Washing your dog is a stressful but necessary part of being a furrent. And just your like human children, it defies logic. They love splashing in public pools, swampy bogs, or even impromptu puddles of mud. But an actual bathtub with suds and soap? That means war!
Making bathtime fun and playful can be helpful though. If you turn it into a game, your kids – both bipedal and four-legged – will enjoy the process. So let’s check out some ideas for DIY dog shampoo. And get your human kids involved in making puppy soap – it’s good bonding!
1. AKC Dog Shampoo
We’ll start with the American Kennel Club, a true authority in canine care. They have several suggestions based on your doggy’s hygiene needs. Dry fur and chapped skin? Raw oatmeal + baking soda. Or mix glycerine with mild liquid soap (baby shampoo or dishwashing liquid) + white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Fleas? Castile soap + aloe vera + lavender essential oil.
2. Jenn’s DIY Dog Shampoo
The typical pH of a dog’s body is 6 to 8.5. So when you’re making a DIY dog shampoo, you want to keep it around the 7 or 8 mark. Mix hot water with apple cider vinegar, unscented castile soap, coconut oil, and lavender essential oil. Mix these in a spray bottle so you can spritz directly on your dog’s fur. Lather the shampoo, focusing on especially itchy spots.
3. DIY Dry Dog Shampoo
Many recipes for DIY dog shampoo are mixed with warm water. You won’t make a big batch – probably three or four cups. So you’ll mix them in a spray bottle to stretch the shampoo. But if you want to minimize water (or are experiencing a shortage), you can mix a dry shampoo of baking soda, corn starch, and lavender or lemon essential oil. Just rub and rinse.
4. Veterinary Secrets DIY Dog Shampoo
You can’t trust everything you see on the internet. But if it’s a DIY remedy posted by a vet, it’s probably legit. Dr. Andrew Jones washes his dog Tula with a DIY dog shampoo that contains green tea, castile soap, and apple cider vinegar. You can also add dog-friendly essential oils. Dr. Jones recommends copaiba, lavender, and melaleuca (tea tree) oils.
5. DIY Oatmeal Dog Shampoo
Oatmeal offers near-instant relief for itchy skin, so it’ll soothe your dog in minutes! For this DIY dog shampoo, blend oatmeal into flour (or buy colloidal oats, sometimes packaged as bath oats). Mix the oats with baking soda and warm water. You can add a few drops of essential oil for fragrance and deep conditioning. Lemon and lavender are popular choices.
6. DIY Dry Shampoo for Dogs (and Humans)
Does your dog eat off your plate? Well, here’s something else you can share. This DIY dog shampoo will relieve itchiness and deodorize your dog. And in a pinch, you can tousle it through your own hair too! All you need is corn starch, rubbing alcohol, essential oil, and water. It forms a thin paste and as the alcohol evaporates, you can brush off the soap.
7. DIY Coconut Dog Shampoo
How sudsy do you want your DIY dog shampoo? Castile soap is mild but it doesn’t foam much. So if your pooch enjoys their bubbles, you may need a frothy surfactant like dish soap or baby shampoo. In this case, the recipe sticks with castile soap and distilled water. For moisturizing, toss in some coconut oil plus an essential oil blend of lavender and rosemary.
8. DIY Dog Shampoo Five Ways
If you have an outdoor dog that’s especially playful, you may find yourself bathing the dog three or four times a week. So here’s a collection of DIY dog shampoo recipes you can try. Aloe and oats are good, but the base is water + dish soap + vinegar. For conditioning, castile soap + lavender + coconut oil. Or try Castile + eucalyptus + peppermint for ticks and fleas.
9. DIY Aloe Vera Dog Shampoo
Vinegar is a top cleansing ingredient. But if you don’t like how it smells (or if has unexpectedly run out), you can still make DIY dog shampoo without it. Use castile soap as your base surfactant. Then mix it with aloe vera gel, olive oil, and warm water. Mix the soap in a squeeze bottle, which makes it easier to wash your dog without getting soap in their eyes.
10. Vicky’s DIY Dog Shampoo
Does it matter what brand of dish soap you use as a surfactant for DIY dog shampoo? Not really, but Dawn is recommended because it’s mild, biodegradable, and safe for animals. So mix a cup of Dawn with baking soda, vinegar, and coconut oil. Certain types of essential oil (specifically peppermint, lavender, and eucalyptus) work great against fleas, ticks, and bugs.
11. DIY Essential Oil Dog Shampoo
You’ve probably heard all the things essential oil can do for humans. But they can be pretty cool for dogs too. To calm your dog, make an essential oil spritz of witch hazel or vodka mixed with lavender, roman chamomile, and red turkey oils. Or make a shampoo batch from castile soap and an essential oil blend of lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and naiouli.
12. Kait’s DIY Dry Shampoo for Dogs
If your dog is stinky or itchy and you don’t want to wash them, you can try this DIY dry shampoo. It can be a lifesaver during the winter when neither of you wants to get wet! The bulk of the shampoo is corn starch and baking soda with a few drops of essential oil drizzled in. These oils help your dog smell nice and can ward off bugs. Try lavender and tea tree oil.
13. DIY Itchy Dog Shampoo
Aloe vera has soothing properties. Both for dogs and humans. So adding a dash of aloe to your DIY dog shampoo can relieve that twitchy paw. But never offer raw aloe leaves to your dog – they can be harmful if your dog ingests them. The gel is generally fine though. Other ingredients to mix into your shampoo include castile soap, pennyroyal, and a carrier oil.
14. DIY Antidandruff Dog Shampoo
Do dogs get dandruff? Not specifically, but they do get dander, a flaky residue of shed fur, dead skin cells, saliva, and dust. This DIY dog shampoo reduces dander and gets rid of any other itchy triggers. It has castile soap, fresh rosemary needles, coconut oil, and lavender essential oil. Its antibacterial and antifungal properties are useful for doggy bathtime.
15. DIY Vinegar Dog Shampoo
Vinegar and baking soda react to make a fizzy foaming mass. Your dog might enjoy this, and the reaction is part of the cleansing process. But if you want a calmer cleaning agent, just use the vinegar without the bicarbonate. Mix white vinegar with a dishwashing liquid like Dawn. Put these in a spray bottle with warm water and wash your dog avoiding his or her eyes.
16. Ariel’s DIY Dog Shampoo
Here’s another vinegar-based DIY dog shampoo recipe. You can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. The dog shampoo also has aloe and Dawn dishwashing soap. Put all these ingredients in a spray bottle with warm water. Spray bottles are more effective because you can spot-clean smudges or bugs without getting soap into your dog’s eye so they’ll fuss less.
17. Fabulessly Frugal DIY Dog Shampoo
If you’re giving your dog multiple baths a week, you may want to try different soap formulas. This article has five that you can try, from corn-starch-baking-soda dry shampoo to Dawn dish soap and white vinegar for fleas. Other crucial ingredients you can play with are apple cider vinegar, castile soap, essential oils, and vegetable carrier oils like almond or glycerine.
18. Sophie’s DIY Dry Shampoo for Dogs
Dogs love playing in water. Which means bathing them can be a messy affair! So if you’re not in the mood to get soaked in service of Fido, try this DIY dry shampoo. You can sprinkle it on your pooch then pet them vigorously to spread it through their fur. And you don’t even have to rinse it off. The shampoo has baking soda, corn starch, and a blend of four essential oils.
19. Smart School House DIY Dog Shampoo
There are tons of reasons why your dog is itching. They may have bugs and other parasites. Or maybe it’s an allergic reaction to some bushes they walked. Doing a vet check helps, but in the meantime, a good DIY dog shampoo can stop the scratching. It’s a ridiculously simple recipe. All you need is white vinegar, Dawn dishwashing soap, white vinegar, and water.
20. DIY Dog Shampoo Bars
Making shampoo for your dog can be as simple as funneling vinegar into a spray bottle with warm water. Or mixing corn starch (or natrasorb) with baking soda for a dry clean, pun intended. But if you want to get complex with your project, you can make these DIY dog shampoo bars. It’s a fun activity to do with the kids, and it’s gentle on your dogs as well.
21. Patch Puppy DIY Shampoo
You might know your own skin type … but do you know your dog’s? This article offers six recipes for DIY dog shampoo based on their furry profile. The base ingredients for these shampooches include vegetable oil (coconut or olive are ideal), castile soap, glycerine, apple cider vinegar, and essential oils. If you don’t have Dawn, try any of the dish soaps listed.
22. DIY Quaker Oatmeal Shampoo for Dogs
When oatmeal touches water, it forms this thick gel-like film. That’s what holds oatmeal porridge together. It’s also what makes bath oats so soothing. The healing gel can calm itchy skin and heal sunburn. And when you use it dry, oat flour eases your dog’s need to scratch. This DIY dog shampoo uses powdered Quaker Oats or bath oats, baking soda, and water.
23. The Labrador Site DIY Dog Shampoo
Maybe you like to mix and match your DIY palettes. In which case this article is just for you. It lists a series of acid, alkaline, and essential oil ingredients you can assemble into soap. And it includes the pH and benefit of each so you can figure out the best way to mingle them. Use oatmeal for itches, glycerine for hydration, and if you use essential oils, you need a carrier.
24. Sophie’s DIY Flea Shampoo
Earlier on this list. Sophie showed us how to make dry dog shampoo. Now here’s a recipe for a more standardized version. It has aloe vera gel and Castile plus the same blend of essential oils she used earlier – rosemary, peppermint, lavender, and eucalyptus. To layer the flea treatment, you can also try out her recipes for flea spray and her DIY flea collar for dogs.
25. Bullymax DIY Dog Shampoo
Vinegar and dish soap are the only ingredients you need for DIY dog shampoo. But there’s a lot you can add to make your pooches’ bath more luxurious. You can add lavender essential oil as an antifungal, antibacterial, and divine-smelling fragrance. Or you can add almond oil to repel ticks. If your dog has sensitive skin, add some aloe vera. And if they itch, add oats.
26. DIY Flea & Tick Shampooch
This recipe is one of the basic ones – white vinegar (or ACV), mild dish soap, and warm water. If you want the shampoo to be extra moisturizing, add glycerine, coconut oil, or olive oil. You can also add sweet almond oil to keep ticks away. Or peppermint and eucalyptus oils to ward off fleas. Other essential oils that fleas hate include cedarwood, citronella, and lemon.
27. Pure Wow DIY Dog Shampoo
Castile soap is made using vegetable oils like coconut and olive, so it’s a safe soap to use on dogs (and babies). For this DIY dog shampoo, you could get make a plain version with unscented castile soap, water, and white vinegar. But if your dog gets particularly stinky, you could add an essential oil that has antibacterial elements. Lavender and citrus oils work well.
28. Rover’s DIY Dog Shampoo
Baking soda can soothe an itchy dog. It’s also great at absorbing scent particles, so baking soda (with or without bath oats) is a good DIY dry shampooch for your smelly puppy. If your target is ticks, use sweet almond oil. And for fleas, apple cider vinegar is kryptonite! But if you just want regular dog shampoo, try castile soap mixed with warm water and aloe vera.
29. Pet Carerx DIY Dog Shampoo
When you’re making human bath products, you can substitute lemon juice or cream of tartar for citric acid. But this won’t work as well for dogs. So stick to white vinegar or ACV as your acidic source. Add a mild dish soap whose pH is 7 or 8. Because dish soap can be drying, add glycerine or some other vegetable oil to soften your dog’s skin and keep their fur fluffy.
30. Diply’s DIY Dog Shampoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkKfYoSHcbo
Whether your dog is caked in mud or you’re just worried they’ll scratch their skin off, a quick DIY dog shampoo will do the trick. This recipe uses warm water, any dishwashing liquid that’s non-toxic (check the bottle to be sure), and white vinegar. And if Rex has a flea problem, dissolve aloe vera cream and castile soap in warm water then add lavender oil.
31. All Things Dogs DIY Shampoo
You can mix and match a million ingredients (okay, maybe five) to customize your DIY dog shampoo. But for a deep-clean, it may be useful to merge your recipes. Try this – baby shampoo, aloe vera gel, glycerine, and water. This will take care of dirt, itchy skin, dryness, and discomfort. You can add a cup of apple cider vinegar for lustrous fur and flea control.
What’s your most effective DIY dog shampoo? Show us how you make it in the comments!
