Nettle & Horsetail Shampoo Bar Recipe (2025)

Here’s a homemade nettle shampoo bar recipe that also features horsetail and tallow! (Or an alternative vegan variation using shea butter and cocoa butter.)

I created these shampoo bars specifically for my daughter. She has really long, thick hair and for years, I thought her hair type was unable to use shampoo bars.

However, it turned out she wasn’t using a vinegar rinse afterwards. Once she started using a generous amount of vinegar after each wash, and only washing her hair once per week or so, she fell in love with shampoo bars and will use nothing else!

Recipe Summary

Here’s the short version of the recipe, then I go into more detail below as to how it all comes together with the herbal infusions.

• dried stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
• dried horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
• 5 oz (142 g) olive oil (35.7%) – infused with stinging nettle & horsetail, if possible
• 3.5 oz (99 g) tallow (25%) (or replace with part cocoa butter/part shea butter)
• 3.5 oz (99 g) coconut oil (25%) – if possible, infused with nettle and/or horsetail
• 2 oz (57 g) castor oil (14.3%)
• 1.97 oz (56 g) lye (sodium hydroxide)
• 4.9 oz stinging nettle/horsetail tea
• optional: 1/2 teaspoon French green clay
• optional: 4 grams (about 1 teaspoon) peppermint essential oil (about a 1% essential oil dilution rate)

This recipe is a small batch that fits into a Crafter’s Choice Short (Small) Loaf Silicone Mold 1504, which has a 22 ounce mold capacity. (You can buy it at Wholesale Supplies Plus.)

If you run into trouble when making your soap, check out my extensive article,What’s Wrong With My Soap? {troubleshooting cold process soap problems}.

About the Ingredients

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) – a premiere hair herb – it increases scalp circulation and is said to help your hair grow. (I forage and dry my own nettle, but you can buy it dried at Mountain Rose Herbs.)

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) – rich in silica and is useful for strengthening hair and promoting healthy shine and growth. (I purchase horsetail herb from Mountain Rose Herbs.)

French green clay (optional) – adds a soft, long lasting green tone to the soap; absorbs oil from the scalp

Peppermint essential oil (optional) – adds a wonderfully refreshing natural scent; peppermint has been studied for helping boost hair growth

Olive oil – a standard soapmaking oil; soap made with it starts out soft, but hardens up as it cures. Your favorite grocery store olive oil is fine, or you can buy from a soapmaking supplies vendor. For the purpose of soap, it doesn’t matter if you use extra virgin or regular or light olive oil.

Coconut oil – makes your soap more cleansing, harder, and bubbly. Get the kind that’s solid at room temperature, or under 76 degrees F. (The other kind is fractionated coconut oil and it’s liquid even at cold temperatures. It will not work well in this recipe.)

Castor oil – supports lather. It’s used at around 12 to 15% in shampoo bars to make them nice and bubbly, and improve how they clean hair and scalp.

Tallow* – rendered fat from beef (or other animals). Tallow adds hardness and makes a nice, balanced soap. It can be used to replace palm oil in soap recipes. *If you want to make this soap vegan and palm-free, try using 2.5 ounces (71 grams) shea butter and 1 oz (28 grams) cocoa butter instead of the tallow.

Be sure to follow homemade shampoo bars with a thorough vinegar rinse, so they won’t leave buildup on your hair. You can use plain apple cider vinegar, or try this matching Nettle & Horsetail Vinegar hair rinse recipe! (recipe coming soon!)

Step 1: Make the Herbal Infusions

Before you can make this soap, you’ll first need to make a nettle and horsetail tea (for the water portion) and infuse the oils/fats with those same herbs.

This step makes sure the soap is thoroughly enriched with herbs all throughout!

Side note: A common question is if herbal benefits actually make it through to the final soap? I always point people to this Ask the Expert – Saponification article for a great perspective. However, keep in mind that soap washes off your skin fast! For more impact, use herbs in leave-on products such as creams or salves.

To make the Nettle/Horsetail Tea:

You will need:

• 3 tbsp dried nettle
• 1 teaspoon dried horsetail
• 5 ounces boiling distilled water

Add 3 tablespoons of dried nettle and 1 teaspoon of dried horsetail to a heatproof jar or container.

Pour 5 ounces of boiling water over the herbs, stir. Let steep for 30 minutes, then strain. The tea will be golden-tan colored.

Weigh the tea (it will be less than what you started with) and add enough distilled water until it weighs 4.9 ounces (139 grams) of liquid.

Set the tea aside to finish cooling to room temperature. Never make soap with hot or warm tea because your lye solution can overheat and overflow. (It happened to me once – what a mess!)

To make the Nettle/Horsetail Oil Infusion:

You will need:

• dried nettle & horsetail
• olive oil and/or coconut oil

Put crumbled, dried nettle and/or horsetail in the bottom of a saucepan.

Add the oil of your choice over the herbs. I like to do two different infusions if I have time – one infusion of olive oil and another infusion of coconut oil. This is completely optional though!

Place the saucepan over a low burner and heat gently for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the herbs are infused into the oils to your satisfaction. The oils will likely look green-toned once they’re infused.

Strain the oils into a new container, pressing firmly with the back of a spoon to make sure you get most of the oil from the herbs.

Weigh out the amount of oil or oils needed to make this shampoo bar recipe.

For more in depth info about infusing oils, check out my full article:

How to Make Herb Infused Oils (FAQS + Tips)

Step 2: Make the Soap

Now you’re ready to make the soap!

If you’ve never made soap before, stop right here and read through my Soapmaking 101 article.

I also have a free soapmaking checklist you can grab while you’re there – it will be super helpful, especially when making your first batches of soap.

Alwayswear gloves and goggles, andweigh out ingredientsusing an accurate scale. (Don’t use measuring cups to make soap.)

Here is aList of Equipment Needed to Make Soap at Home.

1. Be sure you have on proper safety gear of gloves and goggles.
2. Weigh the cool nettle and horsetail tea into a heavy duty plastic container.
3. Weigh the lye into a small cup.
4. Sprinkle the lye into the liquid and stir until dissolved. (Don’t breathe in the temporary, but strong fumes.)
5. Next, stir in the French green clay, if using.
6. Cool the lye solution in a safe spot for about 25 minutes, or until it’s about 100 to 120 degrees F. (If you need to add an ice cube or two to help with that final bit of cooling, that’s fine to do.)
7. While the lye solution cools, melt the tallow and coconut oil then stir in the olive and castor oil.
8. If needed let the oils cool a little, or warm them a little so the temperature is between 100 to 120 degrees F. (You don’t have to be ultra precise, but temperatures that are too low could lead tostearic acid spots.)
9. Pour the lye solution into the warm oils.
10. Start by hand stirring the soap.
11. Next, use brief short pulses of the immersion blender, interspersed with hand stirring, until soap reaches light trace. (Don’t run the stick blender continuously.)
12. If you’d like to add peppermint essential oil, do so at this step and stir until blended.
13. Pour soap into the mold.
14. Let sit for about 15 minutes, then cover lightly with a sheet of wax paper sprayed with baking spray, or a piece of parchment paper. (Not overfilling + waiting + spray/parchment helps keep the soap from sticking to the covering.)
15. Uncover after 24 hours.
16. Keep the soap in the mold for 1 to 2 days or until easy to remove.
17. Cut into bars. You may further wish to cut the bars into sticks, to make easy to handle shampoo bar sticks.
18. Cure the soaps on sheets of wax paper in the open air, turning occasionally, for at least 4 to 6 weeks before using.