What are sulfates and are they something I should be avoiding?
A. Almost all of us have heard about “sulfates” but we are not sure what they really are, why they are used and whether we should be using products containing sulfates. Let’s try and unravel the mystery… “Sulfates” is the common use term for a group of cleaning ingredients more correctly known as “alkyl sulfates”. Sulfates are the most common cleaning ingredients used in commercial cleaning products, such as laundry and dishwashing detergents and engine degreasers. They are used because they are the lowest cost most powerful cleaning ingredients available. However sulfates are also the most common cleansing ingredients used in skin and hair care products! No wonder so many people suffer from an itchy scalp and dry skin and hair. There are a number of different subtypes of sulfates. Let’s have a look at the main ones… • Sodium lauryl sulfate (often called SLS) – common “standard” used in irritancy testing, against which the irritancy of other substances is compared (1). Researchers
