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How to Make Natural Shampoo [Easy Recipe]

January 19, 2012 By 88 Comments

natural homemade healthy coconut shampoo kid approved How to Make Natural Shampoo [Easy Recipe] I’ve made natural alternatives to most of our household products and toiletry product, but shampoo was by far the toughest.

I tried the “no-poo” method, which has great results for some, but did not work on me at all (and I have some terrible Christmas pictures to prove it!). If you have coarse hair that isn’t naturally oily, this method may be great for you! I have baby-fine hair and it didn’t work for me.

I also missed the foaming aspect of shampoo (I know… the “foam” in regular shampoo is made by chemicals and detergents…)

I tried plain liquid castille soap, which left a tangled mess, and I tried a bunch of homemade recipes that didn’t work well at all.

Finally, at the inspiration of a natural coconut milk (scented) shampoo that I love, I’ve finally found a recipe that I’m happy with and that doesn’t leave my hair tangled, oily or both.

It works on kids hair too (that’s a picture of my daughter’s newly washed hair) though it isn’t tear free, so watch the eyes!

It’s such an easy recipe that I can’t believe it took me this long to think of it…

Secret ingredient: Coconut Milk!

Natural Homemade Shampoo Recipe:

How to Make Natural Shampoo:

  1. Combine all ingredients in an old shampoo bottle or jar of some kind (pump soap dispensers and even foaming dispensers work well for this. If you use a foaming dispenser, add 1/4 cup of distilled water)
  2. Shake well to mix.
  3. Keep in shower for up to a month.
  4. Shake before each use.
  5. Use about a teaspoon every time you shampoo.
  6. If you use a foaming dispenser, it also makes a great shaving cream- just dilute with 1/4 cup distilled water!

Ever made your own shampoo? Gone “no-poo?” How’d it go? Share below!

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About Wellness Mama

Wellness Mama is a full-time housewife with a background in nutrition, journalism and communications. Her passion is helping others achieve optimal health through a “Wellness Lifestyle.” She has helped hundreds of clients lose weight, increase athletic performance, improve fertility, and overcome numerous health problems and diseases. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, & Pinterest.

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  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    I used homemade coconut milk made from shredded coconut and buy Dr. Bronner’s by the gallon, so under $0.50.

  • erin

    Im really struggling, my hair feels horrible, so tangled and dry, impossible to comb and it seems to leave white chunks in our hair did I do something wrong? I have longer, thin, curly hair. Ireally want to avoid regular shampoo conditioners but they made my hair feel Nice soft and I was able to straighten sometimes and make nice soft curls the other times. z. I tried to straighten the other day and had to rewash in plain castile soap which did not do good things either but at least it wasnt so greasy… Help please im desperate :) I feel like a dirty poodle. My daughters hair is similar to your daughter but I dont seem to notice in her what I am in mine. It isnt soft but seems better. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Ive tried the acv for conditioner but it ends up feeling and looking super greasy.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    It can definitely vary cased on your hair texture. What kind of coconut milk are you using? Try just using really well strained homemade if you aren’t already…

  • erin

    Thai kitchen. We dont have much variety here. I tried to read the instructions for making your own its rare to find coconuts here though. Im trying to stick it out but im really hating how it feels. Its been 3 Weeks ive read it can take at least a month.

  • Jenny

    Can’t wait to try this! I also have baby fine hair and have been experimenting with baking soda and castille soap with no luck – it leaves my hair feeling like straw. Lately I’ve been putting coconut oil on my hair 30 minutes before shower with great results, shiny soft hair! But I’ve been using shampoo I bought at the natural food store so I’m excited to try a homemade alternative for just my hair type.  Thanks!!

  • Madmad89

    Does this give enough slip to work out tangles in the shower without using a comb? Ive got curly (fine, not coarse) hair that I do not brush…rely on lots of conditioner to work everything out. Would love to be able to make my own shampoo!!

  • Artichoke10

    I made this today, and it was pretty good. My hair is long, middle of my back, thicker, wavy, some curls and color-treated at home with Clariol or whatever product is #344. LOL! (Made up number, but you know what I mean if you color and buy from stores.)  I was nervous not using conditioner since it is so long, and tangles and is sometimes hard to comb after, that I used a bit of coconut oil on the length in the back so I could try to comb through it later with ease. It somewhat worked, but has a slightly different, maybe heavier texture/feeling than what I am used to. This is probably because it is all natural products and not the chemical filled products it is used to. LOL! Maybe this is what it should look and feel like after! Probably the coconut oil did this too a bit, but next time I will try it without to see how it looks. I have lots of wavy, body I have to say. Almost like when I put in product to do this, and this is with no products. Wow! Wash ‘n go hair?! Really?! Yeah!

    I like the peppermint feeling on my head, it reminded me of Aveda’s Rosemary Mint conditioner that I used to use. I also shaved my legs with it…it worked, but the mixture is too thin, watery and not shaving cream consistency, but does work, just pour a little at a time in your hand and apply to legs.

    This recipe did not make very much, only about 1/2 of bottle of an old shampoo bottle. Is this normal?

    How can this be made into a somewhat thicker mixture do you think? Does putting in the oils as suggested help with managability, combing after, etc.?

    I used about 10 vitamin E capsules…a little time consuming, frustrating to open and squeeze them out into the bottle, but it works and can be done. Next time, I would buy it in a bottle for easier transfer.

  • Orellana Familia

    Hi I just bought the peppermint oil castile soap and then got worried cause I’m pregnant…7 Weeks. Do you know if it’s safe?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    in that amount, its fine1 just don’t use the oil undiluted on your skin in large amounts…

  • Caitlynakjar

    Do you have any conditioner recipes? I just tried this shampoo and made my own coconut milk. My hair is very greasy now, any tips?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Hmmm… what is your hair’s normal texture? You could try using baking soda in water as a rinse if your hair is greasy. Apple cider vinegar as a rinse is great for conditioning, but I don’t use this much since my hair is naturally more oily.

  • Caitlynakjar

    Thank you. My hair is pretty fine. I was using the baking soda/apple cider no poo method for a good ten months or so but it was leaving my hair really tangly and almost greasy and didn’t feel soft, it felt straw like almost. The no poo method worked really well for the first week or so but then my hair went down hill and i had really long hair. Right now my hair is shorter than before but I do feel like my hair gets oily/greasy feeling the next day or so.

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  • Lintz05

    Thanks for the great post and recipe for the shampoo. I’m going on two weeks using the above Shampoo recipe and here are my results. My hair is overly greasy and my daughters’ hair is greasy by the end of the day. Having said that I realize it will take some time  for our hair to adjust. On day 8, I broke down and tried the baking soda and apple cider vinegar. It seemed to help. I had to make a new batch of shampoo so I decided to leave out the Vitamin E and the Lemon oil I had used previously. After a couple of days of using the new batch my hair still is greasy. For any first timers, I don’t reccommend using a large pump bottle. Even though I would shake the mixture before using, the content in the actual pump wouldn’t be mixed well. I do have to say that my hair now has beautiful waves since I stopped using the commercial shampoo. I will keep trying this recipe for another week or so then try the baking soda and apple cider vinegar.  

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  • Becky Mahan

    AWESOME. Thank you for this! Castile soap, no ‘poo, and other oil washing methods have not worked for my hair either. I have thick but fine (not coarse) hair, and it gets oily pretty quickly. I am definitely trying this one – it sounds like it will do the trick!

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  • Vcarpenter82

     I am a hairstylist and color my hair as well. I definitely want to try this! I WOULD suggest, however, that you stick away from the mint, my personal experience has been that the mint in shampoos can strip color. Other than that I am excited to try this!

  • http://profiles.google.com/kdfgreene Kristina Greene

    I just made this last night and used some this morning – holy lather!  I was so shocked…and thrilled!  One thing I really missed using more natural shampoos is the lather!  And my hair feels great.   Thanks!!!

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  • Lilytlc

    This shampoo has worked great for my 20 month old daughter.  Her hair gets clean and feels great.  Mine, however, isn’t so good.  I have used this for 4 days now and my hair feels really waxy.  The first time I used it my hair felt great and it had some really awesome volume too.  I showered at night and my hair still felt clean the next morning.  My hair is very oily and normally feels greasy the morning after I wash it.  So I was very excited about the shampoo.  Then I washed my hair again the next day and let my hair air dry.  It felt slightly greasy, but I thought that was just because of the air drying.  So I tried it again yesterday and used the blow dryer again.  It felt like I had dipped my head in a bucket of wax.  The same thing happened today.  Any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?  Could I be using too much of the product on my hair or maybe not enough?  Help.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    What kind of coconut milk are you using? My hair is naturally fine and oily too, so I have to use homemade, strained, coconut milk.

  • Ashley Scurto

    I recently went no ‘poo! I rinse every 3-4 days with water, or wash with 1 tbsp of baking soda to 1 cup of water, and do a conditioning rinse of 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water–a recipe I got from Crunchy Betty. At first my hair was slightly dry and frizzy, but my hair is already healthy (hasn’t been dyed or processed) but it’s starting to adjust after a couple weeks. I love the softness and strength. My hair falls/gets pulled out less easily, I think because the oils aren’t as stripped. I’m prone to dry ends, I when I notice flyaway dry ends, I put a tiny bit of coconut oil on my ends to tame them. I also plan to do coconut oil treatments–just putting coconut oil on the ends for about an hour or 30 min to moisturize–that’s all my hair needs because it’s so fine. I love this way and I’m sticking with it! 

  • Lilytlc

    I used canned organic coconut milk.  I am going to try to mix some extra castille soap in to see if that helps.  I don’t exactly have access to any real coconuts in NW IN.

  • Lilytlc

    I may try to add some baking soda and/or some water too.  I have read in other recipes from other blogs that this can help remove some of the waxy feel and help it rinse out more thoroughly too.

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    If you can even get dried unsweetened coconut at the store without any additives, you can make your own coconut milk…

  • Lilytlc

    I will try that.  It’s been 4 days now and my hair is a little waxy, but seems to be getting better.  Only the topmost part of my hair is feeling that way.  The underside is starting to feel clean and has a lot of volume, too.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jessica.wormley.uk Jessica Wormley

    Thank you for sharing this recipe – I have fine hair like you and had the same problem with just plain Castile soap – my hair got mega tangled! I haven’t tried your recipe yet, but I’ll give it a go.

  • http://www.facebook.com/amy.stadler.7 Amy Stadler

    I straighten my hair a LOT and was wondering if the coconut oil provides any heat protection? or maybe you know some things that do offer heat protection?  if i don’t straighten my hair it’s a giant frizz ball from all the heat torture  I’ve been putting it through for the past 6-7 years.  I tried all the different “repairing” treatments with no luck.  I’m planning on trying out this shampoo recipe because I tried the no-poo method and it wasn’t bad for the first few hours (my hair was soft and felt great) but after that my hair was so greasy I had to rewash with my regular shampoo.  

  • Katherine

    I made this shampoo and put rosemary essential oil in it and everyone in my family loves it. I no longer need to use conditioner, although I have made up one that I love, and I can comb my hair right out of the shower which is something that I have NEVER done in my entire life. I have naturally curly hair, and it is VERY CURLY… Also, my step son says that this shampoo has helped with the psoriasis on his head. I suspect that the rosemary oil has something to do with that. Thanks for this recipe… My hair has never looked, or felt, so good. :)

  • Katherine

    I have extremely curly and long hair, that I also like to work the tangles out of in the shower. This used to require a huge amount of conditioner in the shower and a leave in conditioner after I showered in order to get the comb through it. With this shampoo I can run a comb thru my hair immediately after washing, no conditioner needed, and my hair has never been so soft, or thick. I love this shampoo.

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  • Lilbluegal1

    what if you are highly allergic to coconut milk what else could you use? 

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    Good question… You could probably sub almond or hemp milk but I haven’t tried it…

  • Nlmacomber

    THANK YOU! Tried and true. I modified it with the tips in the comments. My hair was oily at first, but it has adjusted in a couple weeks and now I am loving it! Thank you for all of you wonderful recipes. I also love your baby wipes/scouring powder/ and am going to be trying some of your make-up/lotion bars/ and whitening ideas :) Thanks again! 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=735810663 Margie Payne

    I made this shampoo, and while we love it, our hair, ESPECIALLY mine is so so oily!  Any suggestions?

  • http://www.facebook.com/amelia.bonilla Amelia Bonilla

    after two or three washes this still left my hair a tangled mess! What am i doing wrong?

  • http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

    What kind of coconut milk are you using? It can take a few days for your scalp to adjust, but I’ve found that certain types of coconut milk just don’t work with certain hair types. I have to use homemade or I get tangles too…

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