[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

Jdawgswife76 said:

ngarayeva001 said:

You don’t get responds because of your attitude. Also if you don’t know who swiftcraftymonkey and call her self proclaimed you are clearly lacking knowledge about formulation world (which is quite small). 

Once again your assumptions are very sad. You know nothing of my formulating skills and I know of Swiftcraftmonkey , as she created a website and charges a monthly subscription to give out formulas and dupe others formulators, yet states on previous post that she encourages everyone to learn by experimenting themselves (which is common sense in this business/hobby) lol. just because I have preferred not to formulate certain things or have had no past interest in them  does not mean that I have no formulating knowledge so please, TRY to keep it professional when replying to posts and it makes you look bad to only waste characters in this blog with unhelpful remarks and assumptions. 
Good Day

If I might interject as you’re speaking about me, it’s abundantly clear you don’t know my blog or my work if you think that I “give out formulas” or “dupe other formulators” and that my suggestion to experiment is somehow laughable. I would ask you to refrain from interacting with me or discussing my work in such an unprofessional manner in the future as our paths need never cross again. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

KellyMoonValley said:

Thank you.  I pH tested all the shampoo bars on the market I could find and they are all pH 8 - 9 and none of them contain citric acid.  By the ingredients, they appear to simply be ‘soap with castor oil’.

“Shampoo bar” soaps will be alkaline. Syndet shampoo bars, if properly formulated, should be acidic. If you formulate with acidic surfactants, you don’t need to alter the pH if it’s in right range. 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

Jdawgswife76 said:

Wow is it the lack of knowledge on kne of these surfactants thats keeping the “professionals” from weighing in?  I have noticed that there havent been alot answering or replies kn Chemist Corner lately.  Is the website still functioning?  

Clearly the forum is functioning, so there may be some other reason you aren’t receiving any responses to your barely a day old post. 

My advice is to try these ideas you have and observe the results rather than asking theoretical questions and expecting the members of this forum to engage in speculation or to create a formula for you. Many of us very knowledgeable about surfactants, and that knowledge came from working with them for years, creating formula after formula, observing the results, then formulating again. I love working with surfactants, and that love arose from a many years of experimentation, which I encourage others to do. 

Please don’t put quotes around “professionals” as it’s insulting. 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

They should be the same pH as liquid shampoo in the acidic range. 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

MarkBroussard said:

MarkBroussard said:

@charmainia:

The problem is that your Sodium Coco-Sulfate is too high @ 25%.  Cut that down to 12% or so.

SwiftCraftyMonkey said:

Charmainia said:

Hi all,

I formulated a surfactant base for a facial wash using a formulation from Swift Crafty Monkey. However, upon standing for a couple of days to allow any bubbles to disspiate, the formula began turning to a solid. It took almost a week to solidify in the glass beaker and each day I could see it turning slowly from a clear liquid to a white solid. It changed to a solid in a strange way by the solid parts “spreading” through the liquid and “consuming”, for what of a better word, the liquid.

Does anyone know why this may have happened?

The formula is this:
HEATED,WATER,PHASE,
25%,surfactantof,choice, (I chose sodium coco sulfate in solid noodle form)
15%,cocamidopropyl,betaine,

54.5%,distilled,water,

3%,glycerin,

2%,polyquat,7

COOL DOWN PHASE:
0.5% Preservative 

I wouldn’t suggest you use a solid surfactant in a liquid product like this, and I can assure you I’ve never used sodium coco sulfate in this way. (I have used SCS in maybe 10 formulas over 12 years, and all of them were in solid products.) Your product solidified because you used a solid surfactant. I tried working with SCI like this in 2009, but I updated those posts to reflect the fails I experienced with re-solidification, and I’ve written in greater detail since about what I learned and what I would do differently now. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed those formulas have been shared by others without noting they originated from my blog and that they would re-solidify. 

Actually, your comment does indeed suggest that a solid surfactant should not be used in liquid products.  The product solidified because the OP used too much solid surfactant in a liquid product, not simply because it is a solid surfactant.  It’s a clarification.

If we’re being exact about language, I guess my English degree and years of professional writing comes in pretty handy right now. What I said was, “I wouldn’t suggest you use a solid surfactant in a liquid product like this…” The important part is the “like this” bit because if you wanted to use a solid surfactant in a liquid product, I would suggest other formulas, other ingredients, and other processes, and not this formula for that application. But I have no desire to quibble with you or anyone else when there’s so many interesting things to study and debate, so I yield the floor to you. 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

MarkBroussard said:

You can indeed use solid surfactants in liquid products.  It is simply a matter of using the appropriate amount of solid surfactant.  I use SCI in commercial liquid products all the time with no issues.  To say that you can only use solid surfactants in solid products is simply incorrect.

Are you responding to me? I ask because I didn’t say you can only use solid surfactants in solid products and I didn’t say you couldn’t use solid surfactants in liquid products, so I’m not really sure to whom you were directing your response. If you referring to me, I would encourage you to read my comments again for further clarification. I was responding to using 25% sodium Coco Sulfate or SCI in a liquid product like the one the OP shared. Given your success in using SCI in commercial liquid products, surely you know the difficulties in incorporating solid surfactants, so I’m eager to see how you would prevent 25% SCS from re-solidifying in that exact formula. I’m also incredibly curious how you would prevent 25% SCI from re-solidifying in that formula. Thanks in advance for your time! 

[SwiftCraftyMonkey]

Charmainia said:

Hi all,

I formulated a surfactant base for a facial wash using a formulation from Swift Crafty Monkey. However, upon standing for a couple of days to allow any bubbles to disspiate, the formula began turning to a solid. It took almost a week to solidify in the glass beaker and each day I could see it turning slowly from a clear liquid to a white solid. It changed to a solid in a strange way by the solid parts “spreading” through the liquid and “consuming”, for what of a better word, the liquid.

Does anyone know why this may have happened?

The formula is this:
HEATED,WATER,PHASE,
25%,surfactantof,choice, (I chose sodium coco sulfate in solid noodle form)
15%,cocamidopropyl,betaine,

54.5%,distilled,water,

3%,glycerin,

2%,polyquat,7

COOL DOWN PHASE:
0.5% Preservative 

I wouldn’t suggest you use a solid surfactant in a liquid product like this, and I can assure you I’ve never used sodium coco sulfate in this way. (I have used SCS in maybe 10 formulas over 12 years, and all of them were in solid products.) Your product solidified because you used a solid surfactant. I tried working with SCI like this in 2009, but I updated those posts to reflect the fails I experienced with re-solidification, and I’ve written in greater detail since about what I learned and what I would do differently now. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed those formulas have been shared by others without noting they originated from my blog and that they would re-solidify.