Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating My Sanitizer Gel is sticky too. Please check my formula

  • My Sanitizer Gel is sticky too. Please check my formula

    Posted by DavidW on March 20, 2020 at 12:01 am
    Hi all,
    Need help.  I made the formula below and also a variation with 4% propylene glycol and 20% water.  It is fairly sticky.  Any idea why?
    I used AMP 95 to neutralize because I found that if I use TEA I can only go up to pH 5. something and then the product turns cloudy. 
    Any ideas on how to make it less sticky?  Thank you

    Water 16.000%
    Ultrez 21 0.400%
    SD Alcohol 75.000%
    Propylene
    Glycol
    8.000%
     
    AMP 95 0.400%

    em88 replied 3 years, 3 months ago 10 Members · 19 Replies
  • 19 Replies
  • Chemist77

    Member
    March 20, 2020 at 2:59 am

    I have found UCON fluid 75-H-450 to be helpful in reducing the stickiness of such formulations, say @0.5-1%. Also that’s an extremely high dosage of PG, you could reduce it to 1-2% or another option would be PEG-400 as I have seen people using this to reduce the stickiness. 

  • DavidW

    Member
    March 20, 2020 at 11:41 am

    Thank you.  I don’t have UCON but I do have PEG 400 so I’ll give it a try.  

    Why do you think that is a high amount of PG?

  • Chemist77

    Member
    March 20, 2020 at 12:53 pm

    Generally I have seen around 1-2% in such sanitizers and could be contributing to the stickiness. 

  • Cafe33

    Member
    March 21, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    Yikes ! 8% propylene glycol, I use a combination of 1% Glycerine and 0.4% Propylene glycol. Excellent results (using 0.30 % Carbomer)

    1.5 % Propylene Glycol gave bad results in terms of hand feel 

  • Fekher

    Member
    March 22, 2020 at 10:45 am

    @Cafe33 thanks for your interesting share. 

  • em88

    Member
    March 25, 2020 at 8:00 am

    as @Chemist77said, PEG 400 would help as well, and PG should be dropped to 5% max. 

  • DavidW

    Member
    March 25, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    Thanks everyone.  I thought the more PG I had the more “slip” and moisturizing it would be.  I took it out altogether and now I have very little sticky feeling.  Not sure why that happens though.  It is interesting.

  • Cafe33

    Member
    March 25, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    PG works as you described but in much smaller percentage. 1.5% was way too high. Somewhere around 0.3-0.4 % works well 

  • em88

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 8:03 am

    Cafe33 said:

    PG works as you described but in much smaller percentage. 1.5% was way too high. Somewhere around 0.3-0.4 % works well 

    That’s way too low. 
    3-5% is the right interval

  • em88

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 8:04 am

    DavidW said:

    Thanks everyone.  I thought the more PG I had the more “slip” and moisturizing it would be.  I took it out altogether and now I have very little sticky feeling.  Not sure why that happens though.  It is interesting.

    Congrats! 

  • Aziz

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 3:12 pm

    Cafe33 said:

    Yikes ! 8% propylene glycol, I use a combination of 1% Glycerine and 0.4% Propylene glycol. Excellent results (using 0.30 % Carbomer)

    1.5 % Propylene Glycol gave bad results in terms of hand feel 

    Which Carboner you use and what is your final formula and procedures?  

  • DavidW

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    Hi Aziz.  I am using Ultrez 21 because that is what we stock for other types of products.  I’m just curious why something like PG that normally may give some “slip” to products causes a sticky feeling in this type of product. 

  • Cafe33

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    I am using

    Carbopol 940 - 0.30% 
    TEA - 0.30%
    Glycerine - 1.00 % 
    Propylene Glycol - 0.40% 
    Fragrance - 0.10% (Dissolved in Glycerine)

    I am using EtOH 96% and dH20 (I don’t have the numbers by memory) 

  • Cafe33

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    em88 said:

    Cafe33 said:

    PG works as you described but in much smaller percentage. 1.5% was way too high. Somewhere around 0.3-0.4 % works well 

    That’s way too low. 
    3-5% is the right interval

    And you have tried this level of PG? I tried 1.5% and it was terrible. I can’t imagine 5%. 

  • alchemist01

    Member
    March 26, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    I made a version I quite liked with 4% PG, 1% PEG600, 0.4% Glycerin. It beat Purell in a blind trial with some office workers next door, too!
    This was for 70%v/v ethanol, I imagine going lower or higher will give different results.

  • bahey

    Member
    August 31, 2021 at 7:06 am

    very interesting discussion 
    Can i make this percentage of propylene and glycerin with hand sanitizer liquid ( 70 isopropyl alcohol) because i have this sticky feeling with propelene alone or glycerin alone too 

  • ketchito

    Member
    August 31, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    I remember there were studies in which Glycerine at 1.45% (w/w) reduced the potency of alcohol based sanitizers (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235715039_Glycerol_significantly_decreases_the_three_hour_efficacy_of_alcohol-based_surgical_hand_rubs), so I’d be very cautious about its dosage. I believe the same applies for PPG. On the other side, Ethylhexylglycerin and Panthenol work well without this drawback.

  • PhilGeis

    Member
    August 31, 2021 at 12:35 pm

    This is a drug product in the US, subject to the same regulatory , quality and manufacturing requirements of any drug. 
    FDA has given temporary relief during covid - in this they specify WHO ethanol standard of 80%
    https://www.fda.gov/media/136118/download

  • em88

    Member
    September 1, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    Cafe33 said:

    em88 said:

    Cafe33 said:

    PG works as you described but in much smaller percentage. 1.5% was way too high. Somewhere around 0.3-0.4 % works well 

    That’s way too low. 
    3-5% is the right interval

    And you have tried this level of PG? I tried 1.5% and it was terrible. I can’t imagine 5%. 

    Yes. I don’t know what was terrible from your side, but for me, it was way better. 

    I made a version I quite liked with 4% PG, 1% PEG600, 0.4% Glycerin. It beat Purell in a blind trial with some office workers next door, too!
    This was for 70%v/v ethanol, I imagine going lower or higher will give different results.

    Glycerin should not do much at that level. I thought about adding PEG too, and I guess it should make the gel have a better sensorial feel. 1% PEG 400 or 600 should be indeed enough. 

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