SOLVENT
Methyl Gluceth-20
- solvent
A sugar-derived humectant that holds water with a lighter, satin feel rather than glycerin's tack. It also helps other ingredients stay dissolved.
- products in our library
- 44
- of researched products
- 0.6%
- on the label, in our leave-ins
- usually #10
- most common in
- Leave-in
- in water
- Water-soluble
At a glance
Four things worth knowing about how this ingredient behaves on hair.
How much of it is left on hair between washes.
What it takes to get it off the hair again.
How fast it leaves after the product is applied.
What is still on the hair once it has evaporated.
| Property | Level | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Buildup risk | Low | 1 of 5 |
| Rinse-out behaviour | Rinses clean | 5 of 5 |
| Drying speed | Steady | 2 of 5 |
| Residue | Minimal | 2 of 5 |
What it does for a formula
What Methyl Gluceth-20 does
The general function first, then how the role changes by product type where we have researched it.
What everything else is dissolved in before it reaches your hair.
Smooths the feel of the strand without adding hold or cleaning.
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.
Charge
Carries no charge, so it neither clings to hair nor is pushed away by it. Nonionic ingredients are the mild, pH-tolerant workhorses of a formula.
Solubility
Rinses out with water alone, so it does not build up 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 ? |
|---|---|---|
Leave-in
10 products
|
secondary · #10 | |
Shampoo
6 products
|
secondary · #15 | |
Styler: mousse
5 products
|
supporting · #6 | |
Mask / treatment
4 products
|
secondary · #9 | |
Styler: curl cream
4 products
|
secondary · #15 | |
Scalp treatment
3 products
|
supporting · #5 | |
Styler: gel
3 products
|
supporting · #8 | |
Styler: paste
3 products
|
secondary · #10 | |
Styler: texture spray
3 products
|
secondary · #12 | |
Conditioner
2 products
|
supporting · #9 |
1 more product type
| Product type | How common | Typical position on label ? |
|---|---|---|
Finisher: oil
1 product
|
supporting · #6 |
| Product type | Products | Share of category | Median position | Earliest position | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave-in | 10 | 1% | 10 | 3 | secondary |
| Shampoo | 6 | 0% | 15 | 8 | secondary |
| Styler: mousse | 5 | 2% | 6 | 4 | supporting |
| Mask / treatment | 4 | 1% | 9 | 8 | secondary |
| Styler: curl cream | 4 | 2% | 15 | 5 | secondary |
| Scalp treatment | 3 | 1% | 5 | 2 | supporting |
| Styler: gel | 3 | 1% | 8 | 3 | supporting |
| Styler: paste | 3 | 2% | 10 | 9 | secondary |
| Styler: texture spray | 3 | 3% | 12 | 2 | secondary |
| Conditioner | 2 | 0% | 9 | 8 | supporting |
| Finisher: oil | 1 | 0% | 6 | 6 | supporting |
We have not researched differences by product type yet. The reading below comes 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 | 4 |
| 4-8 | Supporting | 15 |
| 9-15 | Secondary | 19 |
| 16-25 | Lower | 5 |
| 26+ | Trace | 1 |
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
Formulation guidance for specific hair conditions, limited to the label positions where it applies. It is not a conclusion about any finished product, or about you.
Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.
A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.
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 seeing this ingredient tells you, what it does not, and the limits of our own method.
- a light, fast-drying formula
- a softer feel
- hydration rather than oil
- a rinse-clean feel
- an exact safety score (we do not publish one for any ingredient)
- how a finished product performs, which depends on the whole formula, not one line of it
- the exact percentage in a bottle, because label position never converts into a number
- a secondary solvent, listed below the main ingredients in our leave-ins
- it was on the printed ingredient list of every product we counted (we read labels, not marketing copy)
- 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
The ingredients that most often appear alongside this one in our library. We leave out the near-universal ones, because they pair with everything and tell you nothing.
- Ethylhexylglycerin · 21
- PVP · 18
- Hydroxyethylcellulose · 18
- Caprylyl Glycol · 16
- Hexyl Cinnamal · 16
- Disodium EDTA · 15
- Cetyl Alcohol · 15
- Citronellol · 15
- Tocopheryl Acetate · 14
- Amodimethicone · 14
The number beside a name is how many products in our library list both.
These ingredients tend to appear together to soften the strand, give the formula body and hold, and hold on to water.
Found in these products
The most prominent placements first. The badge is the position on that product’s own ingredient list.
Act+Acre · Scalp treatment
Salicylic Acid Scalp Exfoliator
#2 on the label · $24.00/oz
Sebastian · Styler
Texture Maker Spray
#2 on the label · $3.55/oz
DONNA'S RECIPE · Styler
Whipped Vanilla Cream Curl Enhancing Gel
#3 on the label · $1.60/oz
The Doux · Leave-in
WE WANT EASY Texture Tamer™
#3 on the label · $2.00/oz
DONNA'S RECIPE · Styler
Whipped Vanilla Cream Curl Defining Mousse
#4 on the label · $1.88/oz
Mielle · Styler
Avocado & Tamanu Anti-Frizz Mousse
#4 on the label · $1.73/oz
Paul Mitchell · Scalp treatment
Scalp Care Regeniplex Tonic
#5 on the label · $17.65/oz
UNITE Hair · Styler
BOING Moisture Curl Cream
#5 on the label · $4.03/oz
Camille Rose · Styler
Spiked Honey Mousse 4-in-1 Styler
#6 on the label · $1.57/oz
Davines · Finisher
This is an Oil Non Oil
#6 on the label · $4.02/oz
Mielle · Styler
Pomegranate & Honey Curl Defining Mousse with Hold
#6 on the label · $1.47/oz
Mixed Chicks · Leave-in
Kids Leave-In Conditioner
#7 on the label · $1.63/oz
See all 44 products in the library that list Methyl Gluceth-20
Identity
What this entry is, and what our references call it.
No public-domain structure depiction is available for this entry.
Methyl Gluceth-20
- humectant
- emollient
- methyl glucate-20
- methyl gluceth-20
- methyl glueth - 20
For your hair?
Whether Methyl Gluceth-20 matters for your hair depends on your hair.
44 products in our library list itWhat 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 comes from the ingredient lists in our library and from published references. The consultation is what turns it into a plan.
References
Seed entry, sourcing in progress Written from our reference work; primary sourcing is still being attached.
No published source is attached to this entry yet.
How this page was made
- Every number above is counted from the ingredient lists in our own product library: 44 of 6816 researched products list this ingredient. Nothing on this page is written per ingredient.
- The dots are levels, not scores. Each one comes from what kind of ingredient it is (its chemical class, charge and solubility) or from where it sits on the labels we have.
- 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. Without one, we leave the row out rather than fill it in.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- Entry last updated 2026-09-22. Product-page methodology: the product library.
