My DIY’s are often hit or miss, and I had thought for sure that my mini activated charcoal shampoo bar with tea tree oil was going to be a miss… and it was, until I tried one last thing. Turns out a lot of melt and pour soap bases make soap that are pretty, but don’t have that much of a lather. In my case… there was no lather… until I used the last trick I had up my sleeve (which you’ll read about in a moment.)

The motivation for creating these mini shampoo “bars” (or marbles) was actually because I was wrestling with what to do about providing shampoo for overnight guests that would align with my attempts to go low to zero waste. Most people don’t enjoy sharing their soap bars (because who knows where they’re going) and I imagine shampoo bars would have the same ick factor. Unfortunately, shampoo bars are expensive compared to soap (although I’m not entirely sure why) and can often be found at $15 a bar. I needed some way to provide low cost, small amounts of shampoo without worrying about plastic packaging to guests. This is not fully zero waste as the added oils came from glass bottles that unfortunately had plastic tops (but that I will hopefully be able to recycle!)

With young kids in the house, I didn’t want to mess around with lye and cold or hot process soap (and given that I am not as graceful as I could be, my house could have been in ruins at the end of those attempts.) You can buy melt and pour soap bases from many places, but make sure you keep an eye on the ingredients. I prefer a soap base that’s made with less chemicals, so I chose an organic coconut oil melt and pour soap base. The thing with coconut oil soap is that the soap you end up with is moisturizing but very hard—which is just what I want for shampoo since I would hope it lasts for a long time. I had a silicone ice cube mold to make mini ice marbles that was perfect for this. My plan was to keep a (glass) bottle of these mini solid shampoo marbles that guests could help themselves to when they stay over. I excitedly ordered the ingredients and set to make an activated charcoal and tea tree oil recipe. The activated charcoal is said to be great for pulling out impurities (?) and tea tree oil is anti-fungal. For scent, I also ordered rose oil, and because I wanted it to be moisturizing, I also got vitamin E oil. I was so excited and ready to start!

Except… after I made them, they didn’t lather. Frustrated, I turned to Google to ask why the melt and pour soap base (which I also attempted to later to very little avail) would create such a poor lather—aggressively punching in “how to increase lather in melt and pour soap”—and was essentially told that melt and pour bases had generally inferior lather to hot process or cold process soaps. I was devastated. It was fine as far as cleaning went but I needed the lather to work into hair, and these marbles gave no lather whatsoever. I thought I might have added too much of the oils, which would affect the lather, or that my water was too hard—yet my regular soaps were fine.

However, I had one more thing I was willing to try, even though I had basically given up hope, and that was using a mesh bag. I had a polyester mesh bag that came with my first ever shampoo bar that I still use, so I threw a few in, not expecting much but not wanting it to go to waste without at least an attempt.

Lo and behold, that little mesh bag made all the difference. For proof, you can see it in action on my Instagram here. You can purchase natural soap bags on Amazon or crochet your own.

I was so excited that it worked up not only lather, but a generous amount of it so I plan to make compostable cotton mesh bags that guests can use and take a couple of the marbles from the jar for themselves. This way it would be low cost and low waste and just be generally an awesome thing to have. What I like most about this recipe is that there’s a conditioning component to it due to the coconut soap base and the vitamin E oil, so it causes less tangles.

Be aware that coconut oil melt and pour soap bases melt slow but set FAST, so you’ll have to work smart with it—cut the base to smaller pieces first before melting and keep it in the double boiler until ready to pour.

Tip: If you are an avid bento maker like I am, the animal silicone food separators are perfect for adorable mini animal molds.

Edited To Add: Also, unfortunately (or fortunately) some friends of mine mentioned the shape and method may be… suggestive. I suppose I might have to get other molds to avoid… that problem. I love them but now I can’t stop thinking about it! *Angrily Shakes Fist*

Recipe (makes about 48 marbles, diameter of a dime)

• 8 oz coconut oil melt and pour soap base, cut into cubes
• 1 silicone ice cube mold tray, for round ice cubes (or other silicone molds of your choice)
• 5 drops vitamin E oil
• 5 drops tea tree oil
• 5 drops rose oil
• 4-5 capsules (or 1 tablespoon) activated charcoal powder
• Double boiler

1. Put your melting container with the coconut oil soap base pieces in a pan of simmering water. Try to use a container that has a pour lip to make it easier and less messy to pour,
2. Stir with a wooden instrument (I use chopsticks but you can use a spoon) until the base has evenly melted.
3. Add the activated charcoal powder, the vitamin E oil, the rose oil, and the tea tree oil and combine well.
4. Pour into your mold and allow to set.
5. Use in mesh bag for best lather.