Thread: Can glucosides remove silicone build-up?

Specifically, decyl glucoside. I have searched but I can't seem to find an answer to this, though I feel sure it must have been asked before. I'd love to be able to dump the sulphates and keep a 'cone or two, but that sounds too good to be true. All you sciency types; help?

Depends on the type of 'cone! What's the Scoop on Silicones? I'd expect PEG-Modified cones to be fine, cyclomethicone and dimethicone copolyol as well.

But as she mentions, cocobetaine can take care of them all, and there are some milder shampoos that use that as the only cleanser.

Thank you Kaijah, that chart is incredibly handy! I don't think I've yet spotted a shampoo with cocobetaine as its only cleanser here, though I'd love to find one.

Yes, is the short answer (^(oo)^)v

Let me know if you want the long-winded, science-y answer, too (^(oo)~)

Fabulous news, thank you Piggy! Is there any chance of an in-between-y answer - I'm not science-minded (English major...), but I am interested, if there's a simple way of explaining it.

I, personally, would love to hear the long-winded, sciencey answer

I would love to know, if it comes with a crib!

Most silikones that are not water-soluble, are oil-soluble, so if you do an oil-treatment and wash it out, you have removed them.

I didn't now that Teufelchen! I'm going to keep that in mind, my scalp hates sulfates, but I figured that I was always obligated to keep such a shampoo for clarifying purposes, when I use a cony serum on those rare occassions.

And piggy, another vote for the long winded scienc-y answer!

OK! Everyone ready? (^(oo)^)



In-between-y info in black. Long-winded extras in grey (^(oo)^)

Contrary to popular belief, traditional non-polar silicones (like dimethicone) do not sorb strongly to hair, and are fairly easy to remove. Any surfactant that effectively removes sebum will also effectively remove silicone from the hair. Goddard & Gruber note that "dimethicones will provide excellent conditioning benefits to the hair when applied from shampoos or daily use conditioners, but this effect is not durable, being removed in the first wash cycle" (Principles of Polymer Science and Technology in Cosmetics and Personal Care).

There is little natural affinity between hair and silicone; the adsorption of silicones is an entropy-driven process. When conditioner is applied to wet hair, the additional water from hair and from rinsing perturbs the system, the silicone comes out of suspension, and some of it attaches to the hair as a result of van der Waals attractive forces.

The bottom line is that silicone & silicone buildup do not resist removal from hair. Removal-resistant buildup occurs as a result of interactions between anionic (negatively charged) surfactants and common cationic (positively charged) conditioning ingredients. Both cationic surfactants and cationic polymers have been shown to form removal-resistant complexes with anionic surfactants. These complexes are extremely resistant to removal and exhibit high potential for buildup. One experiment showed that washing monofunctional cationic surfactants like cetrimonium chloride from hair with normal alkyl sulfates or alcohol ether sulfates does not remove all the cationic from the hair, and, in addition, the anionic detergent can build up with the cationic (Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair). Because cationics are often used conjunction with silicone to boost deposition, many people incorrectly attribute removal-resistant buildup to silicones.

Unlike traditional shampoo surfactants like sulfates, decyl glucoside is nonionic (no charge/neutral). Therefore, it does not form association complexes with cationic conditioning ingredients, so removal-resistant buildup is unlikely to occur.