How to Use Soapnut Shampoo

Now that my soapnut shampoo is ready to use (and hopefully so is yours!), I’ll show you how I use it.

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If this is going to be your first time using a soapnut shampoo, I’m excited for you! The shampoo works like a charm.  I’ve tried shampoo recipes with the dedication of a NASA scientist and this is the one I stopped at (a Thomas-Edison-light-bulb scenerio, if I may).  But enough of the silliness!

There’s a super simple way to use the shampoo and one that’s slightly more involved.

Either way, I start with dry hair. Why?

Because while the saponins in the shampoo allow it to “suds” up and break up any unsightly greasiness on your hair, this shampoo won’t lather after you’ve put it on like store-bought shampoos. Because of that, I used to have a hard time telling what parts of my hair already had the soapnut shampoo on them and which ones didn’t if I started to shampoo with already wet hair. (Starting out with dry hair has also worked out well for me because our water heater heats enough water for about a 2 minute shower and have you ever tried shaving your legs while you have the goosebumps?? This approach cuts down on my shower time…and conserves water!)

Option 1 (The Super Easy Option):

1. Get your shampoo ready, preferably in a condiments bottle (because it has the narrow opening and is flexible), disk-top bottle, or even a spray bottle.

2. Throw a towel over your shoulders.

3. Saturate your entire head.

4. Leave it on for a few minutes (optional: throw on your favorite face mask, relax, etc.).

5. Hop into the shower and rinse the shampoo out.

6. Following it up with a conditioner is totally optional. Try it once without and see how it goes. Some people need it if their hair is on the dry side and some people do just fine with the soapnuts shampoo alone.

Option 2 (The Little More Involved Option):

1. Get your shampoo ready in a FLEXIBLE container, preferably a condiments bottle or bottle with a disk-top (or anything else with a smaller opening in the cap and a removable lid).

2. Shake up the shampoo until it foams up and looks something like this:

3. Take off the lid and squeeze the bottle so that you can squeeze the foam out into your hand.

4. Put the foam on the greasiest parts of your hair (aka: your scalp).

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you’ve covered most of your scalp.

6. For the rest of your hair, put the cap back on the container and saturate your strands with the shampoo.

7. Let it sit in your hair for a few minutes. (Optional: throw on your favorite face mask or tweeze your eyebrows during this time!)

8. Hop into the shower and rinse it out.

9. Following it up with a conditioner is totally optional. Try it once without and see how it goes. Some people need it if their hair is on the dry side and some people do just fine with the soapnuts shampoo alone.

Why do I even bring up option 2?

I just feel like it works a little better when your hair is greasy. I’ve been trying to train my hair to go between washes longer so by that last day, it needs something with a little oomph. If I’m washing my hair every day (like if I work out), I just do the first option and it works great. I’ll be honest, this all could be totally in my head and they could work equally well…but hey, this is all just my opinion 🙂

That’s it folks! Pretty simple.  Let me know how it goes and, of course, feel free to ask me any questions in the comment section below.  This thread on the Long Hair Care Forum is also a great resource for all sorts of information and different variations on the soapnut recipe.

I’ll be back with my superpower frizz fighting conditioner pretty soon!

Love,

Alex