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Salt (NaCl) in water based cleansers? For what purpose
I see table salt, Sodium Chloride (NaCl) being used in a lot of cleanser, I’ve seen some evidence it can increase thickness of > 0.3% xanthan gum formulas:
“The viscosity of a 0.3% xanthan gum solution was practically unaffected by the salts. Higher gum concentrations exhibited a viscosity increase when salt was present. Concentrations less than 0.3% exhibited a viscosity decrease in the presence of a salt. All viscosity effects seemed to reach limiting values at approximately 10(-3) to 3.3 X 10(-3) N salt. No major differences were observed between sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and sodium citrate in their influence on xanthan gum viscosity.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6726630
But as far as I know it’s unknown whether this applies to other gums (you’d have to test it). Any other pros or cons with using salt in a water based cleanser? Could it help as a preservative? Astringent? And what % would you need to use?
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3 Replies
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NaCl is used in anionic cleansers as a thickening agent. Generally in the range 1% to 3%, but can be up to 5%, it all depends on the surfactant or surfactant blend… you need to add it slowly and experiment because the thickness relative to salt content is not a linear relationship. It’s a bell curve … you reach a maximum thickness and any additional salt actually starts thinning … research “salt curve” surfactants.
NaCl will help as a preservative booster, but I would not rely on it as a preservative per se.Don’t know about gums & NaCl … But, I use Xanthan to thicken a facial cleanser and it works just fine. -
@markbroussard I don’t think so there is any relation between NaCl and gums in viscosity…
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The paper I referenced above proves there is a relationship. The following paper: http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/ABR-vol2-iss1/ABR-2011-2-1-181-186.pdf proves salt can help thicken Koji gels too.
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