Useful Surfactants for bath bombs, fizzy bath products

The booming popularity of Bath Bombs and other fun fizzy bath products looks like it will never stop. Why should it? All of these products  make bath time fun, and if made properly they are safe and  fill your bath with color and fragrance. Creating these colorful, fragrant foaming bath products, whether for fun, profit, or both, has never been easier. Once you have found an easy to use recipe for bath bombs or bubble bars, get your ingredients sourced,  and spent some  time getting everything made  “just right,” you are ready to start making more and more of these fun creations. 

But one of the main ingredients you will want to focus on are your surfactants. Finding just the right Surfactants for great foam in bath bombs and bath fizzies is critical to making the very best products!

And there are so many specialty surfactants to choose from it can drive you crazy just looking at all of the choices.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SURFACTANT TO PUT FOAM AND BUBBLES IN YOUR BATH BOMBS

We have come up with a short list of the most popular, highest quality surfactants used in bath time products that are used for fizz and foam. We think our information may help you narrow down the choices and choose what will work best in your latest bubbly creations. This information is geared toward easy to make bath bombs, bath bubble bars, but may also be useful as you select surfactants for shampoos and body washes and other bath and body products as well. 

Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate , also known as SLSA, comes in many  different particle types: Powder, coarse and flake. The most popular form of the Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate is powder. The next being SLSA coarse, and then the flake. The coarse and the powder are often used in bath bombs and bubble bars and other similar foaming bubbly products. Like SCI, the SLSA produces very high quality long lasting foam. Powder SLSA is a very fine particle and although it is easy to use, can get you to sneezing while you use it. Many users substitute the coarse to reduce the irritation of the very fine particles of the powder.  

Sodium lauryl Sulfate , also known as SLS powder, has been used in all kinds of popular foaming products for years. The liquid version of SLS (usually a 30% ) is very popular in  shampoos and body washes . If you want to use a powder, we only offer a very high concentrated powder of 90% or higher - so you get the best “bang for your buck.” Some Do it your-selfers making bath fizzies and bath bombs shy away from SLS powder because it may  cause skin irritation and discomfort at activity levels in your finished product if the activity level in the end product is at 5% or more .

Cocamidopropyl betaine or cocobetaine is an excellent foaming liquid surfactant. The activity level of most cocobetaine is about a 28 to 30% liquid. Cocobetaine is used a lot  with another surfactant, as a secondary surfactant. A popular combination is to using the cocobetaine along with either Sodium cocoyl isethionate powder or sodium lauryl sulfoacetate powder or coarse in bath bombs and bath fizzy formulations like bubble bars for a really great foam.

Sodium cocoyl isethionate, also called SCI  is a newer  product for making great foam in personal care products. It is a gentle foaming surfactant, and is often used as a good alternative to SLS powder, or even SLSA. Sodium Cocoyl isethionate is typically available in an easy to use powder, and also comes in what is described as a prill. In many formulations or recipes, you will note that the instructions are to use low steady heat to melt sodium cocoyl isethionate. The steady low heat is required when SCI is used along with a co-surfactant (also called a secondary surfactant) to combine the formulation ingredients and surfactants to make the products more effective together. 

Decyl glucoside is a new generation surfactant made from sugars of fruits and vegetables. It is in the family of alkyl polyglucoside surfactants. Decyl glucoside creates high quality and long lasting foam. Decyl glucoside, even in small amounts  is used in all kinds of facial cleansers, bath products, shampoos, bath bombs and bubbly bars. It is often used along with other surfactants as a co-surfactant. Decyl glucoside could be an excellent choice for using in your bath bombs. Try starting out using the decyl glucoside in a trial batch and watch the results. Start out with just a small percent

Coco glucoside like  decyl glucoside.is also in the new alkyl polyglucoside surfactant family,  It makes a high quality long lasting foam. Coco glucoside can also be found in all kinds of facial cleansers, bath products, shampoos, bath bombs and bubbly bars. It is often used along with other surfactants as a co-surfactant. It is an excellent choice for a mild surfactant that will produce good bubbles and foam. Try using cocoglucoside in your bath bombs starting out at just a small amount and see what your results are. 

PEG 40 Castor Oil also known as POE 40 Hydrogenated Castor oil is used as a surfactant, emulsifier, and solubilizer. PEG 40 Castor Oil, also called PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil  is a non ionic that has a wide range of useful benefits. It is often used by formulators of bath and body products as a way to get fragrances in to oil and water blends. One of the great benefits of using the PEG 40 hydrogenated castor oil is that in addition to helping blend fragrances and colors, and helping to prevent colors from sticking to surfaces, it also foams.  Give it a try in your  bath and body creations. It's an emulsifier, surfactant, solubilizer, and foam booster.Other benefits of PEG 40 Castor oil are that it is miscible in water and oils. It is also a Non-ionic, so it is  compatible with anionic, cationic and other non-ionic, ingredients. The HLB is 15

This information is provided to you as useful information to assist customer and  formulators make decisions about surfactants in bath and body products like bath bombs for example. More research may be needed. Always TEST products and ingredients to come to your own conclusions.