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shampoo formulation thickener
i am working on a shampoo formulation. in the past i always used xantham gum as a thickener but now i want to add polyquanternium-7 and i have read those 2 are not compatible so instead i have to use salt to thicken my recipe. for now that does not really work and im not sure why. This is my current recipe:
water; 1200gr; 77.62%
sls; 80gr; 5.17%
Coco Betaine; 80gr; 5.17%
Vegetable glycerin; 50gr; 3.23%
Decyl glucoside; 35gr; 2.26%
Coconut oil; 30gr; 1.94%
polyquant-7; 20gr; 1.29%
salt; 20gr; 1.29%
Olive oil; 15gr; 0.97%
Pot sorbate; 8gr; 0.52%
Citric acid; 8gr; 0.52%
essential oils 60 drops
is there something wrong with my formulation and would it be ok to use xantham gum here?
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7 Replies
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Try removing glycerin, coconut oil, olive oil and decyl glucoside. You’ll notice then the viscosity response from salt addition. Also, increase your SLS a bit, or change/add some SLES.
I’d advise to switch to a more robust preservative system.
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Thanks I will try, will do 100sls and make one without the oils. Doesn’t decyl glucoside and glycerin make it more thick as well? Would you completely keep those out of the recipe or replace with more of other ingredients?
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Glycerin doesn’t improve viscosity and in high leves, it could actually impair it. Plus, it kills foam. Decyl glucoside is a good surfactant, but can also impair viscosity. Try first without it, and if viscosity is OK, add it in increasing doses in newer prototipes.
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Ok, thanks so much for your clear explanation. I will do half of the glycerin and decyl then and see the effect.
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hi, we tried some slight variations and the feel and foam is very nice but then the viscocity decreases over time, after a few weeks it gets a bit watery. I was thinking we need to add a thickener or continue to improve the recipe to make it work but adding a thickener seems like the safest bet to make sure it last good in the long run. I live in Bali and its very hot here + a lot of outdoor bathrooms with the sun shining on bottles, affecting the shampoo as well. our previous recipe was natural with xantham gum as a thickener. The shampoo was a lot less nice but stable over time. xantham gum does not match with poly-7 i read so would change it with something else now.
Thank you for all your help and if you ever come to bali let me know 🙂
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my idea was too add hydroxyethyl cellulose as a thickener since our the supplier has this and does not have guar gum
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another option would be acrylates copolymer that might be good but that would be from a new different supplier that i dont know and in indonesia i always prefer to stick with suppliers i already know. but if you say it is much better than the hydroxyethyl cellulose then i will give it a try
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