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My Shampoo Turned to Jelly…?
Hello Everyone!
I’m working on a shampoo formula for a hair care line that’s launching this year. The pH was a little high so I was trying to bring it down to a nice 5-6 using citric acid powder (as to not disturb the viscosity). I noticed the formula was oddly taking A LOT of the powder with only small changes to the pH. I finally got the pH down to about 6.00-6.13 and as I stirred the viscosity went from a thick syrup to water to jelly. I am beyond confused to say the least.I’ve had this happen to me once before using sodium coco sulfate, CAPB, and using to salt to thicken (to no avail). I lowered the pH and it thickened up just on the brink of jelly.Here is the surfactant mixture:Sodium Methyl Cocoyl TaurateCoco Glucose Mix (52% active)- (Sodium cocoamphoacetate,
- glycerin,
- lauryl glucoside,
- sodium cocoyl glutamate,
- sodium lauryl glucose carboxylate)
Poly-Glu/Lactylate Mix- (Decyl Glucoside,
- Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate,
- Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate)
Coco Glucoside (53% active)Glyceryl OleateFoaming SilkDisodidum Laureth Sulf.SaltI’ve used this formula before with great results, but I changed two of the surfactants with test batch and didn’t use the CA in the water before hand this time around.Any help is always appreciated!Regards,CosChemFan -
6 Replies
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The thickness changed according to the micelle structure types, is what happened. I once accidentally created a large transparent “rubber” ball about 20 cm in diameter, from a surfactant mixture.
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Thank you @belassi I was just reading up on that because I remember you telling that story and someone explaining it. I think it was @bill_toge that explained the phenomenon.
So my next question is, can I not make a shampoo using this mixture with a pH lower than 6.5? pH balanced products is one the line’s claims to fame.
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I think that is something you will have to discover for yourself. I spent around two years experimenting with surfactants before I began to understand what might be happening.
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It is almost impossible to get control over a formula with 9(?!) surfactants. Even if you would eventually get it right by trial and error - it is risky - in production next batch could go wrong again, and you will have no solution. And as Belassi says: after 2 years experimenting you start to get an idea of how things work. I would recommend to send the prototype to a consultant OR work with a supplier of surfactants and let them give you a start formulation and some tips.
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I’ve worked with all those surfactants, and it looks like your formula has some redundancy in there; any chance you can reduce the surfactants? IMO I would use the polyglucose/lactylate mix OR the coco glucoside mix, not both. I also see Lamesoft PO 65 in there… how much are you using? The viscosity increases rapidly with pH, and my understanding is that it can be finicky. Did it turn into jelly before or after you added the salt?
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I have a formula with similar surfactants that also goes through a ‘gel’ type phase at around that pH.
What happens if you reduce the pH down to around pH 5.5. Does it thin down again?
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