Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) - Needles
| Description |
Mild, high foaming anionic surfactant with high purity made from coconut fatty acids. It acts as a foaming and cleansing agent. Commonly used in made from scratch shampoos, shower gels and more! Sulfate-free and biodegradable. |
| INCI | Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate |
| Active Surfactant Matter | High active 85% purity |
| Appearance | White noodles |
| Usage rate | Mix with other surfactants (anionic or nonionic) at a concentration of 3-20%. Melt SCI noodles in Bubble Up or Cocamidopropyl Betaine before mixing into water phase. |
| Applications | Shampoos, detergent bars, bubble bath, facial cleansers, baby products. |
| Scent | Characteristically soapy/detergent |
| pH | 5.0– 7.0 (10% Solution) |
| Charge | Anionic |
| Solubility | Water |
| Why do we use it in formulations? | It offers beautiful, gentle “lace glove” lather to our products. It’s also naturally acidic, so it helps our end products have a skin-friendly pH with less (or no) adjusting. |
| Strengths | Wonderful, gentle lather. |
| Weaknesses | The larger shapes can be a pain to melt down. |
| How to Work with It |
Wear a dust mask! Inhaling airborne powdered surfactants is unbelievably unpleasant. If you’re making a solid product you can usually work with the SCI as-is, depending on the format. If you would like to make powder (the formulation calls for the powdered version) you’ll want to pre-grind it (wear your dust mask!), but the little noodles look really cool in shampoo bars as-is, and the fine powder is very flexible! If you are making a liquid product with Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI), it will need to be dissolved in a suitable solvent first. Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) does not dissolve readily into water. It will need water bath until you have a uniform paste. That paste will dissolve into water. |
| Benefits |
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Note: If the formulation calls for the powdered version you need to pre-grind it (wear your dust mask!), but the little noodles look really good in shampoo bars as-is, and the fine powder is very flexible!
