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How to Make Homemade Shampoo (Only Two Ingredients)

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A simple shampoo recipe without castile soap!

Margaret Boyles
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One day early last spring, I counted the ingredients of my shampoos. Each contained at least 20 ingredients—many of them unpronounceable—and three or four of them had suspected toxins. Two contained fragrances that made me sneeze. On that day, I decided to try an easy two-ingredient homemade shampoo that I’d read about for years but that had always seemed too hokey. I’ve never looked back.

Baking Soda and Cider Vinegar

My new strategy calls for an alkaline washing ingredient—baking soda—followed by an acidic rinse of apple cider vinegar. That’s it!

To my surprise, the two-ingredient method worked well, leaving my hair clean, shiny, and more manageable than any of the hundred products or combinations of products that I’ve used through the decades.

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This was cheap, easy, remarkably effective, and probably a lot safer. I always have these ingredients on hand for various household uses.

Like me, you probably won’t believe that the baking soda method will actually clean your hair, so you’ll want to give it your first try on a vacation or weekend day when you have the time to repeat with your usual routine if you don’t like the results.

I’ve seen dozens of “recipes” for this natural approach to hair care. I don’t think that the exact proportions matter. I just fiddled around until I found what worked well for me.

How to Make Homemade Shampoo

Here’s how to both make and use the two-ingredient shampoo:

  • I pour a bit less than half a cup of baking soda into a small bowl and 1/2 cup of cider vinegar into another.
  • Then I add a couple of cups of warm water to each bowl.
  • I pour the dissolved baking soda solution through my wet hair.
  • Then I rinse my hair well.
  • Finally, I pour the vinegar solution through. I usually don’t rinse it out, but you can. Either way, the vinegar smell disappears within minutes.

It took me a while to get used to the idea that just pouring a solution through my hair with no scrubbing or lathering could get it clean, but it really does. I haven’t found a need for conditioning, but I haven’t tested my new shampoo through a dry New England winter yet. But advocates of this hair care method suggest adding a few drops of olive, sesame, castor or some other oil to the washing solution for frizz or static control.

Some of my friends (who are now converted) use this shampoo along with another one to mix it up.  That works, too. Do what works for you! 

Learn more
Check the safety rating on the personal-care products you use for yourself and your family. Environmental Working Groups staff scientists compare the ingredients on personal care product labels and websites with information in nearly 60 toxicity and regulatory databases.

See more DIY natural toiletry products.

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About The Author

Margaret Boyles

Margaret Boyles is a longtime contributor to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. She wrote for UNH Cooperative Extension, managed NH Outside, and contributes to various media covering environmental and human health issues. Read More from Margaret Boyles
 

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Comments

Lorimae (not verified)

13 years 5 months ago

I was wondering if you thought it might work on color treated hair?

And this also got me to wondering "What did our ancestors wash their hair with?"

DeAnn Morgan (not verified)

10 years 2 months ago

I have been using this method for a few years now, I was coloring my hair with natural instincts and it makes your color last longer using the baking soda vinegar rinse, kind of like tie dyeing clothes, the vinegar set the color in. Also if you find that the "vinegar" makes your hair too greasy it is not solely the vinegar it is the combination and quantity of baking soda/ borax and the vinegar rinse. So play around with the amount of baking soda or borax you dissolve in measured amount of water and then use the vinegar rinse, i.e. 1tsp to 1cp water or 2tsp to 1cup water. make sure it is dissolved well because it can crust on your head. I get my hair professionally colored now but still only use the demi color and find after all the washing and chemical processing at the salon it takes about a week or so for my own natural oils to get balanced out again.

I don't know about using borax or baking soda and vinegar to wash color-treated hair, Lorimae, though I have read that over time baking soda will lighten hair.

If you have your hair colored professionally, ask the colorist. If you color your own, you might try calling the company that produces your product. They may have a toll-free number on the box. 

As for our ancestors, soapmaking goes back at least 2800 years. Native Americans and indigenous people's from around the world may also have relied on plant materials containing saponins. Your question would make an interesting research project.

 

 

Word to the wise about color treated hair. Avoid essential oils and tinctures on hair like the plague. The chemicals in the dye will not like the herbs. I one use I was bald in a one inch area where it concentrated and fried some of the rest of my hair as well. A costly mistake I hope others can avoid.

Rebellis (not verified)

13 years 5 months ago

what do you mean.. eat weeds... what weeds are you eating

 

I plan to blog more about this later. I eat all sorts of weeds common to my part of New Hampshire: dandelions, lamb's quarters, stinging nettles, burdock roots, chickweed, clover leaves...and more! Wild plants are generally much more nutritious and contain higher concentrations of phytonutrients than cultivated crops. But you really need to know your weeds before you begin foraging. Some poisonous wild plants are closely related to edible plants; some edible plants contain poisonous parts (even the common potato contains toxins in the leaves and sprouts.)

Stay tuned in spring!