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thickening a shower gel
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So if my solids are too low… what does that mean.
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If you’re outside that range either the product will be too expensive to make or will not meet the requirement.
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Regarding the solids confusion:
Most surfactants are supplied as solutions. Solids = active material, the actual working components of the surfactant solution.
As Belassi mentioned, CAPB usually comes as a 30% solution in water, i.e. 30% is active solid/dry matter.
If you use 20% of this solution in your formulation, that counts as 6% solids overall (0.3×20).
If the Iselux in your formulation above is appx. 80% active matter, then that 9% inclusion converts to 7.2% solids, the rest is calculated as water.So if your solids are too low, your active material is too low, and your product is ‘weak’ and, in Belassi’s words, will not meet its requirements as a cleanser. If your solids are too high, the product will be more expensive than necessary.
You would have to consult your TDS to determine the active matter of each surfactant (solids might also include residual sodium chloride).
Also, include a chelating agent and ditch the essential oils until you have determined that your surfactant mixture is stable without them.
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I got confused too, I also thought Belassi was implying salt as solid residues.
Here are a couple of formulating guides, check the relation of surfactants, active matter and viscosity and you will understand why we are saying you came up short.
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Among all of this discussion I have to state that my final formula was all good, but there is something I feel is missing when the product is applied. The first feel of the body of the product and that foam profile no matter how high foaming the product is. Is it just me or there is actually no comparison with the regular formulations.
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Formulation of a surfactant combination for a given purpose may seem simple but in my opinion is one of the more difficult things to do.
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Hello again…
In calculating the actives to determine if a shower gel/shampoo etc meets a certain range…roughly over 10% (correct me if I am wrong)…
Is the active content based on the main (primary) surfactant alone or on all the surfactants collectively?
Is there some reading literature specifically on this calculation? Seems like this it “tribal knowledge.”
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Try this. Its in a easy format to go through.
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I don’t know why there’s this idea that co-surfactants shouldn’t be taken into consideration. You must consider all surfactants in your formulation. I guess you can read analytical books about determination of surfactants.
10% is also low, you should consider reaching 20% for a good performance.
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I calculate the secondary too.
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Thanks for all the help!!!
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http://makingskincare.com/surfactant-calculator/
Above is a link to an active matter surfactant calculator which will do the math for you and also gives active matter ranges for different products.
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@MakingSkincare Thank you so much!
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Just something worth trying. Guar Gum aka Activsoft S or Jaguar S.
It’s Natural, its pretty electrolyte tolerant.
I made the switch after a several attempts with Crothix. The essential Oils I have been required to use have been tricky to keep stable.
The Activsoft S should do you right.
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