Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating tear free baby wash tip to toe

  • tear free baby wash tip to toe

    Posted by Tattvas on September 3, 2018 at 6:45 am

    we formulated a baby wash with
    decyl, coco glucoside, coco betaine- 4 % total
    xanthum gum-                                  1 %
    soy-                                                  1%
    sodium benzoate-                            2.5 %
    alomond oil -                                    5%
    jojoba-                                              1 %
    glycerin-                                            2.5 %
    glyceryl oleate-                                  1 %
    grapeseed and watermelon for fragrance

    cetyl alcohol-                                    2%
    citric acid -                                  to adjust the ph to 5 as it was 7 initially
    phenoxyethanal -                              0.3%

    rest is water

    the texture came very nice and smooth

    but it still feels lil drying’

    any suggestion?

    MarkBroussard replied 6 years ago 10 Members · 46 Replies
  • 46 Replies
  • zaidjeber

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 7:52 am
    Way too much xanthan gum, oils, sodium benzoate
    Way too little surfactant (not good choice of surfactnts too)
    if you want tear free, keep the pH 7
  • Tattvas

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 8:55 am

    can you recommend good mix of surfectant we can use? pls

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:39 am

     Try something like this:

    Aqua – 56%

    Oatsilk – 1%

    Glycerin – 15%

    Xantham gum – 0.7%

    Cocamidopropyl Betaine 10%

    Decyl Glucoside – 3%

    Coco Glucoside – 10%

    Almond oil -3%

    Citric Acid -qs

    Paraben DU (Propylparaben,
    methylparaben, diazolidinyl urea, propylene glycol) – 0.4%

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:49 am

    This is cold process formula. Cetyl Alcohol is not really required for it. It is not drying and absolutely tear free. I think you have a bit too much of oils (you can increase to 5% is you want). Fragrance is not reccommended for baby producs. There are some researches that show adverse effects of phenoxyethanol on baby rats (not on adult animals though) and I personally believe that parabens are safer, as they are more researched. Glycerine is too low in your formula. You can reduce to 10% if 15% is too much. % of surfactanct in baby product should be below 10%. Check with your supplier but usually surfactants you use have this %W/W: Cocamidopropyl Betaine - 30-38%, Decyl Glucoside - 50%, Coco Glucoside - 45-55% @Tattvas

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:53 am

    Also, if you don’t mind using silicones in your formula, you can try to adding some PEG-8 Dimethicone. It is a water soluble silicone. It gives a very nice feel to surfactant products.

  • Tattvas

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    thanks @ngarayeva001.. we are adding hydrolized soy for protein. i made another batch with same proportion you suggested but PH came near 4.5// can you suggest a safer way to bring it back to 7.. i also wanted to know in general in baby product how to make it alkaline without adding lye?

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    @Tattvas, this is a bit strange, because with my formula pH is usually around 8.5 and I add citric acid to reduce it. Can you post your updated formula? Another way to elevate pH is adding Triethanolamine, but there are certain restrictions regarding the % that can be used in the EU and I am not sure about usage of it in baby products. Again it shouldn’t be that low. Also, you don’t need to bring it to 7, 5.5 is ok.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    What is  %W/W of your surfactants?

  • Tattvas

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    the citric acid added more than required was the culprit. the surfactants  Cocamidopropyl Betaine - 40 % , Decyl Glucoside - 33%, Coco Glucoside - 60% 

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Oh I see. Add citric acid in the very end of the process. pH 6 is enough to be tear free. I feel that 7 is a bit too high. I usually make a very concentrated solution of the citric acid in deionised water (it doesn’t typically need a preservative as the pH of the concentrated solution is 1) and then add it by drops. It allows to control the final pH.

  • Max

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    Hello :)
    I could create a new topic I guess but I thought I would ask here as we are discussing tear free: How can we back up the claim “tear free”? All well and good to say it but…. any science out there…? Thanks

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    @Max I am not a chemist, but reviewed ingredients lists of many baby products. What they usually mean by tear free is sulfates free.

  • Max

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:20 pm

    Out of curiosity I look at the supermarket, and yes I agree this is the general idea, sulfate free, pH around 7, but not much science regarding the effect on the skin, eyes…. of coco glucoside for example or Cocamidopropyl Betaine…
     

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    I agree it’s worth researching. I know by my own experience that a face wash with SLES irritates eyes more than the surfactants mentioned above. You can apply it on your eyelids and open your eyes. I will post here if find any information from a legit source.

  • Max

    Member
    September 3, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    thanks, at the moment I am reading more on testings/assays…

  • Microformulation

    Member
    September 4, 2018 at 12:55 am
    If you read about baby shampoos, the tear free benefit is not linked to sulfate free or even pH at 7. It is the selection of the surfactants that being amphoteric surfactants. Here is a great summation from the Beauty Brains webcast; http://thebeautybrains.com/2010/06/how-is-baby-shampoo-different/

  • Max

    Member
    September 4, 2018 at 2:32 am
  • Gunther

    Member
    September 6, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    @ngarayeva001
    Is that 10% active Cocamidopropylbetaine?
    or 10% as supplied ( about 3% active )

    Is almond oil (or any other replacement oil) a must? can you remove oils?

  • Tattvas

    Member
    September 6, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    @Gunther ..yes we can remove oil. infact when we add oil the solution lose all its positives of good wash n shampoo.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 6, 2018 at 5:33 pm

    @Gunther in my formula it’s 10% as supplied which translated to 3-3.8% of active surfactant. Baby products should be below 10% of active surfactants. I think it works perfectly without any oil. Oat powder isn’t a must either. It is just commonly used in baby products.

  • Gunther

    Member
    September 8, 2018 at 12:05 am

    @ngarayeva001 

    Does glycerin has to be that high? Doesn’t that leave a sticky afterfeel?

    Did Xanthan gum leave a slimy feel?
    Have you tried this formula with other thickeners, like Guar gum (plain guar gum, not the cationic one), or Carbopol?

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 8, 2018 at 6:01 am

    @Gunther in surfactant products glycerine can be high and it doesn’t leave sticky afterfeel. Xantham does have a slimy feel. But it’s a baby product, so perceived safety is more important than aesthetics. I personally prefer PEG-150 (or crothix liquid that also contains peg-150) to carbopol as a surfactant system thickener, but it won’t work for a baby product because of marketing. Carbopol is also ‘a chemical’. I don’t have experience with guar gum.

  • Microformulation

    Member
    September 8, 2018 at 12:33 pm
    High levels of Glycerin can be sticky. In many cases, we decrease the Glycerin. High levels of Glycerin can be used if the Formula uses other raw materials to offset the stickiness.
    Experienced Formulators will often use a combination of Glycols. For example, my go-to is usually Glycerin, Propanediol and Methyl Gluceth-10.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    September 8, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    I never add more than 3% of glycerin to a leave on products. I my go to combination is butylene glycol, propanediol and glycerin but not sure it will work for a ‘natural’ surfactant product.

  • Gunther

    Member
    September 8, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    @ngarayeva001 did you use emulsifiers to hold oils in solution?
    Did the glucosides act as emulsifiers in that formula?

    May I ask why do you prefer PEG-150 to carbopol?

Page 1 of 2

Log in to reply.

Chemists Corner