P&G patents dry shampoo with lower VOC content than similar products

Procter & Gamble has released a patent for a new aerosol dry shampoo product that will include 55% or less volatile organic compound content. Most similar products on the market contain between 80 to 90% VOC.

“The dry shampoo product can be used to clean and/or refresh hair in 60 seconds or less,” according to the patent description. “The dry shampoo product can have no noticeable residue and can remove extra oil from any hair type. The dry shampoo product can be sprayed on dry or damp hair.”

Lower VOC content: why it matters 

The patented dry shampoo accomplishes lower VOC content by utilizing volatile silicone in place of ethanol for the carrier product. Ethanol, which is classified as a VOC, is the main carrier used in dry shampoos.

The most-often used propellant in dry shampoos, hydrocarbon, is also a VOC. The patent information for P&G’s dry shampoo, says that hydrocarbons may be used as the propellant.

While most aerosol dry shampoos contain 80 to 90% VOC, there is consumer pressure, and regulatory pressure, to reduce this to 55% or less. The patented P&G dry shampoo accomplishes this.

Benefits and more

The benefits of ethanol as a carrier in dry shampoo include quick evaporation time, low viscosity and no odor. However, the high VOC content of ethanol makes it less desirable. The use of volatile silicone (hexamethyldisiloane) rather than ethanol has similar conditioning, smoothing and frizz-reducing benefits. When applied, HMDS has a room temperature feel compared with ethanol, which feels cold during application.

In other products, HMDS is sometimes used as a minor ingredient. Due to its classification as a silicone material, which some consumers say creates a heavy or greasy feel, it is perhaps surprising that it performs as well as it does as the main carrier of this patented product. “The main benefit of a dry shampoo product is to absorb hair oil and reduce the appearance of oily roots, therefore adding a silicone oil carrier for this purpose is not intuitive.”