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Hardness of Hair Waxes
I read the following in a book about the hardness of hair waxes.
“The hardness of wax products is also affected by the production method. When the emulsion is poured into a container while it is still hot (about 70°C), the cooled product becomes a hard wax. On the other hand, when the emulsion is cooled to about 45°C before pouring into a container, the product becomes a soft cream”Can someone please explain it?
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9 Replies
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The hot mixture consists of molten wax in the solvent. As the mixture cools the wax component forms crystals. The slower the cooling, the larger the crystals and the harder the end product. Agitation during cooling breaks up large crystals and permits the formation of numerous smaller crystals thus a softer texture when cool.
This effect of crystal size associated with the cooling rate/agitation rate is frequently the cause of the differences and failures experienced during scale-up from laboratory to manufacturing scale.
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The same is true for lipsticks…
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Thank you @johnb and @Bobzchemist.
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the only time I’ve ever seen this happen with emulsion-based hair waxes is when they contain a long-flow rheology modifier which shears the emulsion as it’s mixed, e.g. PEG-90M
apart from that, the only way a product of this type could potentially take on the appearance and consistency of a soft cream (in my experience) is if you fill it at a temperature below the set point of the emulsionif it’s been well formulated, the product will start thickening visibly before it reaches that point - and once it’s below the set point, it’s usually far too viscous to fill or pump with any efficiency
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@Bill_Toge thank you for your insights. I see that hair styling is one of your strongest subjects. Could you please refer some books or reading material on the subject?
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@palash1865 unfortunately, I can’t; everything I know about hot-fill styling products was learned at the bench, through blood, sweat and occasional tears
it’s a specialist area, and it’s not well documented, so most chemists venturing into it have to learn by trial and error - because of this, I’ve been witness to some shockingly bad formulation work from consultants and self-styled experts who really ought to know better
having said that, I am in the process of writing an R&D manual which covers this subject among many others; if I send you a relevant extract from it, you may find it helpful
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Hi Bill, could you please help me in this point regard hardness, I already fill my product at 70 c but hardness still not enough, i tried to stop slow mixing while filling but i could not because surface area of the wax solidifies quickly. My product is hard but not as much as some brands in the market, I tried longer carbon chain emulsifiers but has not gave big difference there, I do not use any extra viscosifier in my formula by the way.
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I forgot to mention that it is a transparent product!
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@Bill_Toge I’d be really grateful if you could send an extract about hot-fill styling products. I’m sure that’d be helpful. Thank you.
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