Homemade shampoo - easy and mild...

mary43

Oh thanks for that info MUMOF4 - we already use soap nuts for washing, hadn't really looked into using them for anything else.
I'm all for alternative shampoos where possible..........not just for the chemicals in them but they're not exactly cheap.

greenbee

Health food shops are good for chemical-free products, but read the ingredients carefully, as some of them aren't as pure/natural/organic as they would like you to believe (even in health food shops ).

Natural - can be used if 1% :rolleyes: of ingredients are natural, so is likely to contain synthetic chemicals
Organic - only has to have a tiny amount of organic ingredients, so look for certification by the Soil Association (UK), BIDH (Germany) or ECO-CERT (France) all of which set high standards.

The main ingredients to avoid are:

Methyl, Propyl, Butyl & Ethyl Parben
Deithanolamine (DEA)
Triethanolamine (TEA)
Propylene Glycol
Sodium Laureth/Lauryl Sulphate
Formaldehyde
Petrolatum (Petroleum jelly)
Diazolidinyl Urea
Imidasolindinyl Urea

For more information, the Women's Environmental Network has lots of useful info. I tend to use:

Dr Bronner's castile soap (you hardly need any so it lasts forever)
Faith in Nature (you can bulk buy on line to keep costs down)
Weleda (not organic, but no synthetic chemicals)
Lavera

There are masses of companies out there now doing this kind of thing, so you aren't restricted for choice in the way you would have been a few years ago.

kellitots

Nice_Username wrote: »

Hi

I was wondering if anybody knew of alternatives to shampoo? My reason for this is twofold, wanting a) to stop my skin absorbing all those chemicals that are used (having read an article in The Ecologist magazine yesterday) and b) it also occured to me that I could save a great deal of money.

Any ideas welcome.

Get a shampoo bar from Lush! They are all-natural (no nasty chemicals) and leave your hair looking and feeling gorgeous. The one I use is called Reincarnate which has henna in, a big block costs a few quid but you only need 1g for each wash so a 100g block lasts 100 washes, I think it works out at 3-4p per wash

And no I don't work for Lush (I wish I did). xx

Nice_Username

Thanks for the tips.....went out this afternoon and bought a jar of baking soda and a bottle of apple cider vinegar. Mixed a tablespoon of the soda with half a litre of warm water, rubbed into the scalp for a couple of minutes and rinsed with apple cider vinegar (2 tablespoons diluted with warm water). My hair feels lovely and clean, will definitely stick with this. :beer:

kellitots

The apple cider vinegar rinse sounds great, it is supposed to be good for almost everything, I have been meaning to get hold of some. Where is the best place to buy it? I never seem to notice it on sale!

[Deleted User]

years ago when money was very scarce and things were very tight my late Mum grated some of a green bar of Fairy washing soap and put it in an jam jar about a third then topped it up with some water. It worked o.k and as kids we wouldn't argue with Mum whatever she did bless her. It was just after the war, and there wasn't the luxuries around in the shops like there is now .Certainly not conditioner, it was a quick rince with vinegar to give it a shine .I had long hair at the time and hated smelling like a bag of chips but the smell soon went off. My two brothers never seemed to mind Saying that I never had nits, even though I had long hair. It was plaited everyday and woe betide you if you lost a ribbon. Now my hair is just returning after chemotherapy and I can't wait to go to the hairdressers and have a nice style put in At the moment I look like a two-toned zebra with a very short brush cut, for some reason the chemo has turned my hair from very fair to dark and I have lots of white streaks in it .Hey ho one of the wonders of chemicals I suppose but it beats polishing my head as I had to earlier this year

Magentasue

You can buy big containers of cider vinegar from agricultural merchants. equine supplies places or country-style pet shops. Can't remember how much I paid for last lot but much cheaper than buying bottles from supermarket.

Gigervamp

kellitots wrote: »

Get a shampoo bar from Lush! They are all-natural (no nasty chemicals) and leave your hair looking and feeling gorgeous. The one I use is called Reincarnate which has henna in, a big block costs a few quid but you only need 1g for each wash so a 100g block lasts 100 washes, I think it works out at 3-4p per wash

Lush products are hardly natural. The main ingredient in the Reincarnate bar is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. SLS isn't a particularly mild surfactant, and all of the *chemicals* listed are all synthetically made.
What they also don't mention is that the ingredient limonene, which they explain as occuring naturally in essential oils, is actually an allergen. Currently there are 27 allergens found in essential and synthetic perfume oils that must be listed in order to comply with the EU Cosmetic regulations. (I know about this because I make soaps etc)

But back to the original question, just ordinary soap with a vinegar rinse works well for some people.

Pink.

Hi Nice Username,

There's an earlier thread with some recipes for homemade shampoo that may help too so I've added your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

kellitots

Sorry

I guess if you are looking to eliminate every last chemical then Lush is not the way to go! But I still think they use less nasties than most shampoos out there -especially for the price.

I didn't mean to mislead anyone though.