Viscosity in personal care is two problems. Creams need O/W body. Cleansers need a surfactant salt curve. Esteem’s viscosity builders table mixes fatty alcohol ethoxylates, PEG stearates, PEGs, amides, and coco betaine. Specify the format first.
Cream Body vs Shampoo Curve
Steareth-20, Ceteth-20, and Steareth-21 are written for stable oil-in-water emulsions and body in creams and lotions. CMEA, LMEA, ethoxylated CMEA, and coco betaine (35) are written for shampoos, bubble baths, and shower gels. Mixing the two briefs is why a foundation thickens overnight and a shampoo stays water-thin after 2% salt.
Cream body here is a lamellar gel: fatty alcohol ethoxylates plus oils and consistency factors set a network on cool-down. Shampoo viscosity is a surfactant packing change—salt, amide, or betaine tightening micelles around an anionic primary. You cannot “salt-thicken” a Steareth lotion into a cream, and you cannot put Steareth-20 into SLES and expect a shampoo curve. Say the format in the first sentence of a sample request.
Glycereth-26 and PEGs MW 200–10000 sit between those jobs: they modify feel and water-phase viscosity without building a cream wax or a salt curve. Use them as supporting rheology, not as the only thickener in a 30% oil night cream or a 12% SLES shampoo.
Esteem Grades by Rheology Job
| Family | Listed grades | Start here when |
|---|---|---|
| Fatty alcohol ethoxylates | Steareth-20, Ceteth-20, Steareth-21 | O/W creams, AP/deo, baby lotion, makeup |
| PEG stearates | PEG-20, PEG-1500, PEG-1750, PEG-2000 DS | Emulsion body, spreading, body-temperature melt |
| Glycereth-26 | Glycereth-26EO | Humectant feel plus viscosity/foam modify |
| PEG polymers | MW 200–10000 | Mild water-soluble viscosity/humectancy |
| Amides / betaine | CMEA, LMEA, CMEA-3EO/5EO, coco betaine 35 | Shampoo and shower-gel viscosity |
Fatty Alcohol Ethoxylates: Cream Body
Steareth-20EO is listed for antiperspirants, depilatories, bleaches, baby care, deodorant, and bath and shower products. It forms stable O/W emulsions and produces viscosity and body in creams and lotions. Steareth-21EO carries the same emulsion/body language and adds foundation makeup, skin care, and hair care. Pair them with Steareth-2 from the Ceteth-2 / fatty alcohol ethoxylate pairs guide when you need the low-EO co-emulsifier; this viscosity page is the high-EO bodying end.
Ceteth-20EO is listed for skin, hair, color cosmetics, and sun care and imparts body and viscosity over a wide pH. Use it when the cream is a cetyl (C16) chassis rather than stearyl (C18). Do not relabel Ceteth-20 as Steareth-20: melt and electrolyte response change with chain length. Process still follows the O/W cream emulsifier guide—full melt, controlled cool, freeze–thaw on the real oil phase.
PEG Stearates: Melt, Spread, and Body
On this viscosity table the PEG stearate rows are PEG-20-Stearate, PEG-1500 Mono Stearate, PEG-1750 Mono Stearate, and PEG-2000 Di Stearate. PEG-20-Stearate is a viscosity builder and emulsion stabilizer for skin, color, and sun creams that are required to melt at body temperature. That is a sensory specification (break on skin), not a PEG-400 micro-emulsion job.
PEG-1500/1750 mono stearate and PEG-2000 di stearate are listed as emulsifier, viscosity builder, thickener, and spreading agent for baby, skin, sun, bath, shower, and hair. Neighbor molecular weights are not 1:1. PEG-40-Stearate and PEG-100-Stearate are published on the co-surfactant table (electrolyte-fine texture; co-emulsifier with GMS or tridecyl stearate), not on this viscosity page—map them on the PEG-200/400/1500 ester emulsifiers guide so you do not request the wrong drum.
Glycereth-26 and PEG Polymers
Glycereth-26EO is listed for foundation makeup, skin, hair, antiperspirants, depilatories, bleaches, baby, deodorant, and bath. The table calls it a humectant with a smooth luxurious feel, plus skin conditioning, dispersant, detackifier, solubilizer, viscosity modifier, plasticizer, foam modifier, and lubricant. If the brief is only moisture, use the humectants guide; if you also need slip and a light viscosity bump in an AP or makeup, Glycereth-26 is the listed row. The co-surfactant table also lists Glycereth-7EO and QGlycereth-26EO—same Glycereth-26 chemistry family, humectant job, not a Steareth cream wax.
Polyethylene glycols (MW 200–10000) are listed as mild, nonirritant, neutral, water-soluble humectants, fixatives, and viscosity modifiers for baby, skin, hair, bath, and shower. Low MW (near 200–400) reads as a humectant; higher MW contributes more water-phase viscosity. They are not fatty-alcohol ethoxylate emulsifiers. See also polyethylene glycol.
Amides and Coco Betaine: Wash Viscosity
The published wash rows are Coco Monoethanol amide (foam booster and viscosity builder in shampoos; low skin irritancy), Lauric Monoethanol amide (stable dense foam; viscosity in shampoos and soaps), Coco Monoethanmol amide - 3EO/5EO (liquid alternative to regular CMEA; foam booster and viscosity builder in soaps and shampoos), and Coco Betaine (35) (viscosity building and foam boosting; reduces irritation with anionics; good hard-water tolerance). Keep the product-table spelling for CMEA-EO when you order; the chemistry is ethoxylated coco monoethanolamide.
These grades need a primary anionic (or a defined sulfate-free chassis) before they thicken. Dose and salt are formula variables; this page does not replace the foam map. Use personal-care foaming agents and CMEA vs CDEA vs CAPB for lather and mildness. Do not send a CMEA sample against a baby-lotion brief, and do not send Steareth-20 against a 2-in-1 shampoo salt-curve brief.
A practical split: if the product is rinsed off and must hang on the hand in the shower, start on the amide/betaine block. If it is leave-on and must hold a peak or a lotion stream, start on Steareth/Ceteth or PEG stearate. Glycereth-26 and PEG polymers can sit in either format as feel modifiers. Acid thickeners for toilet cleaners are a different chemistry—see the acid-thickener articles only for hard-surface acids, never for a baby cream.
Related Guides (Do Not Duplicate)
Amide foam chemistry: foaming agents map and CMEA vs CDEA vs CAPB. Cream emulsifier HLB: O/W cream and lotion emulsifiers. Humectant skin feel: humectants in skincare. Numbered PEG esters (including PEG-40/100): PEG-200/400/1500 ester emulsifiers.
How to Specify with Esteem
- Say cream/lotion vs shampoo/shower gel in the first sentence.
- For creams, give oil phase and whether the product must melt at body temperature (PEG-20-Stearate brief) or needs wide-pH body (Ceteth-20) vs AP/depilatory body (Steareth-20/21).
- For washes, give primary anionic and salt-curve data; trial CMEA, LMEA, CMEA-3EO/5EO, or coco betaine (35) from the viscosity builders table.
- Do not use an acid-thickener sample for a baby lotion, and do not use Steareth-20 as a shampoo salt-curve additive.
Contact Esteem for samples, or custom synthesis for a non-catalogue ethoxylate cut.