How to Use AccessQUAT CTMS in Your Formulations
Understanding AccessQUAT CTMS
Think of AccessQUAT CTMS as a magnet for your hair. Hair, especially when damaged, carries a slight negative charge. AccessQUAT CTMS is a cationic (positively charged) ingredient, so it’s naturally attracted to the hair shaft. When you use a conditioner containing it, the ingredient deposits onto the hair surface, creating a smooth, even film.
This action does a few key things: it neutralizes the negative charge, which instantly helps reduce static and flyaways. It also encourages the hair cuticles (the tiny scales on the outside of each hair strand) to lie flat. This makes hair feel smoother, look shinier, and much easier to comb through, both wet and dry. For formulators, this means you can create products that deliver noticeable softness, detangling, and anti-frizz benefits that customers can feel immediately.
Formulation Tips
AccessQUAT CTMS is typically used between 0.5% and 3.0%. For a lightweight, daily conditioner, start with 0.5–1.5%. For a richer, deep-conditioning mask or a product for very thick, curly, or damaged hair, you might go up to 3.0%.
To incorporate it into your formula, add AccessQUAT CTMS to your water phase. It can be heated along with the water phase up to around 75°C (167°F), which is helpful when you are creating a cream-based conditioner with fatty alcohols (like Cetearyl Alcohol). It also functions as a cationic emulsifier, helping to stabilize the oil-in-water emulsion of a typical conditioner.
A crucial tip for beginners: Cationic ingredients like this one are generally not compatible with anionic ingredients (like most shampoo surfactants, such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate). If you mix them directly, they can react and deactivate each other. This is why you formulate them in separate products—shampoo (anionic) to cleanse, and conditioner (cationic) to smooth and detangle.
Key Performance Benefits:
- Superior Detangling: Helps smooth hair cuticles, reducing the force needed to comb through wet hair and minimizing breakage.
- Effective Anti-Static Control: Neutralizes electrical charge on the hair surface, helping eliminate frizz, flyaways, and static cling for a smooth, polished look.
- Noticeable Softness and Conditioning: Adsorbs onto the hair shaft to leave a soft, non-greasy film, improving manageability without heavy buildup.
- Improves Hair Texture: By smoothing the cuticle, it enhances natural shine and silkiness so hair looks and feels healthier.
- Versatile and Easy to Use: Disperses in the water phase and can be heated, making it straightforward to incorporate across formats from light rinses to thick masks.