[ozgirl]

It sounds like a problem with the solubility of the neutralised LABSA.

Try replacing some of the NaOH with TEA, as the solubility of the TEA salt of LABSA is higher than the sodium salt.

[ozgirl]

@Perry We refer our customers to this FDA website https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-labeling-claims/alcohol-free to help them understand how our alcohol free deodorant containing cetearyl alcohol is considered alcohol free.

[ozgirl]

A google search with the company name, thickener, cosmetics and high pH should help you locate product names and any other information you want.

[ozgirl]

Both Dow and Lubrizol have polymer based thickeners that are stable at higher pH.

[ozgirl]

You can purchase small quantities of Cetiol CC from trulux.com.au. They ship internationally.

Where are you located as others may know of local resellers that sell small quantities so you won’t have to change your formula.

[ozgirl]

I think your lawyers are being overly cautious. That legal definition of a “naturally occurring chemical” is really only relevant to whether you need to register your business with NICNAS. NICNAS are just trying to draw the line about what chemicals need to be registered as relevant industrial chemicals and need that very limited naturally occurring definition because they exclude naturally occurring chemicals from being registered as relevant industrial chemicals.

There are thousands of products in Australia that are marketed with some sort of natural claim that do not meet that definition. However, the COSMOS certification might be a good point of difference for your marketing team.

[ozgirl]

It sounds like the only people supporting this would be the labs doing carbon-14 testing. :smiley:

[ozgirl]

Not sure why you are having trouble retrieving the article. You can just try searching on the happi website for ‘dish detergent’ and it should come up.

Here is a summary of Table 1 from that article.

Hope this helps

[ozgirl]

As others have mentioned the Xanthan gum is not compatible with the cationics in the formula.

What is the composition of your Aloe Vera gel? It is possible that this also contains an anionic gelling agent.

I would also suggest to try increasing the BTMS 50 to improve conditioning performance.

[ozgirl]

Sometimes this product might be called perfumers alcohol.

eg. http://www.saveonscents.com/product_info.php?products_id=3572

( I have never used the company above just added the link as a suggestion/information)

Also check the regulations because you may need a permit if you are planning on using this in a product that you sell.

[ozgirl]

What are you using in your cream that it needs that much pH adjustment?

[ozgirl]

I have never tried it but yesterday I came across Sophogreen (INCI name:Water (and) Glucose (and) Rapeseed Acid) that is reported to be an Ecocert approved plant based solubiliser. It claims to be better than PEG 40 Hydrogenated castor oil. It might be suitable for your application.

[ozgirl]

The simplest solutions to this problem is to package your product in an opaque bottle or to change the colour. 

[ozgirl]

@Perry That is a good way to look at it. You are correct it is much cheaper to just discard coloured water if something goes wrong. Thankfully over the many years we haven’t had any issues doing it our way.

[ozgirl]

I don’t think that there is necessarily a “correct” order you just need to do it the same every batch. We generally neutralise the DDBSA as the first step when making our detergents so my recommended order would be

Demin. Water - to 100 %

Sodium Hydroxide flakes - 11 kg

LABSA 96% - 40 kg

SLES 70% 2 moles EO - 70 kg
Lemon Fragrance - 2 kg
Yellow dye (food grade) - q.s

CAPB 30% - 10 kg

Citric Acid Anhydrous - 5 kg
Sodium Chloride - 15 kg

I would also probably reduce the NaOH so that you don’t need to use as much of the citric acid unless you actually want to create sodium citrate in your product.

Hope this helps

[ozgirl]

To me it looks like your cream is just reaching its final consistency. Your levels of stearic acid and shea butter are reasonably high and these raw materials may take a day or two to solidify. I would recommend reducing the shea butter and stearic acid to see if the final consistency is better.

[ozgirl]

Is the sample covered (eg. in a jar with a lid) after you make it? Could it be that it is simply drying out and losing moisture from the top layer.

Do you have a photo of the “cakey” texture?

[ozgirl]

Generally I think the oils are there as claims ingredients and are just washed away.

Silicone oils can be deposited on hair in the presence of Polyquaternium-10 from a shampoo base. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.8849&rep=rep1&type=pdf

[ozgirl]

@Aanchal This depends on what type of dishwashing liquid you are trying to create (economy, premium etc).

This article from Happi magazine might offer some further guidance.

https://www.happi.com/issues/2011-03/view_features/formulating-manual-dishwash-detergents/

[ozgirl]

You are trying to reduce the pH of your cream below what is recommended for your emulsifier (glyceryl stearate SE).

A data sheet I came across for your emulsifier describes it as an emulsifier, stabilizer, opacifier, and an emollient in neutral to slightly alkaline anionic systems.

If you wish to have your pH in the 5-6.5 range I would recommend a different emulsifier.

[ozgirl]

I would start with your basic formula (water, BTMS, cetyl alcohol and preservative) and then add things back in to determine what is causing the issue.

My initial thoughts are that you have too many electrolytes in the formula (Aloe vera, sodium lactate etc) so I would leave them out entirely or add them at a very small amount.

You shouldn’t really need to add sclerotium gum to thicken a conditioner made with BTMS 50.

[ozgirl]

For small batches we sometimes use a handheld batch code printer. It is essentially a small inkjet printer.

We have also used the stickers in the past.

[ozgirl]

You need to ask your fragrance supplier for acid stable fragrances. Many fragrances are not stable in acidic environment.

[ozgirl]

I would think that you need to improve the preservation system in your day and night creams.

If you can post your formulations for those products you might get some suggestions for how to improve them.

[ozgirl]

Have you searched this forum? There a number of discussions already here on this topic that might be able to give you some ideas. e.g. https://chemistscorner.com/cosmeticsciencetalk/discussion/comment/23055#Comment_23055

Also have a look at Asian J Pharm Vol 4 No 1 (2010),“Mixed-solvency approach” – Boon for solubilization of
poorly water-soluble drugs.  R K
Maheshwari for some other ideas (https://www.asiapharmaceutics.info/index.php/ajp/article/view/126)