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This is a non-ionic surfactant that is used to disperse and emulsify. It is indispensable for oil in water emulsions, such as lotions, conditioners, and cream rinses. It's a must have oil-dispersant in body mists and spritzers. Made from oleic acid (olive oil source) connected to a sugar (sorbitol) this compound is then ethoxylated (grain based alcohol) to make it water dispersable. Non-irritating.
Used in Body Mist, Linen Sprays or Spritz's to emulsify the water and oil together so that there is no separation. A 1:1 Polysorbate to Essential Oil blend added to your bases is generally sufficient. Occasionally you will want a bit more polysorbate to EO when you find that the blend is not staying emulsified.Polysorbate is defined by the Merck Index (an Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs and Biological) as: an oleate ester of sorbitol and its anhydrides copolymerized with approx 20 mole of ethylene oxide for each mole of sorbitol and sorbitol anhydrides.
Further defined as:
ole·ate
1 : a salt or ester of oleic acid, oleic acid n.
An oily liquid, C17H33COOH, occurring in vegetable oils and used in making soap.
es·ter (str)n.
Any of a class of organic compounds corresponding to the inorganic salts and formed from an organic acid and an alcohol, usually with the elimination of water.
sor·bi·tol
a faintly sweet alcohol C6H14O6 that occurs especially in fruits of the mountain ash (genus Sorbus), is made synthetically, and is used especially as a humectant, a softener, and a sweetener and in making ascorbic acid
co·pol·y·mer·ize
To polymerize (different monomers) together v. intr. To react to form a copolymer.
an·hy·dride (n-hdrd)
A chemical compound formed from another, often an acid, by the removal of water.
ethylene oxide
colorless flammable toxic gaseous or liquid compound C2H4O used especially in synthesis. Disclaimer:
Essential Wholesale uses Polysorbate 20 as an emulsifier for our water based products because it is the gentlest version of all the Polysorbates. However, Polysorbate 20 is not the most effective emulsifier on the market. Because of this our toners, astringents, body mists and splashes might have some separation that occurs from time to time. Some essential oils will vary from batch to batch and cause separation in one batch but not in another batch. Citrus and lavender essential oils are the most common essential oils to separate from the base. We want to produce the best and safest products on the market. In some cases we chose to compromise the appearance of the finished product in order to not compromise in the safety for our consumers.
Polysorbate 20 is nonionic which is critical when you are using essential oils. It does not disrupt the properties of the essential oils by creating ionic bonds which are formed when two or more atoms give up electrons. A nonionic bond does not borrow electrons which is preferable when using essential oils. Ionic bonds are stronger and do not separate in solution, but they do disrupt the properties of the essential oils. For this reason Essential Wholesale has chosen to use Polysorbate 20 over any other emusifier on the market.
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