# Using coconut creme for shampoo



## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

I'm assuming posts about shampoo would go under the liquid soap forum?  

So I am exploring a recipe for making shampoo.  I originally thought I would really like to use coconut milk for the water portion.  But then I wondered if you just couldn't replace the coconut milk with coconut creme instead?  Could this be done successfully?

Also, I have heard one of the complaints about homemade shampoo is that it can be too runny (not the thick store bought).  Couldn't one just add lecithin powder to thicken the mixture?  Or perhaps even a lecithin and borax combination?  Maybe even some baking soda for good measure?

My final question is do you have to start out with liquid soap (as I've seen almost all recipes do...calling for dr. bonner liquid soap)?  Or can you just mix coconut oil with some palm, throw in some coconut creme and lecithin, mix and call it the day?


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

I forgot to mention it is coconut creme concentrate... 100 percent (no water)


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## lsg (May 22, 2013)

No, mixing oils together does not make a soap, you have to add lye, for liquid soap it would be potassium hydroxide, a liquid soap lye calculator and a good recipe for liquid soap.  Liquid soap can be thickend with a salt solution.  I suggest you research liquid soap making and start with that before attempting to make shampoo.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

I am familiar with soapmaking.  My question was specifically do I need to have liquid soap in it or can't you just make a shampoo without having to make liquid soap.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

like for example a no poo rinse does... some people even use baking soda and water.  Soap is not a requirement it would seem.  But I'm thinking it is preferred.


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## lsg (May 22, 2013)

Here is a site with some info. on no poo shampoo:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2012/03/question-why-are-people-washing-their.html


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

I read over several of the articles from the link you gave me and except for his/her mention of not washing one's hair with baking soda and needing a shampoo to have a ph of around 6.. this answered none of my questions.  I am very familiar with soapmaking but now I am trying to familiarize myself with shampoo.  Does anyone have experience in making shampoo?  Or have the knowledge to answer my questions in the first post directly?


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## Rachelmf (May 22, 2013)

I have made a shampoo bar, but not liquid shampoo.  So, I am probably not the expert you are looking for.  However, I would be pretty surprised if "coconut oil with some palm, throw in some coconut creme and lecithin" would make your hair anything but an oily mess.  Some people do use baking soda and vinegar to wash their hair, but I think that those ingredients are pretty different from what you have in mind.  Several years ago, I tried mayonnaise as a conditioner and I wouldn't recommend anything like that.  My hair was disgusting and I had to wash it many times to make it presentable again.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 22, 2013)

thanks.  Information about making shampoo seems to be completely void.  The new rave seems to be dousing your hair with green tea.  I'm totally confused.


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## new12soap (May 22, 2013)

Yes, you can make an actual shampoo from scratch, but something that would be comparable to a commercial product would most likely contain surfactants. Here is swiftcraftmonkey's more conditioning shampoo http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/2010/05/shampoo-modifying-basic-shampoo-recipe.html and if you scroll down on the right hand side there are links to links to links with all sorts of goodies about hair care products, and a LOT of variations on shampoos.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 23, 2013)

I'm trying to do it completely naturally... only organic unrefined ingredients and no chemicals or unnecessary additives unless they have no negative side effects and are beneficial in some way.  I'm wondering if shampoo is a lot like lotion, where it is almost impossible to do without bending my above guidelines.


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## lsg (May 23, 2013)

I make all of my own liquid shampoos and I use surfactants. Many of today's surfactants are eco-friendly. Adding humectants, extracts and hydrolyzed proteins are also a plus in making your own shampoo. 

This link has a lot of good information on the chemistry of hair and what makes and does not make a good shampoo:

http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/p/hair-care.html

Please do not be offended when I say that I fear the ingredients and process you first mentioned will make a gooey mess.


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## Lindy (May 23, 2013)

Peace Love and Suds - your question has been answered innumerable time in this thread.  You don't seem to be listening.  Shampoo by its very nature requires soap or synthetic surfactants.

To make a liquid shampoo you are going to be making a soap with some hair-loving additives.


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## Tmgm1215 (May 23, 2013)

I'm with you are there no recipes to make shampoo just like body wash! I don't want to use all that stuff I can't even pronounce on my hair, thats why I bought all this stuff in the first place. Hopefully we will find a way


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## lsg (May 23, 2013)

Most shampoo ingredients are listed by their INCI names, and yes they are hard for me to pronounce. By the same token (Cocos Nucifera) the INCI name for coconut is not so easy to pronounce either. The surfactants and additives in shampoo are sold under names that are very easily pronounced, for instance, Baby Blend Concentrate, a very mild surfactant is sold under a Brand Name. Take a look at the INCI name list of ingredient in a bar of cp soap, if you make it, none of these ingredients are easily pronounced, but most of us don't consider them harmful or we wouldn't be making soap.


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## Cezanne (May 23, 2013)

I'm also looking for liquid shampoo recipes that don't contain synthetic chemicals.  I have lupus and my skin is highly reactive to anything it comes into contact with.  Synthetic ingredients tend to be worse than natural ones (though there are some natural ingredients I react to as well), so I try to use go as natural as possible in everything I make, and I make everything that comes into contact with my skin.  I'm currently using a home made shampoo bar, but I have been researching liquid shampoo recipes because it's SO much more convenient.  I've tried the recipes where you start with a liquid castile and put in your own additives, but they just don't lather up very well because of the nature of castile, so I just went back to my shampoo bar.  I'll keep searching and let y'all know if I come up with anything that works and hope you will do the same!


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## Lindy (May 24, 2013)

A good shampoo doesn't need to lather at all to still clean your hair gently.  We have been so programmed by the shampoo companies to expect big thick lather in our shampoo (liquid) that when we don't get it we think it doesn't work.  The big lather comes from things like SLS and other synthetic surfactants.  You will have the most control of what goes into your liquid shampoo if you create it from scratch yourself.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 26, 2013)

This article is 5-6 years old but very helpful.  I guess as a lot of you have been saying and from what I have gathered myself, one cannot hope to treat other products such as lotion and shampoo in the same nature as soap.  Some unwanted ingredients are necessary, but I guess in the end it is better to still make our own because it is a lesser of the evils (compared to store bought shampoo).  http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/formulating/function/surfactant/19491344.html?page=1


I wonder if someone would be kind enough to post a recipe or link to a good recipe that follows as closely as allowable the organic unrefined non-chemical guidelines I am trying to follow.  Thank you for all the answers.  I will continue to post information as I find it.  I am a determined nut.


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## peace-love-and-suds (May 26, 2013)

Here is an idiots guide to surfactants that helped me (for those of you who are as ignorant as I am on the subject). 

http://chemistscorner.com/cosmetic-surfactants-part-1/


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## SylviaG (May 31, 2013)

I make my own shampoo from liquid Castile and cocoglucosides as a base, with a few other little goodies, and I have beautiful hair...but I always rinse it with a little apple-cider vinegar in my rinse water.


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