Beyond Sulfate-Free Personal Cleansing Technology

There is a strong global demand for sulfate- free personal cleansing products. The objective of sulfate-free personal cleansing technology should not be aimed at the absence of “sulfate” wording in the ingredient listing, but on the true benefits to both people and the planet, including but not limited to safety, mildness, and sensory for the people perspective and renewability, low carbon footprint, low water footprint, biodegradability & sustainability for the planet perspective. In addition, some surfactants or their precursors contain 1,4-dioxane as a by-product in their manufacturing, which is a major safety concern. In this paper, several commonly used sulfate-free surfactants are compared based on a variety of desirable criteria from both the people and the planet perspective. There is also an important trend promoting green manufacturing processes using natural, renewable, safe, biodegradable & sustainable feedstocks to mitigate the challenges presented by climate change. It is concluded that the best options for the sulfate-free personal cleansing products of the future are glutamates for skin cleansing and alaninates for hair cleansing.