How to Make Your Own Shampoo
By Mrs Money on January 5, 2010 – 5:50 am -
If you’ve tried the No Poo Shampoo Method and it just didn’t work for you, don’t worry. I’ve got the perfect shampoo recipe you can make yourself that’s all natural and won’t break the bank. This is a tried and true recipe; Mr. Money uses it exclusively and loves it!
Ingredients
- 1 Bar of Soap (I used homemade but you can use something like Dr. Bronner’s
or Ivory.
- 1/4 Cup of olive oil
- Your favorite essential oil (I used peppermint)
- Water or tea (I used mint tea)
Directions
Grate your bar of soap on a cheese grater. Mine looks suspiciously like cheese. It’s not; I promise it’s just beer soap.
Put your grated soap, olive oil, and a little bit of water in the blender. I started with about 1/4 cup of mint tea. Add in about 10 drops of your essential oil.
Blend until it is the consistency that you’d like. You may need to add more liquid.
(Ignore the bubble that looks like a butt. Bubble butt!)
When it’s the consistency that you like, put it into an old shampoo bottle. I like to use a funnel. Now you’ve saved money by making your own natural shampoo and you’ve also kept a bottle out of the landfill.
That’s it! It’s so simple. Lather, rinse, repeat as usual. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of making your own shampoo, the most natural brand I have found out there is Aubrey Organics. I love their Egyptian Henna Shampoo.
Would you make your own shampoo?
This post was included in the Festival of Frugality! and Make it From Scratch Carnival.
Posted in DIY, Green Living, Recipes, Simple Living | 37 Comments »
















January 5th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I am happy with no poo but my hubby won’t bother with it. He might go for homemade shampoo though! I will have to make some and see what he thinks of it. I would love for him to not be using the chemical laden store bought version. I never even thought about making shampoo!!
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
You should totally do it. It is so easy! And you probably have all the stuff on hand. My hubby loves it!
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January 5th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
This is awesome! I love all of your recipes!
Thanks for posting this, although I use JASON.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Thanks so much, Karly! I’m hoping to post more recipes soon!
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I love stuff like this!
Love the Bubble Butt comment too. LOL.
Beer soap??? Did you make it yourself?
I have Dr. Bonner’s liquid castile soap in lavendar. Maybe I will try that and add the olive oil n water. Cuz Dr. Bonner’s alone in the hair leaves a tangled mess.
Now, I have an oily complex… do you know how the olive oil works against that? Tis a small amount. Gonna give this one a try. Thanks!
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I couldn’t resist the bubble butt.
I did make the beer soap!
I would make just a little bit and try that. I would hate if it doesn’t work for you. My hubby has short hair so it’s okay with him.
My hair is oily but I do no poo so I haven’t tried this.
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
This is really neat, and I HAVE to try it! A couple questions, though:
1. How much shampoo does it yield?
2. My husband and I both have very thick, curly hair. Will it still do the job?
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
It filled the bottle that I put it in, so about 11 oz. It should work for thick, curly hair. Maybe make half a batch first and try that!
Let me know how it works!
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January 5th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
I want to try no poo method, tell us more about that.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Hi Becky! I actually wrote a post about this before if you’d like to check it out: http://ultimatemoneyblog.com/no-poo-shampoo-alternative-dont-use-shampoo-again
There are many great comments from the wonderful people that visit this blog. I’d be happy to help you if you have any questions!
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January 7th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Wow. I’ve made my own laundry detergent for years, but it never occurred to me to try making my own shampoo. This sounds like an interesting idea to try.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
My hubby loves it! He has been using it for months now.
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Christie Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
How do you make your own laundry detergent, I have allergy issues to just about every soap, detergent and other things out there….errrrrrrr
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Christie- http://ultimatemoneyblog.com/make-your-own-recipe-collection
Here are recipes for many different items I make! Laundry detergent is included in here.
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January 7th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Tweeted and Facebooked it.
I am itching to try this!!!
I could make my own smells, and not have to worry about strong smells or what I put in there.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Thanks for the love!
I would make sure you use good soap and do a vinegar rinse afterward. My hubby loves this but no poo works better for me.
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January 12th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Mrs Money, I have a question about this shampoo…once I tried to wash my hair with a natural soap, and I didn’t like it at all, they were heavy and had like a patina on them.
Are this shampoo the same? if not well, otherwise I’ll try baking soda.
Thanks!
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 13th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Alessandra- I would try the baking soda over this shampoo. It works a lot better for me!
Let me know if you need any help.
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January 14th, 2010 at 7:11 am
[...] Mrs. Money has homemade shampoo recipe, tested by her hubby, Mr. Money. Mrs. Money and I are no-pooers (her no-poo post is here, my no-poo post is here) but our hubbies don’t care for it. I want to try Mrs. Money’s recipe for my hubby so he’ll stop using the icky stuff from the store! [...]
January 21st, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I like this idea – but I don’t have a blender. Can this be mixed by heating or by some other method? I’d love to try it, my hair is so dry and tired this time of year.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Mira- I would try grating it and then putting it in a pot in the stove to melt it. That should work! Let me know if you try it.
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Shery Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 7:23 am
I don’t have a blender with a cup either, so I used a tall plastic cup and then a hand-blender (the kind you make thick soup with). There was no splatter
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January 22nd, 2010 at 3:30 am
This sounds great, I’ll be trying it asap. Thanks for sharing this.
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Wretha- You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
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January 22nd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
i just wanted to add a tip. if you make a batch that doesn’t really work for your hair, you can still use it for body wash. :0)
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
nanny_danny- Great tip! I hadn’t even thought about that.
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January 24th, 2010 at 1:28 am
Questions: Would it work with liquid soap, or does it have to be a bar? And could you use some kind of oil besides olive? Like vegetable?
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Jade- I would imagine that it would work with liquid soap. I can’t see why it wouldn’t! I think you could try an oil like sweet almond oil, or grapeseed oil. I don’t think I’d use vegetable (soy) oil. I think it would make a mess.
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January 28th, 2010 at 7:22 am
Hello! poor_skills, a livejournal community, linked to this a few weeks ago and I had it bookmarked.
Today I made my first shampoo and I’m psyched to try it out already
One question though, is it normal for it to take 1.5 cups of tea? I initially put 3/4ths a cup but the texture was airy, almost like whip cream, so I added more to make it liquid.
Second question; is it normal for it to ‘break down’? I can see the olive oil gathering up in the bottom.
And third- is it safe for daily use? I wanna make some for a few friends of mine who wash their hair frequently.
Thanks!
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Shery- Hi! It is normal to take that much water/ tea but you can make it the consistency you like.
Make sure blend it well. My hubby shakes his shampoo before he uses it.
I don’t see why it’s not safe for daily use. My hubby has used it everyday with great results! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.
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January 28th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I wonder if you put an emulsifier in it, like lecithin, it might not separate, just a thought…
Wretha
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Mrs Money Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Wretha- Great suggestion! Thanks for thinking of that.
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February 1st, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Just wanted to say I made a batch of the shampoo yesterday. I used Ivory soap and also added a little Jojoba oil. No essential oil, because I’m trying to save money and didn’t have any on-hand.
I am worried it’s going to dry our hair out, particularly my husband, who has a dry scalp in the first place. Here’s hoping it works out! We all used it for showers/baths last night and this morning. Thanks for sharing.
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Mrs Money Reply:
February 1st, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Hi Jennifer! I hope it works well for you. If it’s too drying, try washing your hair every other day.
Let me know if you need any other help!
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February 2nd, 2010 at 5:15 am
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February 22nd, 2010 at 6:19 am
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