Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
We have a glut of liquid shampoo, some with far past the best by use dates. Should we be concerned with using the shampoos?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Misc Storage Life of liquid Shamoo
- Thread starter Siskiyoumom
- Start date
I've never seen shampoo go bad, although some of the fancier stuff has occasionally had the fragrance "change" after several years. Conditioners, however, seem to have a shorter shelf life... I've opened a couple older bottles (at least 5 years past purchase date) which smelled rancid or even seemed to "curdle". Because I have fine, thick waist-length hair, this is a concern of mine!
Summerthyme
Summerthyme
Illini Warrior
Illini Warrior
what happens more than anything is the water content involved in the mix evaporates - powdered soaps are mainly basic natural ingredients and chems and will last just about forever - best route to go if you can ....
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I've never had shampoo to go bad. I only store about a years worth at a time, though. Always using the oldest first. My conditioner last just as long (year's worth). I have fine, thin, waist length hair, and the tangles just won't come out without conditioner being applied. Without conditioner, I would be forced to cut my hair, and I don't want to do that!
Marseydoats
Veteran Member
Back in 2008, 3 of the local stores were having coupon wars and I got a TON of stuff for free. I still have a half dozen bottles of shampoo and they all seem fine. I did have some trial size bottles that solidified though.
Martinhouse
Deceased
I have Prell shampoo that is fifteen or twenty years old, and it is still just fine.
Orion Commander
Veteran Member
What did people do for conditioner a century or two ago? Dad used joy dish soap but then he had a flat top.
Never had any problems and wife is known to grab all she can when she finds a sale. When we had to move her parents out of the house they were in at a retirement community and into a apartment at the same location we got loads of the stuff and some of it obviously 20 years old and it followed them when they sold their home to move to the retirement community.
Now I have seen Bar Soap that was in storage shrivel or shrink some in size and it was still good.
Now I have seen Bar Soap that was in storage shrivel or shrink some in size and it was still good.
I remember using a dilute vinegar rinse as a teen... it made hair feel much softer, but didnt help with the detangling as much. While my hair has always been a problem (just too much of it, way too long, super thick and fine to boot), in the old days, people weren't constantly damaging their hair with chemicals. Plus, they almost never washed their hair more than once a week... and in winter, it could be every 2 months. The natural oils, although they smelled pretty rancid, did a goid job of conditioning the hair. And washing it so infrequently meant it was rare for hair to ever be "squeaky clean".
But there are multiple recipes for homemade "dressings" or conditioner... most of which contained eggs, oil, or mayonnaise (an emulsion of the two).
Closely packed churches must have smelt truly awful!
Summerthyme
Martinhouse
Deceased
I used to use a vinegar rinse when I was in high school...no money for crème rinse, which was a pretty new thing back then. One time I had just washed my hair on a morning before school and found there was no vinegar. I was desperate so I used the juice from a jar of dill pickles and it worked great! Of course, I rinsed it for a really long time so I wouldn't smell like a pickle at school.
Then there were the times we had to rinse the shampoo out of our hair with water from the toilet reservoir because the power would go out just as we were getting ready to rinse out the shampoo. Now that I think of it, I wonder why my folks never thought to keep a couple gallons of water in the well pit for such times?
Then there were the times we had to rinse the shampoo out of our hair with water from the toilet reservoir because the power would go out just as we were getting ready to rinse out the shampoo. Now that I think of it, I wonder why my folks never thought to keep a couple gallons of water in the well pit for such times?
Illini Warrior
Illini Warrior
in alot of ways - soap is soap >>> if a servere SHTF gets to the point that you're out beating the bushes for anything viable to salvage from the remains - good chance the self serve car wash places might not be ravaged too bad - they have 100s of gallons of soap in storage tanks & barrels in the equipment shed ....
SouthernBreeze
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Illini Warrior said:
That's true. My DIL uses Dawn dish wash for her shampoo, and has long beautiful blonde hair. A friend uses ECHOS (sp?) laundry detergent from Sam's Club. She has long, thick, beautiful hair, too.
I have several recipes for making my own shampoo and conditioner made from household products and essential oils, but it's more expensive to make than to just buy. It's probably better for your hair, though, without all the harmful chemicals.
John Deere Girl
Veteran Member
I didn't think about conditioner going bad. I have long curly hair and it would be pretty awful to not have any conditioner.
Walrus Whisperer
Hope in chains...
No. I have enough for 10 more years, using oldest 1st. Still good, & they are 10 yrs old.
I dry my bar soap also, it lasts much longer in use. I only use Kirk's Castile soap, mildest I know of. Ivory & dove, do NOT dry out. You just have to buy a large amount to get your stash started, take the wrappers off.
