thickening a shower gel
Chemist5000
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in Formulating
how do I thicken iselux /cocoamidepropyl betaine to make a thick shower shower gel (15,000 cps). I have notice in some formulations that use using Aqua SF or some type of copolymer. Is there a way to do this with using those? I want this to be as natural as possible.
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I've tried xanthan gum, but in a month it separated, based on my formula.
I am finding that trying to use salt to do any small thickening is next to impossible... doesn't work for me.
I also noticed when I try to adjust my pH (10% Citric Soln) toward 5.5 the viscosity thins down the system.
when I add my premix it also thins the viscosity. I a trying to keep this clear or as close to slightly hazy as possible. Right about now I would be happy for any type of thickening and foaming.
Will a sulfate free surfactant have the potential to get as thick as a SLS?
water- 54.4%
Aqua SF-1 - 3.0%
Glycerin- 4.7%
iselux sfs - 30.0%
Caltaine 35- 3.00%
NaOH - 0.5%
Premix
tego 61- 5.00%
sage oil - 0.1%
Rosemary Oil- 0.4%
Peppermint Oil-0.6%
Ginseng Ext- 0.1%
Cucumber Ext- 0.1%
chamomile Ext- 0.1%
preservative 0.6%
Citric Acid - qs
Sodium Chloride -qs
All that you describe is perfectly normal. First, you have the recommended amount of SFS, 30%, in your system. The betaine looks on the low side to me. I suggest calibrating the betaine using a small amount (50mL) of SFS and titrating with the betaine to see what the optimum amount is to give high viscosity. That's your start point; use that as your surfactant blend. If you want some cationic effect you could use Dehyton AB as the betaine.
Second: You have 1.1% of essential oils in there, and I doubt that is going to result in a clear product. That, plus the 5% solubiliser, is killing the viscosity and will also reduce foam.
OK are you still there?
1. Try doing this without the SF1
2. Get rid of the tego 61, there is quite enough surfactant to emulsify the EOs.
3. Try going hot process and add 1% of polyethylene gel thickener to get better viscosity.
4. Also you could try adding in the hot phase 1% cocamide MEA to get better foam and viscosity.
5. If viscosity is STILL not adequate then add approx 2% (q/s) Glucamate VLT.
6. If you end up with a hazy product (unsurprising with SFS in my opinion) then use 3% Quick Pearl to make a pearled product.
I like your suggestions. I was using the SF-1 to help thicken the system. I have tried so many different ways to thicken it without the Sf-1. Honestly I have not produced a crystal clear product yet. I am basically using products that are inhouse.
Is there a polyethylene gel thickener you could recommend? What pH should I strive for? I have seen formulations with pH 5.5 and as high as pH 6.4.
When designing make one step at a time. EG, as I described, first find the optimum balance of surfactants prior to adding anything else. The problems arise when you add anything that modifies the electrolyte content; eg citric acid is an electrolyte and will thicken or thin depending on where the salt curve was prior to adding it.
Most of the shower gels formulas I have seen don't have thickeners, I never had to use myself. I formulated with SLES, and used glycerin and laureth to reduce the gel-like that SLES+CAPB gives and make it more fluid.
For a shower gel I think you are short on surfactants, usually the active matter is higher, and it's best to cut the cost on thickeners and put it on surfactants for a better performance.
I like the suggestion Belassi made, more like a baby shampoo, mild, low irritation, foamy and no thickeners.
I would be happy to change the preservative to mikrokil cos if I can have the pH a little lower than 5.5. Everything seems to break viscosity going lower to 6.0
Polymers mentioned above like Carbomer Aqua / aculyn /Glutamate (VLT) are excellent and will all solve the "as natural as possible " thickening problem but not natural enough according to ecocert/cosmos.
Furthermore you can make a 100% natural product and still use a sulfate (this is very often seen in Ecocert/cosmos certified products)
water-63%
caltaine-21%
iselux-9%
Decyl glucoside-3.5%
Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride-0.2%
Extracts-0.8%
Peppermint oil=0.6
Lemon oil-0.5%
lavender oil-0.2%
mikkrokil-1.00%
My final pH was 5.5 and I noticed white specs that "salted out". If I left the pH closer to 6.0 would that stop it?
I noticed the product is stringy? is this normal with sulfate free systems?
When I put this on 55C stability it started to separate. At the 40C ok. I understand at higher temps in a shampoo this may happen but how do you tell if you formula is stable on stability?
Most surfactants are supplied as solutions. Solids = active material, the actual working components of the surfactant solution.
As Belassi mentioned, CAPB usually comes as a 30% solution in water, i.e. 30% is active solid/dry matter.
If you use 20% of this solution in your formulation, that counts as 6% solids overall (0.3x20).
If the Iselux in your formulation above is appx. 80% active matter, then that 9% inclusion converts to 7.2% solids, the rest is calculated as water.
So if your solids are too low, your active material is too low, and your product is 'weak' and, in Belassi's words, will not meet its requirements as a cleanser. If your solids are too high, the product will be more expensive than necessary.
You would have to consult your TDS to determine the active matter of each surfactant (solids might also include residual sodium chloride).
Also, include a chelating agent and ditch the essential oils until you have determined that your surfactant mixture is stable without them.
Here are a couple of formulating guides, check the relation of surfactants, active matter and viscosity and you will understand why we are saying you came up short.
Check this.
http://www.stepan.com/uploadedFiles/Literature_and_Downloads/General_Lit/Personal_Care/StepanSulfateFreeSurfactantSolutionsGuide.pdf
In calculating the actives to determine if a shower gel/shampoo etc meets a certain range...roughly over 10% (correct me if I am wrong)...
Is the active content based on the main (primary) surfactant alone or on all the surfactants collectively?
Is there some reading literature specifically on this calculation? Seems like this it "tribal knowledge."
https://itsallinmyhands.com/2013/04/23/on-surfactants-and-formulation-face-wash-shampoo-and-shower-gels/
10% is also low, you should consider reaching 20% for a good performance.
Above is a link to an active matter surfactant calculator which will do the math for you and also gives active matter ranges for different products.
www.makingskincare.com
www.learncosmeticformulation.com (free online course)
Formulation discussion forum (18,000 members): www.facebook.com/groups/makingskincare/
It's Natural, its pretty electrolyte tolerant.
I made the switch after a several attempts with Crothix. The essential Oils I have been required to use have been tricky to keep stable.
The Activsoft S should do you right.