Household and Personal Care

Surfactants endow daily chemical products and personal care products with various properties such as cleaning, wetting, foaming, solubilization, emulsification, and antistatic properties. They are key components in the formulations of household cleaning products, personal care products, cosmetics, and other products.

● Detergents: Used in shampoos, body washes, facial cleansers, hand sanitizers, laundry detergents, washing powders, kitchen detergents, dishware/bathroom/floor/glass cleaners, scale removers, hard surface degreasers, etc., to remove oil stains, dust, sebum, etc. Anionic types such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), alpha-olefin sulfonates (AOS), etc., have strong detergency and rich foaming properties; non-ionic types such as fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ethers (AEO series), alkyl glycosides (APG), cocamide (DEA), etc., can enhance the mildness of personal care products and reduce skin irritation; zwitterionic types such as cocamidopropyl betaine (CAB) are mild and can improve foam.

● Bactericides/Antibacterials: Used in household disinfectants, antibacterial hand sanitizers, antibacterial body washes, antibacterial mouthwashes, disinfectant wipes, toilet disinfectants, etc., to inhibit or kill bacteria on the surfaces of skin, oral cavity, clothes, etc. Cationic types (quaternary ammonium salts) such as benzalkonium chloride (BKC), cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), etc., have strong adsorption and destructive effects on bacteria, producing long-lasting antibacterial effects; zwitterionic types such as betaines have both antibacterial effects; non-ionic types such as some alkyl glycosides and plant-derived surfactants are used for mild antibacterial purposes in oral care.

● Wetting Agents: Used in facial cleansers (to help foam contact and wet the skin), hair dyes (to help hair dye penetrate into hair strands), toners (to help water spread and penetrate the skin), etc. By reducing the surface tension of liquids, they play a role in improving application spreadability and enhancing the wettability of skin/hair. Non-ionic types such as fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ethers (AEO), APG, etc., are used in cosmetics and facial cleansing products; anionic types such as SLES and alkyl sulfonates provide rapid wetting ability in detergent products.

● Dispersants: Used in sunscreens (to disperse inorganic sunscreen powders such as TiO₂ and ZnO), color cosmetics (to disperse pigments), toothpaste (to disperse abrasives), etc. They can keep solid particles (pigments, sunscreen powders, abrasives, etc.) uniformly dispersed and prevent precipitation or agglomeration. Anionic types such as naphthalene sulfonate condensates and polycarboxylates can disperse inorganic powders (such as titanium dioxide); non-ionic types such as polyethylene glycol esters and lecithin can disperse color cosmetic pigments.

● Emulsifiers: Used in cosmetic emulsification systems, skin care lotions/creams, makeup remover microemulsions, sunscreens, liquid foundations, hair conditioner emulsification systems, etc., to stabilize oil/water systems and form and maintain emulsions/creams. Common non-ionic types such as Tween, Span, PEG esters, lecithin, fatty acid glycerides, etc., are often used in skin care lotions and can stabilize oil-in-water (O/W).