To go back to shampoo in plastic bottles from shampoo bars (hairdresser POVs welcome)

[Handbaghag]

I am keen to reduce single use plastics in our house. I made liquid soap after my second attempt (the first attempt resulted in a very large bar of soap the size of an ice cream tub 😂) so am saving on plastic/purchase of replacements. I've gone to bar soap for the shower but have tried several shampoo bars that basically just feel either that I'm washing my hair with soap or something not lathery/ strong enough to clean it at all! Solid conditioner also want much cop either. I'm assuming this will improve as people try and develop it. My experience of people's comments about shampoo is that it shouldn't have salts in it or other stuff that's bad for your hair. I'm wondering if Cash and carry type places do bigger bottles of shampoo. I know it's still plastic but still wonder if it's less plastic per 100ml etc. I was buying the biggest bottles of Pantene and was quite happy with it as a shampoo.
My hairdresser would do refills on shampoo from the salon but I didn't like the last one I bought. I also would want shampoo for the whole family.
Comments and ideas/what do you do?

www.splosh.com.
I know they do shower gels, not sure about shampoos yet.

Off topic a bit but for plastic free oral care this company are great.
The mouth wash tablets seem a bit expensive at £8.90 but that is for 120 tablets and if you use two a day it will last three months which works out much cheaper than most brand name mouthwashes .
The tooth paste is good value to. both come in small glass jars .
All the packaging is card / paper.

Adding a link would help wouldn't it !
georganics.com/

Ethique solid shampoo in heali kiwi and st Clements are amazing, I wasn't too keen on the conditioner though, the face wash and ginger scrub are also very good.

Pantene contains really high levels of silicone which is why your hair feels so shiny and soft after using it. Your ends will also have the illusion of looking healthier (less split) because they're glued together.

Try a lush shampoo bar or one of their bottles, as they recycle the packaging. I love their rehab shampoo and veganism conditioner as I have very greasy hair and find it works best. Popping in store on Monday if anyone can recommend a shampoo bar for greasy hair!

Side note: silicone is not plastic. It is an inert element naturally found in sand (silica).

However, it seems a group of chemicals are (erroneously) being called silicones. As far as I'm aware 'silicones' was never a chemical group in my degree, but this is the list that must have similar properties:

Dimethicone = not water soluble, helps detangle frizzy hair and create shine
– Cyclomethicone = not water soluble, hardest to remove from hair, creates shine may be also called Cyclopentasiloxane
– Amodimethicone = not water soluble, help detangling the hair
– Dimethiconol = not water soluble
– Phenyl Trimethicone = not water soluble, silicone-oil, helps dry hair look healthy
– Simethicone = not water soluble
– Cyclopentasiloxane = not water soluble, silicone-oil that will help the hair feel soft
– Trimethylsiloxyilicates = not water soluble, hard to remove
– Dimethicone copolyol = water soluble
– Lauryl methicone copolyol = water soluble
– Polysiloxane = water soluble
These are complex compounds, none of which actually contain silicone itself.

I am reading this thread with interest since I have had to switch back to liquid shampoo because solid shampoo just didn't clean my hair properly. I tried different makes, they were all similar. I still use vinegar instead of conditioner, it leaves my hair much softer than any conditioner ever did!

I just tried a shampoo bar for the first time yesterday, I live in a hard water area. My hair feels really tacky, the upside is that if I tried to put a plait in it I think it would stay in, whereas normally my hair is so soft they fall out. It looks ok, just feels weird.

It was a Friendly Soap one that I bought in my local zero waste store.

I just got this one from ebay
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOLID-SHAMPOO-CONDITIONER-PEBBLE-BAR-IN-TIN-NO-WASTE-PLASTIC-FREE-ECO-FRIENDLY/372713082412?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=641521025973&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I lathered it in my hands and then applied to my hair, and I did it twice. The first time it didn't lather that much as there was product on my hair but the second time it lathered up lovely. It seems ok so far - I used it for the first time yesterday.

Could you get your shampoo from Sally's if you really can't get on with bars?
www.sallybeauty.co.uk/wella-professionals-invigo-balance-senso-calm-shampoo-1000ml/544038.html?cgid=root#q=shampoo&lang=en_GB&start=1

The simplest thing might be to use whatever shampoo suits your hair, in the smallest possible quantity, and wash your hair a bit less often.
500 ml of shampoo lasts my family of 7 for several months. Now someone will say I’m minging...

After much experimentation I have concluded that only Lush shampoo bars work for my hair and there is not a solid conditioner out there that I can get on with. I order 5 litre bottles of conditioner from Faith in Nature. They also do shampoo. I am not a scientist, but they have a good company ethos in my opinion about putting the environment first.

I think an apple cider vinegar rinse is key when using a shampoo bar. I use a bar and rinse from conchus (yes the spelling is very annoying but the products are nice)

Try the Fragrant Mind shop conditioner bar on ebay...great stuff.

Quite alarming that someone with a chemistry degree believes that silicones are not a class of polymers! Silicon is an element, 14th in the periodic table. Commonly used in silicon chips. Silica is the oxide of silicon, found in minerals like quartz, it’s amorphous form is used in toothpaste, paint and lots of other places. Silicones are polymers, containing silicon, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen.

We have a Simple Human dispenser, I buy the biggest bottles of Tresemme (usually on offer for £2 or £3) and fill the dispenser. I found we are using less product than pouring it direct from the bottle but also means I can cut the bottles open and there's at least another couple of week's worth clinging inside.

Faith in nature ladies as lots have already mentioned. It's the buisness. Alot of health food shops provide a refill service for your bottles.

It is in plastic though the bottles are the widely recycled type. Most shampoo etc is in weird coloured plastic which isn't recyclable. Some of the formulas are biodegradable.

Added bonus. It's made in this country so argueably better than buying something that is zero waste and comes from NewZealand!! (which is what I discovered last week in Holland and Barrett.)

chemenger I bow to your superior knowledge and wisdom. I never actually said I had a chemistry degree, I just said as far as I was aware from my (Physiology with some foundational chemistry in the first year) degree 'silicones' were not a chemical group.
I am obviously wrong and stand corrected. Thank you

I also realize I incorrectly stated a list of chemicals didn't have silicone in them. I am sorry and embarrassed by my mistake. My degree was 26 years ago. Meh.

Thanks to other posters for the helpful comments on shampoo alternatives 😁

ElizaDee
I bought one of those pebble shampoos you showed. It was ok but didn't last long which made it quite expensive per wash. That other shampoo you mention is very good value. I reckon if you can find a shampoo that suits your hair you're sorted with the massive bottles. However, it's almost as expensive to buy a smaller bottle of salon shampoo! Maybe I'll take the plunge and if it's no good, just get my boys to use it. It is super cheap per 100ml!

@Handbaghag Maybe they will give you a sample if you ask.

Alternatively, you can buy dog shampoo in 5l bottles, many groomers use dog shampoo. Scruffy chops rhubarking is my favourite, and I used it on my hair and it was fantastic.