HUMECTANT
Gluconolactone
- humectant
A gentle acid that holds water and helps loosen surface build-up. It also binds a little hard-water mineral.
- products in our library
- 96
- of researched products
- 2%
- on the label, in our shampoos
- usually #30
- most common in
- Shampoo
- in water
- Water-soluble
At a glance
Four named levels, read from this ingredient’s chemical class, its charge, its solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have. More dots means more of the property named — never “better”.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
How strongly the class holds on to water.
The strongest binders are the ones the weather moves most.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 1 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses clean | 5 of 5 |
| Water-binding | Strongest | 5 of 5 |
| Humidity sensitivity | Swings with the air | 5 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Gluconolactone does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
Binds water and holds it against the hair rather than adding oil.
What a humectant does depends on the air around it as much as on the formula.
Works on the surface; how much depends on the whole formula.
Stops calcium and iron in tap water dulling a wash.
Charge
Charge is not recorded for this ingredient.
Solubility
Rinses out with water alone — it does not accumulate on hair between washes.
Where it appears
Where it appears
One row per product category in our library: how many products list it, what share of that category that is, and where it typically sits on the label.
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Shampoo
27 products
|
secondary · #30 | |
Conditioner
18 products
|
secondary · #56 | |
Leave-in
9 products
|
secondary · #15 | |
Co-wash
8 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Mask / treatment
6 products
|
secondary · #35 | |
Heat protectant
5 products
|
secondary · #32 | |
Styler: mousse
5 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Styler: gel
4 products
|
secondary · #13 | |
Scalp treatment
3 products
|
secondary · #11 | |
Styler: curl cream
3 products
|
secondary · #28 |
6 more product types
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Styler: volumizer
3 products
|
secondary · #26 | |
Finisher: end oil
1 product
|
supporting · #8 | |
Finisher: serum
1 product
|
secondary · #15 | |
Styler: paste
1 product
|
supporting · #6 | |
Styler: refresh spray
1 product
|
secondary · #23 | |
Styler: texture spray
1 product
|
supporting · #4 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | 27 | 3% | 30 | 8 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 18 | 3% | 56 | 7 | secondary |
| Leave-in | 9 | 2% | 15 | 8 | secondary |
| Co-wash | 8 | 8% | 8 | 7 | supporting |
| Mask / treatment | 6 | 2% | 35 | 20 | secondary |
| Heat protectant | 5 | 3% | 32 | 4 | secondary |
| Styler: mousse | 5 | 4% | 12 | 7 | secondary |
| Styler: gel | 4 | 3% | 13 | 6 | secondary |
| Scalp treatment | 3 | 2% | 11 | 3 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 3 | 3% | 28 | 23 | secondary |
| Styler: volumizer | 3 | 5% | 26 | 4 | secondary |
| Finisher: end oil | 1 | 11% | 8 | 8 | supporting |
| Finisher: serum | 1 | 1% | 15 | 15 | secondary |
| Styler: paste | 1 | 1% | 6 | 6 | supporting |
| Styler: refresh spray | 1 | 8% | 23 | 23 | secondary |
| Styler: texture spray | 1 | 2% | 4 | 4 | supporting |
No product-type differences have been researched yet — the reading below is computed from where it sits on the labels in our library.
Position footprint
Every listing in our library, by position on the label.
| Positions | Zone | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Leading | 1 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 18 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 16 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 27 |
| 26+ | Trace | 55 |
How to read this
US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order.
So position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
Who should pay attention
Conditional formulation guidance, scoped to a hair condition and to the positions where it is meaningful. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, and not a conclusion about you.
Binds the calcium and magnesium in hard water, which is what stops mineral deposits accumulating on the strand wash after wash.
High-porosity hair loses water fast; a humectant holds some of it in place for longer than the wash itself would.
Copper and iron carried in tap water deposit on the strand and read as a dull, warm cast on gray or light hair. A chelator holds those metals in solution so the wash carries them off.
Binds water into the outer layers of the strand, and water is what makes dry hair flexible again rather than brittle.
A humectant moves water in whichever direction the air allows: it holds moisture in humid conditions and can pull it back out of hair in very dry ones.
Read from this ingredient’s chemical class. Where we have researched the ingredient itself, that reading replaces the class one.
Why it matters to shoppers
What this ingredient is evidence of, what it is not evidence of, and what our own method can and cannot tell you.
- a formula built for hard water
- hydration that does not add oil
- hydration rather than oil
- a scalp product that works on the surface
- an exact safety score — we do not publish one, for any ingredient
- how a finished product performs by itself — that is the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle — label position never converts into a number
- a secondary humectant, listed below the main ingredients in our shampoos
- it was on the label of every product we counted — we read printed ingredient lists, not marketing copy
- frizz in every climate — what it does depends on the air
- that a product is right or wrong for you
We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
Commonly paired with
Ingredients that appear alongside this one most often in our library. Near-universal ingredients are excluded — they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Calcium Gluconate · 64
- Propanediol · 49
- Benzyl Alcohol · 49
- Tocopherol · 39
- Caprylyl Glycol · 36
- Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride · 34
- Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract · 31
- Behentrimonium Chloride · 30
- Cetrimonium Chloride · 28
- Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine · 26
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to keep the formula stable, carry the formula and let it dry, and deliver a stated effect.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Bread Beauty Supply · Scalp treatment
Scalp-Serum: Cooling Greens Exfoliating Scalp Treatment
#3 on the label · $4.38/oz
Sexy Hair · Styler
Big Sexy Hair Powder Play Lite Soft Volumizing & Texturizing Powder
#4 on the label · $54.88/oz
SexyHair · Styler
Big Sexy Powder Play Volumizing & Texturizing Powder
#4 on the label · $40.52/oz
SheaMoisture · Heat protectant
Silk Press In a Bottle Prep Cream
#4 on the label · $3.94/oz
Innersense · Styler
I Create Hold
#6 on the label · $2.80/oz
Paul Mitchell · Styler
MITCH High Hold Pomade
#6 on the label · $8.00/oz
AG Care · Styler
Cloud Air Light Volumizing Mousse
#7 on the label · $8.33/oz
Hairstory · Co-wash
New Wash Deep Clean
#7 on the label · $6.50/oz
Innersense Organic Beauty · Styler
I Create Lift Volumizing Foam - Orange Blossom
#7 on the label · $4.67/oz
Innersense Organic Beauty · Conditioner
Pure Inspiration Daily Conditioner
#7 on the label · $3.00/oz
Hairstory · Co-wash
New Wash Original
#8 on the label · $7.31/oz
Hairstory · Co-wash
New Wash Original Fragrance-Free
#8 on the label · $6.00/oz
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
Gluconolactone
- CAS 90-80-2
- PubChem 7027
- exfoliant
- hard-water chelator
- gluconolactone
- gluconolactone (food-grade preservative)
For your hair?
Whether Gluconolactone matters for your hair depends on your hair.
the 9th most-listed humectant in our libraryWhat this ingredient does, and where it sits on the labels we have researched.
A verdict on any product that contains it, and never a safety grade.
We do not physically test your hair. Everything above is read from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references — the consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Sourced Backed by a manufacturer or regulatory source.
This ingredient
- Manufacturer or regulatory PubChem — Compound identity: CID 7027, CAS 90-80-2, C6H10O6 · accessed 2026-08-28
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library — 96 of 3889 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are named levels read from an ingredient’s chemical class, charge, solubility, or where it sits on the labels we have — never a score.
- US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Position tells you about relative amount only above that line, and we never convert a position into a percentage.
- The prominence bands (leading, supporting, secondary) are the same ones the product pages use to read a single label, applied here to the median position across a category.
- We do not publish safety scores or hazard grades. Where a regulator has published a restriction or a use condition, we state it and cite it; otherwise we describe what the ingredient does and stop.
- Identifiers and references appear only when a published source is attached to this entry; where none is, the row is simply absent rather than filled in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-08-28. Product-page methodology: the product library.