Abstract

Modern concepts of wellness for personal care products require ingredients with improved performance and increased attention to both skin equilibrium and to the environment.
These needs make producers of personal care and household detergents look for raw materials from renewable natural origin that can be friendly to the environment without compromising washing efficiency and without adverse side effects or allergic potential.
Formulators also have to consider traditional requirements such as formula cost, viscosity, stability, foam density, etc. For each of the single above mentioned characteristics already exists on the market several ingredients, which work positively on some aspects but often negatively on others, obliging the formulator to introduce additional ingredients to establish a balanced compromise.

INTRODUCTION

Personal care and household detergents such as hand soaps, shampoos, shower gels, foam baths etc. are mainly based on surfactants named “primary surfactants” as well as additional surfactants named “secondary surfactants“ or co-surfactants. The functionality purpose of secondary surfactants is to improve some characteristics in the basic formulae, such as detergency effectiveness, foam, viscosity, reduction in skin irritation, skin feel during and after wash, etc. In rinse-off products consumers require characteristics such as; excellent washing efficiency, good foaming proprieties (also in hard water), good viscosity / rheological behaviour (often considered by consumers an index of concentration), skin compatibility during and after wash, as well as acceptable cost. Putting together all such requirements and properties is the final goal of each formulator. For the purpose of satisfying the various characteristics needed in detergents and personal care products, several secondary surfactants have been introduced in the last ten years. Generally speaking each secondary surfactant acts in the formulation on some specific characteristi ...