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How to make Body Wash; Formulating for Beginners

Updated: May 13, 2022


Before reading this post, make sure you are caught up with my formulating for beginners series.


All you technically need to make a body wash is; water, a surfactant, and a preservative. Body washes are made with an anionic surfactant and then a co surfactant. An amphoteric surfactant works best as the co surfactant.

I have a video all about surfactants that I recommend watching if you don’t know what surfactants are. (I also have a blog version)

If you find the right combination of anionic and amphoteric surfactants you can actually make a body wash without an added thickener. This will only works with some anionic surfactants and some amphoteric surfactants. For example, AOS 40 and cocamidopropyl betaine.

I noticed it’s usually sulfate containing surfactants like SLS that will thicken when combined with an amphoteric surfactant like cocamidopropyl betaine and I know a lot of people are wanting to make sulfate free formulas, luckily AOS 40 is sulfate free. So if you use AOS 40 and cocamidopropyl betaine together in your body wash you can actually avoid using a thicker. This makes the formulating process easier and brings down the cost value of your product.


Body wash formula w/ no added thickeners

Directions; combine all ingredients in order and mix until viscosity has increased. If desired, add in 1% fragrance oil at the end.


Notes; The more AOS 40 and cocamidopropyl betaine you use in your formula, the thicker your body wash will be. The less you use the less viscous it will be.

You could also use hydrosols or essence waters in place of distilled water to add some fragrance. You can also add things like extracts and vitamins, etc, I am just keeping things simple in this post as there is a lot of information I have to cover.

If this formula isn't thick enough for you add in .5% - 1% crothix to thicken (will show how it's done in next recipe)


Thickening with Salt

Another method you can use to thicken body washes is salt. I don’t have personal experience using this method since the surfactants I use don’t actually thicken from salt. This is a method that can only be used with specific anionic surfactant. Usually if the anionic surfactant can be thicken by an amphoteric surfactant like the formula I just showed you, then that means the salt method most likely will work. I did try thickening the body wash I made with AOS and cocamidopropyl betaine with salt, but all I had on hand was himalayan salt and it didn’t work. So I’m not sure if it’s because of the type of salt I used or if AOS 40 just doesn’t thicken from salt. I’m not entirely sure.

Unfortunately the salt method can’t be used by most people because these days everyone is wanting to make sulfate free claims and it’s usually sulfates that thicken with salt. (if you want more information on thickening products with salt there is a great video by the institute of personal care science that goes into detail on this.)


Thickening with Crothix

Another simple thickener we can use is crothix. Again crothix only thickens specific anionic surfactants. It does thicken AOS 40, but it won’t thicken cocamidopropyl betaine on its own. It will work if cocamidopropyl betaine is combine with AOS 40 though.

I also tried making a body wash with foaming apple and cocamidopropyl betaine and this did thicken with crothix, but I had to use it at 4% to see any sort of viscosity change. If this is the case for your body wash then it’s safe to say that crothix isn’t a good match for your formula.

Again it seems to be a lot of sulfate containing anionic surfactants that thicken with crothix. If sodium is in the name of the surfactant it will probably thicken with crothix, but don’t hold me to that. I’ve just seen a common theme and anionic surfactants with sodium in the name all seem to work with crothix.

I do think crothix is a good thickener to keep on hand in your lab, but it isn’t a thicken all ingredient.


Here is a body wash formula using crothix as the thickener.

Directions;

  • Combine all ingredients besides crothix and mix.

  • check and adjust ph between 5.0-5.5 before adding crothix. I used 6 drops of a 50% diluted solution of citric acid in distilled water to lower the ph to 5.38 in a 200 gram batch.

  • once ph is between 5.0-5.5 you can start adding in your crothix 1% at a time by mixing it in until it is fully mixed.

  • product will look opaque, this is normal.

  • cover your beaker and let the body wash sit overnight. The next day your body wash will be clear and you can bottle it up.

note; It can take up to 5-10 minutes for the crothix to incorporate fully in your formula. You have to be patient when working with crothix. You can always add more, but you can't take it away.


Mica powder will settle to the bottom with any formula using crothix as its thickener.


Adding oil to crothix body wash

Say you want to add some oil into this body wash. Keep in mind that oil will decrease foam, also we aren’t able to add a ton, but we can add a little with the help of a solubilizer.

Personally I don't think there is any need to add oils to a body wash. They won't moisturize your skin much. Since body washes are meant for cleansing they are stripping the skin of oil and dirt, so the oil will just go down the drain and it would be a waste. I understand some still want to add oil, so this is why I'm sharing these oil body wash methods. As long as your body wash is at a balance ph it shouldn't be drying out your skin. Using a lotion after showering should be enough. If you find your body washes to be drying double check the ph. It can also help by adding in humectants like glycerin, sodium pca, propanedial, propylene glycol etc. You can also add in cationic surfactants that are stable with anionic surfactants like honeyquat, hydrolyzed proteins, or poly quats like Polyquaternium-78

A solubilizer helps mix a little bit of oil into water. Oil and water don’t mix, so if we want to add oil into the water based body wash we need the help from a solubilizer. The easiest solubilizer to use is polysorbate 80.


Body wash w/ oil thickened w/ crothix

phase A

phase B

phase C

Directions;

  • combine all ingredients in phase A and mix.

  • in a separate beaker combine ingredients in phase B and mix.

  • pour phase B into phase A a little at a time while mixing. This works best if you use an overhead stirrer, rather than hand mixing.

  • once phase B is fully mixed into phase A check and adjust ph between 5-5.5 then add in your crothix.

note; I did add mica powder in this formula. At first I figured it would stay suspended due to the solubilizer, but I have started noticing some mica settlement in this body wash. So I wouldn't recommend adding mica powder to any products with crothix as the main thickener.

If you watched the video version of this blog you would have noticed this body wash does not become clear the next day like the last recipe. This is due to the solubilizer. So you can't have a clear body wash if you want to add oil to it.


Natural Body Wash

If you want to make a natural body wash then none of those past formulas will work besides the first one. You will have to change the preservative though. Liquid germall plus is not accepted in the natural community, but you could advertise the product as 99.5% natural, which is also appealing to customers.

The best thickener for a natural body wash is xanthan gum. Specifically xanthan gum soft. It is so much better than any of the other xanthan gums on the market. In my experience xanthan gum has thickened every surfactant I’ve ever used it with. So no matter what surfactant you choose it will thicken.

In this recipe I am going to use foaming apple as my anionic surfactant instead of AOS 40. AOS 40 is accepted in natural formulas, but I want to use foaming apple since foaming apple and cocamidopropyl betaine don’t thicken when combined together. This way we can see exactly how much the xanthan gum thickens the body wash without other ingredients effecting the viscosity.


phase A

phase B

phase C

directions;

  • combine both ingredients in phase A and mix. If you want to add mica powder do this here.

  • in a separate beaker combine phase B and mix.

  • pour phase B into phase A and mix until thickened.

  • once phase A/B is thickened add in phase C and mix.

  • check and adjust ph between 4.5-5.5 and let sit overnight before bottling

note; In the video version of this post I combined both phase B and C together then poured into phase A, but I prefer combining phase B into phase A first to reduce foaming. Either way works though.

if you use a non ionic surfactant like coco glucoside your body wash will not be clear. It will also come out more creamy rather than a gel texture.


Adding oil to xanthan gum body wash

Again, if you want to add oil to this formula then we need to mix the oil with a solubilizer first.

We could use polysorbate 80, but this isn’t naturally compliant, so instead you can use an ecocert / natural solubilizer like poly sugar mulse D9. (other examples, sunflower solubilizer, olive solubilizer, tego solve 61)

Instead of using equal parts oil to poly suga mulse D9 you want to use double the amount of poly suga mulse D9 to oil. This may vary depending on your formula and what oil you use, but I find this to work for most formulas.


Body wash w/ oil thickened w/ xanthan gum

phase A

phase B

phase C

phase D

Directions;

  • combine phase A and add in mica powder if desired

  • combine phase B in separate beaker and pour into phase A

  • mix phase A/B until thickened then pour in phase C and mix

  • combine phase D in a separate beaker and mix

  • pour phase D in phase A/B/C a little at a time while mixing. This works best with an overhead mixer.

  • adjust ph between 4.5-5.5 & let sit over night before bottling.

Creamy Body Wash

Keep in mind that there are 1,000’s of different ways to make a body wash. What I share in this post are just a few of my methods and things I have experience with. Just because I’m sharing this method to make a creamy body wash, that doesn’t mean it’s the only way. This is just one of my favorite and simplest ways to do it, & that is by using SCI. Specifically SCI powder. I don’t believe this will work with another type of SCI unless it is in powder form.

This is extremely simple to make. Just make sure you have an amphoteric surfactant to mix the SCI in.


phase A

phase B

  • 64.5% distilled water

phase C

Directions;

  • while wearing a respirator combine all ingredients in phase A

  • once the SCI has been mixed into the cocamidopropyl betaine and glycerin you can remove your respirator.

  • In a separate beaker weigh out phase B.

  • place both beakers in a water bath and let heat.

  • mix phase A while heating until smooth and all SCI powder has been dissolved.

  • once this is accomplished remove from heat and pour phase B into phase A and mix

  • keep mixing as it cools. Separation may occur, so come back every 20 minutes to mix until fully cooled.

  • once it's under 100°f add in preservative

  • let sit overnight and bottle up next day.

note; natural ph was under 5.5 so I did not need to adjust ph

Adding oil

If you want to add oil into this creamy wash you can use a waxy emulsifier like emulsifying wax NF or ritamulse SCG. By using an emulsifier instead of a solubilizer you are actually able to emulsify a higher amount of oil, but you don’t want too much because oil does suppress foam and you want to make sure the oil doesn’t separate over time. This body wash also doesn't contain co emulsifiers, so this is another reason I don't recommend to much oil.


Creamy body wash w/ oil

phase A

phase B

phase C

  • 53.5% distilled water

phase D

Directions;

  • while wearing a respirator combine all ingredients in phase A

  • once the SCI has been mixed into the cocamidopropyl betaine and glycerin you can remove your respirator.

  • In a separate beaker weigh out phase B and in another beaker weight out phase C.

  • place phase A, B & C beakers in a water bath and let heat.

  • mix phase A while heating until smooth and all SCI powder has been dissolved.

  • once this is accomplished and phase B is melted then remove from heat and pour phase B into phase A and mix.

  • then pour phase C in phase A/B

  • keep mixing as it cools. Separation may occur, so come back every 20 minutes to mix until fully cooled.

  • once it's under 100°f add in preservative

  • let sit overnight and bottle up next day.

note; natural ph was under 5.5 so I did not need to adjust ph

you can add mica powder to this body wash and it won't separate.





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