# Why aren't all soaps and shampoos 'tear free'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771 "2008-01-16T19:47:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/1 "2008-01-16T19:47:16Z")
I was bathing my kids the other day when this question occurred to me. Why do we adults have to put up with stinging and burning from our soaps and shampoos? I can only assume the tear-free kind are less effective. It doesn’t seem likely to be an issue of cost, since the mark-up on beauty products is already quite high. What’s the straight dope here? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/2 "2008-01-16T20:14:24Z")
I tried using some tear-free baby shampoo. It didn’t clean my hair well, so I believe your assumption is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/3 "2008-01-16T20:19:56Z")
Also, it probably costs more to produce, adults are better than kids at not getting it in their eyes, and when they do, don’t cry uncontrollably for 15 minutes, they just rinse it out. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/4 "2008-01-16T20:25:09Z")
Johnson’s No More Tears shampoo used once on my hair makes it feel great, although it also makes it even straighter than it normally is (which is pretty straight). But if I continue to use it over several shampoos, my hair starts to feel stiff and sticky, so I assume there’s some sort of residue it’s leaving behind that regular shampoo doesn’t. I can only guess that my daughter’s hair doesn’t feel like that because she gets her hair shampooed only once a week or so. My hairdresser _freaked out_ when I told her I sometimes use baby shampoo. She claims it’s way harsh on your hair. I’ve found two online message boards where people are claiming that there is nothing gentle about tear-free shampoos, that they are just as irritating as regular shampoo, but that there is an anesthetic added to tear-free, so that your eyes don’t feel the stinging. No cites, though. I emailed my dad, who’s retired from Johnson and Johnson’s research center. I’ll let you know if he has any answers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/5 "2008-01-16T20:42:35Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] I’ve found two online message boards where people are claiming that there is nothing gentle about tear-free shampoos, that they are just as irritating as regular shampoo, but that there is an anesthetic added to tear-free, so that your eyes don’t feel the stinging. No cites, though. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure that’s untrue, since the main ingredient is cocamidopropyl betaine, which “does not irritate the skin or mucus membranes”. > **[Ingredients -- Cocamidopropyl Betaine](https://sci-toys.com/ingredients/cocamidopropyl_betaine.html)** Also Sodium Trideceth Sulfate and PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate, which are the other detergents listed are generally non-irritating. I think that basically in order to make it tear-free, they have to use unusual surfactants like these, instead of the usual and both more effective and irritating sodium lauryl sulfate/ammonium lauryl sulfate/sodium laureth sulfate/ammonium laureth sulfate type detergents. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/6 "2008-01-16T21:12:33Z")
[QUOTE=bump] I’m pretty sure that’s untrue… [/QUOTE] Yeah, I should have been more clear, I don’t think it’s true, either. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/7 "2008-01-17T01:44:38Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] My hairdresser _freaked out_ when I told her I sometimes use baby shampoo. She claims it’s way harsh on your hair. [/QUOTE] I find it hard to believe that there are chemicals that don’t even hurt when you get them in your _eyes_ that somehow are harsh enough to do serious damage to hair. Eyes are way more delicate than hair. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-all-soaps-and-shampoos-tear-free/433771/8 "2008-01-17T02:25:04Z")
[QUOTE=bump] sodium lauryl sulfate/ammonium lauryl sulfate/sodium laureth sulfate/ammonium laureth sulfate type detergents. [/QUOTE] (sod|ammon)ium laur(yl|eth) sulfate 🙂