1Weigh tallow, coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil, and put into a crockpot on high, or a pot on the stove on low heat.
2Weigh the water in a heat safe container or sturdy plastic bucket, and weigh lye separately.
3Once oils are melted, check the temperature. You want the oils to be 100 degrees F. Let oils cool if necessary.
4Once oils are at 100 degrees F, take the lye and water outdoors. Wearing gloves and safety goggles, carefully and slowly pour the lye into the water. Stir gently.
5Once the lye water has turned from cloudy to clear, leave it to cool for 10 minutes.
6Carefully pour the lye water into the oil mixture.
7Use an immersion blender to mix the shampoo bar mixture. After a few minutes, it will grow creamy, and start to thicken. Mix until it has reached “trace,” the light pudding consistency.
8Add the essential oils and blend again to incorporate.
9Pour shampoo bar mixture into molds, top with wax paper, and wrap molds in towels.
10After 24 hours, remove soap from mold and slice into bars. Let cure in an area with good air flow for 4 weeks
Ingredients
10 oz grass fed tallow
10 oz olive oil
10 oz refined coconut oil
6 oz castor oil
13.68 oz water
5.11 oz lye
2 tbsp essential oil
Equipment
crockpot or potimmersion blenderheat safe container or sturdy plastic bucketmoldswax papertowelsscale
Tips
If your hair is medium length or longer, you’ll want to do a ph balancing and shine boosting rinse after washing your hair with shampoo bars.
Note: depending on your water type, you might have to adjust the amount of vinegar.
If your hair is seeming limp and dull, try reducing the vinegar.
If your hair seems frizzy and rough, increase the vinegar.
If you’re switching to shampoo bars from commercial shampoos and hair products, your hair is going to need to go through a detox process.
One thing to be aware of is that hair needs a slightly more acidic ph than soap or shampoo bars can give.
If your hair is really short, you probably won’t notice anything, and don’t need to do anything about this. Just wash, rinse, and you’ll be good to go