Shampoo Bar Recipes
A cold process shampoo bar is a soap made for washing hair, usually with more coconut and castor oil for a quick, rich lather and enough conditioning oils to balance it. The recipes below are true soaps made with lye, not the detergent (syndet) bars sold as shampoo bars in many shops.
- Author:
soapbeans - Created:31/08/2023
- Views:1576
- Bubbly Lather36%
- Cleansing21%
- Condition53%
- Hardness43%
- Longevity22%
- Creamy Lather37%
- Iodine53%
- Ins158%
- Author:kuzani
- Created:15/11/2019
- Views:2703
- Bubbly Lather22%
- Cleansing13%
- Condition54%
- Hardness41%
- Longevity26%
- Creamy Lather35%
- Iodine57%
- Ins151%
- Author:LionLady
- Created:17/01/2019
- Views:1552
- Bubbly Lather39%
- Cleansing17%
- Condition63%
- Hardness30%
- Longevity12%
- Creamy Lather34%
- Iodine66%
- Ins138%
- Author:chickenside
- Created:14/12/2021
- Views:1838
- Bubbly Lather22%
- Cleansing13%
- Condition70%
- Hardness25%
- Longevity11%
- Creamy Lather20%
- Iodine81%
- Ins116%
- Author:mbleduc
- Created:31/05/2022
- Views:2255
- Bubbly Lather28%
- Cleansing22%
- Condition62%
- Hardness33%
- Longevity11%
- Creamy Lather17%
- Iodine73%
- Ins131%
- Author:AbberDabber
- Created:06/10/2020
- Views:816
- Bubbly Lather40%
- Cleansing21%
- Condition53%
- Hardness42%
- Longevity21%
- Creamy Lather40%
- Iodine52%
- Ins160%
- Author:Kirkette
- Created:11/12/2022
- Views:693
- Bubbly Lather40%
- Cleansing22%
- Condition51%
- Hardness45%
- Longevity23%
- Creamy Lather41%
- Iodine50%
- Ins160%
- Author:Stef Dogan
- Created:02/02/2023
- Views:603
- Bubbly Lather20%
- Cleansing15%
- Condition59%
- Hardness26%
- Longevity12%
- Creamy Lather17%
- Iodine79%
- Ins116%
What makes a good shampoo bar
- Castor oil helps the lather, so shampoo bars often use more of it than body bars, commonly 10% to 15%.
- Coconut or babassu oil gives the quick, bubbly lather that spreads through wet hair, though a lot of it can feel drying.
- Liquid oils such as olive, avocado or sunflower, or jojoba (a liquid wax), make the bar feel less stripping.
- Superfat is commonly around 5% to 8%; higher can leave hair feeling greasy.
Rinsing and the switch from liquid shampoo
Soap is alkaline and does not suit every hair type; color-treated, curly or fragile hair may do better with a detergent shampoo bar. With hard water, soap can leave hair feeling waxy or heavy. Many follow with a vinegar rinse, often about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a cup of water, never undiluted and kept out of the eyes, to help remove residue. Stop using it if your scalp gets irritated.
Extras in these recipes
Clay, egg, honey and apple cider vinegar appear in several of the recipes here. Anything acidic, such as vinegar, uses up some of the lye, and the lye amount from the oils does not account for it, so follow these recipes as written rather than adding vinegar to a different recipe.
Work safely with lye
Wear goggles and gloves, work with good ventilation, keep children and pets away, and always add lye to the liquid, never liquid to the lye. Mix it in stainless steel or a sturdy, heat-resistant #2 (HDPE) or #5 (PP) plastic container, never aluminum or glass.
If lye gets on your skin or in your eyes, rinse with plenty of running water for at least 15 minutes, taking off any splashed clothing (and contact lenses, if easy) as you rinse. Get medical or poison-control help for eye contact or burns. Do not use vinegar on skin or eyes.
Open any recipe above to see the full formula, then adapt it in the free soap calculator or browse all soap recipes.
