How to Make Shampoo Out of Soap Nuts | Easy Recipe 

Discover the joy of soap nut shampoo! Create your own natural hair care from scratch with this DIY soap nut shampoo recipe. It’s low-cost and perfect for all hair types.

Soap nuts! What a name, am I right?!

Names aside, these little balls of natural goodness always make me smile.

I just love how they work for all sorts of things around the home, from cleaning, laundry, and personal care products. 

In this post, we’re talking specifically about soap nut shampoo.

I’ll share a recipe below for making shampoo out of soap nuts that can be used on all hair types.

It’s particularly good if you’re looking for a more affordable shampoo option as a bag if soap nuts lasts for ages and are usually inexpensive to buy.

What are soap nuts?

Soap Nuts, sometimes called soap berries or ‘washing nuts’, are the Sapindus tree’s fruit, originating in Asia and areas of India. 

The outer shells of these little fruit balls fascinate me, as they contain a natural surfactant called Saponin. 

Saponin is what creates a nice cleansing lather when mixed with water – and the best bit is that it’s a 100% natural lather, meaning it’s way less likely to cause allergic reactions or outbreaks. 

Benefits of Soap Nuts

• Completely natural: Soap nuts are free from synthetics, fragrances, and sulfites, making them excellent for sensitive scalps. 
• Cleansing and Moisturizing: The saponin effect on the hair is very gentle, yet equally does a great job at cleansing the hair, removing grease and dirt quickly and fuss-free. 
• Eco-friendly: Being 100% natural means they’re biodegradable, so you can wave goodbye to plastic-filled shampoos being flushed down the drain.
• No more dandruff: Perhaps it’s because of the gentle cleansing action of soap nuts, but people often comment that their dandruff reduces when using soap nut shampoo. (though I haven’t tested this personally)
• Natural gloss: All that natural soap nut goodness leaves hair cleansed and shiny without the need for synthetic gloss-making ingredients. 

Why you’ll love this Soap Nuts recipe

• It’s easy! Just Soap nuts and water, and follow the instructions. You can’t go wrong!
• It’s fun: I love making my own soap nuts shampoo; the joy of using something natural and homemade is super special. 
• It’s budget-friendly: A bag of soap nuts is affordable and lasts ages. Why not make a soap nut laundry detergent while you’re in the DIY spirit?

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Get my full disclosure HERE.

Soap Nut Shampoo Recipe

Just two ingredients are needed. 

Follow along with me, and by all means, use your homemade soap nut shampoo the very same day!

You will need:

• 3 soap berries
• 1 cup of water

How to make soap nut shampoo

Step 1: Bring the water to the boil with the soap berries inside. 

Step 2: Break up the berries with a wooden spatula or spoon and continue to boil for 20-30 minutes. I like to keep it at a low boil so it simmers. 

Step 3: Remove the soap nut soap from the heat to cool before straining it into a small container for storage.

(Note: These first three steps make a concentrated soap nut soap, which will need diluting in the following steps to turn it into shampoo.)

Step 4: To prepare soap nut shampoo for your hair, add half an ounce of the soap nut ‘soap’ you’ve just made to a spray (or a squeezable bottle would do.) 

Step 5: Top off the bottle with 4 ounces or thereabouts of water, secure the lid, and shake well.

How to use soap nut shampoo 

All you need to do is spray or pour a small amount of soap nut shampoo onto wet hair, massage it in, leave for two minutes, rinse off, and condition it like normal.

Your hair should feel clean and refreshed and have a nice shine!

How well does soap nut shampoo work?

I think soap nut shampoo is a fantastic option for those saving money on expensive self-care products. It cleans the hair well and leaves it feeling soft and nourished.

It hasn’t got the fancy smells or additives you find in other homemade shampoos – but that’s why I like it.

Remember that it does need diluting (see step 4 of the recipe), and the texture will need tweaking to your liking to make it suitable for your hair condition.

It is also not the most powerful shampoo out there, so you may want to incorporate a DIY clarifying shampoo from time to time.

Tips

• This recipe for soap nut shampoo is a very affordable, budget-friendly way to make shampoo. I won’t lie and tell you the recipe is life-changing, but it does a great enough job as a shampoo alternative (in my opinion.)
• I recommend trying the exact measurements in the recipe first off, but if you find the consistency of the shampoo too watery or too thick, by all means, alter the water/soap ratio to your liking. 
• Soap nuts have additional bodily benefits, which you can read more on here.
• I recommend sealing the bottle when you’re not using it with a screw top or flip-top lid for storage purposes. Use the shampoo within one month for best results. 
• Make sure you store the finished shampoo in the fridge, or else it may spoil (simply because it has no preservatives in it.)

FAQs 

Can you wash your hair with soap nuts?

Yes, you can! The recipe in this post shows you how to make and use soap nut shampoo. 

Is soap nut shampoo inexpensive to make?

Yes, soap nut shampoo is a very budget-friendly shampoo recipe. Aside from the water, it only takes 3 soap nuts to make a cup of soap nut soap. This is then diluted again to make shampoo.

What do I do with the used soap nuts?

The best thing to do is to pop them on your compost pile. The snails love them, so I’ve heard! Alternatively, you can pop them in your biodegradable bin.

They’re eco-friendly and non-toxic, which is why I love them. 

Do soap nuts go bad?

Not really, no. If the bag of dry soap nuts isn’t sealed right, they can become a touch stick from humidity, but they should still work just as well from the cleaning side.

Most packages will have a best-by date, usually 1-3 years.

Key takeaways

I do hope you enjoyed this recipe. It’s essentially a no-frills shampoo recipe, perfect for someone looking for a very low-cost, easy-to-make shampoo.

That’s all there is to soap nut shampoo! Enjoy it, and by all means, experiment with the texture of the shampoo to get it to your liking (thicker vs. runnier)

If you like making your own products, you will love some of my other shampoo recipes below!

• How to make shampoo bars
• Homemade dandruff shampoo
• How to make shampoo that works with hard water
• Homemade dry shampoo