-
Will Carbomer 940 thicken my shampoo?
Please could someone advise me on a thickener for my shampoo.
I have tried salt- didn’t thicken. I tried Xanthan gum but it’s not a nice consistency (snotty).
Will Carbomer 940 work? I have an idea that HEC will split the shampoo over time.
Recipe:
Water 62.3%
Sodium C14-16 alpha Olefin sulphanate 12%
Coco glucoside 7.5%
Glycerin 5%
CAPB 5%
PQ 7- 3%
PQ 10 - 0.2%
Dimethicone 3%
Preservative (LGP) 0.5%
Citric acid 0.2%
EO blend 1%
Thank you for taking the time to advise me.
-
5 Replies
-
If you remove Glycerin or use it at not more than 0.1%, you might get a better viscosity response when using salt or any other thickener. Now, since you’re using dinethicone, then a suspending agent is needed. I’d use Carbopol 980 instead of the 940, to avoid benzene traces.
-
Hi Ketchito. Thank you for your response. I changed the recipe and got a better result. I increased the Anionic and Amphoteric SF and decreased the Glucoside. Adding that to the water. Brought down the pH and then thickened with salt. I found that I could go up to 4%. Do you think I’m treading on thin ice?
I dropped the Xanthan gum (maybe that caused problems- don’t know). Texture is much better.
Recipe as follows:
Aqua 43.5%
Hostapur AOS 40 -20%
Decyl 3%
CAPB 19%
Citric- 0.1%
Salt -4 % ( Too high?)
Tocopherol acetate- 0.3%
EO- 1%
Allantoin- 2% ( because sF are mid range, I thought to protect the scalp- will probably wash off but I have lots.😊
Glycerine 5%. Will take your advice and drop it to a lower %.
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride 0.1% . Keeping it low because it’s Cationic. It also coats the hair a little and maybe not good for a Clarifying shampoo.
LGP- 0.5%
Polyquaternium 7-0.5%.
It’s a strange sequence but I needed to see when a problem occurred.
The Carbopol -is it then for suspension more than thickening. Also, would you use it when using PEG 40 Dimethicone? I would like to add it to my next shampoo. ( not the clarifying one).
Sorry for all the questions and thanks again for your help.
-
-
4% is too much salt for my taste, but if it works for you, then just put a sample in the fridge to see if there’s no precipitation over time.
I’d add Guar HPTC at the very start (before surfactants), so it has time and room to expand and hydrate. A bit of an acid helps to speed up the process.
Carbopol here is your best friend if you want to suspend a silicone oil (it can also thicken your product, depending on the amount). If you use an ethoxylated silicone, then you don’t need it.
-
I hope it’s okay to ask here but are there not any issues or complexing concerns when combining carbopol (anionic polymer) with the polyquats? Does it come down to the ratios or charge density?
-
-
@evchem2 That can actually happen. That’s why it’s recommended to add both polymers appart from each other during the process, and having always surfactants being added in between. UL use this strategy often. Now, there’s another very interesting way and that’s adding a specific ratio of cationic/anionic polymer directly at the start which, instead of forming a precipitate, they form a gel phase called polyectrolyte complex which has interesting conditioning and rheological properties. Tresemme advertises this tech as way to mend split-ends.
Log in to reply.