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Pihla

New Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2019
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Location
Worcestershire, UK
Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum whilst looking for advice about shampoo bars causing a waxy residue on my hair. Then I noticed this is a discussion forum, for soap making! I've not made soap, but I'm very interested in skincare, and have been using natural, organic, and sustainably produced skincare for years. Then a few weeks ago at dinner with my sister-in-law I mentioned a skincare range that use vine leaves in their formulations, and she suggested I should do the same, after all the family own a vineyard and we have a lot of leftovers that we don't know what to do with.

So to start with I'm only here to really read and research, but the idea of making my own soap does appeal to me. I already use DIY cleaning solutions (mainly vinegar and lemons) around the house, and because of the winery we already have caustic soda lurking around so it seems to make sense that I try making something more advanced.

Excited about beginning my learning!
 
Hi Pihala. I am sure that you can find plenty of information here in this forum about soap making. I've been making soap for 26 years now, and I've spent several years trying to improve the soap so that it's good for hair.. Please feel free to ask me anything, or feel free to join my thread which I've started recently about making pure soap in general. thanks!

Note: I can think of two main aspects regarding hair bars, that is 1- the process of making soap, and 2- the ingredients.
 
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Welcome! I'm pretty new to the forum too, but like you my beginnings in DIY are with skin and haircare. I created a haircare line years ago and sold for a while, but (for me) the business aspect took all the joy from it. I still make my own products, and a great deal of my skincare - and about a year ago I started making my own soap. I am finding a great deal of information in this forum and learning a lot, and I am sure you will as well. I will warn you - once you do start making soap it becomes a bit of an addiction!
 
Welcome! I'm pretty new to the forum too, but like you my beginnings in DIY are with skin and haircare. I created a haircare line years ago and sold for a while, but (for me) the business aspect took all the joy from it. I still make my own products, and a great deal of my skincare - and about a year ago I started making my own soap. I am finding a great deal of information in this forum and learning a lot, and I am sure you will as well. I will warn you - once you do start making soap it becomes a bit of an addiction!

This sounds wonderful runnerchiki! I've started a thread somewhere else here in this forum about making pure olive oil soap, or pure soap in general, please take a look if you wish to explore the process.. I am all excited to learn about your blends for skin care!
 
Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum whilst looking for advice about shampoo bars causing a waxy residue on my hair.


animated-welcome-image-0279.gif to the forum.
The residue you are feeling most likely from using "soap" shampoo bars and is soap scum. No matter what is mentioned in post #2 Soap is very bad for hair. Even so-called "Pure Soap". If it is soap made with lye (NaOH or KOH) the ph is still too high for hair and soap scum is bad for hair and the scalp. That is one reason shampoo made with synthetics came into existence. Not everything in this world that is synthetic is Bad.
 
Thanks all :)
The shampoo bars don't have lye as an ingredient, but beyond that I don't know if they're soap based or not.
I have a lot to learn, but should be fun!
 
I agree with cmzaha, though to a certain extent. Soap can be harmful or harsh to the hair and the body too being a sodium or potassium salt. Even though I have been making soap for almost 30 years now, I ended up bathing with water alone most of the time, without using neither "natural" nor "synthetic" soap. Never the less, for example using pure olive oil soap, both for the body and the hair has been favored by hundreds of thousands of people here in the region, and around the world.. So I would't tend to generalize by saying soap is very bad for hair, even the so called pure; have you tried it? :) cheers

Note: I think that the point is any cleaning product, regardless, is a salt sort of. And extending, or too much use of that (too much cleaning with a salt) can damage hair.
 
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Hello everyone,

I stumbled upon this forum whilst looking for advice about shampoo bars causing a waxy residue on my hair. Then I noticed this is a discussion forum, for soap making! I've not made soap, but I'm very interested in skincare, and have been using natural, organic, and sustainably produced skincare for years. Then a few weeks ago at dinner with my sister-in-law I mentioned a skincare range that use vine leaves in their formulations, and she suggested I should do the same, after all the family own a vineyard and we have a lot of leftovers that we don't know what to do with.

So to start with I'm only here to really read and research, but the idea of making my own soap does appeal to me. I already use DIY cleaning solutions (mainly vinegar and lemons) around the house, and because of the winery we already have caustic soda lurking around so it seems to make sense that I try making something more advanced.

Excited about beginning my learning!


When you are ready, I can post some of my Shampoo bar recipes. My daughter has very sensitive skin and uses my shampoo to get her hair nice and clean, it even cleared up her dandruff! We do personal, and then a test group, testing on every recipe we mix up first. If it is a bad batch, we will know with in a week of testing.
 
I agree with cmzaha, though to a certain extent. Soap can be harmful or harsh to the hair and the body too being a sodium or potassium salt. Even though I have been making soap for almost 30 years now, I ended up bathing with water alone most of the time, without using neither "natural" nor "synthetic" soap. Never the less, for example using pure olive oil soap, both for the body and the hair has been favored by hundreds of thousands of people here in the region, and around the world.. So I would't tend to generalize by saying soap is very bad for hair, even the so called pure; have you tried it? :) cheers

Note: I think that the point is any cleaning product, regardless, is a salt sort of. And extending, or too much use of that (too much cleaning with a salt) can damage hair.


I agree with you. My daughter can't use any shampoo with sulfates in it. Finding a shampoo that worked for her was expensive and a failure. She now uses my bars exclusively and her hair is thick and shinny.
 

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