Functions and Applications

Wool wax is a naturally occurring substance, designed by nature to soften both skin and wool fibres, and to protect them against adverse outside weather conditions.

Medicinal, cosmetic and skin-care products

The best known uses of refined wool wax products (lanolin and lanolin derivatives) are in the field of medicine, cosmetics and toiletries, which all take advantage of these natural protective qualities.

Lanolin is a key ingredient in some of the world’s most popular cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Without it, they would not have the highly valued emollient qualities that protect and care for our skin and hair.

Industrial applications

The use of lanolin is not restricted to topical cosmetic or medicinal purposes. Over the centuries, people have discovered that wool wax can also be used for a variety of technical applications, such as lubricants or protective preparations for ferrous metals.

Indeed, the number of potential uses for lanolin has increased dramatically as a result of its use in important industrial processes.

Personal care and pharmaceuticals

Personal care and pharmaceuticals

Emulsifying properties

The beneficial effects of lanolin on the human skin and hair have been known and valued by humans for thousands of years.

The natural emollient is readily absorbed by the skin, restoring its moisture balance and softness without impairing natural skin functions. It is an ideal and widely used ingredient for toiletries, personal care products and medical applications.

The complex composition of lanolin makes the Nivea® Crème a real natural all-rounder

Owing to the polar nature of its compounds, lanolin has powerful emulsifying properties. This means that it can bind high amounts of water by forming stable emulsions. Applied onto human skin as a cream or ointment, this moisture is distributed into the intercellular space of the stratum corneum, the outermost skin layer.

To prevent the intercellular water from evaporation, lanolin lipids form a semi-occlusive film on the skin and create a protective barrier. The regained and stored moisture has a noticeable softening effect on the epidermis, as observed and confirmed by leading laboratories.

A popular natural all-rounder

The emollient care effects of lanolin and its derivatives are especially appreciated in a wide range of:

skin creams (such as Nivea® Crème, night creams, cold creams, barrier creams and vanishing creams)
ointments
sunscreen lotions.

The complex composition of lanolin makes the substance a real natural all-rounder.

In soaps it acts as a superfatting agent, minimising dehydration of the skin.
Lanolin oil is used as a gloss-enhancing agent in lip glosses.
In lipstick it can function as a crystal inhibitor.
In shampoos and shower gels, as a conditioner.
In hair waxes, as a naturally protective firming component.

Pharmaceutical applications

As well as being well tolerated by the body – it is approved for uses in ophthalmic emollients and as a food additive in chewing-gum bases – lanolin is also of medical interest.

It can act as a carrier for pharmaceutically-active ingredients that have to be transported into deeper layers of the skin. In burn dressings, lanolin supports the wound healing process and enhances dermal repair.

The use of lanolin acids in topical products against cutaneous infections (e.g. acne) and deodorising toiletries underlines the versatility of lanolin and its derivatives. Besides emollient and moisturising characteristics, lanolin's protective function is rounded up by antimicrobial and disinfectant activity on human skin.

Technical and industrial

Technical and industrial

Protective function for ferrous metals

Lanolin is an important component of a broad range of industrial applications. Most notably, it is a powerful rust preventative with excellent protective properties for ferrous metals, a quality people have valued for centuries. In the Middle Ages, knights' armour and tools were coated with a thin waxy film of lanolin, which conserved them through to modern times.

Its lubricating qualities, combined with a high tackiness to metals, make technical-grade lanolin a cost-efficient, anti-friction agent

Scientists at leading laboratories have analysed and confirmed this protective function. Their conclusion is that, as a result of the polar properties of its components, lanolin has a tenacious adhesive tendency to metal surfaces, which is much higher than for hydrocarbons.

It is biodegradable and non-toxic, making it an ecologically friendly substance. Lanolin is also highly compatible with numerous additives that can change the consistency and characteristics of the resulting protective films (e.g. hard, soft, water soluble or insoluble).

Strongly corroded seawater tanks and ships can be rust protected with low-viscous lanolin products (e.g. lanolin oil). Lanolin containing anti-corrosive preparations are especially attractive for rust treatment and prevention on hardly accessible automobile parts, particularly on old cars.

As a result of high capillary activity, the low-viscous substances are able to penetrate into splices and even micro-fissures that are vulnerable to corrosion due to electrochemical processes.

Unique lubricating qualities

The superb lubricating qualities in combination with a high tackiness to metals make crude wool grease and technical-grade lanolin cost-efficient anti-friction agents. In technical processes requiring high biocompatibility, lanolin's eco-friendly nature is an advantage.

Nature designed lanolin to soften and protect the skin, so it should come as no surprise that it's a widely used emollient in the leather industry.

The aggressive tanning process, required to preserve processed animal skin, leaches out most of the dermal lipids leather needs to stay soft and supple. Lanolin restores the moisture and natural fat balance after tanning.