Cleanse your hair gently with this DIY clarifying shampoo that uses natural surfactants to remove dirt and leave your hair clean and soft.
Because many of you have found me through my soap recipes (like my liquid Castile soap or my easy beginner soap), I often get requests for a soap-based shampoo. While I love making soap, I never use soap for my hair because it leaves my hair dry and unmanageable. Some people are able to cleanse their hair with Castile soap and are quite happy with it, but I’m not one of those people.
Why not use liquid Castile soap?
I’m not alone, though. Castile soap isn’t an ideal shampoo for hair because the pH of soap is high yet our hair and scalp have a more acidic pH. Not only can an alkaline shampoo increase the negative charge in the hair making the hair more prone to friction and damage, but it can also be irritating to your scalp.
In an attempt to remedy this issue, most people who wash their hair with soap or soap-based “shampoos” will follow it up with a vinegar rinse to lower the pH again. Not everybody reacts well to vinegar rinses either. I, again, am one of those people and I don’t like the feel of my hair after a vinegar rinse.
Choose natural surfactants
You want a “natural” alternative, but soap may not be the best option. So what’s left?
Natural surfactants, of course!
Surfactants have a bit of a bad rap. It’s partly because harsher surfactants like SLS Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate can be found in just about every conventional product at the supermarket. It can be found in everything from household cleaners to shampoos, shower gels, and even toothpaste! (You can make your own toothpaste sans SLS, too!)
I’m actually not even an SLS hater, to be honest. (Shocked?) I use it in my homemade version of Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds just like they do (I’ll share my recipe soon!), but I reserve it for general cleaning around the house. For my skin and hair, I choose milder, more natural surfactants instead!
With time, more natural surfactants are being developed to meet consumer demands! I wrote more about them and shared a list of some of my favorites in my post about working with natural surfactants! (If you aren’t familiar with natural surfactants, I recommend reading that post as a great starting point for making your own homemade products!)
Who is this shampoo best for?
Because this is a fairly gentle shampoo, it should work well with most, if not all, hair types.
Those who follow the curly girl method for developing waves or curls and keeping their hair hydrated can use this shampoo as a “low poo” alternative. (No, I didn’t come up with that term.) It makes a good starting point for beginning the process and for occasional washings when normally using co-wash.
You can use it as often as works best for your hair. I have been developing my natural waviness over the last few years by rarely using shampoos and sticking to very gentle ones when I do. I usually use this shampoo around once a week and for my other “washing,” I either co-wash with my homemade conditioner or I use a DIY conditioning shampoo. (Yet another recipe that I’ll be sharing with you shortly!)
Why make your own clarifying shampoo?
It’s very difficult these days to find shampoos free of harsher surfactants like SLS. When you make your own shampoo, you can control which surfactants you use.
Many shampoos also have other ingredients that may not be right for your hair. They may contain non-water soluble silicones, harsh preservatives, and artificial fragrances.
Customizing your DIY clarifying shampoo
What it comes down to, though, is that when you make a product, you can control the ingredients and customize the recipe to suit your needs. While most of us aren’t that in tune to our hair and will use just about any shampoo that doesn’t have harmful ingredients, those that are doing processes like the curly girl method to maintain perfectly hydrated curls and waves are often very in tune to what their hair needs in terms of vitamins and proteins. Your hair may show more need for protein, for example, so you can adjust the amount you add to your hair care products. Looking for a shampoo without protein, you can make it without too! Making your own shampoo allows you to fine tune it to perfectly suit your hair from batch to batch.
Vitamins and Proteins
In this shampoo, I chose to use d-panthenol (provitamin B5) to help nourish the hair, but you could also add some hydrolyzed wheat protein or silk protein to give your hair extra nutrients. (Just use the suggested range for each particular ingredients, as suggested by the supplier, and exchange any water-soluble additions for part of the water in the recipe.)
Distilled water or floral waters
In the shampoo in the photos, I actually used an infusion of peppermint leaves in distilled water as the water component of the recipe. I like mint for shampoos because it leaves your scalp feeling nice and refreshed, and just feels clean to me. That refreshing feeling is said to help stimulate the circulation in the scalp and may help stimulate hair growth.
Prefer to use a floral water or some other infusion? Go for it. It’s your shampoo. Nettle tea would also make a good base as nettle is also said to be great to help fight hair loss. You could have the best of both worlds by using a nettle infusion and some peppermint essential oils.
The surfactants
You can experiment by changing up some of the surfactants in this shampoo. I used a mix of non-ionic surfactants (coco glucoside and decyl glucoside) as well as an amphoteric surfactant (coco betaine) to help boost the foaming. Because my husband likes a lot of lather to his shampoo, and I’m not using any of the harsher anionic surfactants like SLS, I’m using a relatively high percentage of surfactants in this recipe. You can reduce the percentage of surfactants added to make for an even gentler shampoo, but you will probably find that it will also lather a bit less.
Natural DIY Clarifying Shampoo
DIY Clarifying Shampoo
Materials
- 88 g distilled water (or infusion, or floral water)
- 40 g coco betaine
- 25 g coco glucoside
- 25 g decyl glucoside
- 10 g glycerin
- 4 g xanthan gum
- 4 g d-panthenol
- 2 g peppermint essential oil or other essential oils of choice
- 2 g sharomix or other natural preservative in percentage necessary for your chosen preservative
Instructions
- Mix together the glycerin and xanthan gum until the xanthan gum is fully incorporated into the glycerin. Pre-mixing the xanthan gum into the glycerin will help ensure that you don’t get lumps in your shampoo as xanthan gum can be tricky to mix into water.
- Once you’ve incorporated the xanthan gum into the glycerin, you can begin to add the other ingredients. Slowly stir in each ingredient keeping in mind that vigorous stirring can cause foam production, making it more difficult to work with the shampoo.
- Once you’ve finished mixing together all of the ingredients, check the pH of the shampoo with a pH test strip. You want your shampoo to fall in a slightly acidic range. (A pH of 4-5.5 is an ideal range to aim for.) You also want to make sure that the pH is suitable for the preservative that you are using.
- If you need to adjust the pH, you can bring it down with the addition of a few drops of lactic acid or can raise the pH with either baking soda or sodium hydroxide (aka. lye). Otherwise, you are ready to bottle and use your natural homemade clarifying shampoo.
ClauJ
Hi Tracy,
I wanted to ask if I could leave out the glycerin in the shampoo recipe like you suggest for the conditioner? I’m afraid this one ingredient does not work for my hair.
Thanks very much for your blog posts and response, best,
ClauJ
Tracy Ariza
Hi ClauJ
Yes, of course.
You’ll want to keep in mind, though, that it is easier to blend the thickener (xanthan gum or other similar thickeners) into the glycerin first to get it to easily disperse throughout the shampoo without lumps.
If you aren’t using the glycerin, you can slowly incorporate it into a small amount of water. You may also need to use an immersion blender to get the lumps out. (Do this slowly and carefully to avoid making a bunch of foam. It will eventually go down, though.) 😉
grace
hi Tracy..
thank you for sharing this amazing recepies…and i would like to ask u one thing that my hair line getting thin and now im trying to make my own herbal shampoo..and i also wanna add the cleaning agent…so would it be ok if i add just decyle glucoside to get the foam in the herbal mixture?and what proportion of decyle glucoside should i add to get a mild herbal shampoo?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Grace,
You could experiment with it. It probably won’t foam much, but if that’s not a problem for you, then you’ll be fine. (You can get cleansing without a lather.)
The more you add, the more concentrated your shampoo will be, but you can also experiment with the feel you’re getting from it.
Chris
Hi Tracy, I’ve tried making this recipe twice and my finished product is a thicker gel looking thing that doesn’t look anything like tour picture. I must be doing something wrong with adding the xantham gum? Do we need to heat any aspect of this recipe? I ask because my panthenol is a bit clumpy and I’m wondering if the additional stirring is messing up the recipe. Thanks for your help.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Chris,
If you’re having issues with it being too thick, you can reduce the amount of xanthan gum. There are different types of xanthan, so maybe that’s the issue.
The xanthan gum is really only there to thicken the shampoo because otherwise the mixture would be a liquid and would be more difficult to apply.
I’m not sure why the panthenol would be clumpy. Mine is a slightly thick liquid.
It is, of course, an optional ingredient. So, if you are having issues with the panthenol, you can leave it out and see if that makes a difference.
Chris
Hi Tracy,
Thanks so much for replying. The panthenol i’m using is a powdered form which is why I thought I should put it in the heated stage with the surfactants. Could I use a different thickening agent for the formula, such as sodium alginate or possibly cetearyl alcohol? Someone had asked before about cetyl alcohol and I know cetearyl alcohol isn’t as strong. Also, I just so happened to click on the link for xanthan gum and I have the same one so I will try to make again with half the amount xanthan gum. Thanks again!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Chris,
Well, the thing I was worried about was heating it. I’ve always read to add panthenol at the end with the more delicate, heat-sensitive ingredients, but I’ve looked it up and most places that sell dl panthenol in powdered form just say to add it to the water phase. So, I guess that’s fine.
In this recipe, it doesn’t really make a difference because there is no need to heat anything.
Cetyl alcohol and cetearyl alcohol both work in sort of the same way. I wouldn’t try to add anything like that to a shampoo recipe. There is no emulsion going on here. I’d save those for lotions, conditioners and other emulsions.
Alginate may work, but I’ve never tried it personally so I don’t know.
As for the xanthan gum in the link…
I try to research which ones have the best reviews and link to those because so many people ask me where they can find a certain product. I live in Spain, though, so most of the time those products aren’t the same ones that I’m using. Annoyingly, Amazon is bringing me to the Spanish site when I click on my link, so I can’t even see which one I linked to right now.
I do know that I spend a lot of time when choosing links to make sure that what I’m choosing is one of the highest-rated products at the time and one I would choose if I were in the US and had the option. That, of course, doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be exactly the same as what I have.
The nice thing about the xanthan is that you can try making it with a smaller amount, and can always add more if you want it to be thicker.
It’s not quite as easy to thin it out (or maybe it is), but you can just increase all of the other ingredients in the recipe. This recipes is simple enough and doesn’t need heat, so you don’t have to worry about destroying heat-sensitive ingredients when rebatching as you do with lotions. 😉
Yenny
Hello! I came across your blog on my newfound journey to natural DIY living and I’m loving the information you are so generous with.
So, my goal is to use as many naturally derived products as possible when I make my own beauty products. I did read another article that says that using castille soap is not enough and often ineffective for haircare. That’s when I turned to your article on DIY shampoo and surfactants.
Here’s my question: can I effectively substitute the surfactants in this recipe with something like shikaki powder? You mentioned that you use coco betaine to give the shampoo more lather, but I’m okay with less lather., so I figured I could remove that one altogether. But what about the other two?
Also (and forgive me if this is a dumb question), but what is the glycerin for? I’m just curious!
Thank you again for the information. To call myself a novice at this would be generous (lol).
Tracy Ariza
Hi Yenny,
I have bought some shikakai powder, and I’ve had it at home for a couple of months now, but, to be honest, I haven’t experimented with it yet. I like to use whatever recipe I’m sharing for several months before moving on to a new, similar one. So, for the last couple of months, I’ve been using the recently published shampoo and conditioner bars.
I have been wanting to try it out, but haven’t done enough research on it to be able to answer you well yet. 😉
The glycerin in there as a humectant. It helps draw humidity out of the air and into your hair. It works well in most climates, but can be counterproductive in extreme environments. (If you’re in an extremely dry environment, it can draw moisture out of your hair instead.)
It’s an optional ingredient, of course- you can just sub it for more water instead. Some people find they don’t like it, so omitting it is an easy fix. 😉
Vibhuti
Hie Tracy!!
Tried this recipe without any preservative. Came out great!! But only problem was, while applying, the spread out of shampoo on hair gave a rough feel. Can it be corrected by adding something else?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Vibhuti,
I’m not sure why it would feel rough. Perhaps it was a problem with the gum you used to thicken the shampoo? It’s the only thing I can think of.
There are many grades of xanthan gum, so perhaps trying a different one, or even a different thickener, may give you a better feel?
Be careful using it without a preservative. I’d keep in in the fridge and treat it like a food recipe. (Disposing of it after around a week or so, etc.)
Vibhuti
Okay.. Can I use cetyl alcohol to thicken it and maybe add a bit of softness?
Tracy Ariza
Hello Vibhuti,
For a lotion, yes- but I sort of doubt it would be helpful in a shampoo. You aren’t really making an emulsion here, so I have no idea what cetyl alcohol would do.
For thickening, gums like xanthan gum are usually used.
C
Hi Tracy I realized I forgot to ask you one more question.
Coco betaine is very hard to find in the US all I have is cocomidapropyl betaine can it be used interchangeably even though there is a difference between the two? Thanks for all your help!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Yes, that should be fine!
Kate Cooper
Hi Tracy,
Thank you so much for sharing so many of your wonderful recipes and so much of your expert knowledge about making your own – I think that you are wonderful! I regularly look through your website for inspiration for my own makes and recipes and you have never come up short yet!
I am going to give this a try in the next few days, it will be my first foray into using natural surfactants – and I am little nervous! I am going to have to tweak your recipe a bit as I am unable to get hold of the decyl glucoside but I will give it a go!
BTW your links above to the amazon pages do not have all of the products available – I tried to link to the d-g and to the coco betaine and neither of them worked – they gave me other suggestions that were not the right products at all! I did manage to get some xanthan gum though. (I must admit I didn’t try the others as I already have those ingredients…)
Wish me luck – and thank you again!
Kate
Tracy Ariza
Hi Kate,
Thank you so much!
Sorry for the late reply as I missed your comment before. How did it go?
It’s fine to experiment with other surfactants. You just have to find something that works for you.
If the links aren’t working for you, I’m going to guess that you are outside the US.
I specifically choose the products for the links on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, if you are outside the US, the links will redirect to your local Amazon and try to find the nearest substitute. I understand that it can be frustrating at times. Sometimes, I want to check out the one I linked to, and with me being in Spain, I normally get redirected to nothing as most of the same products aren’t available here.
Ingrid
Hi Tracy,
Can I use citric acid to bring down the PH?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Ingrid,
Yes, you can do that. It should be fine!
You’ll want to dissolve it in distilled water, and should weigh out how much you are adding so that you can account for the extra weight. (It shouldn’t be enough to throw off the amount of preservative needed, but it’s good to check just in case.) 😉
Jane
can i use ACV to replace citric?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Jane,
You can try it. The only issue with that is you’d probably need a lot more, so be sure to account for the extra volume of liquid so it doesn’t affect the effectiveness of the other ingredients.
C
Hi Tracy,
I was wondering if could substitute the coco glucoside for caprylyl glucoside?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi C,
I’ve never seen or tried capryl glucoside, but it looks to be very similar to coco glucoside, so it should work! If you give it a shot, I’d love to hear how it goes!
John Ley
Thanks for the information. I’ve been using some of the recipes you discourage. I found them through quick searches on the web. Good to see this. My question… I was trying to determine what the approximate cost would be but I’m having a hard time. Most of the ingredients online are measured in oz/ml rather than weight and your recipe uses grams. How can I figure the cost before buying the ingredients. It appears what I’ve found will likely cost me $100 which is fine IF it makes a lot of shampoo. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Tracy Ariza
Hi John,
Can you link to an example for me- maybe I can help you out better if I see which ones you are looking at.
(Yes, you should be able to make a lot of shampoo for that much.) 😉
John Ley
Sorry for the delay… was watching for this in my email inbox.
Coco Betaine- 500ml, $18.55
Coco Glucoside- 500 ml, 25.95
Decyl Glucoside- 500 ml, 20.00
Glycerin- 500 ml, 10.95
Xantham Gum- 425g, 10.87
d-panthenol- 60ml, 14.10
natural perservative (didn’t find this yet)
Thank you.
Tracy Ariza
Those amounts do seem high. Have you checked other suppliers?
I buy 5kg of coco Betaine for under 40 Euros- and in smaller amounts- 1l for under 10 Euros. (Euros are similar to dollars, but worth slightly more.)
1000 ml coco glucoside for 15,65…
I’ve bought at similar prices from different suppliers. (Here in Spain, though.)
Andy Chavez
Hi.. thanks a lot for the information… I have already found coco glocuside et decyl glucoside… but not coco betaine… how could I prepare it with these 2 instead of 3… thanks a lot ??
Tracy Ariza
Hi Andy,
Well, it’s really all about experimentation for each person. Coco Betaine is a very gentle amphoteric surfactant. It’s great for adding a bit of gentle cleansing and boosting foam. It can help make harsher surfactants milder.
That said, you could try the mixture without it. I’ve never tried the others without the coco betaine, but, in the end, it’s really all about experimenting and finding what works for you! You could increase the amount of the other surfactants and give it a try. It may not have the same lather/foam, but it’s impossible to really know without trying it.
If you do give it a shot, I’d love to hear how it goes. (You could also look for another similar amphoteric surfactant to use in its place.)
Asena Nikkel
Hi!
I’m a young stay at home mom with 2 toddlers under age 3. 🙂 I am getting into soap making and was going to make my own shampoo with a recipe that was liquid castile soap and coconut milk but then found out that’s not super great. Im now wondering which would be easier on my wallet to make. Your clarifying shampoo or a shampoo bar (that I’m eagerly awaiting your recipe!) 🙂
Thank you for the help!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Asena,
I guess it really depends on how inexpensively you can buy the different surfactants where you live.
On the one hand, a shampoo bar is almost completely comprised of surfactants, so it may be a bit more expensive to make, but it may also last longer. I’m not sure.
My guess is it works out to about the same.
I’ve been using a shampoo bar for a couple of weeks- and it will probably be a couple of weeks until I post my recipe. (I like to make sure I really like it the way it is and tweak as needed before posting. Also, I have a couple of things I’m finishing up to schedule first.)
It will be soon, though. I think I have one DIY and one recipe due to be posted first.
Asena Nikkel
Ok I’ve found all the ingredients that you list online but I can’t find the Coco Glucoside anywhere so far. (I live in the US) Could I adjust the amounts and just do without it? Would it still work good?
Thank you!
Tracy Ariza
Honestly, it’s all about experimentation and finding out what works best for you.
If you remove one of the surfactants, I’d try increasing the amount of the other surfactants to compensate.
It could, of course, affect the amount of cleansing, the amount of lather, etc.
It should still “work”, though.
All about experimenting. 😉
Nivethitha
Hi Tracy,
Such an informational post it is.From ur post on “ working with natural surfactants “ it was mentioned “Amphoteric surfactants are often combined with anionic surfactants to reduce their harshness and help stabilize their foam.”
So my query is can we create a shampoo recipe with the liquid soap (combination of coconut , castor , olive oil ,koh) ,from my understanding is an anionic surfactant and an amphoteric surfactant . If so will the addition of amphoteric surfactant reduce the ph and harshness of liquid soap making is suitable for our hair wash.
Thank you
Tracy Ariza
Hi Nivethitha,
The problem with soap (And, yes, you are right about it being an anionic surfactant) is that it breaks down when you bring down its pH. It’s unlike the other non-soap surfactants. Some people try to bring liquid soaps down towards a neutral pH, but soap doesn’t hold up even at a neutral pH. The ideal pH for a shampoo is on the acidic side (around 5.5).
Even if you’d combine with an amphoteric surfactant, you’d have to bring the pH down afterward, which would leave you with something that I doubt would be very effective anymore.
Kenyona
Hi Tracy ! If I wanted to add something like Shea butter, what emulsifier do you recommend?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Kenyona,
I don’t normally add oils to shampoos because it really cuts down the lathering ability of the surfactants (and natural surfactants tend to have less lather to begin with).
Shampoo bars are an exception, and I’ll be sharing a recipe for a homemade shampoo bar soon.
I’m also working on some more conditioning type shampoos. Try to be patient with me. 😉