping”
Hello fellow formulators,
For the life of me, I have not been able to pinpoint why some batches of my crystal gel are sometimes producing a white and “cakey” (soaping?) effect when rubbed between the fingers, when some batches have the desired crystal, smooth, gel/wax like consistency. It’s completely random it seems. My ingredients:
Water, Glycerin, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Cet-25, etheylhexyglcyerin, Phenoxyethanol, essential oils, colourant.
My most likely cause is that I’ve blown past the shelf life of my main ingredients, but then I’m still puzzled because I can randomly get a proper batch that meets spec. Perhaps the outdated ingredients (used for testing) are just less forgiving? I’ll be able to test that theory real soon. New stuff coming in.
Or could I benefit from this magic ingredient called Dimethicone in my formula?
I’ve tried slowing down my stirring (thinking it was micro bubbles), and keeping my temps from going past 93, but that doesn’t seem to be it.
Thanks for any help!
Sim
-
1 Reply
-
The soaping effect may be caused by the solubilizer that you use in the formula. PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate is a nonionic surfactant and also able to create foam.
Maybe you can use a nonfoaming solubilizer, such as Heptyl Glucoside (Sepiclear G7) supplied by Seppic. It’s a nonfoaming solubilizer, so it won’t form bubbles or foam in your formulation.
If you use dimethicone, it can decrease the soaping effect, but, your formulation can’t be clear anymore since dimethicone is an oil, while your formulation is an aqueous gel.
Log in to reply.