Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB)

Primary uses

• Secondary and co-surfactant cleansing
• Irritation reduction of anionic systems
• Viscosity building with anionics and salt
• Foam stabilisation and creaminess

Applications

• Shampoos, body washes and baby cleansers
• Hand soaps and dish liquids
• Facial cleansers
• Pet shampoos

Advantages

• Improves the mildness profile and foam character of anionic systems, which is why it appears in most rinse-off formulas
• Builds viscosity in combination with anionics and salt, often removing the need for a separate polymer thickener
• Compatible with a very wide range of primaries and cationics used in personal care and household cleaning

Limitations to consider

• Traded at several different active matter levels, so unit price comparisons are meaningless without the declared value
• Residual amidoamine and DMAPA are a recognised buyer question; those levels are grade-specific, supplier-declared and not stated here
• Contributes limited cleansing on its own — it is a co-surfactant, not a primary replacement
• Use level is established in your own formulation by bench trial and stability testing. Supplier literature ranges are a starting point for that work, not a specification, and they are not reproduced here as one.
• Colour, odour and sensory behaviour vary between manufacturing sources even where the INCI name is identical, and in personal care those differences are visible to the end consumer. Approve a production-representative sample against your own finished format before the first commercial shipment.

How to choose the right grade

• Start from the finished format and the claim platform: sulfate-free, baby-mild, high-foam value or professional cleaning all pull in different directions
• State the surfactant system you already run, because a co-surfactant only makes sense in the context of the primary it is paired with
• Confirm how the material is metered and mixed on your line — pastes, needles, granules and dilute solutions need different handling
• Decide the viscosity mechanism you intend to use, since salt response and polymer thickening behave differently between surfactant families
• Check preservation and pH of the raw material against your finished formulation before switching source
• Compare offers on declared active matter and on the residual control documented for the grade, not on price per kilogram
• Confirm the pH the material is supplied at, since it shifts the neutralisation step in your batch
• Bench results do not transfer automatically to production. Order of addition, shear, neutralisation and cooling profile all change behaviour at scale, so plan a pilot batch on the intended equipment before committing to a production volume.
• Exact specification is confirmed against supplier documentation at quotation.

Typical grades

• Standard actives grades used across mainstream rinse-off
• Higher-actives grades where freight and storage volume matter
• Grades differentiated by the residual amidoamine control the supplier documents
• Buyers search for personal-care, cosmetic and pharmaceutical grade material by name, and those words describe what the buyer needs rather than what is asserted here. Which grade a specific offer corresponds to, and what documentation supports it, is read from the supplier documentation for the exact product quoted.
• Active matter, assay and purity are per-offer values that are declared by the supplier for the exact lot. They change both the use level in the formulation and the true cost per unit of function delivered, so quotations are compared on declared active content rather than on price per kilogram.
• Natural, plant-derived, hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested and similar positioning statements belong to the finished brand and must be supported by the brand owner's own evidence. Any such wording attached to a raw material is treated here as a buyer search term, not as a substantiated property of the material offered.