What ingredient dissolves keratin?

Author: Dr. Nathaniel Haag  |  Last update: Monday, June 2, 2025

Enzymes are the ingredients that can dissolve keratin proteins on the skin's surface, resulting in softer and smoother skin.

What can dissolve keratin?

Keratin is dissolved in alkalies at high temperatures, such as sodium hydroxide (lye) or potassium hydroxide (potash). The alkali breaks the keratin protein down into small peptide chains and individual amino acids.

What ingredients remove keratin?

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) is a mild detergent that is used in many shampoo products in order to lather the hair. This ingredient is responsible for stripping out colour from hair and washes out keratin from treated hair.

What dissolves keratin protein?

Final answer: The dissolution of keratin protein in the surface cells of the skin is primarily facilitated by enzymes. These biological catalysts, such as keratinase, effectively break down keratin, aiding in skin treatment and exfoliation.

What provides gentle exfoliation and dissolve keratin?

Enzymatic exfoliation involves using natural fruit-derived enzymes, such as those from papaya or pineapple, to gently break down the keratin (protein) in dead skin cells. This method of exfoliation is surface-level and doesn't penetrate as deeply as acids, making it ideal for sensitive skin.

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What ingredients dissolve keratin?

Ingredients that are designed to dissolve keratin proteins on the surface of the skin are called keratolytic agents. Examples of keratolytic agents include salicylic acid, urea, and alpha-hydroxy acids (such as glycolic acid).

How do you dissolve keratin under the skin?

How can I treat keratin plugs?
  1. Gently exfoliate your skin. Scrub your skin gently using a washcloth, sponge or soft facial brush. ...
  2. Keep your skin hydrated. Moisturize regularly with a lotion or cream that's noncomedogenic, which means it won't clog your pores. ...
  3. Take care of your skin.

What chemicals break down keratin?

The reducing agents such as sulfites, bisulfites, 2-mercaptoethanol, thioglycolic acid, and dithiothreitol are widely used for keratin extraction.

What can destroy keratin?

“Overtime, factors like environmental triggers, UV chemicals and heat can break down keratin. Those factors basically cause the protein to change its natural shape.”

How do you make keratin soluble?

Soluble keratin can be received by alkaline, acid, or enzymatic hydrolysis, reduction or oxidation of the disulphide bonds, thermal treatment in some organic solvents and various hydrothermal methods [6–8].

Does hydrogen peroxide dissolve keratin?

Solubilization of keratinaceous material is poor in hydrogen peroxide solutions where the pH is less than 9; however, when a solution of 1% H2O 2 is brought to pH 10 by adding roughly 1* by weight of NaOH it can release over 80% of the weight of crude keratin chicken feathers as soluble protein (Example 3) .

What softens keratin?

The softening of the keratin by the salt of fluroic acid is theorized to work in one of two ways: 1) The metallic salt of fluoric acid causes the protein of the keratin to loose its adherence to the sulfur.

What acid dissolves keratin?

Topical agents used in the treatment of hyperkeratosis may include: Salicylic acid to break up the keratin, causing the thick skin to soften and be shed, thus reducing the thickness of the skin. Urea-based agents to increase the content of water in the skin and soften the area.

What products break down keratin?

Salicylic acid acts as another essential natural exfoliant that effectively penetrates the hair follicle, breaking down the build-up of keratin.

What enzyme dissolves keratin?

Keratinases are proteolytic enzymes capable of catalysing the hydrolysis of highly stable keratin proteins that compose hair and feathers, and other keratinous materials. Common proteases like pepsin and papain are not capable of degrading keratin.

What removes keratin?

  • You can wash off keratin from the hair in such ways as frequent hair washing with shampoos containing sulfates. ...
  • There are also special removers (or color removers) for hair, for example, acid removers. ...
  • Another tip on how to wash off the keratin composition from the hair is the lightening or bleaching.

What degrades keratin?

Bacteria are major players in keratin degradation and have been the most intensively studied to date. Among them, Bacillus species, such as Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, are capable of producing keratinase [15,16,17].

Does salicylic acid break down keratin?

Keratolytic: Salicylic acid is also keratolytic, which means it can break down and dissolve keratin, a protein that can build up and clog the hair follicles in conditions like keratosis pilaris.

What ruins keratin?

Chlorine and Salt Water: Avoid swimming in chlorinated pools or salt water for at least two weeks after your treatment. Both chlorine and salt can strip keratin from your hair, drastically reducing the lifespan of the treatment.

What is the solvent for keratin?

Choline-ethanolamine chloride was used to effectively dissolve keratin extracted from human hair under mild conditions (80 °C, 4 h), with a solubility of 84 % and a mass percentage of 20 % [25].

What ingredients are designed to dissolve keratin?

Enzymes are the ingredients that can dissolve keratin proteins on the skin's surface, resulting in softer and smoother skin.

Does bleach break down keratin?

Bleaching causes 15% to 20% of the hair's protein bands to break. Keratins are the key proteins that make up your hair. So, when keratins break, the hair strands lose their structural integrity and become brittle.

What can break down keratin on skin?

Try medicated creams.

Apply a nonprescription cream that contains urea, lactic acid, alpha hydroxy acid or salicylic acid. These creams help loosen and remove dead skin cells. They also moisturize and soften dry skin.

How do you break keratin bonds?

PINCH CLOSE AND OPEN THE KERATIN BOND WITH HAIR PLIERS. CONTINUE THIS TECHNIQUE TO LOOSEN THE BOND. IF YOU NEED THE EXTRA HELP TO LOOSEN THE KERATIN. YOU CAN TWIST AND PINCH THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE BOND.

What dissolves keratin plugs?

Use gentle exfoliants to remove dead skin cells trapped along with keratin. You can try gentle acids like topicals or peels that have lactic, salicylic or glycolic acid. If exfoliation doesn't work, a dermatologist may suggest stronger prescription creams to help dissolve them.

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