Sodium thioglycolate

Sodium thioglycolate (CAS 367-51-1), commonly abbreviated as NATG, is the sodium salt form of thioglycolic acid used across personal care, textile, and industrial processing markets. It functions primarily as a reducing agent and depilatory active, breaking disulfide bonds in keratin-containing substrates to enable chemical modification of hair and wool fibers.

In personal care manufacturing, NATG is the active ingredient in chemical depilatory creams and cold wave permanent solutions, where it disrupts the protein structure of hair. Leather processors use it during the unhairing stage to remove hair from hides without mechanical damage, improving throughput and hide quality for various industrial applications.

Textile producers apply it in wool treatment processes to reduce fiber stiffness and improve dye uptake. In analytical and industrial chemistry, it acts as a stabilizing agent. It also serves as a metal chelator in formulations requiring control of oxidative degradation. Sodium thioglycolate is supplied as an aqueous solution with concentrations from 40% to 58%.

Technical and cosmetic grades are the most commercially available, with cosmetic-grade material subject to purity thresholds aligned with regional regulatory requirements. Bulk liquid supply in drums or IBCs is standard for industrial buyers. This ensures efficient handling and storage for large-scale manufacturing and chemical processing facilities.