PVA for face mask - which one?

Skin

PVA for face mask - which one?

Posted by belassi on November 30, 2015 at 7:32 pm

For a while I have been looking for polyvinyl alcohol to make a peel-off face mask. Finally I have located a supplier but now I am faced with several different grades. Can anyone advise the most appropriate? I don’t have any experience with this material.

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 117 (KURARAY POVAL 28-98)

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 205 (KURARAY POVAL 5-88)

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 217 (KURARAY POVAL 22-88)

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 217 MB (KURARAY POVAL 22-88 MB)

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 217 SB (KURARAY POVAL 22-88 SB)

ALCOHOL POLIVINILICO 224 (KURARAY POVAL 44-88)

belassi replied 8 years, 10 months ago 7 Members · 16 Replies
16 Replies

Chemist77

Member
December 1, 2015 at 3:37 am

Check Sekisui as well, they have Ultalux PVAs and IIRC I had used Ultalux FF around 10% which was a bit on a higher side. The dissolution is a pain in the neck but it turned out to be a great experiment.
belassi

Member
December 1, 2015 at 4:04 pm

If nobody can advise I will have to see if the supplier will sell me a kilo of each so that I can begin testing … I want to make a combination with kaolin and bentonite clays that can be put on like a thick paint, and then sets and can be peeled off.
OldPerry

Member
December 1, 2015 at 5:02 pm

I haven’t used these particular products so can’t give a definitive answer.

However, I would not test all of the samples. I would just take the highest number 224 and the lowest 117 and run tests on those. I figure the numbers are indicative of something about the molecule (maybe molecular weight).

But the supplier should also be able to tell you the differences which would help you decide which is most appropriate.
belassi

Member
December 1, 2015 at 10:27 pm

Good idea, thanks. I failed to find any relevant information in the usual places.
belassi

Member
December 4, 2015 at 2:59 am

Update: We’ve been in touch with the supplier and they are sending us two samples of the types that they think are good for the purpose. Minimum order is 20Kg, well, I already have 80Kg of kaolin so I had better make sure I can design this product.
Chemist77

Member
December 6, 2015 at 4:41 am

Dissolution of the PVA in water is an uphill task and requires a lot of patience, I had to heat it for dissolution and post that the foaming is enormous. The moment you add ethanol, it will become foam free. So first develop the base and check for drying time and other relevant properties, later you can add kaolin and whatever other clays you want to.
belassi

Member
December 6, 2015 at 4:02 pm

Great information, thanks for that. So you recommend I add alcohol to prevent the foaming problems?
belassi

Member
December 6, 2015 at 6:08 pm

I’m doing my preliminary research into formulations. I found this article which is of considerable interest. However they talk about “cereal alcohol”. Despite searching for this term I do not understand what they mean. Could it be simply, ethanol?
ozgirl

Member
December 6, 2015 at 9:47 pm

Perhaps it is a translation problem and they mean grain alcohol.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-grain-alcohol.htm
belassi

Member
December 7, 2015 at 1:24 am

Ah! I’m sure you must be right! Grain alcohol. Don’t know why they didn’t use the term ethanol.
Chemist77

Member
December 7, 2015 at 6:02 am

You would need ethanol or else how do you plan to tackle the drying time of the mask. IIRC I used between 15-25% but check for irritation and other properties too and yes the moment you add ethanol the foam vanishes instantly.
Bobzchemist

Member
December 7, 2015 at 4:28 pm

I agree that it’s a bit odd to specify “grain alcohol”. It may be a remnant of older ways of thinking about alcohol, when the distinction was between grain alcohol (ethanol) and wood alcohol (methanol).
chemicalmatt

Member
December 14, 2015 at 4:16 pm

Hey folks, just as a point of correction here, polyvinyl alcohols and the films they form are commonly referred to under initials PVOH. (As you might guess, I am a flexible film guy.) PVA is reserved for polyvinyl acetate, another critter altogether. Belassi, if you are willing and able, please post your results with the different “in situ” films. Also, adding ethanol to water, then dissolving your PVOH will reduce the dissolution time immensely. The reason I ask is that I am working on PVOH and PVA die-cut masks precut from film structure, then saturated with product and packaged inside a pouch. Taiwan, and now the French, have had this product form all to themselves. I’m thinking they had it too good for too long.
belassi

Member
December 15, 2015 at 4:18 pm

@chemicalmatt, yes, I will post updates. I must chase the supplier for the samples, they haven’t arrived yet. At the moment I am keeping busy working with the Apprecier ascorbic acid project. By the way, I will be interested to know how those mask products do. I tried importing masks in pouches from Korea - they were nice products and the price very reasonable but we totally failed to sell them in our market, (Mexico), we ended up giving them all away as freebies with other products. Another company also tried, with a retail store and in a mall, and got absolutely nowhere.
ashish

Member
December 16, 2015 at 10:08 am

I think, rather than ready made masks (made up of mineral clay), clay masks are more effective & most saleable.
belassi

Member
December 27, 2015 at 5:05 pm

Update on this project:

I don’t think we will be going ahead with this kind of product. Many reasons, but some are:

1. Difficulty of processing kaolin clay to remove lumps.

2. Difficulty of dissolving polyvinyl alcohol and forming a smooth mix.

3. Relatively large proportion of ethanol required to promote drying.

4. Heavy duty powerful mechanical homogeniser needed to be able to deal with it.

I did get to the point where I had a peel-off mask and I could see myself being able to produce a final product but it is too much time and effort to process. There are other areas more interesting.