How to increase viscosity of liquid soap?

Author: Josiah Kshlerin DVM  |  Last update: Sunday, November 9, 2025

Flexi Says: You can increase the viscosity of liquid soap by adding a thickening agent such as salt, glycerin, or aloe vera gel. However, it's important to add these substances gradually and in small amounts, stirring thoroughly after each addition, to avoid making the soap too thick or causing it to separate.

How can I make my liquid soap thicker?

You can thicken liquid SOAP (not detergent) by using both NaOH and KOH in the reaction, adding salt to the diluted soap, or adding other chemical thickeners. Real Castille soap also thickens in cool weather.

How to increase the viscosity of a liquid?

Add a thickening agent: Adding substances such as polymers or resins can increase the viscosity of a liquid. These thickening agents can modify the flow properties and make the liquid more resistant to deformation. 2.

Does salt make liquid soap thicker?

A carefully measured amount of salt can thicken some types of liquid soap. If you add less salt or more salt than the optimum, however, the liquid soap will become thinner, not thicker.

What is the best thickener for liquid detergent?

To make your detergent thicker, gradually add a thickening agent like sodium chloride (table salt), xanthan gum, or cellulose ethers, stirring consistently to achieve the desired consistency. Start with small amounts, such as a teaspoon for every gallon of detergent, and increase as needed.

How to thicken your liquid soap/increase your soap viscosity.

How to increase viscosity of liquid detergent?

Thickening agents, such as NaCMC or HPMC, can be added to detergent formulations to increase viscosity. These agents work by forming a network structure within the liquid detergent, providing the necessary resistance to flow while maintaining cleaning performance.

How do you increase the thickness of liquid detergent?

Flexi Says: You can increase the viscosity of liquid soap by adding a thickening agent such as salt, glycerin, or aloe vera gel. However, it's important to add these substances gradually and in small amounts, stirring thoroughly after each addition, to avoid making the soap too thick or causing it to separate.

What increases the viscosity of liquid soap?

For example, sodium lauryl ether sulfate and cocamidopropyl betaine are used as surfactants to ensure foam stability and increase the viscosity of liquid soap.

What does too much salt do to liquid soap?

Therefore, there is a delicate balance when it comes to the amount of salt added to a detergent formulation. The right amount of salt can increase the detergent's viscosity to the desired level, but oversalting can reduce it.

How to use guar gum to thicken liquid soap?

Add 3 to 4 teaspoons of guar gum to ¼ cup of distilled water. Then, use a mixer or use your hands to mix them thoroughly for 5 minutes. Some claimed that Xanthan gum is most useful in thickening liquid soap but guar gum does not mess up as easy as compared to Xanthan gum.

What chemicals increase viscosity?

Commercial VI improvers are olefin copolymers (for engine and hydraulic oils), polyalkylacrylates and PIB (for gear oils), and hydrogenated styrene–isoprene copolymers and hydrogenated styrene–butadiene (for engine oils).

What creates high viscosity?

Viscosity generally increases as the temperature decreases. The viscosity of a liquid is related to the ease with which the molecules can move with respect to one another.

Does propylene glycol increase viscosity?

Based on physical characteristic test, it could be drawn that the increasing propylene glycol concentration increased clarity, pH, and gel viscosity.

Does Texapon thicken liquid soap?

Improved viscosity – Texapon helps liquid soaps achieve an ideal viscosity, thick enough to stay on hands during washing but thin sufficient to dispense easily.

Why is my soap not thickening?

Old, expired lye can cause consistency issues; and living in a humid environment can cause it to weaken even faster. Also check your water content. You may be using too much liquid if your soap isn't thickening.

Why does my liquid soap become watery?

A small amount of air enters to equalize the pressure whenever you pump liquid soap. Unfortunately, this can cause airborne microbes from the air to enter. These microbes from the air then cause the soap's emulsion formula of the soap base to crack and separate. This causes the soap to become watery.

What makes liquid soap more thick?

A separate cellulose-based thickener such as HEC (hydroxyethyl cellulose) or HPMC (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) can be used to thicken liquid soap. Other thickeners that have been used for thickening liquid soap include guar gum, Crothix, and xanthan gum.

Does salt increase viscosity?

Typically, increasing the salt concentration in a solution causes increases in the density and viscosity. However, different salts affect viscosity in different ways (Isono, 1984). As of now, only a limited number of studies have explored these properties and relationships in natural solutions.

Does salt make soap harder?

Salt significantly changes the structure of soap making it hard, opaque and brittle – permanently. The more salt, the harder and more brittle the soap will be.

What additive increases water viscosity?

Accordingly, you can use range of percentages (0.01-0.1%)of xanthan gum to get water viscosity of 5−20 cP. The amount of material to add to water is minimal as you wanted.

What makes liquid soap lather more?

Coconut oil helps the liquid soap paste saponify, plus it adds that lather boost you know it for. Other oils that are high in saturated fatty acids like tallow, cocoa butter, shea butter and lard present challenges (mainly, cloudiness) in liquid soap that you may want to tackle down the road, if you want to use them.

Is dishwashing liquid high viscosity?

Water, milk, and fruit juice all flow very easily; this can be observed when you pour each into a glass. These are all examples of low viscosity or thin liquids. Other examples such as vegetable oil, maple syrup, and dish soap are considerably more viscous, resisting flow and pouring out more slowly.

What can I add to my liquid soap to make it thick?

If you made a liquid soap and is watery please follow these steps to improve the thickness. Add in a table spoon of salt and mix it well. Now add in the salt solution gradually and watch the one liter of soap ger thicker.

What is the best thickening agent for liquid detergent?

All water-soluble cellulose ethers can be added to face masks, laundry detergents and shampoos as a detergent thickener. HPMC is a nonionic cellulose ether, which is one of the best detergent thickeners.

What does stpp do in liquid soap?

In cleaning products, STPP improves the ability of detergents to penetrate fibers and other materials. It also aids in foaming, and its pH buffering ability makes it useful as a water softener. Many household cleaning products such as kitchen and bathroom cleaners contain STPP.

Previous article
Which is better rigid or spring door stops?
Next article
How do you get rid of trapped air in water pipes?