Today's topic is how to Shampoo with Soap Nuts with Hard Water (the lazy way).
There are a number of tutorials on how to make soapnut shampoo but a limited number of how to apply the shampoo - and virtually none with Hard Water. Here's where I come in.
But first, a quick primer on Soap Nuts. Soap nuts are the outer covering of the seed from the plant Sapindus Mukorossi. The covering or skin contains sapotin - AKA soap - that can be used in a myriad of household cleaning such as laundry and shampoo. It is one of the only sources of 100% natural soap in the world as there is virtually no processing (pick soap nuts from tree, remove seed, and dry - its ready for use!). You can purchase soap nuts online through my favorite retailer NaturOli or any number of site on the internet.
Most people recommend boiling a batch of soap nuts (with or without a muslin bag) and letting it cool completely. Pour in a bottle and you're good to go! I ran across someone who just threw a few in a bottle and added hot water, let it sit overnight and its ready the next day. That sounded more do-able for this mommy of 2 boys.
HOW TO MAKE SOAP NUT SHAMPOO.
Step 1. Find a plastic squeeze-y container. I used an old dish soap bottle (Mrs Meyers 16 oz works well).
Step 2. Heat up a cup of water... in the microwave (because i'm lazy efficient).
Step 3. Throw 3-4 "nuts" in the bottle. You may need to crush/break them up a bit to fit through the spout.
Step 4. Pour water in the bottle. Batch should be ready to use in the morning.
A few notes: This method created enough for a one-time shampoo use for my medium length hair. I make a new batch every time I want to wash my hair (which is only twice a week) and use the entire bottle. Please, please, do NOT try to use soapnuts on your hair everyday or even every other day! The soapnut shampoo will dry out your hair like no other.
HOW TO USE.
Step 1 (Optional). Next morning. Heat up another cup of water and pour into bottle. Should be perfectly warm to use now.
Step 2. The Soapnut "shampoo" will NOT lather up like commercial shampoos due to lack of any form of sulfate. As such, you need to manually spread the "shampoo". That means: squeezing a small amount on your head near the roots, "lather" with other hand in that spot, squeeze some more on a different spot and repeat. Pretend you are at the salon getting your head massaged. Cover your entire head accordingly taking care NOT to get any into your eyes (it BURNS!). I suggest to start at the crown of the head near the back, work your way forward, then the sides and lastly the back. Juuust in case you run out.
Step 3. Wash the rest of your body while the shampoo does its job.
Step 4. Rinse. You should be able to feel the difference in your hair. If not, wait a bit longer or you may need a stronger concentration.
Step 5 (optional). If you have hard water like me, do not skip this step! Rinse with apple cider vinegar (1/4 cup acv per cup of water). The ACV "closes" the hair shaft making it feel smoother and creates less tangles. This is less of an issue with soft water from what I understand but do not even think about running your fingers through your hair while wet unless you did the ACV rinse! Do NOT rinse out the ACV rinse with water when you are done (you would be undoing the ACV - ask me how I know!) No conditioner needed. I keep a larger squeeze bottle of the ACV and only refill once every few weeks. There is no "recommended quantity" for this so your milage may vary.
Thats it!
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