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Ask the Expert: Formulating Pearl Liquid Hand Wash

Posted on by — 40 comments

pearlhandsoapWe received the following question for industry expert George Deckner from an Innovadex member working on formulating a pearl liquid hand wash. We’re sharing the question and Deckner’s answer here in an extra edition of “Ask the Expert.”

Q. I am working on a formulation of pearl liquid hand wash. But after some days, my product becomes two phase or jelly. Does the cold weather affect his? Is there a relationship between dosage of pearl SLES and electrolytes? What is the best dosage of pearl SLES in a formulation?

A. The pearl in a hand wash or shampoo can separate out if the viscosity and yield value of the formulation aren’t high enough. Typically Ethylene Glycol Mono or Distearate is used as a pearling agent at around 1% and the formulation needs to be heated and cooled correctly to get the optimal pearl effect.

My recommendation is to purchase a concentrated pearl mixture so that you can process your formulation cold and get a consistent pearling effect. The concentrates are typically mixtures of Ethylene Glycol Mono or Distearate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate.

The gelling problem at low temperatures is probably due to the surfactants coming out of the solution. Electrolytes would make this problem worse. You can easily determine the cloud point of your surfactant system with salt by cooling the mixture in an ice bath and recording the cloud point.

EU Links:
Ethylene Glycol Monostearate
Ethylene Glycol Distearate
Sodium Laureth Sulfate

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40 Responses to “Ask the Expert: Formulating Pearl Liquid Hand Wash”

  8. Pleasent feeling when find Ask the expert. I also need help sometime to formulate any specific product.

  11. Hi am having a problem in my liquid soap we are a not getting enough viscosity with the use of sodium chloride can you suggest a thickening agent with cost effective

  13. Your formulation doesn’t have enough yield value or resting viscosity.Try adding a polymeric thickener.

  14. Hi sir.
    I make liquid dish wash out of sulfonic acid, caustic and table salt. But it is watery and also not transparent. How make it thicker and transparent .

  17. I want to know what ingredients to used in making good quality handwadh liquid to make with Sles

  20. Hi Pardeep,

    You can search Prospector for a variety of formulations, such as “pearl” and “hand wash“.

    Hope this helps!
    Angie
    Content Manager, Prospector Knowledge Center

  23. viscosity of liquid depends on concen. of other ingredients. ex: used surfactent
    so use correct formula & then add enough salt in order to make enough viscous.

  24. Hello Sir
    I’m too much glad to having You as a cosmetics Scientist for our guide.
    Sir I am making my own brand of hair Shampoo
    Please let me know how much percentage of Pearl liquid can I use. My formulation is simple as 25% SLES, 15% CoCobetaine, 5% Cocomide DEA. Now I can’t explain the actual percentage of Pearl liquid

  27. Hi,

    You can search Prospector for a variety of formulations, such as “pearl” and “shampoo“.

    Hope this helps!
    Rita
    Content Specialist, Prospector Knowledge Center

  28. Hi,

    You can search Prospector for a variety of formulations, such as “pearl” and “handwash“.

    Hope this helps!
    Rita
    Content Specialist, Prospector Knowledge Center

  29. Good day.

    The most common pearling agent used is Ethylene Glycol Distearate.

    Thank you,
    George Deckner

  31. Hi, Usuf.

    The easiest way is to add Ethylene Glycol Distearate to the formulation.

    Thank you for reading.
    George

  35. Hi, Hitesh!

    The overall cheapest and easiest to use is Kathon CG in mass market low cost formulations.

    Thanks for reading,
    George

  37. I have a question about hand wash ,,
    How to make pearly hand wash,,I hv used pear ,,but it set down in bottom ,,after that I used egms ,after using egms handwash goes thin ,,,what to do ? How can I make pearl hand wash ,,,

  38. Dear Rajat:

    No you should not use Cocamide DEA in formulations due to potential Nitrosamine issues.

    Thanks for reading,
    George

  39. Hi, Rajat:

    There are numerous pearlized hand and body wash supplier formulations listed on UL Prospector.

    Thank you for reading,
    George

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