# Shampoo Bar Recipe



## laulow (May 2, 2010)

Does anyone have a good Shampoo Bar Recipe they don't mind sharing?  I have searched the forum and haven't had a lot of luck because it brings up so many results.  It doesn't have to have a lot of fancy oils (as the people that want this just want something good but not really "fancy"), they love the WalMart soap!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Laurie


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## krissy (May 2, 2010)

try googling shampoo bar recipes. it brings up tons of them


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## laulow (May 2, 2010)

I tried that and it really didn't bring up what I hoped for....lots of people selling.  Some recipes but called for lots of different oils and such.  Thanks, I will keep looking.


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## Deda (May 2, 2010)

are you planning on selling them? if so, why not formulate your own recipe?


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## Jaaret (May 2, 2010)

*Shampoo Bars*

I consider all of my bars to be shampoo bars. I almost always add castor oil to my recipes because it has great humectant qualities, drawing moisture to hair and skin alike. A typical recipe would be:

30% Coconut oil
30% Palm oil
10% Shea butter, cocoa butter, or other oil that is solid at room temp.
10% Olive butter or olive oil
10% Castor oil
10% Any unsaturated oil: Avocado, sunflower, almond or apricot kernal

I usually take a 8% discount on the sodium hydroxide to ensure there is unsaponified oil in my final bars. I use my soaps as shampoo bars, for shaving and as a general hand/body soap. 

Jaaret


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## honor435 (May 4, 2010)

my daughter just used my soap on her long hair, it worked well, no conditioner, I never thought of using it for hair. It was co, po, pk, oo, castor, shea.


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## ToniD (May 4, 2010)

This whole shampoo thing is making me think a lot....last fall I finally had to give up commercial products completely.   I have always had to be careful in what I used or I would get a reaction, but then I got to the point where I was feeling like my scalp, neck and back were on fire.   A friend gave me some of her soap to try, and ultimately taught me to make soap and it has helped A LOT.   My hair is a bit dry  and rough though.     I keep doing experiments to try to see if I can come up with a shampoo that will be really good to my hair, and not cause any bad reactions.

I may try adding honey to a batch next.    And vit B5.   Anybody have experience putting those in a shampoo bar?   Did it help?


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## xyxoxy (May 4, 2010)

I've been using my CP soaps as shampoo for many weeks now and most of them work great. some better than others.
I was surprised that my salt bars seemed to work better than almost all of them.


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## djk17 (May 9, 2010)

I also have been washing my hair with my cp soap for a few months now.  And coincidentally the one I reach for over and over is the salt bar.  I do use conditioner after, but I no longer buy&use shampoo


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## LotusFlowerSoap (May 10, 2010)

I'm gong to have to try my salt bars on my hair.  I never even considered it.  I have a s'poo recipe I like, but hell...if something else could be just as good....


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## gouache (Jun 9, 2010)

Hi there!...I have been trying to perfect a shampoo bar for some time now and I finally nailed it. I have thick(ish) dark curly hair which I color every month. Every shampoo bar recipe I tried and every commercial poo bar I bought ended in disaster. 

There are 3 factors for a perfect shampoo bar.

First key point is not to superfat the shampoo bar. Our skin is different than our hair. Soap bars are superfatted minimum at 5% so that they condition and moistorize the skin. This is too oily for the hair. Thats why some people say their hair is still oily after wash. 

Second key is the lather. you need to use oils that have high lathering and cleaning properties like babasu oil, coconut oil. Also the lather should be persistant so that you should be able to work the lather without needing more soap. This is provided by cocoa butter.

Third key is the softness and the quality of water. If you have hard water, no matter how good your shampoo bar is, you will end up with residue and stiffness. It is a good idea to invest in one of those shower head filters. I bought one recently and it is great! they really work.

Here is the recipe I used.
50% coconut oil
25% cocoa butter
25% avocado oil
superfatted at 3%

I also used 33% water discount method. if you use this method, be careful, the soap gets very hard after the trace so be quick to mold it after trace.

I used coconut milk powder and silk as additive, nettle, rosemary, peppermint essential oils and benzoin tincture as fixative. You need to cure this soap for at least 3 weeks or more.
I know this does not sound like a perfectly balance soap. But this is not a soap, this is a shampoo bar! 
My hair is perfectly clean and silky soft now. Also smells lovely. I still use conditioner but I am reducing it at every wash. I will stop using it completely but I am doing this gradually. This recipe and soft water worked very well for my hair. Good luck with your experiments!


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## carebear (Jun 9, 2010)

I'm glad it worked out for you.

But the point of superfatting is not as you describe.  We superfat for two reasons (actually, I discount lye - but close enough)
- for a safety margin due to the variability of the natural oils and butters we work with
- to keep the soap from being stripping/too cleansing.

soap isn't a moisturizer.


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## agriffin (Jun 9, 2010)

Wow, thanks for posting that.

I'm going to try your recipe with some tweakage.  I wonder if using castor oil for half (or some) of the coconut oil would add some good properties to it as well.  Maybe some honey?

Hmmm...something to try this weekend.  I really appreciate you sharing- it looks like you've done your research and put alot of thought into your shampoo bar.


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## amiphant (Jun 10, 2010)

wow~ thanks for your tips and they are certainly very helpful! 

I'm currently working on a shampoo bar recipe as well and i found this recipe on internet:

Olive Oil: 230g
Coconut Oil: 230g
palm oil: 170g
castor oil: 70g
sweet almond oil: 90g
jojoba oil: 30g

I'm planning to modify it abit as i've some leftover coconut oil and castor oil and i want to finish them up.



			
				gouache said:
			
		

> Hi there!...I have been trying to perfect a shampoo bar for some time now and I finally nailed it. I have thick(ish) dark curly hair which I color every month. Every shampoo bar recipe I tried and every commercial poo bar I bought ended in disaster.
> 
> There are 3 factors for a perfect shampoo bar.
> 
> ...


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## gouache (Jun 10, 2010)

Today I am a bit disapointed in my recipe since my sister hated it! She says it took ages to dry her hair and it didnt feel very good. She has a little finer hair than me. Also she doesnt have a water treatment filter in her shower. These could be the reasons. Another shampoo bar, which didnt work for me at all, worked better for her. Which was:

%45 olive oil
%10 sweat almond oil
%30 coconut oil
%15 palm oil 
this was also superfatted at 3% and the only additive was ground up powder of dried nettle leaves. peppermint and lemongrass eo's.

I guess everybodys hair and water are different. So I would say you make small batches from a couple of recipes to find your perfect recipe.
I feel really bad that it didnt work for her. 

some are suggesting egg yolk in the shampoo bar. has anyone tried this?


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## soapsmurf (Jun 10, 2010)

gouache said:
			
		

> Today I am a bit disapointed in my recipe since my sister hated it! She says it took ages to dry her hair and it didnt feel very good. She has a little finer hair than me. Also she doesnt have a water treatment filter in her shower. These could be the reasons. Another shampoo bar, which didnt work for me at all, worked better for her. Which was:
> 
> %45 olive oil
> %10 sweat almond oil
> ...


That's not really on topic with this thread, but yes, some people do add egg yolk to their soap.  I'm of the opinion it is the lecithin content (emulsifier) which accounts for the properties the egg yolk addition imparts to the soap.  

I, too, am searching for a great 'poo bar, and I really wanted to make a great salt bar, so I'll have to tweak some of the above and get to soaping.


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## djk17 (Jun 12, 2010)

made a beer shampoo bar recently--it is great!


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## LadyeWitch (Jul 21, 2013)

gouache said:


> Hi there!...I have been trying to perfect a shampoo bar for some time now and I finally nailed it. I have thick(ish) dark curly hair which I color every month. Every shampoo bar recipe I tried and every commercial poo bar I bought ended in disaster.
> 
> There are 3 factors for a perfect shampoo bar.
> 
> ...


I was wondering what amounts you used for the powdered coconut milk and silk and the essential oils and the tincture are.


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## robtr31 (Jul 21, 2013)

gouache said:


> Today I am a bit disapointed in my recipe since my sister hated it! She says it took ages to dry her hair and it didnt feel very good. She has a little finer hair than me. Also she doesnt have a water treatment filter in her shower. These could be the reasons. Another shampoo bar, which didnt work for me at all, worked better for her. Which was:
> 
> %45 olive oil
> %10 sweat almond oil
> ...


 
this from soap making resources has egg yolk and silk in recipe
I was thinking of trying this 
looks good to me change the e.o to tea tree, orange and litsea cubeba 

any thoughts with silk in a shampoo bar with egg

http://www.soap-making-resource.com/shampoo-bar-recipe.html

Olive Oil = 26.5 Ounces (50% of total oils)
Palm Oil (RBD) = 10.6 Ounces (20% of total oils)
Castor Oil = 7.95 Ounces (15% of total oils)
Avocado Oil = 5.3 Ounces (10% of total oils)
Shea Butter, Ghana = 2.65 Ounces (5% of total oils)
Tea Tree Essential Oil = 21 grams (.75 Ounces)
Rosemary, Camphor Essential Oil = 28 grams (1 Ounce)
Grapefruit, Pink Essential Oil = 21 grams (.75 Ounce)
Tussah Silk = 1/2 gram (about the size of half a cotton ball)
Egg Yolks = 3 medium egg yolks
Distilled Water = 20 ounces
lye = 6.8 ounces (192 grams)
*This recipe has a 5% super-fat.


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## stargazer44 (Jul 22, 2013)

Search this forum.  There was an awesome post recently on a shampoo bar.  Search Lindy - I believe the original poster was thanking her


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## kdaniels8811 (Jul 22, 2013)

The post was Shampoo Bar - Thanks, Lindy! and her recipe makes a great shampoo bar.  It is the only one I have found that works for me on my fine, thin hair.


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## AlicesWonderhands (Nov 25, 2014)

We just used a salt bar on my sons long hair. Worked. Fantastic! 
20% super fat. 100% coconut oil.


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