How Much Does It Cost to Make Shampoo Bars?
The cost argument for homemade shampoo bars is one of the most compelling reasons to start making your own. But most articles that mention it stay vague about the actual numbers, which makes it hard to know whether the saving is meaningful or marginal.
This article uses real ingredient costs from an Australian supplier to work through exactly what a batch of syndet shampoo bars costs to make, how that breaks down per bar and per wash, and how it compares to buying commercial shampoo. All the numbers are from my own ingredient purchases, so they reflect what you’d actually pay rather than a theoretical best case.
One important note before the numbers: the costs below are specific to the oily hair formula published here on Batch and Bubble. Different formulas use different ingredient proportions and will produce different costs. The biggest variable is SCI percentage — it’s the most expensive ingredient and the one that moves the per-bar cost most significantly. A formula with lower SCI will cost less. A formula with higher SCI will cost more.
What you’re actually buying
My syndet shampoo bar has six ingredients. That’s it. No water, no preservatives, no fragrance, no packaging. The cost per bar is almost entirely active ingredient; there’s no retail margin, no distribution chain, no bottle, and no label built into the price.
This is worth understanding because it explains why the cost comparison with commercial shampoo is so stark. A $20 bottle of natural liquid shampoo is predominantly water, with a small percentage of active surfactants, preservatives, fragrance, and packaging. You’re paying for the delivery format as much as the ingredients. A homemade bar contains nothing but the ingredients themselves.
The ingredients and what they cost
All prices are from Heirloom Body Care, an Australian cosmetic ingredient supplier. Glycerine is available from the supermarket medicine aisle nationally.
| Ingredient | Starter size | Price | Cost per gram |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCI chips | 1kg | $33.20 | $0.033 |
| CAPB | 250ml | $4.00 | $0.016 |
| Cetyl alcohol | 250g | $7.50 | $0.030 |
| Kaolin clay | 250g | $7.00 | $0.028 |
| Jojoba oil | 100ml | $8.00 | $0.080 |
| Glycerine | 200ml | $9.90 | $0.050 |
Cost per batch
The oily hair formula produces approximately five bars of 100g each from a 531g batch.
| Ingredient | Amount per batch | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| SCI | 345g | $11.45 |
| CAPB | 80g | $1.28 |
| Cetyl alcohol | 53g | $1.59 |
| Kaolin clay | 35g | $0.98 |
| Jojoba oil | 13g | $1.04 |
| Glycerine | 5g | $0.25 |
| Total per batch | $16.59 | |
| Cost per bar | $3.32 |
Your first year shopping list
This list is optimised for a two-person household making approximately one batch of five bars every five months which is enough to keep two people in bars for just over a year, with minimal waste on ingredients that last beyond the SCI supply.
| Ingredient | Buy this size | Price |
|---|---|---|
| SCI chips | 1kg | $33.20 |
| CAPB | 250ml | $4.00 |
| Cetyl alcohol | 250g | $7.50 |
| Kaolin clay | 250g | $7.00 |
| Jojoba oil | 100ml | $8.00 |
| Glycerine | 200ml supermarket | $9.90 |
| Total first purchase | $69.60 |
This covers approximately three full batches and fourteen bars. At just a bit more than one per month between two people, that’s about a year’s supply. The SCI is the ingredient that runs out first and drives the reorder.
Why these sizes specifically: the quantities are matched so that each ingredient lasts approximately as long as the SCI. You won’t have a kilogram of cetyl alcohol sitting unused while you’ve run out of SCI. The glycerine bottle from the supermarket will outlast everything else, but at $9.90 it’s a negligible cost and available anywhere.
Total cost per bar from this list: $3.32
Once you’ve made your first three batches and confirmed the formula works for your hair, the next purchase looks different. The 5kg SCI pack at $155 drops the SCI cost per gram meaningfully, and you can pair it with slightly larger sizes of the other ingredients to match its lifespan. At that point the per-bar cost drops to approximately $3.12. The upfront spend is higher but the economics across two to three years of making are considerably better.
How it compares to commercial shampoo
I was spending around $20 on a 250ml tube of natural liquid shampoo every three weeks. That works out to roughly $347 per person per year, for a product that never performed as well as I wanted.
At $3.32 per bar and fourteen bars per couple per year, that’s a total of $46.48. Per person, that’s $23.24 annually.
The saving against premium natural shampoo is approximately $327 per person per year. For a two-person household that’s $654 annually. Over five years, that’s over $3,200 saved based on current ingredient costs.
Even against a budget supermarket shampoo at $8 to $10 per bottle, a homemade bar still comes out ahead per wash when you factor in how much longer a bar lasts compared to an equivalent volume of liquid. The per-wash cost breakdown is here.
Read more about why I don’t sell the bars I make.
The upfront equipment cost
The ingredient list above doesn’t include equipment. If you’re starting from scratch, the realistic one-off equipment cost is $60 to $100 AUD for the items you’re most likely to need to buy specifically: a digital scale accurate to 0.1g, silicone ice cube tray moulds, and possibly a coffee grinder for grinding SCI chips to powder before use.
Most other equipment — a large glass mixing bowl, saucepan, silicone spatula, and ramekin — is standard kitchen kit you probably already own. The full equipment list with individual costs is here.
At $3.32 per bar versus $20 every three weeks for commercial shampoo, the equipment investment pays for itself within the first batch. From batch two onward, every bar you make is pure saving.
What changes the cost
The figures above are for the oily hair formula at the specific percentages in the Batch and Bubble beginner recipe. A different formula will produce a different cost. Here’s what moves the number most:
SCI percentage is the biggest lever. SCI is the most expensive ingredient and makes up 65% of this formula. Reducing SCI to 55% would lower the per-batch ingredient cost significantly. Increasing it would raise it. If you’re formulating for a hair type that suits a lower SCI percentage, you’ll pay less per bar.
Clay percentage is a smaller but real factor. The oily hair formula uses kaolin clay at 6.6%. A normal hair formula with clay at 3 to 4% would cost slightly less per batch. Clay is one of the cheaper ingredients so the effect is modest.
Jojoba oil is the second most expensive ingredient per gram. At 2.4% the cost is contained, but a more conditioning formula with a higher jojoba percentage would push the per-bar cost up noticeably.
As new formula variants are tested and published on Batch and Bubble, the cost breakdown for each will be included in the recipe so you can compare directly.
A note on ingredient shelf life and bulk buying
One practical consideration when buying ingredients in larger quantities is shelf life. Most of the ingredients in a syndet bar have a long usable life when stored correctly, which is away from direct sunlight, at stable temperatures, in sealed containers.
SCI is stable for at least two years. CAPB in its liquid form is stable for one to two years. Cetyl alcohol, being a wax, is very stable and lasts well beyond two years. Kaolin clay is indefinitely stable when kept dry. Jojoba oil, technically a liquid wax rather than a true oil, has a shelf life of several years (considerably longer than most carrier oils).
The ingredient most worth thinking about when buying in bulk is jojoba. At larger quantities it will sit in storage for longer. Its wax ester structure makes it significantly more shelf-stable than vegetable oils, but it’s worth labelling your containers with the purchase date and checking for any change in smell before use. Fresh jojoba has almost no detectable scent. Any off or rancid smell is a sign it’s past its best.
The honest summary
Making your own syndet shampoo bars costs approximately $3.32 per bar from your first ingredient purchase, dropping to around $3.12 once you move to larger SCI quantities. Against premium natural shampoo, the annual saving for a two-person household is over $650. Against budget supermarket options, the saving is smaller but still real.
The first year shopping list comes to $69.60 for approximately fourteen bars. That’s the full cost of entry before equipment, which pays for itself within the first batch compared to commercial shampoo pricing.
The cost case is strong regardless of which commercial shampoo you’re switching from. It gets stronger the longer you make your own.
Ready to make your first batch? The beginner syndet shampoo bar recipe is here with the complete ingredient list, full process notes, and everything I learned from making my own. Or if something isn’t working, the free troubleshooting guide covers the most common problems and how to fix them.
Written by Neets at Batch and Bubble
DIY personal bathroom care recipes for real life.
www.batchandbubble.com
