Homemade Shampoo

Your ultimate guide to homemade shampoo! Here are ten easy recipes you can use to find the perfect formula for your hair.

The benefits are that you can use all natural ingredients, avoid all of the fillers and irritants commercial makers use, scent it any way you want, and customize it to suit your hair's needs.
What more do I need to say?

I love my homemade shampoo. It smells great and leaves my hair feeling light and soft.

_{for those of you who are following my "made by me" thread, this is my first gift to give!}

Step 1 BASIC

For normal hair, or as a base to add your own scents, use

• ¹/₄ cup distilled water
• ¹/₄ cup liquid Castile Soap - I use unscented, but you can choose your favorite
• ¹/₂ teaspoon jojoba, grapeseed, or other light vegetable oil

Mix together all the ingredients. Store in a bottle. Shake before use.
This mixture isn't as thick as commercial shampoos - you'll need to just tilt the bottle over your head.
I am really impressed with how much lather I get from it though!

Comments

[rocketboyroger]

Firstly, thanks for this instructable scoochmaroo, it's been very eye-opening for me :) Secondly, I have a question about the water...do you know if it's OK to use deionised water instead of distilled? I bought a big container of deionised after a shop assistant assured me they were the same, only to get home and google it to find that actually, they are slightly different. Do you have any idea if it will do the job? Cheers R

[scoochmaroo]

De-ionized water is great. Go for it!

[rocketboyroger]

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know :D

[rocketboyroger]

...also, do you think this is suitable for using as hand wash...after all, it's got the tea tree oil's antiseptic qualities :)

[scoochmaroo]

I use this as my everything wash. Tea tree oil is great for my acne-prone skin!

[rocketboyroger]

That's brilliant! I am planning to use it the same way (I've just refilled all my hand wash dispensers and shower gel bottle with a batch) It just smells so damn nice :D Thanks again

[thekinkyrivet]

I do not know if someone else has made this comment but if you would like to thicken up the shampoo so it is not quite so runny you can add 1/4 tsp. of xanthum gum powder that you can get from a local health food store to every cup of the shampoo. It will thicken up quite nicely the direction on the package normally say 1/2 tsp per cup but that makes it really thick start out at 1/4 and go up from there if you feel the need. I've been using it for years to double bottles of commercial body soaps and it does not leave a film or residue. Hope it helps

[espohranderson]

I've tried homemade shampoos before (worked alright but smelled awful --I am excited about these ones!) and what I found effective was to store it in a spray bottle rather than a jar. I would mist it over my head and then massage it into a lather. Pouring it on always ended up with using too much!

[scoochmaroo]

That is a brilliant suggestion!

[The Rambler]

This is awesome. I really like the breakdown of types of shampoo for desired results. My wife has made deodorant using coconut oil and various other ingredients and we've talked about doing toothpaste but we haven't tried shampoo yet. I'm definitely going to have to try some of these.

[janewils]

Does anyone know the Australian equivalent of liquid castile soap please?

[enticement]

Oh, I forgot a part. In cooking, baking soda is used with something acidic like yogurt or milk, and releases carbon dioxide. Do you know what that does to the hair? I can't find anything about that on the internet.

[enticement]

I've seen people using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) as a shampoo. As a hairstylist, this worries me because we were taught that hair is made of keratin, which is made from amino acids. Hair should be around 4.5 on the acid scale. Water is 7, so when hair is wet, it is, on average 5.5 on the acid scale. Sodium bicarbonate can be anywhere from 6.3 to 8, given my research, so that would make the hair more alkaline instead of acidic. Over time, could this alkaline change damage disulfide bonds in the hair?

Also, I have seen people using sodium hydroxide in shampoos. Not only is it poisonous, but it is also the same chemical used in permanent straightening, usually on African American hair.

What do you think about this? Are these diluted enough that they wouldn't provide a problem over time or is it better to go with a store-bought shampoo which has a lower ph to prevent hair breakage?

[oldermommy]

could you add glycerine to "thicken" it up?

[scoochmaroo]

You can use glycerin. However, unless the humidity of air is over 65%, glycerin draws moisture from the lower layers of the skin and holds it on the surface, drying the skin from the inside out. Obviously, over time, this could cause some negative results. Another user has suggested xantham gum as a natural thickener.

[DeliciousMystic]

arrowroot might work as well

[moni01960]

Isnt that a sugar?

[thalden]

No, it is a lipid like wax

[dllozo]

Wondering if I'm being overly-nervous about using tea tree oil? I already use it daily in my face wash and I've added some to witch hazel as a daily toner/astringent. However I worry about using it was a body wash/shampoo since I've read that it's toxic to cats. Do you think I need to worry at such a low concentration? Thank you so much for this post - really helping me in my quest to reduce waste!

[DeliciousMystic]

most essential oils are toxic to pets.. and some to humans.. peppermint can kill you if you ingest as little as a teaspoon. It is just very concentrated. I don't think you will cause any problems in such a low concentration, but i'm not sure.. What I would be more concerned about as far as your own health is concerned, is that tea tree is a very strong anti-bacterial, and the main reason you never use tea tree for internal uses is that it will destroy your intestinal flora, and other "good bacteria". Typically, for this reason, sustained, regular use of tree is is avoided, because even our externals need symbiotic bacteria to keep us healthy, and that as I understand it, the oils and it's anti-bacterial properties can either penetrate your skin, if subjected to it enough, or otherwise upset the balance of your symbiotic micro-organisms. So, they say to limit the use of tea tree oil, so as not to cause your systems to become unbalanced.. oh!, and i think the main concern with the cats would be them drinking the water in the bottom of the tub, which would have the tea tree residue in it, or rubbing on you while you were still wet with it, and then cleaning themselves.. So, at least the cat concerns could be minimized by keeping them away from it. All of that said, I sue tea tree oil for various things when needed, and I have cats and neither of them has shown any symptoms over the last few years that I would attribute to contact with tea tree.. hope that helps

[madeleine914]

Thanks for the instructions! Quick q: can I use olive oil versus jojoba oil? How much of a difference will that make?

[DeliciousMystic]

a better substitution for the jojoba oil would be grapeseed oil. It is really light and won't clog pores or cause your skin to break-out. It is suitable for any skin or scalp type, is easy to find, and useful in many homemade conditioners and lotions..

[n5vwy]

extra light olive oil works great! Give it a try. There is no odor to deal with.

[Guzzii]

When you are using your natural shampoos, are you also using a conditioner, or is the shampoo fine on it's own? Thanks!

[DeliciousMystic]

I make a hair rinse from apple cider vinegar diluted with a tea i make with sage and rosemary, good for dark and greying hair. about 3x more tea than AVC. It works as an excellent conditioner, helps to balance the ph of the scalp, and has completely eradicated folliculitus that I had fought with for over ten years.. I don't have a link handy, but there are many webpages with variations of the rinse, with lists of which herbs work best with which hair, red, blonde, black, oily, dry, thick, thin, etc.

[rpguy]

Good day, the tea you use, is it a herbal product and if so what brand
thanks

[DeliciousMystic]

I just make it myself from herbs.. I googled herbs for hair, and there are several lists out there that say which herbs are best for which colors, conditions, hair types, etc.. then I just make a really strong tea out of whichever herbs im using, and slow cook em in water for an hour or so, until its really dark and I'm pretty sure the herbs ore completely spent..

[LindsayOctober]

I see that xanthum gum powder can be used to thicken this up a bit.... Where can I buy this? Or, is there anything else that can be used to thicken this mixture?

[SandySTC]

Just for the record, soap may not be what you want on your hair. It roughs up the cuticle, so you may need to rinse with vinegar. Most shampoos are made with detergents and in all honesty are much gentler on hair.

[n5vwy]

Firstly, LOVE the shampoo recipe. Now I'm looking for a detangler, smoother rinse that I can make. Know of one? Also, my sister was wondering if she could use liquid goat's milk soap to make this shampoo? The castile soap made her hair very stiff and she had to condition it heavily to get it soft and it seems to have lost its shine (not that it ever has much because it is heavily processed). She used cider vinegar the first time as a rinse and this last time as a rinse. We've used vinegar a lot growing up in our family to cleanse and rinse the hair.

[devans19]

Can this just be kept in the bathroom shower? Will it go bad after a certain period of time?

[n5vwy]

As long as you use distilled, purified or ionized water it shouldn't go bad. I make mine up in approx. 20 oz quantity at a time and because I don't use it but once a week it will last me almost a year. If you use tap water, though, boil it for at least 2 min. before mixing it up to kill any bacteria that may be living in it. I always have distilled water in the house so I use that.

[showes1]

Can you premix these solutions before getting in the shower? And by that I mean make a bottle of each and keep them in the shower as long as the proportions are right to use on the fly.

[n5vwy]

go ahead and premix. I make mine up in a 20 oz soda bottle! Because I only wash my hair once a week, It lasts me almost a year, BUT I use distilled water so that there are no bacteria running around in the water. Purified water or ionized water would work just as well. Tap water would not be a safe bet if you were going to keep a quantity on hand.

[SIRJAMES09]

Isn't scoochmaroo the greatest?!? ok, I'll admit I'm a wee bit biased....
but I think something that makes a Lady beautiful, is not just her looks, but brains & talent too! And she has both.... :P

I have a Q:

what about Olive Oil? from what I have read, it is supposed to be good for your body, but what about your hair?? would it soften your hair & make it silky soft??? what about Aloe Vera?

I have no idea if any of this would work, I'm just curious....

[n5vwy]

extra light olive oil works great. No odor and left my hair nice and soft.

[scoochmaroo]

Flatterer! Glad you found your answer :D

[SIRJAMES09]

WHAT???
*innocently looks around...*

I only speak the truth about you....I could never say anything bad....

You have many talents, & lots of IQ to match....most guys find that very attractive...

[mufary]

Dandruff is also often caused by a fungal infection of Malassezia furfur or the yeast Pityrosporum ovale. However, guess what's been shown to treat that fungus pretty well? Tea tree oil! A 5% solution of tea tree oil makes a great antifungal. Would your recipe tolerate tea tree oil at 5% -- would it still lather well? I'm going to try it!!

{source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12451368 and *blush* Wikipedia}

[SIRJAMES09]

AWESOME!!!

TY for posting