Citric Acid – Ingredient In Cleaning & Bath/Body Products

Citric acid is a very mild organic acid that comes from citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, limes, grapefruit, and even pineapple. It’s what gives these fruits their signature sour flavors.

As an ingredient, it’s commonly used in food and beverage items, as well as cleaning and bath/body formulations.

In cleaning and bath/body formulations, it serves as a natural means to adjust PH, extend the lifespan of products, and soften water. For this reason, you’ll find citric acid in many of the formulations I share on this website.

SOAP MAKING

While you can make a great soap without citric acid, I choose to add it to most of my own bars.

I do this because I sell soap. If I’m taking someone’s hard earned money in exchange for something I create, it puts some pressure on me to create the best user experience possible for anyone who uses my products.

This acid is part of making their experience great.

I remember buying a special showerhead some years ago that ran shower water over a column of “vitamin C’ before it hit the actual shower head, thus distributing vitamin C into shower water. Turns out I didn’t actually need it because I don’t have hard water where I live, but I was was younger and dumber back then and I just had to try it.

The reason a product like that would work is because citric acid serves as a chelating agent, meaning it makes metals soluble and binds to them. It grabs onto the metal ions within hard water. This “softens” water, increasing the effectiveness of both soaps and detergents because the metal ions lose their ability to bind with soap molecules (which is how scum is created).

In the soapmaking process, it combines with sodium hydroxide for bar soaps, or potassium hydroxide for liquid soap creating a type of salt – sodium citrate or potassium citrate. These citrates are also chelating agents. It prevents the undesired chemical reaction between hard water and natural soap, and therefore reducing soap scum.

It also slows the rate of oxidation, so it helps soap to last longer.

Here’s one of my favorite soap recipes, and it uses the ever-awesome citric acid.

FIZZING PRODUCTS

Bath bombs are what first come to mind when I think of fizzy DIY projects. The bulk a a bath bomb formulation can be traced back to baking soda and citric acid. Baking soda is alkaline/basic, and citric acid is obviously acidic. When activated in water, these 2 ingredients combine and form carbonic acid. This carbonic acid is what creates the fizzing because it breaks down into carbon dioxide gas and water. The gas is responsible for sudden eruption of bubbles. Very similar to baking soda and vinegar volcanoes you may have made as a kid, but I guess more luxurious.

Many make shower steamers or shower melts using formulations that are sorta similar to bath bombs. It’s my opinion though, that citric acid is not a necessary component because fizz is not nearly as important in a shower steamer as it is in a bath bomb.

In any case, if you’re making a fizzing product, chances are citric acid plays a major role in your formulation.

CLEANING PRODUCTS

Citric acid can help to remove hard water stains from dishes. To do this yourself, you might make a simple acid and water solution (6% citric acid should do it), and soak and water stained dishes in said solution.

Toilet fizzies are another cleaning product that make use of this versatile ingredient. These are really pretty similar to bath bombs, minus the luxury oils, skin conditioners, scents, and colors. Baking soda and citric acid on their own are good cleaners around the house, and toilet fizzies just combine them and make toilet cleaning a lot more fun.

EXFOLIATION PRODUCTS

Citric acid is a type of alpha hydroxy acid, so it also serves as a skin exfoliator. If you’ve ever made your own DIY toner out of lemon juice and water, you were using the power of citric acid / alpha hydroxy acid.

You really only need a bit of lemon juice and 2-3x as much water, but if you want to get a little fancier and add the benefits of witch hazel too, check out this video:

HAIR PRODUCTS

Some hair products include the addition of citric acid at a weak dilution because a slightly acidic rinse will close the hair follicles, giving hair a smoother appearance and softer feel.