Hand wash Making

Hand washing is a part of personal hygiene practice and it gets more significance after the spread out of Covid-19. Hand wash is basically the blend of different types of surfactant in water. Surfactant is classified into ionic and nonionic group. Ionic is further classified into cationic, anionic and amphoteric surfactant.

Anionic surfactant Sodium Laureth sulfate (SLES) is used as a major surface active agent which removes dirt and stains. It is widely used and in order to minimize the irritation cause by anionic surfactant, Nonionic surfactant such as Cocamide diethanolamide (CDEA) is used. The benefit of nonionic surfactant is that they form less soap scum in hard water. CDEA not only stabilize the foam but also thicken the liquid hand wash.

Amphoteric surfactant such as Cocamidopropyl Betaine is used as a secondary surfactant which helps in cleansing and increase the foaming action.

How to thicken the hand wash?

Sodium chloride (NaCl) is widely used as the cheapest option in thickening the hand wash. The recommended percentage is up to 1.8 %.

How to preserve the hand wash?

Sodium benzoate or Methylchloroisothiazolinone or Paraben is used to preserve the product from fungal, bacterial and yeast growth. Acticide can also be used as a broad spectrum preservative to prevent bacterial growth.

Is it necessary to add chelating agent in hand wash?

It binds the metal ions present in hard water and allow the surfactant to perform more effectively. Citric acid or EDTA is widely used as chelating agent in skincare products.

How to retain the moisture in skin?

Humectant such as glycerin is added to retain the moisture in the skin.

Is hand wash skin friendly?

The human skin is acidic in nature. Citric acid is added into the hand wash to make it acidic in nature to give gentle feeling to the skin.

Is hand wash a true soap?

It is a misconception which needs to be clear that hand wash is not a true soap. True soap is made by the saponification of fatty acid with caustic soda.