By Bimbola Oyesola
Hair shampoo is a popular household product that is used to wash the hair and used by all, women, men, children, including babies. This makes it one of the businesses with very high returns on investment. Looking at the population of Nigeria, if a manufacturer can take only one percent of the estimated 180 million, then that translates to a huge success for that entrepreneur. This is also a business that can be run from home with low capital.
Shampoo is a viscous (having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid) liquid that is used for the washing of hair and scalp.
Shampoo is used to remove excess oil, dirt and skin debris from the hair known as sebum.
Hair follicle releases oily substances that coats the root of the hair. For these reasons shampoo is used for keeping the hair in good condition by providing the hair and scalp with moisture and in turn prevent breakage and other scalp related problems, leaving the hair with a long lasting fragrance and shining look.
A good shampoo will perform this function while leaving the hair manageable. These products should possess rich foaming action and rinse out easily.
Shampoo is one of the products that ladies cared so much for, when it comes to giving proper attention to their hair.
Various forms of hair care shampoos are available, from clear liquid to opaque pastes.
Though the main purpose of shampoo is for cleaning the hair, it is however, important to make use of very good fragrance and colorant as these will boost the demand for the products.
Besides the homes, shampoos are in high demands in the saloons (female & male hair saloons).
Attributes of good shampoo
– Must not have a pH higher than 5.5.
-Rich foaming (lather) action and ability to rinse out easily.
-It should be able to have long shelf life.
Production
The process involved in the production of hair shampoo is a very simple one and the materials (chemicals) needed are readily available just like liquid soap (detergent). No special machines or equipment needed for a start, whether for home use or commercial purpose.
As the scope of production increases however, producer may decide to acquire machine to meet the high increase which may no longer be feasible manually.
Some of the agents in shampoos usually include: modifying agents such as- opacifiers,clarifying agents, anti freezes conditioning and finishing agents. Others are sequestrants, thickening agents, proteins, binders, foam and anti-dandruff agents.
But the primary ingredients (chemicals) of a hair care shampoo is the detergent, either from an organic soap or a synthetic.
The ingredients (Chemicals) and the procedures for hair shampoo are very much similar to that of liquid detergent.
Production
Below is the production process for 10litres of shampoo, but it can be increased to any required amount you need.
Ingredients:
•Antisol or Nitrosol – 1 1/2 cup
•Sulphuric acid – 1/4 litre
•Caustic soda 2 tablespoons
•Soda ash – 1 1/2 cup
•Fragrance (as desired)
•Menthol – 1 teaspoon
•Industrial camphor – 1 tablespoon
•Preservative – 1 tablespoon
•Colour (as desired)
•Water – 10litres
Process:
1. Dissolve Antisol with 2 litres of water and let it stay for at least 24 hours, but if you are using Nitrosol, dissolve it with 5 litres of water and use immediately.
2. Dissolve caustic soda with 1 litre of water and keep to cool
3. Dissolve soda ash with 1 tin milk of water and keep aside
4. Mix soda ash solution with Caustic soda solution
5. Add sulphuric acid to the solution and stir
6. Dissolve colour
Mixture:
-Add the mixture of soda ash, caustic soda and sulphuric acid into antisol/ nitrosol and stir
-Add the dissolved colourant and menthol and keep stiring
-Add fragrance and industrial camphor and stir
-Finally add the preservative and stir properly.
Leave the mixture to stay for some hours and finally package into squirt bottle or pump bottle for household use and for sale.
It should be noted that:
-Water is the bulk of all the ingredients in a shampoo, it probably makes up to 80-90%
– Shampoos tend to be very acidic such that if the PH gets too high, the sulphur bridges in the hair keratin can break, causing serious damages to the hair.
-Caustic soda is very corrosive, it can damage skin when in contact with it.
– Wear plastic gloves.
– Do not inhale the vapor of soda
– Wear protective googles and mask
– Don’t use aluminium containers because it will melt with soda
– Keep children away from the premises.
– Shampoos must not have a pH higher than 5.5,which is also scalp pH. Hair shaft swelling which occurs due to alkalization of hair shaft after use of most detergents can be prevented by “pH balancing” the shampoo by the addition of an acidic substance, such as glycolic acid or Citric acid to adjust the pH down to approximately 5.5.
As an entrepreneur you may also use natural ingredients for your production:
Natural shampoos are usually very simple to produce. What you need for this production are those common ingredients right there in your kitchen cupboard and few other ones which may not be in the kitchen.
Ingredients for producing natural shampoos:
1. Apple Ciders Vinegar Hair Wash
This is a tonic that restores the natural PH balance of your hair and inturn close the cuticles making your hair to shine and feel supple. The apple cider vinegar prevents itchy scalp and also helps in blood circulation.
– Tablespoon apple cider
– 5 teaspoon olive oil
– 2 tablespoon lemon juice
– 1 egg
– Pour all the ingredients into a blender and mix till it becomes smooth
– leave to settle for sometimes
– pour into a plastic bottle
– massage on your scalp and rinse out with luke warm water.
2. Liquid Castile Soap Hair Wash
Castile soap is made from plant source such as coconut and olive.
Ingredients for liquid castile
– Tin of clean water
– 2 tin liquid castile soap
– 1/2 tin coconut milk
– 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel(optional)
– 1/4 tesaspoon peppermint oil
– 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
– 10 drops essential oil
– Pour all the ingredients into a sqeeze bottle and shake properly
-pour a require amount on your hair and massage gently in the scalp for 5 minutes and rinse out completely with lukewarm water.
3.. ALOE VERA HAIR WASH
Ingredients for Aloe Vera wash
– 2 teaspoon aloe vera gel
– 1 tin castile soap
– 2 table spoon sqeezed lemon juice
– Pour all the ingredients into a plastic bottle and shake properly
– Apply some to your hair and rinse with cool water.
4. AFRICAN BLACK SOAP HAIR WASH
African black soap wash has a healing property,it treats dandruff and prevents frizz and tangles. This soap is made from palm tree leaves,it is blended with coco pod ash, plantain skin ash, palm kernel oil and shea butter.
Ingredients for making Black soap
– 1 tin African black soup crumbled into pieces
– 1 cup of hot water * grape/lemon oil
– 1 table spoon honey.
– Add all the ingredients and mix together
– Add the hot water to dissolve the soap and stir
– Pour into a glass jar.
– Shake and leave to cool down
– When it is completely cool, use some on your hair and rinse out.