What is Decyl Glucoside and what does it do in products?

What is Decyl Glucoside and what does it do in products?

EPA Safe Ingredient - YES
EWG® Score – 2
EU and Canada Approved – YES
Plant-based – Yes – natural raw material combination
Skin Irritant - Mild
Environment Hazard – None to report
Biodegradable – Readily
CAS – 54549-25-6


What is Decyl Glucoside

Decyl Glucoside is one of 18 alkyl glucosides. It is a mild surfactant used in most of our products.  It is made by the process of alcoholysis of glucose (made from corn starch) and a fatty alcohol decanol (made from coconuts) that is considered to be a “green” process by using natural and renewable sources.  This non-ionic surfactant is mild, biodegradable and has wonderful foaming, and cleansing properties.


Why do we use Decyl Glucoside 7

Rustic Strength uses decyl glucoside in most of our products to enhance the foaming properties of the soap, help the main surfactant do its job, and to add a gentle touch to the formula.  We look for ingredients that are on the EPA safer choice list along with other natural certifications like Ecocert, COSMOS and Nature and decyl glucoside met these standards.

Is Decyl Glucoside safe to use? Is it nontoxic?

Decyl Glucosides has no impurities to report (see table 3).  It is mildly irritating to some people and therefore got a score of a 2 from the EWG scale.  It is readily biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and comes from renewable sources.

In Summary

We use decyl glucoside because it is naturally mild, made from renewable resources, is readily biodegradable, and eco-friendly.  It does a wonderful job as a co-surfactant in our formulas and meets our high standards of purity.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other ingredients we use, feel free to reach out to our email: customercare@rusticstrength.com. We would be more than happy to answer your questions 

We invite you to do your own research! 

Scientific journals and articles are the foundation of evidence-based decisions at Rustic Strength. Blogs can provide helpful information. However, if it can not cite scientific articles, its claims stand on little. 

Alcoholysis - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581813497764

Glucose - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decyl_glucoside

see table 3 - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581813497764

EWG scale - https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/701883-DECYL_GLUCOSIDE/

certifications - https://formulabotanica.com/natural-surfactants/

EPA Safer choice - https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/safer-ingredients#searchList

Readily -  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02541865

Back to blog