Healthy Homemade Dog Shampoo

Monday 11 August 2008

Healthy Homemade Dog Shampoo

Do you know what’s lurking in your pet’s shampoo? Actually, many of the same troublesome ingredients that our found in human beauty products. I had never really considered it before, but I have become so accustomed to scanning ingredient lists on beauty products, that when I inadvertently read a label on a dog shampoo I was purchasing (an “all-natural” one at that), I had a major “what?!!!” moment. I saw creepy parabens listed, and when I started looking at other brands saw the usual list of shady characters including sodium lauryl sulfate and the ever mysterious fragrance. If I won’t use those ingredients on my kids or myself, why would I use them on my dogs?

I looked around to see what other DIYers were washing their dogs with, and found a few interpretations of a formula that combines a mild dish soap, glycerine, vinegar and water. Sounds good! Using an all-natural dish soap (Seventh Generation, Ecover, etc.) will work to clean, glycerine is a humectant and emollient, and vinegar will boost shine and remove odor.

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup glycerin
1 cup all natural dish soap
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 quart water

Mix ingredients into a large bottle, shake, and use as needed.

For tips on how to bathe your dog, see this guide on Petplace.com.

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