Cycling UK Forum

Well, it turns out there is no reason for shampoo to be a liquid in a bottle and a large part of the ingredients is foaming agent that does nothing to help clean your hair. A lot of the liquid is just water. The bars seem to last ages. It's lightweight and compact. I've just returned from my first trip using a solid shampoo bar and am a complete convert. Cut off the size you need before going, no liquids at the airport and worked well as a general soap too. Looks to be the ideal cycle touring companion.

Don't know how well it works with longer hair, but looks like a fad that has real substance. I went with a random eBay one, but if you've tried one you can recommend, do let us know!

I've always assumed that a bar of soap is more or less the same as shampoo.

iandriver wrote:Don't know how well it works with longer hair, but looks like a fad that has real substance. I went with a random eBay one, but if you've tried one you can recommend, do let us know!

Lush has had them for years (decades?) and you can go smell them in the shop to pick one you like.

For many years of my life the bar of soap .... also known as solid shampoo ... was the go too item for personal hygiene ...

landsurfer wrote:For many years of my life the bar of soap .... also known as solid shampoo ... was the go too item for personal hygiene ...

I've done that myself, but they are not the same thing. Shampoos have more oils in. Soap turns my hair to wire. If your happy then no problem but others will no doubt find a difference too and find the shampoo bars a better one bar solution to soap.

iandriver wrote:If your happy then no problem but others will no doubt find a difference too and find the shampoo bars a better one bar solution to soap.

I don't find either work well for both, same as I can't use those bottled hair-and-body gels.

iandriver wrote:

landsurfer wrote:For many years of my life the bar of soap .... also known as solid shampoo ... was the go too item for personal hygiene ...

I've done that myself, but they are not the same thing. Shampoos have more oils in. Soap turns my hair to wire. If your happy then no problem but others will no doubt find a difference too and find the shampoo bars a better one bar solution to soap.

For the past 40 years my "hairstyle" has been number 2 .. all over ... it still grows like wildfire .... so the wire thing is accurate .. but fortunately not an issue ... on one deployment i washed my hair with soap for over 6 months ... after the first month the effect was more scotchbrite than wire ...

Do you need shampoo at all?

I've a good head of hair, but haven't used shampoo for years. I just wash it in water

Shampoo strip the natural oils from your hair and dries your scalp, and so becomes self perpetuating

I'm presuming that shampoo is a first world invention that isn't used in the developing world

mnichols wrote:Do you need shampoo at all?

I've a good head of hair, but haven't used shampoo for years. I just wash it in water

Shampoo strip the natural oils from your hair and dries your scalp, and so becomes self perpetuating

I'm presuming that shampoo is a first world invention that isn't used in the developing world

Good for you. Personally, I like my first world inventions, like deodorant.

Both Mr and myself have gone poo-less like MNichols.
Water only. Warm water in winter, cold water on a warm summer's day.
The hair is fine. Also Mr stopped losing hair when he gave up shampoo
Also no dandruff issues and no special stuff required. Think some companies put stuff in to make your hair addicted to their product

But to go poo-less, would suggest to do it over a period of time rather than go cold turkey.
So I used to shampoo every day. 3rd time I tried going poo-less did it every other day until my scalp was used to it, then washed every 2 days until used to it and continued to lengthen the time.

Saves time .....showers are soooo fast and it is one less thing to carry on a long trip

I have been advocating and using solid shampoo/shower gel, on tours for years. I buy it in a big tub and either cut off pieces to size or melt some in a plastic mould in the microwave.
Doing the latter your can add some fragrance a method often liked by the ladies, lavender being my wife's favourite.

We use the lush ones at home find they are good for hair and scalp, but I can’t use as a normal soap it dries my skin too much so use a mild soap bar for washing.

Thanks for the tips. Particularly interesting you can remould it in a microwave, I'll certainly give that a go. I'll check out Lush if I ever come across one, and buying it in large tubs. I was put off by the price of Lush at first, but the bars are lasting so long, it may well be worth it.

The helpful instruction on going poo free certainly sound interesting Tyre Lady. Got to be worth at least an experiment....

Just to note - It took me at least 4 months to get my scalp off its shampoo addiction.
I've not looked back since I came off shampoo completely in 2014

Can these products be purchased in shops or just online (with attendant postage)? Thanks for drawing attention to this: it has been exercising me for some time without a solution?