Natural Dog Shampoo Recipe
I’ve used so many dog shampoo’s on my dog over the years, and most of them left him with dry, flaky skin that was hard to clear up.
Until I came up with my own Natural Dog Shampoo Recipe.
Finally, I thought, “well, I had skin issues and made my soap….why wouldn’t I make some for him” So It did, and our little Nip was ever so happy.
This is the bar soap recipe I made for him, and I don’t know why I didn’t make it sooner.
The essential oils used in this recipe will help protect your pet from those pesky mosquitos and ticks. They all have insecticide properties.
The benefits of using this Dog Shampoo on your pet are:
- It’s easier to use bar soap than a liquid
- It lathers up well
- Cleans your pet’s fur not irritating the skin
- Leaves your pet with a healthy shinning coat
- Eco Friendly
- All natural – you can bathe him in the lake
Why is using a Dog Shampoo Bar better than a liquid shampoo?
- With a liquid, you squirt it on your pet’s fur, and it goes right down to the skin. This can irritate the skin causing rashes and dryness. Using a solid bar that is rubbed on the fur will stay there and not be directly in contact with the skin.
- Liquids often contain chemicals
- It seems to take longer to rinse when using liquid soaps
- the shampoo bar seems to last longer than any bottle of liquid soap I have used.
Are you ready now to make this recipe and try it out on your pet?
Basic Dog Shampoo Bar Soap Recipe
The Oils
- 250 grams of Coconut Oil
- 175 grams of Olive Oil
- 300 grams of Palm Oil
- 450 grams Shortening
Lye/Water Mix
- 1 1/2 cups water or 225 grams
- 160 grams lye
Scents
- 1 1/2 tsp Lavender Essential Oil
- 1/2 tsp Eucalyptus
- 1/4 tsp Citronella
Follow the basic soap-making instructions found here to make this recipe
Soap Making Directions
The scents used in this recipe were chosen for their pest-repellent properties.
For this recipe I like to make round bars of soap – so I use a mailing tube to pour my soap into. You can use anything your want and make your bars as big as you like.
I also pour them into my molds and cut them in half as in the picture above.
The above recipe will give you about 15 round bars if poured into a 2 1/2 ” tube and cut to 1 – 1/14 ” thick.
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Wow this is just amazing. Instead of buying it I can just make everything at my home. This recipe is something new that I never heard before reading this article today. The recipe was so simple and easy to follow through. I’m going to try it out and see if I can make it properly.
Thank you so much for sharing this article.
Let us know how you make out Sujandar. It’s always great to hear from people once they have tried a recipe. Have a great day!
This is really innovative and something I’ve never once heard of, though I’ve done some research, recent research, on making one’s own soap in favor of opting for store-bought brands. I’ve never heard of such for dogs. I also agree on your take for homemade bar soap, especially due to the chemicals found in liquids. This was actually what I’ve been researching and looking for alternative ways for making soap. The more awareness that is spread regarding potentially harmful chemicals found in liquids and body wash, I feel your entire site, not just the one article, is a fantastic and growing niche.
Thanks Todd for you comments. I have been doing this for over 30 years now, because of my skin, and I am seeing more and more people wanting to do the same and get rid of the chemical products. I make simple soaps nothing fancy. Just plain natural soap.
Making your own dog soap bar sounds like a really great idea. I agree that bought shampoos can often be irritating to dogs.
I am a great believer in using essential oils for many purposes, including natural remedies, and I think your choice of which oils to use is great. I do have one question though – I am not sure what you mean by “shortening”. That is something with which we in the UK are not familiar, so I would be grateful for a definition.
I am really impressed by your skill as a soap-maker, and I will certainly try some of your recipes.
Very many thanks for a great post.
Chrissie 🙂
Hi Chrissie in the UK shortening is sold as Flora or Cookeen I believe. It is a Vegetable Shortening. Thanks for stopping by the site and keep us up to date on the soaps you make. Have a great day!
Hello,
This formula for dog shampoo can I use it for myself too. I know it may not be so rich as the commercial products but I’ll feel good knowing I produce what I use.
I’m I on the right path of do you think this is a disaster I’m embarking on?
Hi Louis, you certainly could use this recipe for yourself, but how about checking out these other recipes. You may want to try one of them. Soap Making Recipes
Makes perfect sense to me that you made your own bar soap for your dog. Curious how well it cleans the dog, besides just the benefit of insect repellent properties?
Can I use this on my cats, I have six of them along with my three dogs?
How long does it take to set, after you pour into the molds before it is ready to use?
Thank you for this useful information for our pets.
Hi Curtis, I’m not sure I would use it on my cat. Cat’s don’t like lavender oil, although you could scent them with anything you like. Once the soap have been poured it will set in about 24 hours, then unmold and leave to cure for 4 weeks. You can find the instruction link on the recipe page – Directions to make soap
I never thought about making my own soap for my dog.However, I have heard that some essential oils can be harmful to dogs. I’m guessing all these lavender, eucalyptus, and citronella aren’t toxic for your dog?Isn’t there a risk of getting it in your dog’s eyes, though? What should you do if you get it in your dog’s eyes?
Hi Garen. Good question, no these oils are not on the list of essential oils harmful to dogs. I am careful still not to get the soap near my dogs eyes, and being that it’s a bar it is easier to control where the suds go as you rub it on the dog. If you were to get some in your dogs eyes, I would flush them with water just as you would your own. I hope this answers your questions and thanks for stopping by the site.
Thanks for sharing this information. It’s true that bar soap are easy to use than liquid soap. I even enjoy using bar soap than liquid soaps. I really love this product . Please can you tell me where I can get it and the price. I will be looking forward to your reply. Thanks for sharing this information.
You can purchase a Dog Shampoo Bar here Dog shampoo the prices can vary from $10.00 to $24.00 a bar depending of course on the size of the bar.
Hey there Tes,
for quite some time my dog was suffering from the exact same issue- dry, flaky skin. And only after numerous attempts at enormous amount of different shampoos, I’ve finally been able to find the one which provided somewhat decent results in terms of keeping the skin nice, moist and soft. It’s not perfect by any means- it’s still not in the state which I would love the skin to be, although it is a substantial improvement compared to what it was before I’ve discovered this shampoo. Therefore I am really happy that I’ve stumbled across Your article, which by the way I found to be very helpful and descriptive, so I can try out this home-made shampoo and see whether it is capable of resolving this issue with the dry skin ( I really hope it does so my little furry friend would not have to suffer from flaky skin ever again).
I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that this home-made shampoo which You cover here help prevent mosquitos and ticks attacking pets, great stuff! I am all for natural self-made supplements and I am really interested in seeing how my dog’s body reacts to the natural home-made remedy in comparison to the shampoo which like You’ve mentioned- often contain chemicals. And who knows- maybe these chemicals are the reason for the irritated skin, that might be the reason in many of the cases I think. Organisms tend to usually treat & process natural supplements better than the ones with chemicals, so I will definitely not be surprised if that’s the case here.
Keep up the great work Tes and best of luck to You 😉
Your poor dog, having to suffer with this. I too am glad you found my page and please let me know how it goes with the shampoo bar. The natural way if for sure the best. Using what natural intended. Take care
I really love this website. I checked out several articles and it is amazing how wide and diverse the topic “soap” is. Never new there are so many types of soap!
I like the main picture on the homepage, the lavender colors have a very soothing effect and I was instantly attracted to the topic.
The articles are written in a way that they are easy to understand (not too technical) and the ideas stick with you right away. There is a tremendous amount of information on this website : first for people who really want to start making their own soap and for people who are interested in natural and organic body care products.
I like the fact that the author shares her soap making recipes.
Since my topic is healthy lifestyle for pets I even found a homemade soap for dogs that I could try myself.
The main menu of the website shows clearly the different categories the author is blogging about, and besides soap it is other topics connected with “soap” , like hair care and skin care. It gives you a clear picture what this website is about and it’s an amazing variety of articles.
I also like the advertisement/affiliate links added to the pages and the product reviews because the brands advertised are not off-topic but give a complete and informative choice to the reader.
Great work!
Andrea
Andrea thanks so much for the wonderful comments. I’ve been working hard at this site and comments like yours make it so worth while. I’m happy to share my knowledge and experience as I believe in trying to keep as natural as we can with eating, skincare and so one. Thanks for stopping by my site.
By “shortening” do you mean lard?
You can use either. I have substituted lard when I don’t have shortening. Just make sure when you change any of the oils to check the soap calculator
I’ve been making handcrafted soap for a long time and I want to make a doggie soap bar. The trouble I’m having is there is conflicting information concerning essential oils that are safe for dogs. I made a soap using 43oz of oil (coconut oil, beef tallow, olive oil, neem oil and castor). I used 1.30oz of Rosemary EO and .65oz of peppermint EO. The conflicting info is on peppermint. Some say it’s safe and others say it’s very toxic to dogs. Do you know? Any help is appreciated.
Hi JW,
I originally had peppermint oil on my safe list for pets, but have since removed it as this is a soap-making site. Peppermint oil can be safe for a dog when diluted with water to use as a relief for stomach upset, but to have it on their skin or inhale it is not safe. In fact, most of the essential oils that dogs have a reaction to are from inhalation.
Essential Oils that are safe for Dogs