Home > Community > Is sodium laurate (SL) the same as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)?
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Marc Roussel

Is sodium laurate (SL) the same as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)?

Andie Spez  Follow

It’s a surfactant, meaning that it helps to emulsify fats into a water base. The reason it does this is that the sulfate end is attracted to water and the laureth end, which is derived from a fatty acid, is attracted to fatty substances.

In short, this compound is the part of the shampoo that actually lifts the oil and grease out of your hair.

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Amir Syairazi  Follow

They are three similar but different substances. Sodium laurate is C11H23COONa, the sodium salt of a fatty acid. Sodium lauryl sulfate (sodium dodecyl sulfate) is CH3(CH2)11OSO2ONa, the sodium salt of sulfuric acid mono-esterified by a long-, straight-chain, alcohol. Sodium laureth sulfate (sodium laurylether sulfate) is CH3(CH2)11(OCH2CH2)nOSO2ONa, the sodium salt of sulfuric acid mono-esterified by a short-chain alcohol, at its turn etherified by a long-, straight-chain, alcohol. All of these substances are employed in the field of detergents and surfactants.

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