Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating General Liquid detergent losing some of foaming ability after 2 days

  • Liquid detergent losing some of foaming ability after 2 days

    Posted by Nate on March 23, 2023 at 7:22 am

    so i make this dishwashing liquid detergent after a day i tested the foam and found it to be good enough but after 2 days when i tested it again the foaming ability decreased. what could be the reason for that my formulation consists of SDBS,SLES,CDEA,CITRC ACID,COLOR,FRAGRANCE,SALT,FORMALIN 1%

    Nate replied 1 year, 9 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • luttie

    Member
    March 23, 2023 at 8:05 am

    The #1 thing is to search for visible changes in your product before and after the problem
    Did you notice any change in appearance, color, smell?
    Did it made some foam by itself? There is some precipitate at the bottom?
    All these things indicate important interactions or reactions between components

    The #2 things is to track the possible cause of the changes (the only one we know for now is the lack of foam after a few days)
    I think the best way to find any interactions may be doing knockout experiments like describe here

    The example Perry used was also for a cleansing solution so it should be quite easy to follow.

    These experiments are intended to check if one or more of your ingredients is causing the problem.

    Another way to go is to start simple (SDBS + SLES + CDEA + CITRIC ACID) And see if the problem persists. If so, you should then test SDBS+SLES and SDBS + CDEA.
    I’ve heard bad things about formalin (I think it is not legal in some places also) but I never used so can’t really opine.

    • Nate

      Member
      March 23, 2023 at 12:12 pm

      there is no visible difference maybe the fragrance changes but i assume it’s not the fragrance because the fragrance because it always changes in other formulas but the others aspect of the product doesn’t change its the same i will definitely try this testing method thank you so much
      also formalin is allowed in my country as a preservative

  • ketchito

    Member
    March 23, 2023 at 1:43 pm

    I agree with @luttie . In case of loss of foam, I’d check two things: turbidity (thic could mean that your SDBS after neutralization is interacting with your NaCl, and not liking it very much, I’ve seen that happening few times, and after some time, the turbity turns into a sedimento of part of your surfactant), or pH drift (anionics foam better at higher pH, being this more important in the case od SDBS).

    • Nate

      Member
      March 24, 2023 at 1:56 pm

      i have seen that happen too i have been testing the formula with different concentration of SLES as i’ve been checking it for 4 weeks there’s no ph change nor sedimentation but i have noticed that the fragrance changes i think it’s the SDBS especially because i didn’t neutralize it fully at ph of 5 also the ph of the product hasn’t changed im thinking its the salt because i added a different salt after a day to make the product more thick

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