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Make Your Own Shampoo
Make your own shampoo.
Yes, it truly is worth the time and effort to make shampoo for the health benefits as well as the savings in cost.
Here's why.
Commercial Shampoos Are Toxic
Although you might not be aware of it, many commercially prepared shampoos and conditioners contain toxic ingredients that could potentially harm your health.
Remember that your skin is an organ, and your scalp eats whatever you put on it.
So what are some of the harmful ingredients found in many shampoos?
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - It's a degreasing agent and produces lots of foam and lather.
But it also acts as a penetration enhancer that allows other toxic ingredients from your shampoo to slip
into your bloodstream.
In addition, this ingredient is toxic to your organs and can cause cancer.
- Dioxane – This chemical has been linked to breast cancer in rodents.
- Diethanolamoine or DEA - If you're pregnant you should especially avoid using any product that contains this ingredient.
Research shows that DEA blocks your ability to absorb choline, which is vital to brain development.
Pregnant women need extra choline for their unborn children.
- MSG - Yep, they've got it in shampoo as well, and it can cause a wide range of problems including numbness and headaches.
- Propylene Glycol - This chemical is used in antifreeze, tire sealants, paints and adhesives, among other things, but it can also be found in many shampoos.
It causes skin irritations, liver abnormalities and kidney damage.
So how can you be sure your shampoo doesn't have these scary ingredients?
Make Your Own Shampoo
Learn to make your own shampoo to ensure that only safe and natural ingredients go on your scalp.
I found this vegetable shampoo bar recipe in The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps by Susan Miller Cavitch,
and while it's definitely not a recipe for beginners, it's also not nearly as difficult to make as it may sound.
The Ingredients You Need
To Make Your Own Shampoo
These are the ingredients you will need:
- 3 pounds cold, distilled water
- 510 grams sodium hydroxide
- 3 pounds, 1 ounce olive oil
- 2 pounds, 4 ounces castor oil
- 8 ounces jojoba oil
- 2 pounds, 4 ounces coconut oil
Getting Started to
Make Your Own Shampoo
First you need to prepare a mold. Line a heavy cardboard box with heavy-duty, waxed freezer paper.
Then you'll need to weigh out your sodium hydroxide.
Be sure to wear goggles and gloves while measuring and mixing your lye.
Add the distilled water to a 2-quart glass container and then carefully add the sodium hydroxide while stirring constantly with a rubber spatula.
This will cause fumes. Hold your breath while stirring and then leave the room for fresh air.
After a couple of minutes, come back to finish stirring your lye solution.
The lye solution will quickly heat up to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Set the container aside to allow it to cool down to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heating Your Oils to
Make Your Own Shampoo
Place your oils in a 3-quart saucepan and slowly head them over low heat until the coconut oil is melted.
The trick to successfully making soap is to make sure the temperature of both the lye solution and the oils are both at 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
If your lye solution is too cool, set your glass container is a sink full of hot water.
If your oils are too cool, place the saucepan on the stove over low heat, and remove your pan when the temperature reaches 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once they are both at the right temperature (80 degrees Fahrenheit), slowly drizzle the lye into the oils (be sure to wear your goggles when you do this).
Stir briskly as you pour in the lye.
When you stir, you want to circle the pan and then cut through the middle.
You want to stir briskly, but don't beat or whip the mixture.
Also don't scrape any residue off the sides of the pan.
After anywhere from ten to forty minutes, your soap mixture should start to "trace".
What that means is, when you drizzle a small amount on the surface of the mixture, it leaves a trace of a pattern before sinking into the mixture.
Immediately drizzle in any essential oils you wish to add and stir well.
Then pour the mixture into your molds.
If you see any watery or oily puddles, it means the mixture hasn't been mixed enough.
Stop pouring and stir some more.
Allow Your Soap to Cure
Pour your mixture into the mold and cover it with a piece of heavy cardboard and then cover that with a wool blanket.
Allow it to set for 24 hours. After this time, the soap should be hard.
Cut it into bars, and then peel off the paper bottom from the bars and also slice off any soda ash on top of the bars.
Store your bars in a brown paper bag (avoid bags with ink), and allow your bars to cure for six weeks.
Half way through the curing process, turn over your bars to expose the other side.
More Great Make it Yourself Recipes
Learn to make heavenly scented perfumes for fun and profit with this resource.
Make your own fragrant bath salts at a fraction of the cost. Read more.
This recipe for lotion leaves your skin soft without feeling greasy. Find out about it here.
Ready to learn how to make your own soap? Try this great recipe! Read more.
Make your own bath powders and massage oils for luxurious gifts. Learn more Learn more.
Why you should be making your own cleaning products at home. Learn more.
Learn to make your own safe, environmentally friendly household cleaning products. Learn more.
Want to be truly self reliant? Learn to render fat for your own homemade soap. Learn more.
Make your own unique perfume. Learn more.
Learn to make all natural soaps in less than an hour with this helpful video.
Learn to make an excellent cleansing cream recipe that will nourish as well as clean your face. Learn more.
Glycerin soaps are great craft projects for the family and make wonderful gifts.
Ready to make your own glycerin soaps? Learn more.
Learn to make a homemade balm that smells as delicious as it feels.
Learn more.
Making your own shampoo is beneficial not only for cutting down on costs, but also cutting out many harmful chemicals.
Learn more.
Olive oil infusions, made by flavoring extra virgin olive oil with dried herbs makes a great gift and could be a crafty business opportunity.
Learn more.
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