A contract manufacturer and a market leader in the production of mascara located in Italy was having difficulty in removing waterproof mascara and pigmented makeup from its mixing equipment. The company, specializing in the manufacture of colour cosmetics, required an alternative solution to its current use of solvents, that were becoming more and more expensive due to increasing costs of raw materials.

On top of the high costs, they were experiencing safety concerns related to flammability risks, as well as operators using large amounts of solvents manually with limited protection from the company’s current PPE protocols. Additionally, production volumes increased suddenly as the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions began to wane. The client experienced an urgent need to reduce downtime while increasing production capacity, an effort stymied by their current protocols. A more effective solution was needed.

After an initial contact with Ecolab, a site survey was performed to determine worst case cleaning scenarios, review existing cleaning procedures, assess machines used in the process, and the wastewater system. From this review, Ecolab discovered that the previous cleaning solution comprised mainly solvents (isododecane) and in-house raw materials (myristate). Five samples of the most difficult to clean products were then tested and recommendations introduced for best cleaning procedures.

After an on-site visit by Ecolab to assist adapting and scaling up the recommended cleaning procedures, the client implemented Ecolab’s Maxi, an alkaline detergent designed for soaking and foaming applications in personal care and cosmetics processing. Maxi is ideal for the water-based removal of fatty, waterproof pigmented soils in mixers not designed for CIP cleaning.

All efforts were reviewed with the QA manager to evaluate necessary supporting documentation and establish a strategy of cleaning validation to evaluate final residues of detergents.

Ecolab’s solution created an optimal cleaning performance, enhanced operator safety, decreased downtime, allowed for an increase of production time, and reduced the impact on additional downstream processes (waste disposal).

The client estimates these changes have led to impressive savings (detailed right). The customer is now partnering with Ecolab’s technical team to introduce a new CIP system to further optimise water and energy consumption.