The Chemistry of Foam: SLES vs. LABSA in Liquid Soap Production
An engineering analysis of anionic surfactant behaviors, synergy optimization, and salt-thickening kinetics.
Soap and detergent manufacturers rely heavily on anionic surfactants like Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES) and Linear Alkyl Benzene Sulfonic Acid (LABSA). While SLES provides high foam volume and skin mildness, LABSA offers robust cleaning performance against oil and dirt.
Optimizing formulation yields requires balancing these two agents. A common ratio of 3:1 (SLES to LABSA) creates a synergetic cleaning performance, which can be thickened efficiently using Sodium Chloride (NaCl) under pH-adjusted parameters (neutralized using caustic soda).