Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Liquid shampoo question

  • Liquid shampoo question

    Posted by Margaret on November 27, 2023 at 12:01 pm

    I ask this NOT because I’m making a liquid shampoo but simply because I’m trying to describe to people on a fecesbook group how wasteful it is to have fats/oils/butters in a shampoo bar. I do NOT want to write anything incorrect in my post, and be ignorant, dig?

    Part of what I wish to include in my fecesbook post is an explanation of why there is NOT a high % of oils in liquid shampoos vs. how it CAN be high in a shampoo bar.

    MY QUESTION:

    If one was to add (enough) plant oils to a liquid shampoo, would it possibly become a thin lotion?

    I figure this would depend on the HLB of the surfactants, used…?

    Thanks to all who help me out here, in case I do not thank you!

    Margaret replied 10 months, 2 weeks ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • chemicalmatt

    Member
    December 1, 2023 at 1:59 pm

    @Margaret the answer is yes, depending on the surfactant blend used you would end up with a water-thin lotion having low foaming and reduced cleansing power. This may not be stable for very long depending on how much oil you added. Same outcome (not the thinning part) holds true for solid soaps. Too much oil added to a syndet bar will compromise foaming and cleansing.

    • Margaret

      Member
      December 1, 2023 at 2:12 pm

      I kinda figured that would be the case. It was going to be part of my explanation why there is NOT LOTS of B.S. oils/butters added to LIQUID shampoo (versus the majority of styooopid shampoo bars sold on-line & in stores) because then the liquid shampoo would be like a (crappy) lotion. Instead, LOTS of oils/butters are used in the vast majority of shampoo BARS, making THEM crappy. Thanks man!

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