1 Understanding Alkyl Glucosides

In ingredient lists for facial cleansers, body washes, shampoos, hand washes, dishwashing liquids, and hard-surface cleaners, names such as Decyl Glucoside, Lauryl Glucoside, Coco-Glucoside, and Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside are often seen. Most of these belong to the alkyl glucoside class of surfactants.

In the industry, alkyl glucosides are commonly abbreviated as APGs, referring to Alkyl Polyglucosides or Alkyl Polyglycosides. In household and personal care products, APGs are often used to provide cleaning, wetting, foaming, emulsifying, dispersing, and solubilizing functions. They are representative mild surfactant raw materials used in personal care and household cleaning formulations.

2 What Is APG?

2.1 APG Is a Type of Nonionic Surfactant

APG belongs to the class of nonionic surfactants. Nonionic surfactants do not carry a significant charge in aqueous solution, so they generally show good compatibility and stability in formulations. Structurally, APG consists of two parts:

This amphiphilic structure, with one end being hydrophilic and the other lipophilic, is the basis for APG’s cleaning, wetting, emulsifying, and dispersing functions.

2.2 APG Is Not a Single Ingredient

APG is a general term for a class of ingredients. Different APGs vary mainly in alkyl chain length, degree of sugar polymerization, raw material source, active matter content, and supplier specifications. Common APG-type ingredients include:

3 Why Can APG Clean?

3.1 Cleaning Ability Comes from Its Amphiphilic Structure

The cleaning action of APG comes from the amphiphilic structure within the molecule:

① The sugar end is hydrophilic and readily associates with water;

② The alkyl chain is lipophilic and readily associates with oils and soils.

When APG enters water, it can reduce the surface tension of water, allowing water to spread more easily over skin, hair, fabrics, or hard surfaces. At the same time, the hydrophobic alkyl chain of APG can interact with oils, sebum, soils, or oily residues, making these soils easier to disperse, emulsify, and rinse away with water.

3.2 From Structure to the Cleaning Process

The cleaning process of APG can be summarized in four steps:

APG does not primarily rely on acid-base corrosion to achieve cleaning. Instead, it relies on the wetting, emulsifying, and dispersing functions of surfactants to help water remove soils more effectively. Its degreasing strength still depends on the APG type, dosage, blending system, and use scenario.

4 Core Features of APG

4.1 Good Mildness, But Not Completely Non-Irritating

APG is often used in products that emphasize mild cleansing, such as facial cleansers, body washes, baby and children’s personal care products, sensitive-skin cleansers, and sulfate-free shampoos. Its mildness is mainly associated with its nonionic structure, hydrophilic sugar end, and the way it is blended with other ingredients. Compared with some surfactants that may deliver a strong degreasing feel, APG is more suitable for formulations that need to balance cleansing power and skin comfort.

APG being mild does not mean that it is completely non-irritating at any concentration or in any formulation. Whether a product is mild depends on the APG type, dosage, co-surfactants, pH, preservative system, fragrance, solvents, and the irritation test results of the complete formulation.

4.2 Good Compatibility and Suitability for Blended Systems

APG is a nonionic surfactant and does not carry a significant charge. Therefore, it can often be used together with many types of surfactants, including:

① Anionic surfactants;

② Amphoteric surfactants;

③ Other nonionic surfactants;

④ Polymers, thickeners, and certain conditioning ingredients.

In actual formulations, APG rarely serves only a single function. APG is often used to improve mildness, adjust foam, enhance wetting, improve oil-soil dispersion, or help the system achieve a better sensory profile.

4.3 Notable Bio-Based and Biodegradable Attributes

APG is usually produced from sugars and fatty alcohols. Sugars may come from carbohydrates such as glucose, while fatty alcohols may come from lipid sources such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil.

4.4 Good Adaptability to Water Quality and pH Changes

Daily chemical products are used under different conditions, such as hard water, the weakly acidic environment of the skin, neutral rinse-off environments, mildly alkaline cleaning environments, and different storage temperatures. These factors can affect the foaming, thickening, stability, and cleaning performance of surfactants.

APGs represented by Decyl Glucoside are nonionic surfactants and are therefore generally less directly affected by calcium and magnesium ions. One study compared the performance of Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB), and Decyl Glucoside under different water hardness, pH, and temperature conditions. The results showed that Decyl Glucoside had good environmental stability under the conditions set in that study. It should be noted that this conclusion should not be directly extended to all APGs, strongly acidic or strongly alkaline systems, or all blended formulations.

5 What Functions Does APG Serve in Formulations?

In different products, APG can serve the following functions:

In mature formulations, the value of APG lies in helping the formulation achieve a better balance among cleaning power, mildness, foam, stability, and sensory feel.

6 In Which Daily Chemical Products Is APG Used?

In the daily chemical industry, APG is mainly used in personal cleansing, household cleaning, and mild green cleaning products. Its application value lies in balancing cleaning power, mildness, foam, compatibility, and environmental friendliness.

It should be noted that whether APG can deliver mildness, stability, or environmental advantages in a product depends on the specific APG type, dosage, blended system, pH, active matter content, and complete formulation test results.

7 How to Evaluate and Select APG

7.1 Look at the Specific Ingredient

APG is a class of ingredients. Different APGs vary in carbon chain length, sugar structure, active matter content, and specifications, which ultimately leads to different performance. In general:

① Short-chain APGs tend to be more oriented toward wetting, solubilization, and auxiliary oil removal;

② Medium-chain APGs are commonly used in mild cleansing and foaming systems;

③ Longer-chain APGs may have more distinctive characteristics in emulsification, viscosity-building synergy, and skin feel.

This is only a basic guideline. Actual performance still needs to be evaluated together with the formulation system and test results.

7.2 Look at the Active Matter Content

Commercial APG raw materials are usually not 100% active matter. They may be aqueous solutions, viscous liquids, or pastes. When evaluating APG dosage in a formulation, the active matter content should be considered rather than only the raw material addition level. For example, if 5% of two APG raw materials is added, but their active matter contents are different, the actual amount of effective surfactant entering the formulation will also be different. Cleaning power, foam, viscosity, and irritation performance may all vary accordingly.

7.3 Look at the Formulation Target

Different products have different requirements for APG:

7.4 Look at the Blending Approach

APG is often used in combination with other surfactants. The purposes of blending usually include improving cleaning power; improving foam volume and foam stability; adjusting viscosity; improving rinse feel; reducing overall irritation; enhancing oil-soil dispersion; and improving formulation stability.

For example, in mild personal care products, APG can be combined with amino acid surfactants, betaine surfactants, or other nonionic surfactants. In household cleaning products, APG can be used together with anionic surfactants, builders, and solvents to enhance soil removal and wetting performance.

8 Representative Chemicals Related to Alkyl Glucoside APG: Categories and Applications

Table 1 APG and Related Glycoside Nonionic Surfactants

Table 2 APG Structural Sources and Synthesis-Related Raw Materials

Table 3 APG Co-Surfactants and Skin-Feel Improvement Raw Materials

Note: The above are representative Aladdin products. For more product specifications, please search by “product name/CAS/catalog number” on the Aladdin official website.

References

[1] Fiume M M, Heldreth B, Bergfeld W F, et al. Safety Assessment of Decyl Glucoside and Other Alkyl Glucosides as Used in Cosmetics. International Journal of Toxicology, 2013, 32(5 Suppl): 22S–48S. DOI: 10.1177/1091581813497764.

[2] BASF Care Chemicals. GLUCOPON® Alkyl Polyglucosides: non-ionic surfactants made from fatty alcohols and glucose, with applications in home care, hard surface cleaning and laundry products.

[3] Al-Hasnaawei P P S, Ray S, Pal A, et al. Decyl glucoside as a sustainable surfactant for cosmetic formulations: environmental stability under hardness, pH and temperature variations. RSC Advances, 2026.

[4] Zhang B, Yang C, Liao S, Lai X, Zhang Y, Chen B, Xiong W. Progress on the synthesis and applications of the green non-ionic surfactant alkyl polyglycosides. RSC Advances, 2025, 15: 47333–47359. DOI: 10.1039/D5RA06961K.

For more related articles, please see below:

Understanding Brij 35: A Deep Dive into Its Role as a Nonionic Surfactant

Structural Basis and Laboratory Applications of Sodium Cholate as an Anionic Biosurfactant

From Foxglove to the Lab Bench: How Digitonin Works as a Non-ionic Surfactant

Understanding n-Octyl-β-D-glucopyranoside: A Non-ionic Surfactant for Research and Biotechnology

n-Dodecyl-β-D-maltoside (DDM): Structure, Properties, and Applications as a Non-ionic Surfactant

Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate: Structure–Property–Application of an Amino-Acid–Based Anionic Surfactant

CTAB Demystified: Structure, Properties, and Practical Uses of a Classic Cationic Surfactant

Poloxamers Explained: A Comprehensive Guide to Non-Ionic Block Copolymer Surfactants

Non-Ionic Surfactants in Focus: Alcohol Ethoxylates, Polyethylene Glycol Trimethylnonyl Ether, and Triton™ X-100

Tween 20 and Tween 80 as Non-Ionic Surfactants: Structure, Properties, and Applications

A Panoramic Guide to Surfactants: Definitions & Mechanisms, Key Metrics, Application Scenarios, and Selection Navigation (Tables 1–3)

Saponins as Natural Non-ionic Surfactants: Structure, Function, and Applications

Non-ionic Detergents Explained: From Chemical Structure to Laboratory Use