Easy Homemade DIY Shampoo Bar Recipe Without Lye

Did you know you can make your own shampoo bars? You can. Here's an easy homemade DIY shampoo bar recipe without lye.

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Recently, we've been experimenting with making our own soap recipes. And the girls and I have been having a lot of fun making homemade soap and trying various herbs, oils, and natural ingredients in our skincare products.

How to Make Your Own Shampoo Bars

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Over the years, I've experimented with several different homemade shampoo bar recipes. I used to have very long hair, and so does one of my daughters, and it seemed we were buying expensive shampoo weekly.

Anyhow, while some homemade shampoo recipes smelled great, many times I didn't feel the finished product left us with clean hair.  That's why we were thrilled with this recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients: What You'll Need

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Ingredients

Here's what you'll need for this homemade shampoo bar recipe made without lye. And by the way, if you follow this up with my DIY hair butter your hair will be even smoother.

• 1 lb. Goats milk melt & pour soap base 
• 1 teaspoon Shea butter 
• 2 teaspoons Castor Oil 
• 15 - 20 drops of Essential Oils
• *1 teaspoon Castille soap

*Note: Avoid adding Castille soap to your melt and pour shampoo bars if you have color-treated hair or hard water; it will not affect the recipe.

Tools

You will also need the following tools to make your own shampoo soap bars. If you're feeling like a full-on natural spa day, try a scoop of my fragrant hibiscus DIY sugar scrub exfoliant when you're in the shower!

• Glass measuring cup with lip 
• Rubber spatula
• Silicone mold  
• Sharp knife 
• Measuring spoons

Directions for shampoo bar recipe without lye

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Here's how to make your own homemade solid shampoo bars.

1. Cut the soap base into small chunks for easier melting.
2. Place in large measuring cup and heat in microwave for 1 minute, stir and repeat at 30-second intervals until completely melted.
3. Stir in shea butter, castor oil, essential oils, and castille soap. Mix all ingredients well.
4. Fill the soap molds using the spout on your cup for easier pouring.
5. Allow molds to sit undisturbed for several hours until it has completely hardened.
6. Remove each bar from the mold and store it in a cool, dry place.

Why Make Beauty Products?

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For our family, soapmaking is an enjoyable homestead craft and a fun homeschool activity. In addition, I like knowing that we're making cold process soap safely and without the potentially dangerous chemical content of storebought soap.

As beginner soap makers, we started with a goat's milk melt-and-pour base method. You'll see examples of soap bars we made in our goat milk soaps post.

This past summer, we made gardener's soap with coffee - it works so well. As fall rolls around, we'll make another batch of harvest-spiced beeswax lip balm, too. And just last week, we tried a new recipe for beeswax and coconut oil lip balm with honey.

This winter we're also making some therapeutic soaks and salts like this easy eucalyptus bath salts recipe. It's relaxing but also soothing for sinus issues and colds.

While lye is a natural product, I wanted one the kids and I could make without lye (sodium hydroxide) when we created this easy shampoo bar recipe. And also one that uses the cold process method because that's what we started with, and we still need to make the leap to hot process soap. 

After trying various homemade shampoo recipes, we finally found a basic one we liked. 

The best part? You don't need to handle a dangerous lye solution or have any special equipment (besides a soap mold) to make this great recipe.

Switch out the ingredients to create an easy custom shampoo bar for you and everyone else in the family. You can make four to six bars per pound of soap base, assuming you make four or five ounce shampoo bars.

Why Use a Homemade Shampoo Bar

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Why would you even use a shampoo bar over a liquid shampoo? Well, for several reasons.

It's Economical

Using a homemade bar of soap to wash your hair is more economical than using traditional shampoo.

Shampoo bars are inexpensive, especially if you buy your ingredients in bulk, and they last a long time.

We get many more uses out of one shampoo bar than one regular-sized bottle of shampoo. Generally, one shampoo bar lasts about three to four months, although I have medium-length hair.

Convenience

We also find shampoo bars easy to travel with. They're much more convenient to carry than a bulky, possibly leaking shampoo bottle.

Gentle and Natural

This shampoo bar recipe without lye is gentle on hair, too. You can use ingredients that help rather than strip oils from your hair, dry out your scalp, or irritate your hair follicles.

Skip Hair Conditioner

With hair conditioning ingredients right into the bar, you don't necessarily need additional hair conditioner. If you want to use conditioner, watch for our homemade hair conditioner recipe coming in November.

Easy to Customize Shampoo

You can choose the right ingredients with a simple switch to the recipe for your hair needs.

Homemade shampoo bars FAQs

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Here are some frequently asked questions about making and using a homemade shampoo bar.

How do I use it?

Using this shampoo bar recipe without lye is easy.

First, soak your hair with warm water. 

Next, lather the shampoo bar in your hands well. 

Then rub the rich lather into your hair, starting at the scalp, and massage it into the scalp for several minutes with your fingers.

Finally, rinse, and if desired, use a conditioner or an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse.

Which essential oil should I add to my shampoo bar?

This is the fun part.

Experiment with different oils when ready to make your own shampoo bar. Try different shampoo bar recipes.

Different recipes call for different natural ingredients. Finding the best shampoo bar recipe that suits your hair type, skin type, and scalp's natural oils may take some trial and error.

Here are some oils to try.

Try bergamot, lemon, cedarwood, grapefruit, or clary sage in your shampoo bars if you have oily hair. 

For frizzy hair or curly hair, try adding ylang-ylang.

And if you suffer from dandruff, itchy scalp or dry hair, give geranium, bay Leaf (laurel), tea tree, or patchouli essential oils a try.

Note: use one drop of geranium as it is very fragrant.

If you have blonde hair (colored or natural), add German chamomile to your shampoo bar recipe.

Add one to two drops of rosemary oil to promote hair growth and shiny hair.

If you're losing hair, add any of the following: cedarwood, lemon, grapefruit, clary sage or rosemary essential oils.

Finally, include rosewood and lemongrass oils in your shampoo bar recipe for thin or flat hair.

Additionally, when you make your own shampoo bar soap, you can swap out any of these natural oils instead of castor oil:

• argan oil
• avocado oil
• sweet almond oil
• olive oil
• coconut oil
• jojoba oil

Make your DIY shampoo bar based on what you have on hand and your hair needs.

How should I condition my hair after using a shampoo bar?

Do you want a simple natural conditioner to go along with this easy shampoo bar recipe? If you have normal hair, you'll find you don't need to use a conditioner after using a shampoo bar because of the natural oil ingredients in this recipe.

However, if you have oily hair, you might want to use a rinse.

After you shampoo your hair, use a natural acidic rinse such as apple cider vinegar or lemon juice diluted with water on your wet hair and leave it in. My older daughter likes this treatment for her oily hair. 

Note: Don't worry. The vinegar smell will disappear after drying, so you won't smell. You can also spray it on your hair with a few drops of essential oils.

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