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Clear Body Wash - Coco Glucoside
Hi All, I am a food chemist getting into DIY cosmetics recently and now I am working on a body wash. I am looking for help formulating a clear body wash with coco glucoside as a primary surfactant. I would appreciate any tips you have to keep the product clear and viscous using natural ingredients. I keep running into a combination of precipitation, clouding, and thinning viscosity issues. Thanks for your help, you are a very impressive community.
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4 Replies
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Hello - It would help if you tell us all the other ingredients in your formula. Also, what do you consider “natural ingredients”? Some people consider Petroleum natural since it is taken from the ground.
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>Some people consider Petroleum natural since it is taken from the ground.
@Perry
Honestly, I do not see Petroleum as a bad ingredient. Not even Dimethicone too, because it is just a polymer derived from its mother element, silicon or silica. -
Thanks @Perry here are the ingredients:Water, Aloe Vera, Sclerotium Gum or Guar, Glycerin, Panthenol, Gluconolactone Sodium Benzoate, Coco Glucoside, Glyceryl Caprylate Caprate, Citric Acid, Shea and Cocoa Butter, Fragrance (essential oil extract), Vitamin E
I am having trouble with citric acid (pH) and gums addition. I have been formulating to about pH 4.5, and the gum solution is very thick before I mix with the rest of the water phase, but then everything thins out. I have also had a huge layer of foam on top that became very hard and gummy.I have tried to alter other ingredients and go without gum but its still a bit thinner than desired. Also, when adding citric acid, it has turned everything cloudy. I have read to adjust pH before adding gum, and that has helped somewhat, but I am still seeing precipitates or fish eyes.By natural, I mean naturally derived from plants with as little chemical processing as possible. I also try to stay as low on health concerns as possible.Hope this helps, any ideas are much appreciated! -
@jame - this bit is from: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2011/02/thickeners-cationic-guar-gum.html
“As previously mentioned by Anonymous, this is a Cationic Guar and is really suitable for using with Non-ionic and Amphoteric surfactants. ALS is an Anionic and is not compatible with the Cationic Guar but is compatible with the Amphoteric (zwitteronic)Guar, Cocamidopropyl Betaine.
This is probably why it falls out of solution (seperates)due to the differing charges. You could try using one of the Nonionic surfactants like Decyl glucoside, but am not sure what you want to formulate, as there are cleansers, moisturisers, body creams etc. which all use differing surfactants and emulsifiers.
Also when using Guar, you really need to hydrate the Guar for some time, usually an hour or more is best but some people do it under that time frame. This is so the Guar expands like a net in the solvent, causing the viscosity in the water stage, and adds stability for further formulating. Otherwise the Guar will simply fall out of solution and you will not have the viscosity desired. Not sure if you needed to know that last bit, so I hope this all helps with your future use of using the Cationic Guar Gum:
Hello,
Someone asked how to make shampoo with cationic Guar so that it won’t separate.Step by step:
1. Mix cationic Guar in water while stirring.
2. Bring ph down to 3,5-4, this will make it clear and allow cationing Guar to wet properly.
3. Mix 30 min.
4. Add surfactants, (if using amphoteric surfactants put them firstly)
5. Fragrance and preservatives.If you have failed, and your product separated at the bottom - it means cationic Guar was not wetted properly.”
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Agar Agar, etc. as a thickener:
http://curious-soapmaker.com/how-to-make-lush-like-shower-jelly.html
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