Looked up sodium polyacrylate on wikipedia today, wondering what it’s purpose is in athlete’s foot spray. According to the article, it’s an absorbent polymer often used in diapers, as a thickening agent, and in personal lubricant. Now, the diaper and thickening agent parts make sense (I’m thinking it acts kind of like a sort of fast-setting gelatin).
However, the lube part makes no sense at all. I think the last thing you’d want to add is something that absorbs and locks away moisture (a natural lubricant).
It’s a thickener, as you said. I’d guess it’s used in water based lubricants to make them thicker. It’s not that they’re using so much that they’re turning the lube to jello, but just enough so you’re not dealing with a tube of watery mess running all over the place.
Water-based lubricants are available in a lot of different viscosities and textures, from nearly-as-thin-as-water to thick gel. That particular ingredient doesn’t sound familiar, though. A quick look at several brands of high end lube (and a couple low end ones) didn’t turn it up, so I’m guessing it’s no longer all that common or may have a different name its listed under as an ingredient.
There’s a limit to how much water these polymers can absorb. Straight out of the bottle, it’s already saturated, so it’s not going to absorb any addition water from your body.
It would be a different matter if you took the polymer in powdered form and poured a bunch of it into the orifice of your choice.
