Think I totally bombed first shampoo batch :(

[ThinLizzie59]

@KiwiMoose, people buy castile all the time -- or at least "Castile", loosely speaking. Dr. Bonner sells his soap as castile even though technically it isn't, and it is widely used for all kinds of purposes (there are like 20 different uses listed on the bottle). I used to buy it too .

@jessica rios, a lot of people here (although not everyone) will say that real soap is not good for hair because of its high alkalinity. You really should do a bit of research. If you do decide to use it, then I don't think you need to thin it out with that much water. Thickening with salt can be tricky; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but usually I have better luck using a strong salt solution (i.e., not just dumping the salt in the liquid I want to thicken but dissolving it first in a bit of warm water).

I have a very sensitive scalp. However, I made one very gentle soap which I find amazingly GENTLE on my scalp. So, it would depend what your ingredients are. Not all homemade soap is gentle enough to be used on your hair. There is no bar soap on the ‘market’ that I’d dare use on my hair. So, test your soap with Litmus paper or at least test it on the most sensitive area on your body, leave it there while you lather down the rest of yourself before rinsing it off. If it hasn’t irritated you there, it’s a pretty safe bet it won’t irritate your scalp.

 

[shunt2011]

I have a very sensitive scalp. However, I made one very gentle soap which I find amazingly GENTLE on my scalp. So, it would depend what your ingredients are. Not all homemade soap is gentle enough to be used on your hair. There is no bar soap on the ‘market’ that I’d dare use on my hair. So, test your soap with Litmus paper or at least test it on the most sensitive area on your body, leave it there while you lather down the rest of yourself before rinsing it off. If it hasn’t irritated you there, it’s a pretty safe bet it won’t irritate your scalp.

It has nothing to do with the scalp. The PH is too high for the hair. I used a very gentle bar with very little cleansing and had to cut my hair off short short. Litmus tells you nothing with soap. All we say is use it at your own risk.

 

[Susie]

I hate to tell you this, Kiwi, but Dr B's liquid soap is sold in New Zealand. At least it's available from a few shops in your country. I thought maybe one part of the world remained pristine and unsullied, but apparently not.

It's not very common where I live either -- I usually find it in "whole foods" markets which are located in larger towns and cities. I'm more likely to find Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products in the small country towns around me. At least the good Mrs M doesn't make the outrageous claims Dr B does, so her stuff doesn't set my teeth on edge.

Unfortunately, my Walmarts carry the stuff. I had to go into Walmart to pick up a few things and ran across it. Then I got to the checkout and overheard a woman explaining to her friend how she was going to use it to clean "everything" to kill the coronavirus, "because it is safe and will kill it".

 

[capecodblues]

Well, I wish I had come across this forum BEFORE I bought my gallon of castile soap to make shampoo & body wash from! Everything I was reading said you had to have castile soap as a base to make any liquid soap- body, shampoo, or otherwise. So, I made the recipe I had and it was so thin, I would never be able to sell something like that. So, stumbled on this group looking to see how to thicken. So, anyway, I'm just saying heck with it, I have a gallon of castile soap & I made some really nice foam pump hand soap-but that's the end of that.

I really would like to find a quality recipe that gives me professional looking shampoo & body wash, that looks good, feels good & works well. After reading a few of these comments, I wouldn't dare put my name on something that I would worry might damage someone's hair & I would be the first guinea pig in my human trials- I like my hair---so---not taking any chances! Oh & Hi! I'm Terie from Cape Cod, Ma., btw! I used to make soaps, salts & lotions about 20 years ago or so, and just getting back into it.

Anybody have a good recipe for liquid body soap & shampoo that won't shred beautiful hair?