Cetrimonium Chloride. For A Great Detangling conditioner

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Cetrimonium chloride is a cationic quaternary compound like BTMS, incroquate CR and cetrimonium bromide. It is a water-soluble antistatic agent, surfactant and has some antimicrobial properties.

It performs a similar conditioning function to BTMS-50 and cetrimonium bromide but is not nearly as lubricating so it ideally should not be used on its own especially for dry hair types. You need to add either a humectant or a fatty alcohol to make it more conditioning.

• Fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol
  
• Humectants: glycerine or propylene glycol
  

That said, its detangling capabilities are superior to both BTMS and cetrimonium bromide. Importantly, it can be added to surfactant formulations because it is water-soluble where as BTMS-50 and cetab cannot.

Cetac is a different compound to cetrimonium chloride. It is composed of:

• 29-30% cetrimonium chloride 
  

If you have very fine, tangle-prone hair try formulating a conditioner with cetrimonium chloride on its own to see how it perform otherwise combine it with other ingredients to create a more complete conditioner, e.g. add cetyl alcohol or cetearyl alcohol or glycerin.

Usage rate: 0.5% to 5% in rinse-off products; 2% can be optimal to get the detangling benefit. 2% will get rid of any silicone build-up in your hair. Check the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). Usage rate in leave-on products can be as little as 0.25%,

You can add cetrimonium chloride to any phase: heated oil phase, heated water phase or the cool-down phase. You may find your conditioner is less watery if you add it during the cool down phase.

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You might also like: 

• Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes
• What Ingredients Go Into Making A Good Conditioner?

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