shampoo bar not working!

[retropants]

Hi, I made some patchouli/rosemary shampoo bars last week (HP) and have been using for about 3 days, my hair is feeling all dull and almost sticky, I used a cider vinegar rinse today as well. I have heard it might take a few washes for hair to get used to shampoo bars is this true?
My recipe was for 1 lb oils:
olive 35%
coconut 20%
hemp 15%
castor 10%
sweet almond, rice bran, shea butter and palm oil all 5%

I added a dsp of rhassoul clay and a tbsp of jojoba oil at the end of the cook. There was also a smidge of tussah silk in the lye water. Have I totally over egged the pudding so to speak?? Too many oils? Or do I just have to give my hair time to adjust? My hair is waist length, so I can't leave it all tangly and sticky for too long!! :shock:

 

[cdwinsby]

Hi Retropants, I used to make a CP shampoo bar and our hair didn't have to adjust to it. It left the hair squeaky clean. I also found we rarely needed conditioner and I had long hair. Here is what we used.
17.5% castor oil
25.5% coconut oil
25% olive oil
25.5% palm oil
6.5% wheat germ oil
scented it with grapefruit/rosemary at a 6:1 ratio.
Superfatted at 5%
Water as % of oils = 37
This bar isn't rock hard because of the castor oil and needs to cure for 6 weeks. Cut bars after one week. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[ADKer]

I find that solid-at-RT oils (other than coconut oil) leave a nasty film in my hair (shea, tallow, lard. . .). It'll take a heck of a time to harden, but I'd up the castor to 15-20%, and ditch the shea and palm. Also, I'd drop the SF to 3% and discount the water. With so much soft oil, you can get away with using less water; for castille soap, I use something like water at 1.8 times the lye.

 

[digit]

cdwinsby - Thank you for posting your recipe!! I was planninng to make a shampoo bar this week. I will do this one.

Digit

 

[Guest]

Hi!

Some people can never use shampoo bars with success. There are many factors such as water hardness and hair type. Even people that use them regularly with success use a vinegar rinse to reduce the buildup and residue.

 

[Woodi]

I use my regular CP soap (olive, rice bran, castor, pko) on my hair daily. But we have super-soft well water (with UV filter and potassium salts). When I wash my hair at my DD's house (city water, hard) it comes out raggy like you describe. So it may be due to the water you're using.

 

[retropants]

Ok, I'll give it the rest of the week, and see how it goes. If my hair doesn't improve, it must be the water. (we have hard water here in the south of England) I will be very upset though! Oh well at least I'll have 10 bars of lovely conditioning patchouli soap!!
Thanks chaps!
Any other thoughts on this gratefully received...... :wink: you guys are a fabulous mine of useful information, thankyou!

 

[Sholdy]

I've tried bar shampoo, but I find it so hard to use on long hair.

Recently I made some liquid shampoo, and it is wonderful - it's very similar to making HP soap. I use a crock pot and, although homemade POH soap is thin, it does a very nice job.

 

[ADKer]

I can't use soap on my hair--it's just too long. Even my LS is too harsh for it. Shampoo bars are great if you have short hair that is regularly cut, but for someone like me who has this wierd phobia of hair cutting, they're not so good. Soap weakens hair--so if you're trying to grow your hair out, it's not so great. But, my partener, who keeps his short, won't use anything else.

It's sad 'cause I've read too much about SLS. . . and I really don't want to have to use products containing it, but there really isn't much else. . . . My next step is to try soapwort--if I can find it reasonable priced.

 

[retropants]

Sholdy, I'm intrigued! Are you willing to share your recipe for liquid shampoo? I'd really like to be able to stop using store bought stuff.

Thanks everyone for your input! cdwinsby, I was hoping that my bar would behave like yours, so maybe the hard water is an issue. I should buy a water softener!

 

[IanT]

I second that right now Im using my CP bars as EVERYTHING soap!! !!!


I used to make a hair rinse when I had dreadlocks that worked real well... its fresh aloe vera juice and hibiscis flowers strained with filtered or fresh riverwater, makes a semi-thick rinse that works wonders for condtioning and cleansing the hair and scalp...in the islands they call it a "shake" because you usually use it on your hair and wash with it, then reapply some and then shake it out and let the remainder stay in the hair as a wonderful conditioner

 

[Sholdy]

For liquid soaps, I have a book, Making Natural Liquid Soaps by Catherine Failor that is excellent. Between reading that and researching online, I was able to make great batches of liquid soap from the very start.

Cold Press soap making is an invaluable experience before trying liquids.

I've used a couple recipes from the book, including:
Gentle Shampoo
25 oz coconut oil
12 oz hemp oil
6 oz castor oil
5 oz rozin

12 oz potassium hydroxide
36 oz water

I didn't find making liquid soap any harder than CP, but it does take a little longer - once it traces you let it cook for over 3 hours (I gave it longer than suggested just to be sure!) What you're left with is a very thick, translucent glob. You take a portion of that glob and dilute it, leaving the rest in the fridge until you need more soap. It's really cool! The hardest thing is finding enough suitable containers for the sequestering period and for using afterwards (I've been saving empty shampoo bottles).

 

[Sholdy]

I just want to add that, because homemade liquid soap is naturally very thin, putting it into a bottle with one of those 'foaming' tops works great.

You know the ones I mean - they take any thin soap and pump air into it while you squirt so you get this nice, thick foam out of it.

If anybody knows where I can get these in bulk, I'd be much obliged!

 

[Sholdy]

I used to make a hair rinse when I had dreadlocks that worked real well... its fresh aloe vera juice and hibiscis flowers strained with filtered or fresh riverwater, makes a semi-thick rinse that works wonders for condtioning and cleansing the hair and scalp...in the islands they call it a "shake" because you usually use it on your hair and wash with it, then reapply some and then shake it out and let the remainder stay in the hair as a wonderful conditioner

I recently found a leave-in hair conditioner recipe that's a lot like that! It's aloe juice with rosemary eo, lavender eo and grapefruit eo in it. It makes our hair smell wonderful. I just started using it, so I can't say whether or not it makes much difference in my hair's condition.

 

[organicsoapgal]

I would try a different recipe. It is going to be just like store bought shampoo...in that some will work better on your hair than others. I just don't think you have found the right recipe for your hair.

 

[ADKer]

Watch you superfat, too. . . One thing I found that worked better, was to HP and add the superfat at the end. That way you can add something that won't be too heavy for your hair. With CP, you don't know what is left as a superfat.

Also, if you use conditioner, try and find something that is oil free--If the bar is leaving oil in your hair, and your using a heavy conditoner, it all might be too much.

 

[Birdie]

Don't give up!
I have below-waist length hair and cannot use my "regulars". We have hard water in our well but I love my shampoo bar! When I was converting to the shampoo bar, I had to use a clarifying shampoo (think Suave) along with it for the first month, tapering off it by the end of that time.
I use a bar 80% OO and 20% castor with 3% lye discount, mostly with rosemary eo. It is done DWCP. I also use a vinegar and/or beer rinse every time.

 

[retropants]

I'm afraid I did give up last night Birdie! I could not stand the lank dull icky feeling any longer, and people were wondering why my hair was permanently tied up in a bun! It was sooo Icky! My scalp loved the bar, as did the first 4-5 inches of hair, but from there down to my waist was really horrible.
What I might do, is buy myself a filter shower head (better for our skin all round), then make a new bar, I'll deffo give your recipe a go, and see how that works. I'm using LUSH big shampoo now, to get rid of the icky layer my lovely rosemary/patch bar has left on it! Oh well! :roll:

 

[Birdie]

And try the clarifying shampoo thingy, too. It just helps get rid of the build up from the stuff we've used on our hair. Use it first, then the shampoo bar and rinse. And, please, keep us updated as how it goes for ya.

 

[WilsonFamilyPicnic]

i used one of my bars with lots of soybean oil over the weekend while i was away and my hair was fabulous! its below the shoulders and i didn't need conditioner and it wasn't weighed down! i have super thin hair so that is a big deal for me!

i'll see how it works now that i am back to my hard well water!