Surfactants: Ethanolamines or alkanolamides

Cocamide DEA (or cocamide diethanolamine) is a non-ionic surfactant derived from coconut fatty acids (hence the coca- part) that behaves as an emulsifier, slip enhancer, and re-fattener when included in surfactant mixes. Cocamide DEA can improve the density, body, and stability of foams, so it is a great addition to a bubble bath, but it...

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Surfactants: Alkyl polyglucosides or glycosides

Some non-ionic surfactants are not only emulsifiers or solubilizers but foamy detergents. The alkyl polyglucosides are new surfactants derived from reacting corn starch with a fatty alcohol to produce a highly biodegradable that is highly tolerant to electrolytes like salt (which means it can’t be thickened well with salt). You can find low ethoxylated monoglycerides...

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Surfactants: Betaines (updated December 2021)

If you read anything about cocamidopropyl betaine, it is usually listed as an amphoteric, meaning it has a positive functional group – the quaternized nitrogen – and a negative functional group – a carboxylate, phosphate, or a sulfate functional group able to carry a negative charge in neutral or alkaline conditions. Believe it or not,...

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Surfactants: Sulfoacetates

We generally find the sulfoacetates as sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (SLSa), which is found in powder or flake form. It is created by the esterification of sulfoacetic acid. It is milder than than the ethoxylated alcohol sulfates (like SLeS) and stable in hard water. The flakes or white powder have about 65% active SLSa with a...

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Why CP soap doesn’t make a great shampoo (updated)

I’ve received quite a few queries asking why can’t we use CP soap as a shampoo. I know the perception out there can be CP soap = natural, therefore good and surfactants = processed, therefore bad, and I know I did a post on carboxylates recently, but there are good reasons we don’t use even...

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