There's something we don't love at Hairstory: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so we'll go first and share ours. We don't love Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and we certainly don't use it.
We'll tell you why in a second. But first, let's be fair.
SLS isn't dangerous. That's not the problem.
Science has made it clear that SLS isn't dangerous. The FDA has approved it as a food additive. The EPA and the National Library of Medicine both consider it generally safe. Other than some skin and eye irritation, it's not going to hurt you. We'll give it that.
So what is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, exactly? It's a cleaning agent. You'll find it in engine degreasers. Laundry detergent. Dishwasher pods. Spray cleaners. The stuff under your sink. It can be synthetic or it can be derived from petroleum, coconut, or palm kernel oil. And in lower concentrations, it ends up in your shampoo.
It works as an emulsifier to thicken products and as a surfactant to create lather. And that lather is the whole point, because lather is what makes you feel like something is cleaning.
But here's what's actually happening.
SLS doesn't clean. It strips.
SLS doesn't know the difference between the dirt on your scalp and the protective oils your scalp spent all week making. It doesn't distinguish. It just takes. It takes your sebum, your scalp barrier, and the natural layer of lipids your skin produces to keep itself healthy. SLS crosses that threshold and carries all of it away with the rinse water.
That's not cleaning. That's stripping.
And that's our biggest qualm with it. Not the safety question. Not the regulatory debate. It's this: you walk away from the sink thinking your hair is clean, and what's actually happened is your scalp has been left exposed, reactive, and now working overtime to replace what got taken.
So it produces more oil. And then you wash again. And the cycle continues, and somewhere along the way, you start to believe your hair is just greasy by nature, and it's not. It never was. It was responding. Once you understand that the lather is theater — that it's surface tension and trapped air, not evidence of cleansing — a lot of things start to make more sense.
The environmental side isn't black and white.
And look, we want to be real with you about the environmental side of this because it's not black and white. SLS in raw form is moderately toxic to aquatic life. Diluted in a product, it's a more complicated story depending on water temperature, water hardness, and all of it. We're not going to tell you it's a simple call.
But extracting petroleum and putting it in a bottle to strip your scalp? That's the part we can't get past.
There are better options.
And there are: Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, and Coco Glucoside. It's time you met them, and we've written about them here. These are naturally occurring alternatives that clean without stripping. The industry is slowly coming around to the idea that you don't need aggressive chemistry to clean.
We went further than that. New Wash doesn't lather at all. It's built around fatty alcohols that actually understand the difference between buildup and your scalp barrier, with some essential oils. It cleans without performing. And once your scalp stops being stripped every few days, it stops overcompensating. Things start to regulate. You start washing less. The cycle breaks.
The sulfate checklist — keep this one.
Before you go, here's a list worth keeping in your back pocket. Not every sulfate announces itself the same way on an ingredient label. These are the ones to look for:
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate
- Sodium Lauroyl Sulfoacetate
- Sodium Lauroyl Taurate
- Sodium Cocoyl Isoethionate
- Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isoethionate
- Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
- Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
We call them sulfakes. Because that's what they are. An ingredient is making an impression of cleanliness while something else entirely is going on. There's nothing sulfake about New Wash. That's the whole point.
Keep Reading
- The Surfactant Spectrum: Meet the Cleansers That Don't Strip
- WTF Are Detergents and Surfactants?
- The Strip-and-Restore Trap
- The Right Question to Ask About Your Hair Care
The information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a board-certified dermatologist or qualified healthcare provider if you have concerns about your hair or scalp health.
