# Question about home made shampoo, and other stuff...



## quirky_rikku (Jul 17, 2012)

alright, so as you all know I am still quite a noob. 

a couple months ago, I had purchased about 16 ounces of castille soap, used a little over half of it to make body wash (which was kind of fail) .....and then used what I had left to make shampoo about 3 weeks ago.

At the time, I did not have a preservation system and I was too excited to wait (since im a noob, everything is so exciting!) so I found a recipe on the internet for a simple shampoo which consisted of castille soap, water, 1 tsp of oil (i used grapeseed) and essential oils. I used rosemary, lavender and peppermint (about 10 or 15 drops each, which I hear is a lot...my bad)...for what I made I didn't have any water put in.

So I used whatever was left of my castille soap, i would say about 7 ounces since it was close to the middle but not exactly. I only used about 1/2 tsp grapeseed oil, the rosemary, lavender and peppermint oil, and I put 2 caplets of vitamin E inside also and used it that night. my hair was so heavy with grease it would hardly move, and it took me like an hour to brush it out, and when i did brush it out i was getting white residue all over my brush. The next morning I felt so discusting that I had to wash my hair in the morning with regular shampoo. I figured maybe there was too much oil inside, and I was afraid to use the shampoo again so I stuck it in the fridge until I could figure out how to fix it. I am still not entirely sure how to fix it, but I did recieve liquid germall plus and some lavender hydrosol in the mail. I put about 1/2 teaspoon liquid germall plus inside (im reallyyy not good at math so my head went in circles calculating it so im probably wrong with the amount of preservative) and filled it the rest of the way up with the lavender hydrosol so it now equals 16 oz.  I used the new mixture last night and I have to say it isn't as greasy for sure but it is still very stiff and I still get the white residue in my hairbrush. It was considerably easier to comb out but still not as easy as when commercial conditioner is used, and it just did not feel clean. It still feels slick, and looks too shiny, but it isn't that "dirty greasy" look, it just looks like i put a bunch of mousse in my hair while dry and combed it into my roots. 

So what is the problem? You can nitpick at my formula if you want but keep in mind this was my first one, and im still a noob, and i still cant figure out calculations very well if at all (really, i dont think i can at all..) i just want to know how to fix my shampoo to where my hair feels soft and easy to brush to reduce the need for conditioner or commercial shampoo. Is there any kind of detangler I can make to supplement this? Also what is a good formula for color treated hair? I'd like to dye my hair black with purple and I want the purple to last as long as it can, and I'd like to reduce the need to wash my hair every day like I do right now.

Does anyone have any pointers, ideas, anything? what is the best way to formulate things that is easiest for you? I just have a lot of questions and would really like to fix my shampoo to be useable. It is watery, which is ok because I figured I could put it into a squirt bottle and squirt it on my head in the shower, so consistancy isnt a problem for me. i would just like to learn to make something that would be great to help preserve color, to reduce the need to wash daily, and to make my hair feel soft and easy to brush. I have fine hair, but i have a lot per square inch incase anybody needed to know that. 

thanks for your time


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## judymoody (Jul 17, 2012)

If you are serious about learning to formulate shampoo, I recommend this very excellent blog.  This post is a good place to start.

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/s ... ic+shampoo

Soap is not suited for hair because the pH is too high.  It damages the hair cuticle.  So greasy, matted hair is what you'd expect with a soap based product.  Detergent-based shampoos are kinder to hair.

Trying things at random is not likely to bring success.  You have to be attentive to temperatures, proportions, and, yes, the dreaded math.  Wander around Swift's blog for a couple of hours - it is a treasure trove of information.


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## Lindy (Jul 18, 2012)

Most soap makers prefer to make a syndet bar for shampoo which is, as its name suggests, is a synthetic detergent shampoo bar.  You can make a true CP Shampoo that doesn't leave your hair oily and disgusting but you have to formulate it for shampoo, not as a soap.  When I first started trying to make a CP shampoo I started with Castille but with a couple of added hair loving goodies.  Fail.  So back to the drawing board.  I won't share my recipe but I will give you a couple of tips:

   *  Do not use coconut oil - too harsh in my opinion
   *  Use lots and lots of castor oil
   *  Research what other ingredients can be added that are specifically for hair
   *  Choose oils that are also skin and hair loving like Jojoba Oil
   *  Keep really, really good records

I love SoapMaker 3 because as I try out new things I can make notes in the batch so I can know if something failed and then backtrack to figure out why it failed.

But most of all, have fun.  Don't be afraid to experiment and just because someone says it can't be done, experiment anyways.  If I had allowed people telling me that it couldn't be made, I wouldn't have a line of hair care products that I have trouble keeping in stock. :wink:


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## carvan (Jul 28, 2012)

Lindy said:
			
		

> Most soap makers prefer to make a syndet bar for shampoo which is, as its name suggests, is a synthetic detergent shampoo bar.  You can make a true CP Shampoo that doesn't leave your hair oily and disgusting but you have to formulate it for shampoo, not as a soap.  When I first started trying to make a CP shampoo I started with Castille but with a couple of added hair loving goodies.  Fail.  So back to the drawing board.  I won't share my recipe but I will give you a couple of tips:
> 
> *  Do not use coconut oil - too harsh in my opinion
> *  Use lots and lots of castor oil
> ...



great message.  Some of us new users need to hear this.


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## lsg (Jul 28, 2012)

I prefer liquid shampoo.  The Swiftcrafty Monkey blog is great.  You can purchase the pdf and download all of her Hair Caire info to put into a notebook or just do a search on her blog.  The initial cost of some of the ingredients is expensive, but once you know how each ingredient works, you can substitute ingredients.  Here is one of my very favorite shampoo recipes from the Herbarie:

http://www.theherbarie.com/Amys-Creamy- ... -p-92.html

You certainly won't save any money making your own shampoo, but as the previous post stated, it is certainly fun to experiment.


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## flavapor (Aug 12, 2012)

I have a question about the shampoo bars.   If the ph is high and the acv rinse fixes that, why cant acv be used as the liquid or some citric acid be added at trace to bring ph down.  Does it stop the saponification process?   Has anyone tried this and what are the results?

Thanks in advance.


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## ToniD (Aug 12, 2012)

I've tried it.   Being a slow learner I tried it a few times....

Actually, I never tried it at trace cuz then you just get a higher super fatted soap.  Basically you neutralize some lye.  

I've tried various acids after cure.  I cooked my shampoo bars  into a smooth paste and actually got some very nice goo.  I called it poo goo.   Unfortanaty, it was worthless, except as a chemistry experiment.   My sister, a chemist, said that by adding enough acid to lower the ph into my target range meant that I didn't have soap anymore.  Neither of us knew what it was I did have....just goo.


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## flavapor (Aug 13, 2012)

ToniD said:
			
		

> I've tried it.   Being a slow learner I tried it a few times....
> 
> Actually, I never tried it at trace cuz then you just get a higher super fatted soap.  Basically you neutralize some lye.
> 
> I've tried various acids after cure.  I cooked my shampoo bars  into a smooth paste and actually got some very nice goo.  I called it poo goo.   Unfortanaty, it was worthless, except as a chemistry experiment.   My sister, a chemist, said that by adding enough acid to lower the ph into my target range meant that I didn't have soap anymore.  Neither of us knew what it was I did have....just goo.



Thanks ToniD
I was wondering about that.  So no suds or cleansing when you made it with the lower ph?


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## ToniD (Aug 13, 2012)

You can lower the ph a little and still get suds and cleansing, but if you lower it to neutral, then no suds, though you will get suds for a day or so.    It seems to maintain some soap properties for a couple days, and slowly transform into goo.   It does not look different as it changes. .I found no difference in my hair by lowering the ph just a llittle.

In the end, I switched to making surfactant shampoos.


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