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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Dog Shampoo

I have 2 adorable (and poorly-behaved) Yorkies.

Meet Hannah - she is nearly 8 years old, is a little crazy and is a tough mudder who can run with me for 5 miles and will steal the rawhide bones from dogs who are 10x her weight.



Here is Hobbes - he just turned 4 (which is unbelievable to me - where does the time go), he looks like an Ewok, he barks all the time, and he enjoys smelling high-quality cocktails.



These two hate baths, and I currently use some natural liquid dog shampoo to keep them squeaky clean.  I found this recipe from poster Nicholray on Talk Soap Forum.  I had the ingredients (except the lanolin) to make this CP bar soap, so I decided to give it a whirl.

16% avocado oil
20% castor oil
16% coconut oil
6% cocoa butter
20% neem oil
22% olive oil
Add tbsp ppo lanolin
3% sodium lactate (its a soft recipe without it just takes longer to set and cure)
2:1:1 ratio of lavender: eucalyptus: naiouli EO


I sized it so it would make only 3-4 bars in the column mold I have.  I forgot the sodium lactate, and made some changes to the EO blend, since I don't have naiouli (or honestly even know what it is...). The recipe certainly smelled like neem oil when I mixed it, but after curing for a couple days, I can smell the EOs and not the neem as much.  I hand-stirred to avoid the air bubbles, and this neem soap doesn't seem to have the bubbles that have shown up on the other bars I've cut with the wire cutter, so maybe I just need to be more mindful of the air bubbles as I mix.
The color is a nice yellow-ish color.

The soap cannot cure fast enough.  I have some dirty dogs in need of some cleaning :)



Who needs a bath?  Not me!!


~Chrissy

6 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, they are soooooo cute! Looks like a great recipe Chrissy, thanks for sharing...I'd love it if you could share how it works once it's cured!

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  2. Thanks, Cee! I love these dogs so much, even though sometimes they are so frustrating!! (and stinky...) I will definitely update on the dog shampoo - I am really curious to see how it turns out. I'm very impressed that the 20% neem isn't overpowering the soap, and I hope that it continues to get better over time!

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  3. Hear what you're saying about dirty dogs! I can't wait to try your soap on Isabella and Emma!

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  4. So small and so cute :) I have only washed my LARGE :D dog with unscented castile soap (and once with bastile soap). It has worked just fine, but she sure smells dog after that. Let me know how this soap suits your dogs.

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  5. Thanks, Mom - Isabella and Emma can try it out in hopefully 3-4 weeks. Just in time for your birthday :)

    Marika - I will definitely update on this soap. I am hoping it cleans them up and doesn't make them smell like the soap too much but also takes away that "dog" smell that they get over time... Castile soap is a good idea. I have a bar I can try with them right now. Sounds like a Saturday project to me :)

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  6. They are soooo adorable! I have a little 4 pound yorkie named Lily and would love to try this recipe....can"t wait for your update!

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