• Formulating

  How to make a clear low pH water based gel cleanser? Gums tend to cloud up

  Posted by Zink on August 17, 2020 at 1:57 pm

  Want to make a very simple ph 3.5 base formula with

  Water
  Glycolic Acid
  A Glucoside surfactant
  Gelling/thickening agent
  Preservative

  But I’ve found that most gums turn opaque upon adding glycolic acid, e.g. xanthan or sclerotium gum, presumably due to hydrolysis - and that carbomer tends to do poorly with low pH.

  Any tips? Add more surfactant or a thicker one?

  Padmavathi replied 4 years, 4 months ago 5 Members · 5 Replies

  • cleanser-ph-clear
• 5 Replies

• 

  helenhelen

  Member

  August 17, 2020 at 2:21 pm

  I found that Cosphaderm X Soft formed a sparkling, crystal clear gel compared to standard “transparent xanthan”, Cosphaderm X 34 and sclerotium gum, even in the presence of quite a few other ingredients. No experience of glycolic acid though.

  Cosphaderm X Soft had a nicer pickup than standard xanthan gum (less stretchy) but I didn’t continue using it in the end because there was a weird waxy residue when I was using it in my cream formulation (maybe just some incompatibility with the other ingredients).

• 

  OldPerry

  Member

  August 17, 2020 at 2:55 pm

  You might try one of the Celluosic thickeners. (HPMC or HEC)

• 

  Zink

  Member

  August 20, 2020 at 4:43 pm

  Thanks! Haven’t had luck with Xanthan, Perry, have you used them to make clear low pH formulas?

• 

  ozgirl

  Member

  August 20, 2020 at 11:09 pm

  I worked on thickening an acidic industrial cleaner and we trialled a POLYOX WSR (can’t remember the number) that worked quite well. It might be worth investigating this option as some grades of the the POLYOX products can be used in cosmetics. 

• 

  Padmavathi

  Member

  August 21, 2020 at 5:24 am

  You can try Methocel 40-0202, which is HPMC from Dow.

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