A Homemade Recipe for Natural Shampoo
At our house we are all different- as far as hair that is. I have dreadlocks, my husband has thick curly hair, Oliver has really fine kid hair and Jackson has thick blond hair.So finding a shampoo that would work for us all didn't even seem to be an option so I just stopped thinking about it. Then one day I decided that I wanted to make my own for dreadlocks, because dreadlock specialty soap is stinkin' spendy! Brad wanted to try it too, and then the boys- by mistake I have brought us all together under one uniting shampoo!
I looked around for a bit and found some good ideas on natural hair care here, and was excited to see that she was using tons of other ideas that I already loved-such as the coconut oil, I just can't get enough of that stuff!!
After a bit of browsing, I came up with this recipe and it works for all of us. Since we are trying to simplify one shampoo for us all is a good step to take. Before this we used the Burt's Bees tear free for the boys, no-residue dreadlock shampoo for me, and Brad used an anti-dandruff shampoo and conditioner. We've eliminated all of those (well the boys are still finishing up their last bottle of Burt's) and now just have this nifty spray bottle thingy. We all love the lather that comes out of this green bottle, and knowing what is in our products makes life even better.
It works so well for Brad and I, it isn't anti-dandruff and (as I predicted) he hasn't had a problem with dandruff in the last 3 months since our switch-over.
A Homemade Recipe for Natural Shampoo
1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Lavender Doctor Bronner's Multi-Purpose Soap
4 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon of Glycerin
6 Drops Tea Tree Oil
6 Drops Lavender Oil
6 Drops Ylang Ylang Oil
Combine all in a bowl or Pyrex measuring container (I use the one with the spout for easy pouring). Stir together and then pour into your spray bottle. These can be purchased anywhere. I got this one at Bi-Mart. You are done, now go wash your hair!
This recipe can be tweaked to meet your needs, it will leave your hair with more of its natural oils in it as it is not a commercial shampoo meant to strip all oils out of your hair- however if you find it just too much leave out the glycerin the next time around.
Also check out my Homemade Bath Salts Recipes!
If you make this recipe, or have your own-please share! I'd love to hear from you.
Enjoy this article?
The Latest Posts:
- We Loved With A Love That Was More Than Love.
- He’s more myself than I am.
- Valentine,You Must Allow Me To Tell You…
- Stones of Remembrance Because I Love Him: Mommy Jewellery
- Marked by Blessing
- Despair is Losing its Grip, a Lasting Peace Filling its Fingerprints
- Transformed Through Pain, Learning Who I Am Now.
- May There Be Beauty from This Pain.
I (adoringly) HEART—>
December 30th, 2009 - 12:02
Great recipe! I’ve used baking soda dissolved in water to wash and diluted ac vinegar with a bit of lavender oil to rinse, but it’s such a cumbersome process, I always end up going back to shampoo and conditioner, even though I much prefer the results of soda/vinegar. Anyway, I’m eager to give your recipe a try!
January 1st, 2010 - 23:57
Let me know how this works for you! Know that like I did say in the post it does leave your hair with more oils than a regular shampoo. That is a good thing though.
I hope it works for you too!!!
January 25th, 2010 - 09:53
hi, i was wandering if its ok to use this recipe if you have dreadlocks? thanx :)
January 25th, 2010 - 10:01
Yes you can! I do! But I also have pretty mature dreads, so if yours are newer you should test it carefully. I would only be sure to get all the soap out, by rinsing way more than you think you need to (so as to avoid any possible build-up of soap) and make sure you use some moisturizer when it is drying. I get out of the shower and then towel dry and then add coconut oil- to really moisturize my dreads. I also only wash them once every month and a half or so. If you wash more often you may need a more gentle shampoo.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
January 26th, 2010 - 13:01
thanx!! :) do you know any others?
February 6th, 2010 - 10:28
hey, i’d love to hear how you’ve gotten your dreadlocks to this stage, they look beautiful, very clean and neat. i have dark, very straight hair, and have been struggling with my new dreads. i’ve managed to get past the dandruff stage as my scalp got used to the dreads, but other things drive me wild. for example, the white tips left behind as my hair naturally sheds drives me nuts because it looks like dandruff! how do you deal with that?
March 23rd, 2010 - 14:56
It just takes time, really. Mine looked pretty sickly for the first year and a half (ask my friends!!!!) but over time the issues seem to just work themselves out. I would say just let them be and you’ll reap the benefits later on. Dreads are not for the fidgety person- just let them do their thing. Let me know if you have more questions!!!!
March 23rd, 2010 - 14:50
I want to try this but I have some questions. Are you using distilled water? Also are you using the distilled AC vinegar (like you can get at any grocery store) or the more natural one with the “mother”? Thanks!
March 23rd, 2010 - 14:54
I don’t use distilled, just regular tap water. And I do use ACV from the grocery store. I am sure distilled water would be great, and the more natural ACV would be excellent too. I just used what I had. :P Let me know if you have other questions!!!
November 5th, 2010 - 13:02
I’ve been looking for a replacement for the dread shampoo I’ve been using–those specialty products last a long time, but they’re expensive. Stumbled across this and am going to the store to pick up a couple things and then I’ll be trying this out. Thanks.
January 4th, 2012 - 09:23
I just made this! Thanks for the recipe! One question I had was if you needed to add the ylang ylang and lavendar oils? (I don’t have them and would have to go buy them.) Also, when I added the vinegar to the Dr. Bronners it curdled/solidified? So I have white chunks in it. It does’t affect the spray, I just wasn’t expecting that since your picture looks clear. Did yours do that? Thanks! I can’t wait to go try it out!!
January 4th, 2012 - 10:20
No problem, glad you got to make it. No, the oils are not required I just like smelling like lavender or the ylang ylang over vinegar and it does offset that quite a bit. The problem with solidifying is one I have had a couple of times when making this recipe. It doesn’t always seem to happen so it must be the order of how I add ingredients. If I am making it in a bowl and can stir them out they mostly will dissolve. Also once it is in the bottle if there are any I just shake it a little and they are gone. Hope that helps :)