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Changing a liquid soap into a shampoo?
I have a liquid soap which was made of 73% coconut oil & 27% olive oil. The final diluted soap is preserved with suttocide A preservative at 0.5%, and scented with a bunch of citrus “essential oils” mixed with equal mass of polysorbate 20.
It makes LOTS of foam, but is thin. No big deal, we still wash our hair with it. The pH is around 8.5. We have not noticed it drying our hair or causing any negative effects.Would it be possible to mix it with ANY of the following surfactants to get a shampoo that will be thicker & with a lower pH?If the answer is “Yep”, what % of the above-mentioned liquid soap & surfactant(s) would you recommend for the final mix?We tend to have oily scalps, if you wish to know
. Here are the surfactants I can purchase for the potential mix:Cocamidopropyl BetaineCocamide DEASodium C14-16 Olefin SulfateSodium Laureth SulfateCaprylyl/Capryl GlucosideDecyl Glucoside -
11 Replies
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MEA seems to be compatible with CP soap so I would surmise that DEA is also likely to be (the pH is about right). I don’t see the point though of using natural soap, it is nowhere near as suitable as a synthetic shampoo.
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Yeah, I would suggest using the liquid soap for hand washing and just start from scratch for a shampoo. You can make a nice one out of SLES / Betaine or create a more mild one with Decyl Glycoside.
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Am I the only one who is confused with a whatever soap containing 100% (73%+27%) oils and producing foam? And pH can only be referred to a hydrophilic (water soluble) system as far as my knowledge.
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TO DISPEL THE CONFUSION:It’s a liquid soap made from the saponification between potassium hydroxide & coconut & olive oils. Potassium hydroxide is used to make liquid soaps. It foams REALLY well, like coconut oil-based soaps usually do. However, I learned that people with dry hair, either because of coloring or aging, etc. should NOT use soap made with a lot of coconut oil.A commercial example of liquid soap is crazy Dr. Bonner’s peppermint soap. Have you ever tried to read the label??? CRAZY!I was hoping I could use this liquid soap as the diluent with non-soap surfactants.I certainly won’t argue that synthetic shampoos are better than liquid soap, but this soap does a good enough job for us. It’s just that the pH is 8.5 that has me a little concerned. Neither of us have straw-like hair from using it though.Thanks for the info.
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Perhaps you are lucky enough to live in an area where the water is very soft. Liquid soap is terrible in a hard water area because it will leave your hair with Ca and Mg salts stuck to it.
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A commercial example of liquid soap is crazy Dr. Bonner’s peppermint soap. Have you ever tried to read the label??? CRAZY!
LOI from their Web site: Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Olive Oil, Mentha Arvensis, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Peppermint Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol.- Quite simple actually because some of these things are just eye candy. I’d say the “Mentha Arvensis” is an essential oil and therefore <1% which means that the hemp and jojoba oils are only there for label appeal. -
They also don’t follow proper labeling rules. Putting the term “organic” in an ingredient list is not correct.
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It’s an inter-agency conflict, unfortunately. Putting “Organic” in the ingredient label is mandatory according to the USDA regulations for certified organic products, but it’s not correct according to the FDA’s regulations for cosmetic products. Most natural companies follow the USDA rules, because the consequences are more severe for not doing so.
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Shouldn’t they list their organic ingredients outside the LOI then include a proper LOI?
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According to the FDA, yes.
But if they do, the USDA will yank the certification, and require them to immediately take all of the “organic”, “certified organic” and even “contains organic ingredients” off of the product label and all promotional materials.Ont the other hand, the FDA might make you pay a fine. Which would you rather risk? -
Btw, did you test the pH of that liquid soap? It is usally quite alkali; I know because that was where I started my soap-making process and it will irritate acne-prone skin.
I added seabuckthorn berry oil to my saponified soap and because of the irritation it can cause, I added citric acid and Cocodamipropyl betaine with lots of dilution, couldn’t be bothered with exactness (%) of the process and then xanthan gum. It gave me a balanced pH, but I won’t make liquid soap again.My suggestion, take Perry’s advice, start from scratch with your new ingredients.
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