About a week ago, I wrote about my first experience making soap and included instructions. I was curious if it was more economical to use the homemade soap. I went ahead and figured out the entire cost of the batch. Here goes…
- 3oz Canola Oil……….. $0.263
- 12oz Castor Oil……… $8.288
- 14oz Coconut Oil…… $2.604
- 2oz Hempseed Oil…. $2.500
- 2oz Jojoba Oil………. $6.020
- 11oz Olive Oil……….. $2.463
- 16oz liquid…………… $0.133 (for the tea bag)
- 6oz lye……………….. $0.879
- .8oz eo……………….. $11.75 (Oh my gosh! That’s a LOT of eo!)
GRAND TOTAL equals $34.90 for about 4 pounds of soap. I didn’t cut it evenly, but it’s about 20 bars. (Yes, an accomplished soap maker will frown at me, but hey it’s my first attempt!) 1/2 of a circular bar lasted me about 1 month. Considering I go through a lot of shampoo due to my extremely long hair, this is a bargain! In the past I bought Nature’s Gate at the grocer which costs $4. So in 9 months my shampoo will have paid off, but it should last me a few years! This kind of surprises me. Looking at the numbers and doing the math, I about freaked out when I saw that I used almost $12 worth of essential oils! Just imagine how cheap it could be if I made the old-fashioned animal fat and lye soap.
My Opinion
The first time I tried the new soap, my hair came out oily. I ran online to look up an excuse for this and found it. Basically our head secretes oils. By using regular shampoos, you strip all the good stuff off of your hair… yuck!
(As a side note, this “stripping” is why many people have to use conditioner. Funny how that works – you buy shampoo, it strips your hair and makes it feel funny, leading you to purchase conditioner to make it feel soft again!)
Anyways, by stripping the natural, good oils from your hair, your body compensates for this by overproducing the oils. This is why people like me have to wash their hair every day to every other day, otherwise we look like grease-balls. So you’re wondering what does this have to do with the homemade shampoo? When you switch to a shampoo that simply washes and doesn’t strip your hair, the follicles are still overproducing the oils. It may take any where from a few days to a few months for your hair to stop over-producing oil. To help with this, you can sprinkle baking soda on your hair while in the shower to help absorb some of the oil. If you feel the need for “conditioner”, apple cider vinegar does the trick.
I’m now able to go about three days without my hair feeling greasy. My hair looks really good too! I have to go through the extra step of baking soda for now but it’s worth it. The soap is cheaper, more spa-like, and natural (no parabens or sodium laurel sulfates here), which is just the way I like it!
