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Natural Shampoo
Hi, I am new to this forum. Requesting help for my natural shampoo . Currently I am making natural shampoo with coconut, rice bran,castor and palm oil mix with caustic potash for the shampoo base. I add sodium chloride, Gaur gum, D Panthenol, CABP, herbal extract, Glycerin and essential oils.
The problem is that the after the use the hair is very rough and also a lot of tangling.Appreciate your help.
Regi -
22 Replies
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There are very good reasons that there are few, if any, natural shampoos on the market. They don’t work (saponin based) or are unpleasant to use (as you have found).
Why do you request a natural product when the one you have exemplified already contains a synthetic detergent (CAPB).
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I agree with johnb, without synthetic detergents (which you’re already using) you will only be able to formulate poor performing shampoos. But if you consider Glucosides natural then you could use Decyl Glycoside or Lauryl Glucoside. In any case, stay away from soap based shampoos.
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I could not agree more with Perry and John.Natural shampoos are poor in performance.
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“Currently I am making natural shampoo with coconut, rice bran,castor and palm oil mix with caustic potash for the shampoo base.”
“I add sodium chloride, Gaur gum, D Panthenol, CABP, herbal extract, Glycerin and essential oils.”
The problem is that the after the use the hair is very rough and also a lot of tangling.@regipa … I think you defined your problem with the first sentence above. One interesting surfactant blend is: www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Rich_Balanced_Surfactant_Blend/
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Viola ultra dull hair and a lot of tangles!
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Thank you all for your valuable contribution. Was looking to make an all natural shampoo.
Please let me know if a shampoo recipe with the following items will be good enough and healthy.
Gaur gum, Decyl glucoside (30% of the mix), water (30% of the mix), Aloe Vera (30% of the mix), herbal extract, Glycerin and essential oils
appreciate suggestion for improvement and also let me know if D-Panthenol unavoidable?
regards -
That depends on what you mean by “good enough.” If you want a shampoo that performs like the best shampoos on the market, that formula will not work. But I’m sure it will perform fine enough for many people.
I’ve never known panthenol to have a noticeable effect in a formula so you can leave it out. Also, you’re using way more aloe vera than is needed and essential oils are potential allergens so the product may not be safe for some people.
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Why don’t you consider using Aloe Vera Powder 100X at 1%, which when reconstituted in water is essentially Aloe Vera Juice. If you include Aloe Vera Juice (purchased as liquid juice), this formula will cost you an arm and a leg … it will be very expensive for a quite simple formula.
I would include Panthenol (ProVitamin B5) at 1% for the label … if not, you have absolutely no ingredients that you can claim have conditioning properties. You might also consider a couple of other conditioning ingredients such as Hydrolysed Wheat Protein, Silk Protein, Baobab Protein, Hydolysed Collagen.
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Also, you are missing a preservation strategy.
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You can also use cationic guar for wet/dry combing at 1%.Panthenol will wash out and best used in conditioner although with cationic guar(HPTG) could aid deposition.If you are working with cost I would go the HPTG (hydroxypropyltrimonnium guar for aesthetics.
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For a number of years, we have successfully produced a shampoo made from the following base: Water (Aqua) Potassium Cocoate, Potassium Canolate, Potassium Ricate, and Mel (organic honey). The negative comments above are typical for this type of saponified oil shampoo, but we listen more to our customers.This product has sold well under our own brand plus a number of other brands we produce for (sells across all the major top-end department strores). Like any shampoo, one recipe does not suit all hair types.
@Microformulation you raise an interesting question re preservation. As confirmed by our UK Safety Assessor: “Normally shampoos and hand-washes would require a microbiological challenge test however because of the method of manufacture these too may have a high enough pH to make this unnecessary. ” Anyway, we regularly had these shampoo tested for TAMC and TY&MC and always negative, plus Preservative Efficacy Testing, and all returned 99.99% kill rate.
@MarkBroussard makes some useful suggestions, and we have already started down this track and are now in the middle of testing various recipes. Good results to-date.
With your current choice of oils, I would experiment with these as various types, percentages and combinations can greatly affect the final product.
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Thank you all. As many of you suggested, I may have to move out of soap based shampoo. I am still struggling to finalize a formula for a cost effective natural shampoo. Decyl glucoside and Lauryl Glucoside are very costly. CAPB is less than half the price of the other two, but I assume that the quantity of Decyl and Laural G will be less in the formula and will reduce the cost.
Can some one help me with a formula with Decyl glucoside and Lauryl Glucoside and CAPB. Other ingredients are Gaur gum, Aloe Vera Powder ( as suggested by Mark Broussard) ,D Panthenol, herbal extract, Glycerin and essential oils.
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@mikethairMy question regarding preservation was not directed to the liquid soap, but rather the OP’s revised Formula (“Gaur Gum, Decyl Glucoside (30% of the mix), water (30% of the mix), Aloe Vera (30% of the mix), herbal extract, Glycerin and essential oils”). In this case, they would have a product that does require a preservation strategy.
In the revised Formula, the Formulator should take an opportunity to decrease the pH to a more appropriate pH as this is feasible, whereas, with a soap (classically defined saponified product), this is not feasible. Decyl Glucoside is basic, but in my experience, once the mix is created, her initial pH would be in a range of about 7 or so *guesstimate). This product no longer possesses the protections you allude to above.
Lastly, I think if they used Decyl Glucoside as the sole surfactant, they would generally be disappointed in the product’s performance. It is my opinion, that the OP needs to do a little more research into how surfactant cleansing products are designed and then look at a more intelligently designed blend.
Again, it is just my opinion based upon experience and several lines I have worked on (all of which have sold successfully on a National level), but synthetic surfactant systems will generally out-perform a liquid soap every time.
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Why don’t you try: CAPB (20%), Decyl Glucoside or Coco Glucoside (5%), Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (3%) as your surfactant base.
You will find that Decyl Glucoside as the primary surfactant will be very difficult to thicken.
I might also recommend that you consider Glyceryl Oleate instead of Glycerin. But, it all depends on what price point you’re trying to come in at.
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In my experience glucoside + a refattener = allergy. Decyl glucoside is not a very good surfactant. I experimented for years but in the end I decided to use a commercial blend (Plantaren APB) because none of my efforts came close to matching its foam profile, not to mention the fact that its 60% solids content makes it a very effective surfactant in dilution (only need 20%)
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I have made a test batch with 27% CAPB, glycerin 9%, Coconut oil 9% Gaur gum 1% , essential oils and water. Initial result is encouraging.
Can you please suggest improvement. Decyl glucoside and Lauryl Glucoside can be obtained if that will enhance the outcome.
Also please help me with a preservative for the formula. Can I use citric acid as a preservative and will it be effective and sufficient.
Thanks -
Coconut oil in the amounts you are contemplating will defeat the objective of a shampoo - that is to clean the hair. Glycerin at 9% seems excessive - why are you using that large quantity? Likewise with guar gum.
Citric acid is not a preservative at the levels that would be considered reasonable.
I think it would be advisable for you to check on and consider the LOIs of commercial products rather than proceeding in the blind way you seem to be going at the moment - or to use the services of a professional formulator.
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finally considering the following formula. CAPB 20%, Decyl glucoside 5% Lauryl Glucoside 2%, glycerin 2%, Gaur Gum 0.5%, essential oils and herbal extracts.
The following preservatives can be obtained with out much difficulty.
Phenoxy ethanolEdta di SodiumPropyl parabbinMethyl parabbinSodium benzoatePotassium sorbateCan you please suggest a preservation plan for the above formula. Please suggest if I have to change the base formula as well.
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EDTA disodium is a chelate which enhances action of some preservatives which can be used with any on the list except i would stay away from K-sorbate which is not effective above PH 5.-5.5 at which point it discolors in storage.Suggest 1% phenoxy ethaanol.
In general i think the formula lacks foam particularly quality of foam as CAPB provides an open lacey foam as compared to tight bubble foam which is preferred by most consumers. -
You’ll want to add the EDTA to also help with consumers who use your product in hard water … it will help improve your product’s performance.
If you can get you hands on it, I might suggest adding 3% Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate to improve your foam and skin sensorials.
You’re going to have to play some with your % of Guar Gum to make sure you get adequate viscosity, otherwise this formula will be not much thicker than water. You may need more in the range 0.8%. You can try adding some NaCl to thicken (try 2%), but I’ve never had acceptable results thickening CAPB with NaCl alone.
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Thanks DRBOB & Mark,
Will come back after few tests -
I visited this forum last week and felt I should share this information.
Soapnuts are berries of soapnut tree. They contain natural saponin. For ages they have been used for washing hair, clothes, jewellery.
I make natural shampoo with soapnut extract as the main surfactant. I use Decyl Glucoside, Cocobetaine, Gaur gum, Aloe Vera, Glycerine and essential oils as perfume and preservative.
The shampoo has natural nice honey colour, good consistency and shelf life. Those who used my shampoo are satisfied with it’s quality and performance. Inclusion of Aloe Vera and Glycerine makes hair soft and tangle-free.
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