7 Pawz Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Looking at a recipe for dog shampoo bars; one soap book says not to use Penny Royal in any bath products, the other gives me an exact recipe for the shampoo bars. Would this be safe to add to my shampoo bars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I will quote from Essential Oils, A Basic Guide, by Julia Lawless, c. 2001, which is widely used and accepted as a reputable guide for the use of essential oils:Pennyroyal (mentha pulegium)DATAFILEAromatherapy/home use: NONE. It should not be used in aromatherapy, either internally or externally.Safety data: Oral toxin. Abortifacient (due to large pulegone content). Ingestion of large doses has resulted in death. I would strongly urge you to do your own research before using any essential oils. Even the safest essential oils, such as Lavender and Tea Tree, still have some cautions. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Thank you OG, it helps, I will NOT use it and continue to research others I am not familar with. I do use Lavender and Tea Tree . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 (edited) I've been working on a dog soap recipe for over a year. The oil recipe is not what is taking up my time. I have that pretty much figured out. My most time consuming research is on EOs that are pooch safe. Not so easy as you will find. I have seen dog soaps all over the internet being sold with fragrances and EOs I simply cringe at. EOs can be very toxic to dogs and cats as some are to people as well. In addition, dogs skin is much more sensitive than ours and small dogs and pups are even more sensitive. If you don't want to do all the research just don't use any EOs. You can still come up with a good conditioning bar for dogs but make it low cleansing and very high in conditioning. For a people shampoo bar I was using a combo of lavender, geranium, rosemary, and lemon at about 3% PPO. It wasn't for the scent so much as for the qualities the EOs impart. Unfortunately the lather would make my eyes burn so I scratched the EOs for now and am using a simple FO. I am relying more on the oil recipe for a very conditioning, zero to low cleansing bar. I finally got the recipe I like but am constantly tweaking it. There are some similarities in the qualities for a good shampoo bar for people and pets. Use high conditioning oils like olive, sunflower, grapeseed, soybean, etc. Regarding dog shampoo do some research on good oils for dogs coat and skin. Watch the iodine levels as most of these are high in iodine except olive. You may want to throw in a little shea butter or even lard. One oil I will not go without is castor oil. Its good for hair but also excellent for a dogs coat and skin. Edited September 10, 2014 by Candybee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 Pawz Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 I've been working on a dog soap recipe for over a year. The oil recipe is not what is taking up my time. I have that pretty much figured out. My most time consuming research is on EOs that are pooch safe. Not so easy as you will find. I have seen dog soaps all over the internet being sold with fragrances and EOs I simply cringe at. EOs can be very toxic to dogs and cats as some are to people as well. In addition, dogs skin is much more sensitive than ours and small dogs and pups are even more sensitive. If you don't want to do all the research just don't use any EOs. You can still come up with a good conditioning bar for dogs but make it low cleansing and very high in conditioning. For a people shampoo bar I was using a combo of lavender, geranium, rosemary, and lemon at about 3% PPO. It wasn't for the scent so much as for the qualities the EOs impart. Unfortunately the lather would make my eyes burn so I scratched the EOs for now and am using a simple FO. I am relying more on the oil recipe for a very conditioning, zero to low cleansing bar. I finally got the recipe I like but am constantly tweaking it. There are some similarities in the qualities for a good shampoo bar for people and pets. Use high conditioning oils like olive, sunflower, grapeseed, soybean, etc. Regarding dog shampoo do some research on good oils for dogs coat and skin. Watch the iodine levels as most of these are high in iodine except olive. You may want to throw in a little shea butter or even lard. One oil I will not go without is castor oil. Its good for hair but also excellent for a dogs coat and skin. I've been thinking and looking around for awhile now. I also am cautious as to what I'm looking for as well, like you mentioned,not so much for scent as for qualities. I am planning on castor oil, lard, olive oil and coconut for the base at this point, one of my dogs has dry skin, so that's another consideration,(vet shampoo didn't really help much) Its kind of scary that a lot of info I've picked up just from books is misinformation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 (edited) Go easy on the coconut. Best to avoid if you can formulate without it. I like to use 5-10% but no more. If you are formulating in soapcalc go for ultra high conditioning. I try for 70+ or more. Don't worry about sudsy-- actually ignore hard, cleansing, and sudsy. This won't be anything like a bath soap where you want bubbly and hardness, etc. Facial, shampoo, and pet soaps should be ultra high conditioning and as close to zero cleansing as possible. Edited September 10, 2014 by Candybee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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