Blue Dawn As A Shampoo? This Is What I Found!

Have you ever tried Blue Dawn dish soap as a shampoo? WE know its good for dishes and ducks but it works as human shampoo too. This is what I learned in my hair experiment.

Blue Dawn dish soap as a shampoo? This is what I found!

A momentary step away from my usual content about building a Christian home, but I thought you might be interested in my little experiment!

I read an article about someone using Blue Dawn dish soap as a shampoo. Yes, you read that right. Blue Dawn as a shampoo, for your hair! A money saving option but it seemed weird.

The first thing you might think of is the commercials where they clean oil-soaked animals. I’ve even used it on a cat who had an unfortunate encounter with motor oil. Other dish soap did nothing but the Blue Dawn worked wonders on the poor kitty.

Blue Dawn as Human Shampoo?

That being said, I never considered using it as a shampoo for my hair. In my mind dish soap stayed in the kitchen with the dishes, or to be used for cleaning elsewhere in the home (I use it in my homemade all-purpose cleaner).

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Blue Dawn. It is one of the few grocery items I won’t substitute for a store brand. I’ve even converted several people to “true blue” users. It is amazing but this post isn’t about the effectiveness of Blue Dawn as a dish soap. It’s about hair.

So, after reading the article I decided I may as well try my beloved Blue Dawn on my hair. What did I have to lose? I’m a stay-at-home mom, so no one sees me. I’m 8, almost 9 months postpartum and my hair is still recovering after pregnancy. I haven’t dyed it or done any special treatment to it. So there wasn’t a risk of damaging it (any worse than it already is). I was a perfect candidate for this experiment.

So on a hair wash day, I decided to give the blue stuff a try.

About My Hair

I have what I would consider, average hair. It is thin and tends to be on the flat/straight side but it does have some wave when the mood strikes it.

I wash it every 3 days, as it doesn’t necessarily get dirty. I do work out so there is sweat residue but all the more reason to try the grease-fighting action of Blue Dawn. I also didn’t have any product in my hair other than the leave-in conditioner. It was a blank slate of greasiness.

So that is what I was dealing with.

The Experiment

I started my shower as usual, rinsing my hair with water and then adding a small amount of dish soap. I ended up needing quite a bit of Dawn and had to add water to get it to “suds up,” so I guess my hair was greasier than I thought.

The soap did its job though and after a vigorous rub and rinse, it felt squeaky clean.

I used my regular conditioner afterwards as the ends felt pretty dry (and my hair needs all the help it can get).

Then I towel-dried it, threw in some leave-in conditioner and let it finish drying on its own.

What I Noticed

My hair was clean. It felt clean, it looked clean, and it smelled clean. It even had a normal volume to it. My scalp didn’t feel any more or less dry than normal and there were no signs of flakiness.

What it lacked was the shiny effect you get from shampoo and the pleasant smell. It certainly didn’t have a bad odour but it didn’t smell like coconut (which is the scent of my wash). And while my hair was clean, it didn’t shimmer and shine.

It stayed clean longer though. The next day I didn’t notice the grease that slowly appears as day two wears on. I straightened a few pieces of hair with my flat iron (because I didn’t have time to do my whole head) and it still seemed to hold its clean factor.

All in all, if someone had swapped out my shampoo and didn’t tell me (and I was blind to the fact it was a brilliant blue colour) I don’t think I would have realized, at least not right away.

Takeaway

Will I be changing shampoo brands to my beloved Blue Dawn? Likely not. It was a fun and easy experiment but I missed the coconut smell of my regular shampoo. I also use volumizing varieties to try and encourage a little pep in my strands.

Did the Blue Dawn serve its purpose? Most definitely. If I was in a pinch and needed a shampoo I’m glad to know the Blue Dawn would work just as well as any other shampoo.

Although if I’m ever in a place where I need to save a few dollars regularly, maybe I will consider changing shampoo brands. After all, a 473ml bottle of Blue Dawn costs $2.77 (CAD) at Walmart.

It’s a cheap option if you are looking to save some money. If not, take my word for it, Blue Dawn will wash your hair and leave it looking (almost) like you used your normal shampoo.

More than just a dish soap, slap that on as another use for Dawn!