Introduction
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) is a high-performance surfactant that is widely used in daily chemicals and industrial fields. It is popular because of its excellent stain removal, emulsification and foaming properties, and its suitability for a variety of water quality environments and reasonable price. SLES is not only the core ingredient of shampoo, shower gel, and dishwashing detergent, but also used in textile, papermaking, leather, machinery, oil extraction and other industries. However, when considering whether to add SLES to your product production process and use it as a raw material, you also need to think about and consider related factors such as technology, operation and compatibility, so as to make a systematic evaluation. The following is an action guide that can help you answer related questions for your reference and make a wise choice
1. Understand what SLES70% is and its characteristics
First of all, you need to have a clear understanding of SLES70% and its other characteristics. SLES stands for Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, but due to differences in naming rules, different emphases on chemical structure descriptions, and regional habits, its name is diverse. You may see names such as “sodium lauryl ether sulphate”, “sodium lauryl ether sulphate”, “sodium laureth sulphate” or even “AES” in other places. Don’t worry, these names all refer to SLES.
According to different concentrations, SLES is divided into low-concentration products SLES 28% and high-concentration products SLES 70%. The 70% of SLES 70% we often say refers to the active ingredient content (about 68%-72%). SLES at this ratio can take into account stability and practicality, facilitate transportation, reduce logistics costs, and has wide compatibility, suitable for multiple scenarios.
The chemical formula of SLES is RO(C2H40)2SO3NA, and its appearance is white or light yellow viscous paste, which is easily soluble in water and suitable for preparing liquid detergents. Due to its good foaming and cleaning properties, it is very suitable for products that require rich foam and strong cleaning effects, such as shampoo and detergent.
The pH value range of SLES is usually 7.5-10.0, but the pH range may change depending on the actual situation. For example, in the daily chemical industry, SLES is often used in personal care products such as shampoo and shower gel. At this time, the pH of SLES needs to be controlled between 6-8. The reason for this requirement is that in the natural weak acidic environment of human skin (pH 5.5-6.5), SLES 70% with a pH value of 6-8 can reduce skin irritation and balance the needs of cleaning ability and mild skin-friendliness. When the pH value is too low (lower than 5.5) or too high (higher than 10.0), it will cause a variety of problems and cause a lot of trouble, so it is necessary to strictly control the pH value according to specific needs to ensure product quality and safety.
So when judging whether SLES 70% is suitable as a raw material for your product, you need to have a clear understanding of SLES 70%.
2. Evaluate application requirements
After understanding the basic information and related characteristics of SLES 70%, you also need to clarify the specific application areas and usage scenarios of SLES 70%.
In personal care products, this is the most widely used area for SLES 70%. If you are making shampoo and shower gel, which require a lot of foam and have requirements for skin irritation, you can actively consider adding SLES 70% in raw material to your product formula, which can effectively improve the cleaning effect of the product and enhance the user experience. For skin care products and cleansing products, the addition of SLES 70% is also a wise choice, which can not only ensure the decontamination ability and meet the user’s requirements, but also do not harm the skin because of its mild characteristics. It should be noted that if low irritation is critical (such as baby products), consider mixing SLES 70% with milder surfactants such as sodium cocoyl sulfate.
In household cleaning products, SLES 70% is the core ingredient of liquid detergents such as laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid. With other surfactants and auxiliary raw materials, it can achieve efficient oil removal performance. If your products are used on hard surfaces such as glass, flooring, and cars, you may need to adjust the pH value of SLES appropriately to take advantage of its high cleaning power and hard water resistance.
In the industrial field, SLES is also widely used. It can be used as a lubricant or cleaning agent to improve the effect of textile fabrics, can be used for oil cleaning, degreasing and foaming processes, and can also be used in industries such as papermaking and machinery. It should be noted that for strong degreasing, SLES 70% may require the addition of enhancers (such as sodium hydroxide).
In addition, SLES 70% has good environmental properties and can be biodegraded, reducing the risk of water pollution and meeting environmental standards. If you have high environmental requirements, SLES is also a good raw material choice.
3. Compatibility Evaluation with Existing Formulations
While SLES 70% offers numerous functions and benefits, the most critical aspect is understanding whether this material is compatible with your production formula. This requires repeated experimental validation and careful deliberation. The verification process typically consists of the following steps:
(1) Component and Property Analysis
First, you must have a clear understanding of the properties of all ingredients in your current formula, including their roles, effects, and potential reactions. Having previously introduced the characteristics of SLES, your task now is to list all substances in your formula and identify potential reactions with SLES based on their properties. For example, avoid mixing SLES with cationic surfactants (e.g., benzalkonium chloride), as these components may cause precipitation.
(2) Compatibility Testing
After completing the previous step, assuming no severe adverse reactions affecting usability are identified, proceed with compatibility testing from three perspectives:
pH Adaptability: SLES is more stable in neutral or weakly alkaline environments. Verify whether the pH of your formula aligns with SLES requirements.
Solubility and Dispersion: Observe the dissolution rate and uniform dispersion of SLES when added to the current formula.
Viscosity Changes: Check fluctuations in product viscosity after adding SLES and determine whether adjustments to thickener dosage are necessary.
(3) Stability Testing
After compatibility testing, evaluate the stability of the product containing SLES. Place the formula under extreme conditions (high temperature, low temperature, light exposure) and observe changes such as stratification, discoloration, or odor development. Record test data to assess long-term storage risks.
(4) Functional Validation
Adding SLES to the formula may unpredictably alter the original product’s functionality. Based on your product’s target requirements, test the performance of the new formula under simulated usage scenarios, including metrics like cleaning efficiency, foam volume, and persistence. Compare collected data with the original formula to evaluate effectiveness.
(5) Safety Assessment
If the formula is for personal care products, validate the pH sensitivity and skin irritation levels of the new product to ensure compliance with requirements. Additionally, conduct relevant product certifications to meet industry regulations and legal standards.
4. Cost-Benefit Analysis
The most straightforward way to determine whether to use SLES 70% as a raw material for your product is to evaluate cost savings. Of course, this cannot be summarized in a single statement, but you need to calculate the input-output ratio.
On the cost side, while SLES 70% has strong price competitiveness and can reduce the amount of thickeners needed, the process of formula adjustment usually involves high short-term costs. Incorporating SLES 70% into the formula may lead to changes in production processes, such as requiring workers to take protective measures, upgrading or purchasing new production equipment. Additionally, you will need to provide suitable storage conditions for SLES raw materials.
On the benefit side, SLES offers many advantages. Adding SLES 70% to the formula can effectively improve the product’s foaming properties and mildness, enhancing user experience and helping your product gain more customers while building a strong brand reputation. Although costs may rise in the short term, in the long run, using SLES as a raw material can not only reduce production costs but also align with environmental trends due to its biodegradability, minimizing the risk of future non-compliance with regulations.
By calculating the required costs and potential benefits, and comparing the two, you can make an informed decision on whether SLES 70% is worth using as your raw material.
5. Choose a reliable and high-quality supplier
Let’s assume that you have completed the above steps and determined that you really need to use SLES 70%. Then you are faced with a more realistic problem, how to find and choose a stable, reliable and high-quality supplier.
When making a choice, you can make judgments from the following points:
(1) Qualification review and capability assessment
The first thing to review is the supplier’s qualifications. You need to understand whether the supplier has relevant qualifications and certifications, and give priority to manufacturers with environmental certifications such as REACH to ensure that the raw materials meet international environmental requirements.
Then, judge the basic information of the supplier and evaluate the supplier’s capabilities. Capacity assessment includes many aspects, and many factors such as the supplier’s production and operation conditions, delivery punctuality, supply chain stability, etc. can be used as criteria for judgment. It is a good choice to comprehensively select the supplier with the highest score.
Finally and most importantly, judge the quality of the raw materials. Only when the supplier can provide high-quality goods and meet your production needs can such a supplier become a reliable partner. Before confirming the order, require the supplier to provide a complete COA document and product samples, and conduct detailed and sufficient inspections, which can greatly reduce potential risks.
(2) Price and supply chain situation
Price advantage is always the most critical part of the competitiveness that suppliers can maintain. On the basis of ensuring product quality, preferential and appropriate raw material prices can significantly reduce the production costs of enterprises. At the same time, when choosing suitable suppliers, give priority to suppliers that support long-term agreement prices or tiered purchase discounts to reduce the risk of fluctuations in procurement costs.
After the order is placed, whether it can deliver quickly and shorten the logistics time is another key point to examine the supplier. If a supplier can maintain a stable and sufficient supply of goods, the supply chain system is complete and efficient, and the transportation cost is reduced as much as possible for customers, even if the price is not the lowest among many suppliers, it can be given priority to establish long-term cooperation with such a supplier.
(3) After-sales service and technical support
Confirm whether the supplier is equipped with a professional customer service team and whether it can provide technical guidance services in the first place. Fully answer customer questions before placing an order, track logistics status every day after confirming the order, and coordinate and deal with various potential problems, consider and serve customers, such suppliers will have more competitive advantages.
About Us
Sinoright International Trade Co., Ltd. was established in 2011 and is a company with rich foreign trade export experience. As a professional manufacturer of sodium lauryl ether sulfate in China, the SLES 70% we produce and provide are exported overseas because of good quality, low price, trust and reliability. We provide professional one-stop purchasing services for customers in more than 80 countries around the world. In order to optimize your purchasing experience and eliminate your concerns, we can provide any product information certification documents you need (COA, health certificate, etc.), accept all payment methods (TT, LC, DP, Paypal), provide corresponding packaging according to your special needs, and ship to you as soon as possible after you place an order and ensure that the goods have 80% of the shelf life when delivered. You only need to confirm the order, and the rest will be served by our company’s professional team.
If you still don’t know whether you can choose SLES as the raw material for your production, or have any other doubts, please feel free to contact us, we will answer you immediately when we receive your inquiry.