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Practical implications of critical micelle concentration for detergents
Hello Everyone,
I am a chemist by training, but am new to product formulation. When you formulate products for detergent applications, do you consider the critical micelle concentration of your surfactants when you are determining the concentrations to use? Guidance I have found seems to be all over the place, with some saying the cmc is basically irrelevant, while others say to have the concentration of the surfactant in use at 3-10x the cmc. Hypothetically, if surfactant A had a 10x lower cmc than surfactant B with otherwise similar properties, would you get the equivalent performance if you use 10x less of surfactant A, or are there other complications?
Thanks!
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1 Reply
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It never really impacted my formulation of shampoos or body washes. The level of surfactant you use is a balance between performance and cost. CMC doesn’t have much to do with it. It’s interesting academically, but not practically
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