Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating What prevents water soluble silicones from ending up in the drain instead of on hair?

Tagged: 

  • What prevents water soluble silicones from ending up in the drain instead of on hair?

    Posted by Gunther on February 22, 2019 at 6:20 pm

    Don’t water soluble silicones (like PEG-8 dimethicones and Silsense derivatives) get rinsed away, just because they are water soluble?

    OldPerry replied 5 years, 8 months ago 5 Members · 6 Replies
  • 6 Replies
  • Fekher

    Member
    February 22, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @Gunther i guess peg is water soluble that can be removed by water.

  • ngarayeva001

    Member
    February 22, 2019 at 7:15 pm

    @Gunther, it’s a very good question, I am also curious whether it stays on hair or not. I use PEG-8 Dimethicone in shampoos because it improves finger pass when the product is rinsed. So it’s more for the “experience”.

  • belassi

    Member
    February 23, 2019 at 5:25 am

    There is a definite effect after drying the hair, with Silsense. Slip, shine, and detangling. 

  • OldPerry

    Member
    February 25, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    I think most of it does just get rinsed down the drain. This was always a problem I had with using water soluble silicones in rinse off hair products.

    In my experience, I was never able to demonstrate a significant effect via tress testing on a blinded basis. We mostly included the material because it affected the feel of the product while in use. I don’t recall seeing any post-use benefits.

  • Gunther

    Member
    February 25, 2019 at 7:37 pm

    Perry said:

    I think most of it does just get rinsed down the drain. This was always a problem I had with using water soluble silicones in rinse off hair products.

    In my experience, I was never able to demonstrate a significant effect via tress testing on a blinded basis. We mostly included the material because it affected the feel of the product while in use. I don’t recall seeing any post-use benefits.

    I agree. Pretty much anything ends up in the drain in a rinse off product.
    Do you think quaternized silicones, like amodimethicone get a better chance since they’re kind of “attracted” to hair?

  • OldPerry

    Member
    February 25, 2019 at 11:24 pm

    @Gunther - Yes, these would work much the same way as cetrimonium chloride for example. In the paper, Silicones as conditioning agents in shampoos - K Yahagi - JOURNAL-SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS, 1993
    They show the relative differences in combing effect from highest to lowest was Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, and Dimethicone Copolyol.  

Log in to reply.

Chemists Corner