Shampoo bars

[Hils67]

I am really confused about soap shampoo bars and syndet shampoo bars! I’ve read lots of pages saying soap is bad for your hair and others saying they swear by it. My question is, when did synthetic shampoo come about? Presumably historically soap was used to clean the hair...so is it really bad for your hair?

I’ve tried my ordinary soap on my hair and didn’t really like the feeling afterwards, but this wasn’t a shampoo soap bar. I’ve tried syndet bars and they feel good. I’m curious about whether to bother researching into a soap shampoo bar recipe...or to continue looking at syndet bar recipes, but the base ingredients are so expensive, and as I don’t sell I can see me wasting a lot of money!

By the way I’m in the UK.

Grateful for people’s thoughts

 

[Obsidian]

Liquid shampoo was invented in the 20's. Before that, lye soap was used on the hair but since most people only washed every few weeks, the damage didn't build up too fast.
Besides, they didn't have a choice, it was either lye soap or dirty hair. If you look back at historical photos of women with very long hair, it doesn't look sleek and healthy.

While some people can use lye soap with good results, far more get damaged hair and it can take a good long while for the damage to accumulate. It took two years for my hair to start disintegrating, had to shave it all off.

Honestly, its just nothing worth the risk in my eyes. Stick with shampoo or syndet bars. I tried the bars, like them but found them to be inconvenient.

If you are just making syndet for yourself, maybe it would be cheaper to buy them already made from etsy.

 

[artemis]

If you are just making syndet for yourself, maybe it would be cheaper to buy them already made from etsy.

In fact, Katie at Royalty Soap just posted a video about making shampoo bars. Her conclusion was the same: unless you already have a soap or B&B business, it's ultimately cheaper to buy from someone else than to invest in making your own:

 

[Candybee]

I made and sold shampoo bars for several years but finally quit for a couple of reasons. One, the shampoo bars were no longer popular and sales dropped off until the last year they were moving very slowly. The second reason is after using my own shampoo soap my hair started drying out. This process took about 3-4 years for me but it got to the point where I would look at my hair in the mirror and say Dang that's dry hair!

Pity cause I worked very hard on the formulation of my shampoo bars and they were very conditioning with super dense creamy lather while being very low cleansing.

So I started researching into making syndet or liquid shampoos and got discouraged. Personally I found it would be very expensive and time consuming. The other problem was liquid soaps and shampoos are just not big sellers for me. So why invest my time and money into a product that won't sell.

Now I purchase shampoo and conditioner from WSP as I feel its probably better than what is on the store shelves at the market. I have been using the restorative conditioner to help fix my dry hair. I did not cut mine all off so its a slow process but after several months of conditioning I am seeing a difference.

Anyway, that's my story and if it helps you to decide one way or another I am glad I could help.

 

[Hils67]

I made and sold shampoo bars for several years but finally quit for a couple of reasons. One, the shampoo bars were no longer popular and sales dropped off until the last year they were moving very slowly. The second reason is after using my own shampoo soap my hair started drying out. This process took about 3-4 years for me but it got to the point where I would look at my hair in the mirror and say Dang that's dry hair!

Pity cause I worked very hard on the formulation of my shampoo bars and they were very conditioning with super dense creamy lather while being very low cleansing.

So I started researching into making syndet or liquid shampoos and got discouraged. Personally I found it would be very expensive and time consuming. The other problem was liquid soaps and shampoos are just not big sellers for me. So why invest my time and money into a product that won't sell.

Now I purchase shampoo and conditioner from WSP as I feel its probably better than what is on the store shelves at the market. I have been using the restorative conditioner to help fix my dry hair. I did not cut mine all off so its a slow process but after several months of conditioning I am seeing a difference.

Anyway, that's my story and if it helps you to decide one way or another I am glad I could help.

Thanks for your story. Good to hear your experience over a long period. I see so many people selling and using soap for shampoo and friends say I should make some. But I wouldn't want to give friends something I wasn't 100% sure of myself. I've made a couple if syndet bars and conditioner and lo e them, but they are very expensive to make.
I just wanted to hear other people's experiences so when people ask me why I don't make shampoo soap I can justify my reasons.
Thank you for your advice

 

[S.S]

I have been using my own homemade shampoo bar from last few months and I love it. Quality of my hair has been improved and My hairs are less breaking now. When you first start using shampoo bars it takes a while for your hair to get used too. They go through transition stage due to chemical build up with nasty shampoos and conditioners etc.
my few tips.
Give shampoo bars some time to get used to your hairs.
It’s good for you and environment.
Always rinse your hair with diluted apple cider vinegar after using shampoo bars.
I always apply oil before using washing my hair. It improves quality of your hair.
Good luck. Below is the recipe of my shampoo bar it’s very conditioning with 20% superfat because i have curly hair

 

[shunt2011]

I'm one who used soap on my hair and had to cut it short. It made my hair like straw and started breaking was almost mushy. I would never tell anyone to use soap on their hair. Commercial shampoo or syndet bars. Many use too much coconut as well which totally strips the oils from the hair.

 

[lsg]

Liquid shampoo was invented in the 20's. Before that, lye soap was used on the hair but since most people only washed every few weeks, the damage didn't build up too fast.
Besides, they didn't have a choice, it was either lye soap or dirty hair. If you look back at historical photos of women with very long hair, it doesn't look sleek and healthy.

While some people can use lye soap with good results, far more get damaged hair and it can take a good long while for the damage to accumulate. It took two years for my hair to start disintegrating, had to shave it all off.

Honestly, its just nothing worth the risk in my eyes. Stick with shampoo or syndet bars. I tried the bars, like them but found them to be inconvenient.

If you are just making syndet for yourself, maybe it would be cheaper to buy them already made from etsy.

In the early part of the twentieth century many people had cisterns or rain barrels to catch rain water. Rain water is soft water. It doesn't take much soap to lather in soft water and the soap does not make a scum or leave a residue as does hard water. People also used an apple cider/water hair rinse after washing their hair.
Having said that, I would not recommend using cp or hp soap on the hair because the pH is too high. There are recipes for syndet bars on the forum. Syndet bars use mild surfactants which do not have a high pH. You can test for pH with a meter or strips. A meter is the most accurate.