Has anyone made dog/ pet soap before? @Zany_in_CO , would ZNSC work for pets? Anyone else have other recipe suggestions? Any idea what, or even if I should put in a FO or EO? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Dog Soap?
- Thread starter CreativeWeirdo
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I don’t recall the source, but I read that lavender essential oil is actually very bad for dogs.
THAT'S important to know! Many people swear by lavender EO for a calming effect! Thanks for telling me! I'll have into that more; I just haven't found anything specifically about a CP dog soap in my Googling.
You can find lots of threads here by searching for dog shampoo, dog soap, etc. You will need to do research on each essential oil you are thinking about using. Many are not safe for pets. Also keep in mind that dogs have a much more highly developed sense of smell than humans, so use the EO you choose sparingly. Lastly, the pH of dog's skin is quite different from ours. Bottom line for me - I won't use lye based soap on my dog. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't - others do. This is just what I have decided for myself and my dog.
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Years ago, my ex-DIL was a dog groomer. She asked me to make soap for her. I did the research and learned basically what @dibbles said above -- lye-based soap is not recommended. Since Fido's sense of smell is 1,000 times better than ours, scenting dog shampoo is not recommended.
All that being said, there is a SOAPLESS SHAMPOO recipe in Catherine Failor's Liquid Soap book that works for dogs:
"1 cup sulfonated castor oil (aka "Turkey Red Oil")
1 tablespoon glycerin
1 tablespoon mineral oil or baby oil
Fragrance of choice (Google "Essential Oils for Flea Control")
Mix all ingredients together. No heating is necessary because sulfonated castor oil is so soluable. "At first, it's going to feel quite strange applying a latherless oil to the hair instead of soap, but you'll be pleasantly surprised -- sulfonated castor oil makes a very decent shampoo."
Long story short, I gave my former DIL a gallon of Red Turkey Oil and the recipe to try. I never heard back from her whether it worked or not.
ETA: Do not substitute Sulfonated Castor Oil for regular castor oil to make soap -- is NOT saponifiable. It is water soluble though and therefore it can be added to finished LS as a superfatting agent. If memory serves, it was developed for the textile industry for better penetration of dyes and to improve brightness. I need to look that up. Maybe somebody else knows.
I believe that is true. My DIL would put a dot of lavender EO behind each ear of the dog she was grooming to keep them calm during the process.
All that being said, there is a SOAPLESS SHAMPOO recipe in Catherine Failor's Liquid Soap book that works for dogs:
"1 cup sulfonated castor oil (aka "Turkey Red Oil")
1 tablespoon glycerin
1 tablespoon mineral oil or baby oil
Fragrance of choice (Google "Essential Oils for Flea Control")
Mix all ingredients together. No heating is necessary because sulfonated castor oil is so soluable. "At first, it's going to feel quite strange applying a latherless oil to the hair instead of soap, but you'll be pleasantly surprised -- sulfonated castor oil makes a very decent shampoo."
Long story short, I gave my former DIL a gallon of Red Turkey Oil and the recipe to try. I never heard back from her whether it worked or not.
ETA: Do not substitute Sulfonated Castor Oil for regular castor oil to make soap -- is NOT saponifiable. It is water soluble though and therefore it can be added to finished LS as a superfatting agent. If memory serves, it was developed for the textile industry for better penetration of dyes and to improve brightness. I need to look that up. Maybe somebody else knows.
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Dog SHAMPOO!!! I didn't think of searching that! I was searching "dog" "dog soap" "pet" "pet soap"; never even thought about dog shampoo. Obviously this wasn't my idea LOL It was a request by a neighbour, and all I said was that I would look into it. I'm going to give it a pass! Thank you so much @dibbles and @Zany_in_CO for your insight! Much appreciated!
lianasouza
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I imagine it is important to use a tear free product, so maybe a neutral ph shampoo would be better than a bar of soap.
I make a dog soap - lye based. It's pretty much my standard recipe with a few tweaks and includes neem oil. We used to buy dog soap ( lye-based) from the pet store, so I just started making it myself. Dogs skin has a higher pH than humans, so my reckoning is that, if anything, they should be able to tolerate it better than us. I still use a 5% superfat.
I found lots of conflicting information about which essential oils to use for dogs. Some would say tea tree is a no-no, others would say tea tree is fine. Mint is another no-no. In the end, I went for a blend of EOS that NONE of the sites said could be problematic. If even one site said it was an issue I didn't include it:
Cedarwood 10g, Lemon Eucalyptus 10g, Sweet Orange 10g, Marjoram 6g
I've had several of my friends use the soap on their dogs with no problems. However, that's not to say that someone might have problems with it one day.
Here's Maggie choosing which bar she wants to be washed with:
I found lots of conflicting information about which essential oils to use for dogs. Some would say tea tree is a no-no, others would say tea tree is fine. Mint is another no-no. In the end, I went for a blend of EOS that NONE of the sites said could be problematic. If even one site said it was an issue I didn't include it:
Cedarwood 10g, Lemon Eucalyptus 10g, Sweet Orange 10g, Marjoram 6g
I've had several of my friends use the soap on their dogs with no problems. However, that's not to say that someone might have problems with it one day.
Here's Maggie choosing which bar she wants to be washed with:
Actually, I'm almost certain that Maggie is deciding where to bury them all, and hoping you will forget about bathing altogether once they are out of sight. 
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
With all due respect, @lianasouza & @AliOop, I didn't learn to make soap to go back to using synthetics and chemicals on my body. But that's just me. This same discussion over using lye-based soap vs. syndets came up in 2017 when I first joined SMF. It was a VERY sensitive subject and the discussion of lye-based shampoo bars had been banned at that time due to the highly emotional reactions it caused.
Lye-based shampoo bars were a popular topic of conversation on every other group/forum I had been on since I first joined a forum in 2004. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I was pilloried unmercifully (albeit, by well-intentioned SMF members) for broaching the topic.
Eventually, those members came to accept the fact that they were an option for those of us who wanted to avoid detergents, synthetics and chemicals.
If you Google "All Natural Dog Shampoo" you will be amazed at the number of options available! There are also "holistic vets" that approve their use! Up until now, I had no idea! I am SO grateful to @CreativeWeirdo for starting this thread. I learned something today! Knowing there are options will help me to help others moving forward.
If I had a dog, I would treat him just like any other member of the family and find a dog shampoo that worked for him and duplicate it.
I researched more on EO‘s with dogs. Lavender is dangerous if dogs eat quantities of it. Reading between the lines, a rinse off product should be fine. Some other oils, like cinnamon and citrus, are listed as no no’s. Some of the aromatherapy products questionable. The bigger Takeaway is that on the Internet we are very good at reposting and re-publishing information that may or may not be correct. Best to double check at a trusted primary source. Are Essential Oils Safe for Dogs? There Are Quite a Few Risks Involved
Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Thank you @KiwiMoose for your valued input! Maggie seems absolutely precious and is a very good mascot!
And yes, extensive research is extremely important! I just like to have a starting off point. And if all of you people have already spent the time and energy to gain the wealth of practical knowledge that you all do, and are willing to share (the reason why I love this site), I am absolutely willing wanting to be a sponge to listen and learn.
Oops! Sorry for my ignorance in the subject; specially since I never even thought of categorizing it as "shampoo" instead of "soap". But I'm NOT sorry for asking real questions in the name of education! There IS SO much information out there in the world, and when you try to do a simple search, even that is skewed by algorithms, sponsored ads, and money someone is willing to put into their websites and SEO.
Generally, in life, I think it is important to reach out to individuals directly to learn. You are human beings with valid experiences that And I think it's important to continue having conversations over and over, because maybe things have changed. Technology may be different; people's experiences may be different. Life is a constant evolution of growth, development, and learning.
@Zany_in_CO you have validated me in many ways on here without even knowing; I'm glad I could return the favour for once. Thank you for being you! <3
EDIT: I made a terrible spelling mistake and it was irritating me!
And yes, extensive research is extremely important! I just like to have a starting off point. And if all of you people have already spent the time and energy to gain the wealth of practical knowledge that you all do, and are willing to share (the reason why I love this site), I am absolutely willing wanting to be a sponge to listen and learn.
Oops! Sorry for my ignorance in the subject; specially since I never even thought of categorizing it as "shampoo" instead of "soap". But I'm NOT sorry for asking real questions in the name of education! There IS SO much information out there in the world, and when you try to do a simple search, even that is skewed by algorithms, sponsored ads, and money someone is willing to put into their websites and SEO.
Generally, in life, I think it is important to reach out to individuals directly to learn. You are human beings with valid experiences that And I think it's important to continue having conversations over and over, because maybe things have changed. Technology may be different; people's experiences may be different. Life is a constant evolution of growth, development, and learning.
@Zany_in_CO you have validated me in many ways on here without even knowing; I'm glad I could return the favour for once. Thank you for being you! <3
EDIT: I made a terrible spelling mistake and it was irritating me!
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lianasouza
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I think Plant Therapy must be a good source of info about about EOs for dogs. Their Kids Safe line is Tissserand approved, so I guess someone equally qualified checked their Pup and Pony products.
No worries, no highly emotional reactions from me. Not yet.
My cousin is a vet so I'll double check with her, eventually. She's SO busy, and I don't want to bother her with "work talk" for too long. I'd rather collect my own information, and then confirm/double check with her. She knows a lot about products that are commercially available because she has always been an animal person since she's been a kid, including horses. Growing up, she used to compete and show horses, and she used to bring her dogs to agility competitions too. So she understands the dermalogical needs, I just don't want to overwhelm her with my idiocy.
To be fair, I had read that it couldn’t be used in soaps. Further research mentioned eating it.
And I liken this to the same conversations I have with human health and whether to run with my GPs approach or a naturopath's approach. I have had success with both. Sometimes my doctor misses (or dismisses) obvious things that I think are signals to a health problem, and a naturopath might give those same things attention and thus find a cure/remedy. In my opinion, the best human health care can be achieved by taking a combined approach - with information from both sides of the spectrum.
My first hand experience with this was with my son's dreadful eczema at only 5 months old. The GP did nothing other than prescribe hydrocortisone cream. When i asked if it could be something (baby was breastfed) I was eating she said "of course not"! Turns out ( thanks to the naturopath) that it was very much to do with what I was eating, and as soon as I cut those items from my diet ( dairy, eggs, nuts) my sons eczema cleared up virtually overnight!
@Zany_in_CO I don’t understand why your comment above was directed to me. I didn’t say anything about syndets or weigh in about dog soap at all. My only comment was a joke about how dogs generally don’t like bathing.
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Zany_in_CO
Saponifier
Oh my goodness! I'm SO sorry! I didn't get that at all. My bad.
Glad you asked the question @CreativeWeirdo. Thanks so much for everyone's input , but especially Maggie's via @KiwiMoose. I've been thinking of trying to make a soap bar for my dog. These ideas will get me started.
