In recent years, the safety requirements of the components included in personal care have become stricter in relation to the environment and consumers. Reducing the water and carbon footprint is possible through the development of solid washable cosmetics. The absence of an aqueous phase also minimizes the risk of microbial contamination of the finished product, which simplifies its storage and transportation.
When developing solid flushable cleansers, it is important to choose a mixture of surfactants that could ensure the hardness of the product, sufficient foaming and optimal pH. In this work, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (SCI) and Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate (SLG) were studied in a mixture with Coco Glucoside (CG). These soft surfactants are characterized by excellent biodegradability, low tendency to skin irritation, and are also produced from bio-renewable sources, which makes them an environmentally friendly alternative to other synthetic surfactants. By measuring the foaming capacity of 5% solutions of binary mixtures using the modified Ross-Miles method, it was obtained that the height of the foam column for a mixture with SCI is 177 mm, with SLG is 253 mm, and the foam stability is 84%, which indicates that both compositions provide the necessary foaming and can be used for the development of solid flushable cleansers.
The hydrogen index of the studied compositions was 5.89 for SCI and 4.88 for SLG. Both samples have a hydrogen index close to the pH of the scalp and hair (pH = 4.5-5.5), which means that the product will not damage the hair cuticle when used.
On the basis of these components, compositions of solid detergents were compiled and an in vivo study was conducted, which showed a good washing ability of the product.
Thus, it was shown that mixtures of surfactants: SCI/CG, SLG/CG, provide the necessary physical and chemical characteristics of the washing composition and can be used for the manufacture of safe and environmentally friendly solid cleansers.