Make Your Own Solid Shampoo with SLSA - Recipe

You can make a solid shampoo at home from mild surfactants alone — without needing large amounts of water. Here is a recipe built on certified surface-active agents, with SLSA (sodium lauryl sulfoacetate) playing the leading role. We present the recipe as a formula in percentages, so that you can calculate any amount of shampoo on their basis.

About this recipe

This is a solid shampoo composed only of mild surfactants, complemented by emollient and conditioning components. The formulation rests on three pillars: solid surface-active agents, which ensure a sufficiently solid form of the shampoo (Sodium Coco-Sulfate — SCS, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate — SLSA, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Glucoside), emollient components in the form of cocoa butter, which nourishes the hair and skin, and cetyl alcohol, which also softens, plus a conditioner — the cationic emulsifier Distearoylethyl Dimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol — and finally the essential oils benzoin and patchouli. These can of course be replaced by your favourite fragrance or a combination in the specified ratio.

Main benefits

• A shampoo concentrate

  A solid shampoo contains very little water — everything that a larger pack of liquid shampoo contains is condensed into a small amount.

• It lasts just as long

  Do not be alarmed by the initially higher cost compared with buying a classic liquid shampoo: a solid shampoo will last you just as long and perhaps even longer than a larger pack of liquid shampoo.

• No plastic packaging

  No plastic is needed to package it, because it will not leak out — so you save nature from unnecessary waste.

• A companion for your travels

  It is an excellent companion for business trips, holidays and excursions.

• You know what you are washing with

  You have the composition under control — the recipe is built on certified surface-active agents.

Product characteristics

Key raw materials in the recipe

Below we go through the individual raw materials and their role in the formulation — from the surfactants that hold the shampoo in its solid form, through the emollient and conditioning components, to the fragrance.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate — SLSA

SLSA is a solid surface-active agent which, together with the other surfactants, ensures a sufficiently solid form of the shampoo. It makes up 30% of the recipe and is one of the certified surface-active agents on which the whole formulation is built.

Sodium Coco-Sulfate — SCS

At 32%, SCS is the most prominent component of the recipe. Like SLSA, it is a solid surfactant that ensures a sufficiently solid form of the shampoo. Both are processed together in phase A.

BTMS — cationic emulsifier

The conditioner in this recipe is the cationic emulsifier Distearoylethyl Dimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, which makes up 9% of the formulation. It goes into phase B.

Cocoa butter

Cocoa butter is one of the emollient components of the recipe — it nourishes the hair and skin. It makes up 6% of the formulation and is melted in a water bath together with the rest of phase B. You can use either natural unrefined or deodorised cocoa butter.

Cetyl alcohol

Cetyl alcohol is the second emollient component — according to the recipe it also softens. You will find it in the recipe at 3% in phase B.

Other raw materials

Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Decyl Glucoside complete the pair of solid surfactants in phase A — in the recipe they make up 8% and 7.5%.

Citric acid is added in phase C at 1.5%.

Benzyl Alcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid is the preservative of the recipe at 1%, and it is likewise worked in during phase C.

Essential oil benzoin (1.5%) and essential oil patchouli (0.5%) give the shampoo its fragrance. These can of course be replaced by your favourite fragrance or a combination in the specified ratio — you can choose from our range of essential oils.

The formulation (100 g)

We present the recipe as a formula so that you can calculate the selected amount of shampoo on the basis of the percentages. The raw material contents are given in percentages, so they correspond to a batch of 100 g of finished shampoo. The raw materials are divided into three phases — A (surfactants), B (emollient and conditioning components) and C (acid, preservative and fragrances).

Method

1. Melt phase A Phase A20–25 min

   Mix the raw materials of phase A and melt them in a water bath. The result will be a pasty mixture, which may take approximately 20–25 minutes.

2. Add phase B Phase B

   Also mix the raw materials of phase B together in a water bath and stir them into phase A once it is homogeneous and soft.

3. Leave to cool 45 °C

   Let the mixture of phases A and B cool down to 45 °C.

4. Stir in phase C Phase C

   Subsequently, stir in the components of phase C.

5. Fill the moulds

   Put the mixture into prepared silicone or plastic moulds and leave to stand for a few hours in the refrigerator.

6. Turn out and leave to dry

   Then remove the shampoo from the moulds and let it dry for a few days.

Tips and tricks

So do not hesitate and give it a try. It is a really simple formulation, so feel free to experiment — colour it with mica powders and add components that will nourish and improve your hair: panthenol, extracts, vitamins or essential oils. The possibilities are endless.

Frequently asked questions about the recipe

Practical questions about homemade solid shampoo with SLSA — how long it lasts, the fragrance, the phases and the scope for variations.

Conclusion

A solid shampoo is a simple way to keep the composition under control and at the same time save nature from unnecessary waste. We will be pleased if you send us your own experiences and impressions from the shampoos you have made to our e-mail address [email protected].