Sparkle Craft: Homemade Kid's Shampoo
In this week's By Thistle By Thimble story, “The Barber King,” every town has its center, and sometimes it's not a town hall or square — sometimes it's a person.
At the center of the western town of Elkhorn is its barber, an aging man that the locals call Old Fisher. Old Fisher is always ready to offer up one of his barbershop chairs along with some friendly wisdom, but the folks of Elkhorn give him little more than the occasional bit of business. It takes a newcomer from the city to help the old man, and in helping the old man he helps the entire town.
Sometimes when I'm giving my kids baths at night, I feel like Old Fisher. Something about the warm water makes all the troubles and triumphs of their day spill out, and it's such a good chance to offer my own brand of gentle wisdom. With the kids momentarily trapped in the water and myself momentarily trapped in the bathroom with them (for safety reasons), bath time removes a lot of the barriers that might otherwise keep us from connecting.
But they still hate to wash their hair.
Which is why I've come to love the homemade castile soap shampoo below.
Not only does it get the kids' hair squeaky clean, because castile soap rinses out so quickly, the rinsing step — which always seems to be the most tortuous part of hair washing—lasts all of three seconds, even on days when the kids have played hard or are extra grubby.
If you have a child with longer hair, I recommend mixing in a dab of conditioner as you pump the shampoo out into your hand, to help with detangling. Otherwise, find your favorite scent of castile soap and have fun experimenting with your own personal barber shop shampoo blends.
We like to make it with almond scented castile soap, because it smells like cookies!
Homemade Kid's Shampoo
Materials
Dr. Bonner's Castile Soap (Scented or Unscented)
Water
1 teaspoon glycerin
An empty, foaming soap pump bottle
Directions
You can make as much or as little shampoo as you like with this “recipe.” The ratio of castile soap to water is 1:1, so it's easy to scale up or down.
Start with a bottle of castile soap that is half as much shampoo as you would like to make. Pour the soap into a large bowl, then fill the empty castile soap bottle with water and pour the water into the bowl, as well.
Add a teaspoon of glycerin — it doesn't matter how much shampoo you're making, the glycerin is just to help with suds — and give the mixture a quick stir.
Funnel the mixture into an empty, foaming soap pump bottle. Shake well before each use, and use a few sudsy pumps for each hair wash.
If you like this tutorial, here are others you might enjoy: - Milk and Oatmeal Soap - Natural Egg Dye - Hanging Earth Art for Mother's Day
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About the Author
Meryl Carver-Allmond
The Sparkle Kitchen Series is created by Meryl Carver-Allmond.
Meryl lives in a hundred-year-old house near the prairie with her sweet husband, two preschoolers, one puppy, one gecko, and about ten chickens. While she's been writing since she could pick up a pen, in recent years she's discovered the joy of photography, too. She feels lucky to be able to combine those skills, along with a third passion — showing people that cooking for themselves can be healthy and fun — in her Sparkle Kitchen posts.
