[Bri]

@Rahma:

If you are using Coconut oil for its thicker texture and consistency in your hair styling products, them you might find grape seed, hemp, and argan poor substitutes.

Babassu is your best bet.  It behaves very similarly to coconut oil and has very similar texture/consistency. But it is non-comedogenic.  Also, I find it less greasy than coconut oil.

[Bri]

I can’t solve the synthetic soap dilemma for large super-market manufacturers. You raise a good point, but I’d really rather use saponified soap or body washes for my personal shower usage anyway. Detergent bars-which is what Dial and Irish Spring are (not real “soap”)-however will still get you clean enough for most people’s every-day showering purposes. As mentioned above, it doesn’t seem that this FDA ruling will affect things like dish soap or cleaning products, where you might be able to make the case that antibacterial properties are necessary.  I just don’t need to anti-bacterialize my entire body every time I take a shower. Hot water and soap (I use real soap) or even a detergent bar will do the job of washing away sweat, lotions, perfumes, and daily grime. Most germs go with it. 

I guess the only outlier I can see is hand soap for things like bathrooms, hospitals, nursing stations, etc.  But i think the point of the FDA ruling is that you’ll really have to prove antibacterial properties above and beyond a control product (liquid hand soap without triclosan), which-as Perry mentioned-will be tough. Most of the time successful hand washing rids the skin of bacteria and germs, regardless of whether or not an ingredient that is germicidal was used. In the end, isn’t that the goal? Clean hands that don’t spread disease? Does it matter if you’ve assaulted the germs with a germicidal ingredient or just successfully washed them down the sink?

Yes, the Siverion is light sensitive, like I mentioned in my post above, and yes it is expensive. These are some of the reasons I have not used it. However, it is a viable option for the original poster’s purposes in certain circumstances-especially if he is aiming to please a particular clientele willing to pay a little more for ingredients they “approve.”

[Bri]

Co-washing just doesn’t make much sense. And, as you’ve discovered in your own empirical testing, it leads to product build-up. I even tried it for a while to see if there was something I was missing. Maybe I was just blinded by my own preconceived notions… But nope. It was an ineffective method for cleansing the hair and led to greasy, yucky hair long-term.

Perry’s right, the conditioner you use is more important than the shampoo, if you’re going that route.

However, I will argue that not all shampoos are alike. I know many here like to argue that point, but what I don’t always see discussed is how shampoos/conditioners/products affect hair of different types. 

Course, thick curly hair and fine, straight, thin hair will react completely differently to the same products. Just like different skin types react differently to certain products. There’s another thread going around here about coconut oil and it was mentioned that in India it is used at 100% concentration in the hair, without adverse comedogenic affects. Hand the same method to a group of Scandinavians and you’ll have nasty, limp, greasy blondes with acne breakouts.

So skip the co-washing. If you’re looking to get away from the over-washed hair syndrome, find a gentler shampoo and gradually reduce the frequency of washes. We don’t need to be washing our hair every single day. (also, don’t be tempted by the baking soda/vinegar idea…)  There are surfactants besides SLS that are milder. And if you have curly hair, you know that you’ll have to carefully experiment to find our what works best for your curls.

[Bri]

I should also add that the Tinosan/Silverion meets one of your requirements, gfeldman: not sounding scary on the label.  The INCI is: Silver Citrate and Citric Acid.  

Perhaps this in conjunction with a few other ingredients in a “hurdle” approach would meet your needs?  Be careful-it does have some incompatibilities and is also light sensitive, so packaging will be an issue.

[Bri]

Belassi:  I am with you on the point that the USA system is rigged against smaller manufacturers. I also feel that the FDA is often misguided and over-regulates (don’t get me started on the DSHEA opposition and the fact that many at the FDA would require prescriptions for basic vitamins and supplements). However, I think the action in this instance makes sense.  Our world is facing an increase of super-bugs that are resistant to antibiotics. Not to mention the rise in the number of reported hormonal imbalances, which are starting to wreak havoc on almost every body in the western developed world. 

Marketing that claims “antibacterial” and “kills 99.9% of germs”  relies on fear-mongering among a public that has become obsessed with being over-sterile. Like Perry said, proving that these extra ingredients work better than plain soap and water is a tall order. The real point here is that we do not need high doses of anti-bacterial ingredients to keep safe, clean homes. Regular soap and water do just fine.  I actually think this will be good for a lot of smaller manufacturers, because it will encourage people to just return to the basics-something a lot of small/home manufacturers have been preaching for years.

Now that we’ve sufficiently derailed gfeldman’s original post… is Silverion 2400 (formerly known as Tinosan) an alternative to triclosan?  I know it’s used in a lot of deodorant formulations.  Lotioncrafters has the tech sheet for it: http://www.lotioncrafter.com/tinosan-sdc.html

I haven’t used it, but I’ve thought about it… Anyone here have experience with it?

[Bri]

Chemicalmatt:

Thank you so much for your insight here. I had asked a friend working as a chemist professionally (albeit, in a very different field outside cosmetic formulation) and he was at a loss to explain this author’s admonitions. That coupled with your analysis leads me to believe that I should stop worrying about using my nonionic surfactant in conjunction with sodium benzoate.

As I was furiously trying to research this on my own, I started to have some doubts about the hydroxypropyltrimonium honey. A lot of competitive formulas are still using it and saying “oooh, look! We have honey!”  But I’m starting to wonder if the expense is worth the marketing story.  You last statement raised even more doubts in my mind.  Care to elaborate on your disdain for this ingredient?

Again, thank you for solving this mystery for me!

Bri