HLB calculator.
Work out the required HLB of your oil phase, the ratio of two emulsifiers that hits it, or check the HLB of your own blend. Every figure has its source in the ingredient library.
Add the oils, butters and waxes in your formula to see the required HLB, then choose your emulsifiers.
How it works
HLB, the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance, places a nonionic emulsifier on Griffin’s 0–20 scale: low numbers favour water-in-oil emulsions, high numbers oil-in-water. Each oil phase has a required HLB: the HLB of the emulsifier system that emulsifies it best.
blend HLB = Σ (% of emulsifier × its HLB) ÷ Σ % of emulsifier
share of the high-HLB emulsifier = (target − HLBlow) ÷ (HLBhigh − HLBlow)
A pair of a low- and a high-HLB emulsifier blended to the requirement usually gives a more stable emulsion than one emulsifier alone. ICI (1987) suggests an emulsifier system of 20–40% of the oil phase, or from about 3% of the formula for a light lotion to 10% for a rich one; the calculator starts at 20% of the oil phase. Complete self-emulsifying systems (emulsifying wax, Montanov 68, Olivem 1000, glyceryl stearate SE and the like) are designed to be used on their own, and their quoted HLB is approximate.
What HLB can’t tell you
- It is a starting point, not a guarantee: the chemistry of the emulsifier, the oil polarity, the process, the water phase and thickeners all matter. Confirm every emulsion with stability testing.
- Published values vary between sources and between grades of the same ingredient, and are believed correct to about ±1 (Griffin 1954). The library gives the range where sources disagree, and the calculator says so when you use one of those ingredients.
- HLB is defined for nonionic emulsifiers. Values given for anionic emulsifiers such as soaps or sodium lauryl sulfate are on a different basis, so the calculator flags them.
- Most required HLB values are for O/W emulsions; W/O values are known for fewer oils.
The values come from published sources and suppliers’ technical data, listed in the ingredient library. Is That Natural? does not guarantee them and accepts no responsibility for formulations made with this calculator.
Request an emulsifier or an oil.
Tell us what’s missing, with its HLB or required HLB and a source if you have one. We check every value before it goes in.