Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Hair relaxer production

  • Hair relaxer production

    Posted by Marysurnita on October 30, 2018 at 3:27 pm
    Good day all
    I have a question to ask~
    I want to get the correct formula for production of hair relaxer.
    For a batch, I use:
    Wax~4kg
    Mineral oil~8kg
    Jelly~5kg
    Acetyl alcohol~2kg
    Propylene glycol~half litre
    Lanolin~half kg
    Caustic soda~1kg
    I noticed some faults in this formulation like breakages/foaming on the surface, light watery ,also its active ingredient reacts fast before it relaxes the hair
    Please I need your help on what to do cos I’m still a starter. 
    Thank you sir.

    Marysurnita

    belassi replied 6 years ago 9 Members · 24 Replies
  • 24 Replies
  • Fekher

    Member
    October 30, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    @Marysurnita Actually i don’t see any hair relaxer it is sort of bad soap.

  • sven

    Member
    October 30, 2018 at 4:37 pm
  • Oladoo

    Member
    October 30, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    Yes, really harsh for hair

  • OldPerry

    Member
    October 30, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    Here’s a starting formula you can adapt to your system. (numbers represent % in the formula)

    Water (Aqua) (deionized)
    up to
    100 
    Propylene Glycol 4.00 

    Calcium Hydroxide 5.00 

    Petrolatum 9.10 
    Mineral Oil  6.50 
    Polyquaternium-6 1.00
    PEG-75 Lanolin 1.00 

    Cetearyl Alcohol  13.00

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    Thank you so much Mr Perry
    I really appreciate
    How do I convert the numbers by % to kilogram or gram?
    I measure in a weighing scale before production sir

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    Liquid ingredients like propylene glycol, water etc I measure by litres.
    I await your response
    Thank you sir

  • OldPerry

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    Decide on the batch size.  Say 100g or 100kg

    Then weigh out all of the ingredients.  (e.g. 13g or 13kg of Cetearyl Alcohol)

    If you want a different batch size, say 200 kg, then you would take a percentage of that.  200 * 13% = 26 g or 26kg of Cetearyl Alcohol

  • Fekher

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @Marysurnita even liquid can be mesured by kg you just use a balance to know the adequat weight or use the relation: mass = volumic mass * volume.

  • Gunther

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    True hair relaxers must contain either alkaline hydroxides
    or thioglycolic acid.

  • Lisani

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    @Perry isn’t Calcium Hydroxide should be mixed with Guanidine Carbonate? 

  • OldPerry

    Member
    October 31, 2018 at 10:06 pm

    @Lisani - it doesn’t have to be but you can mix it with that if you like.

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    November 1, 2018 at 8:15 am

    Good morning Sir,
    I’m using sodium hydroxide (for lye) cos it could be found easily here. Should I measure it with the same percentage as in CaOH?
    Is there any substitute for polyquartenium-6 cos its not here?
    Is there also no need using an emulsifying wax and a preservative?

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    November 1, 2018 at 8:28 am

    I want to use 100kg of water for one batch
    How can I measure other ingredients to fit into it by kg or grams

    For instance:
    100kg of water should go with ?kg of Cetearyl alcohol, ?kg of propylene glycol, ?kg of mineral oil, ?kg of petrolatum, etc

    This will enable me understand it better before making calculations by percentage for other different batches
    Thanks alot sir for your time

  • Oladoo

    Member
    November 1, 2018 at 11:34 am

    @Perry. Please what % of Guanidine carbonate should be mixed with that formula?

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    November 4, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    Hi Mr Perry
    I’m waiting for your reply
    Thank you Sir

  • OldPerry

    Member
    November 5, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    @Marysurnita

    1. If you want to make 100kg, just put a kg after the number given in the formula. Propylene glycol 4.00 means 4.00 kg of propylene glycol.

    2. Yes, you can try the same amount of CaOH as NaOH but you might need to make adjustments to the formula. You have to make it and figure it out.

    3.  PQ6 is a conditioning agent. So, you can find another conditioning agent or just not use one. You have to make the product and find out the answer.

    4.  You have to make the formula. It’s a starting formula that may or may not work for you. I can’t answer your questions because without having the raw materials that you are going to use, I don’t know whether it will work for you. 

    The formula will have a high pH so you may not need a preservative but you have to test it. Your manufacturing conditions might be such that you should use a preservative.  The PEG 75 Lanolin and Cetearyl alcohol work as the emulsion system. I don’t know if you will need a more robust emulsion system. You have to make the formula to find out.

    Cosmetic formulating is not something you can do by reading words on a computer screen or even in a book. You have to actually go out and get the ingredients and mix them together and see what you get. I’ve given you a formula that has worked for some people. I don’t know if it will work for you. You just have to experiment.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    November 5, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    I will just add that when you experiment it makes sense to work with small amounts to avoid wasting materials. But don’t make batches smaller than 100 gr. It is very hard to control. 

  • Gunther

    Member
    November 5, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @Perry what’s the required pH for relaxing hair?

  • OldPerry

    Member
    November 5, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    Depends on what you use but pH 12 - 14

  • sven

    Member
    November 5, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    @Gunther I get around 13

  • Marysurnita

    Member
    November 6, 2018 at 8:25 am

    Ok well understood now sir.
     I will try it out but in making some adjustments in NaOH. I think I will have to try the formular with 2% of NaOH since its the most active ingredient cos 5% will be so high for it unlike in the case of CaOH
    I will tell us my findings later.

     In the course of research online I find out that cetearyl alcohol is a mixture cetyl alcohol and stearic acid. The mixture comes by different percentages, its either 70% cetyl alcohol and 30% stearic or vice versa. I would like to figure out the percentage that will best fit into the formular whether 70%C 30%S is best or 30%C 70%S
    So glad to be part of this forum. Thanks to everyone here for your contributions. I appreciate

  • OldPerry

    Member
    November 6, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    Just to clarify, Cetearyl alcohol is a blend of Cetyl and Stearyl alcohol. not Stearic acid.

  • Gunther

    Member
    November 6, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    Sodium hydroxide is so alkaline that is easy to overshoot its pH and end up with a corpse dissolving solution instead.

    That’s why Calcium and sometimes Lithium hydroxides are used for relaxers. The latter is used in some top brands.
    Be aware that Ca and Li hydroxides slowly absorb carbon dioxide from air, so you’d better pack in sealed, single use containers.

  • belassi

    Member
    November 7, 2018 at 12:47 am

    Li hydroxides slowly rapidly absorb carbon dioxide from air

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