What PEG-free actually bans
Polysorbates are ethoxylated sorbitan esters. PEG esters combine polyethylene glycol with a fatty acid. Castor and hydrogenated castor oil ethoxylates, fatty alcohol ethoxylates and PEG itself all contain polyoxyethylene. If the brand or the ecolabel needs a PEG-free claim, those families are the wrong starting point even when their HLB looks right. Write PEG-free on the first enquiry so the laboratory does not sample a polysorbate 80 type by habit.
Dyna Glycols still manufactures those ethoxylated grades for briefs that allow them. The plant will not silently substitute a polyglycerol ester into a polysorbate order, or the reverse, unless you ask.
Polyglycerol and polyglycerol esters
Polyglycerol is polymerised glycerol: a polyol with no ethylene oxide in the backbone, described by average degree (for example polyglycerol-3, -4, -6, -10). It is a humectant and the intermediate for polyglycerol esters. Specify hydroxyl value, viscosity, water content and average degree. Tight water specs matter if you will esterify in your own plant.
Polyglycerates — polyglycerol fatty-acid esters, including polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) types and polyglycerol stearate — walk HLB from water-in-oil to oil-in-water by changing polyglycerol degree and the acid cut. They are used in PEG-free creams and in selected food-adjacent viscosity and emulsification work. They are not drop-in replacements for polysorbate 80. Plan a full emulsion trial, including freeze–thaw and the actual oil phase.
Glyceryl and sorbitan esters without ethoxylation
Glyceryl Esters such as glyceryl stearate, oleate and cocoate contain no polyoxyethylene. They structure creams as co-emulsifiers. Self-emulsifying grades that include an ethoxylate partner are not PEG-free — say whether that partner may be a soap instead of an ethoxylate. Distilled high-mono glyceryl stearate is not interchangeable with a mixed mono/di of the same melting point.
Sorbitan Esters are lipophilic W/O emulsifiers with no ethylene oxide until they are converted to polysorbates. For a PEG-free O/W cream, pair a glyceryl or polyglyceryl hydrophilic ester with the sorbitan ester of the same fatty acid rather than adding polysorbate 60 or 80. Alkyl benzoates and other fatty acid esters remain useful as emollients in PEG-free systems; they are not primary emulsifiers.
How to specify a PEG-free brief
State PEG-free on the enquiry, list the oil phase, required HLB or current polysorbate/PEG-ester grade you are leaving, processing temperature and whether the claim must also exclude polyglycerol (rare) or only polyoxyethylene. Dyna Glycols will sample polyglycerol esters and glyceryl esters against that cream or food-adjacent system, not a polysorbate of similar HLB.
Specification checklist
Put the application, the substrate, temperature, pH and any APEO or formaldehyde limit on the first enquiry. INCI or chemical names, cloud point, hydroxyl value, saponification value and colour are the numbers Dyna Glycols can lock on a TDS for this PEG-free topic. A warehouse nickname is not a specification.
Samples and documents
Request a laboratory sample of the related PEG-free grade together with the current SDS and TDS. The certificate of analysis is issued for the shipping lot after manufacture at Kandla SEZ. Once the trial is approved, freeze the identity tests so later drums of this chemistry match the article you evaluated.