# Superfat on shampoo bar from those who use them



## GardenGirl (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm not looking for anyone's secret recipes, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the amount of superfat that a shampoo bar should have.

*From people who like and use them.*

I've read books/blogs but as I've looked around at those who are making them, I see the superfat for these bars is all over the map.

Any input?


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## ilove2soap (Mar 7, 2011)

This is really an interesting question!  I have used so many different kinds of cp soap and "shampoo" bars on my hair.  I was purchasing shampoo bars for a year before learning soapmaking.  My hair is very fine and straight so the best shampoo bars for me are right at 7 percent superfat.  Less than that and my hair gets crunchy-dry and requires a follow up conditioner in addition to ac vinegar rinse.  That said, I have also tried salt bars with about 20% superfat that gave me good results so I guess it is really what works for your hair (I don't know if the salt had something to do with the results?).  For some reason my hair seems to love shampoo bars made with hazelnut oil.  I have friends with coarse, curly hair that rave about my goatsmilk soaps as shampoo bars which are 9% superfat, but using the goatsmilk soap on my hair will leave it as limp as a noodle.  Maybe you can formulate different shampoo bars based on hair types?  Hope you get a lot of responses.  This is an fascinating question and one I have wondered about myself!


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## Microdot (Mar 7, 2011)

Hi GardenGirl,

I don't use them but I know most people who do prefer the syndet bars as opposed to CP. My thoughts are you might get more responses to this question in the bath and body forum. I'm interested to hear some opinions on this myself.


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## GardenGirl (Mar 7, 2011)

Hey Micro, I actually posted it there, first and then thought maybe it should go here   I'll give it a run here and then post over there.  I know that shampoo bars are not the way that most folks can go, but I sure have a lot of folks asking me to make them!

I use my body bars in my hair on occasion and have found that there certainly is a huge difference in the oils used and the superfats on hair.  Even more so than on my body.  That's one way I like to test drive my new soaps.  Anyway.  I just thought I remembered a few folks who LOVE their shampoo bars and wondered where they were superfatting at and what sort of hair they had.  You know, I only have one kind of hair to test on  

Ilove2soap - thanks for the input.  I'm curious to see what others say, also.  I have kind of avoided shampoo bars because I know it must be so dependent on the nuances of hair types for any particular bar to be successful.  Wondering if I'd have to make like 10 kinds to cover the gamut of dry/limp to normal to frizzy/curly.  Wouldn't that be fun?


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## ministeph (Mar 8, 2011)

ohh this is really cool, I tried using one of my regular cp's as a shampoo bar once (warning, newbie. never had a 'shampoo bar'...) and I really wanted to like it.. but my hair felt instantly weird, it wasn't slick.. knotted all up and i felt like i couldn't was the stuff out! I had to load my head with conditioner to get it out/untangle my hair from the top of my head.

I'm not sure if it was the oil choice/superfat/etc.. or just something different when using non synthetic liquid soap in your hair.. but I'd really like to try a legit shampoo bar! so i'll keep an eye out. 

p.s my 'shampoo bar' was 8% super fat.. mostly olive, coconut, palm.


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## GardenGirl (Mar 11, 2011)

ministeph - your experience is typical of a shampoo bar.  It's worse for some folks than others.  A handmade bar of soap is alkaline.  Syndets are acidic. Hair likes acidic cuz it keeps it feeling smooth.  Alkaline makes all the hair fibers stand on end and not be smooth.  Lots of folks use a diluted vinegar (acidic) rinse after shampooing with a bar of soap.  It kind of offsets it.  If you stick with this routine (so the bar shampoo lovers say) eventually your hair will get accustomed to the new routine.  

I guess I'll post over in the bath and body forum to see if I can route out all those shampoo bar lovers!


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## judymoody (Mar 11, 2011)

Take a look at this site:  http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com

She can explain better than I why CP shampoo doesn't work for most people's hair.  The pH is too high and can damage the hair cuticle.  Syndet bars are pH balanced and based on a completely different set of ingredients.  If you want to try them, there are a number of people on etsy that sell them.  Try GetLathered or Wonderland Bath.

I use syndet bars and love them!  I tried to make CP shampoo bars and the closest I got was a beer based soap with high coconut and castor.  But my hair felt like dirty straw after a day or two of use.  If you are one of the few people who can use CP soap successfully as shampoo I envy you.  Good luck!


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