QUICK SUMMARY
This homemade dry shampoo for dogs is an easy way to freshen your dog's coat between baths using baking soda, cornstarch or arrowroot powder, and a carefully measured amount of lavender and lemongrass essential oils.
Essential oils can be used around dogs, but dogs are not tiny humans. Oil choice, concentration, route, body size, age, health status, medications, and grooming behavior all matter. Never add extra essential oil to this recipe, never apply concentrated essential oils directly to your dog's skin, and keep the powder away from the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and genitals.
Use this DIY for an occasional coat refresh, not to cover up persistent odor, redness, itching, hair loss, hot spots, or another skin problem that may need veterinary attention.
Dogs need pampering too, and this Homemade Dry Shampoo for Dogs will help you do just that!
If your dogs love going outside during the summer, this DIY will come in handy and can be a gentle way to introduce your furry friends to carefully selected essential oils.
Dogs can pick up random odors you don't want in your home, but sometimes time doesn't allow for a soak with our all-natural dog shampoo.
This dry shampoo helps absorb excess oil and freshen your dog's fur between baths. If you're short on time, you're going to love this simple hack.
One important distinction: dry shampoo is a freshening tool. It is not a replacement for bathing when your dog is truly dirty, and it should not be used to disguise an ongoing skin odor that keeps coming back. Persistent odor, itching, redness, greasy skin, hair loss, sores, or frequent licking can point to yeast, bacterial skin disease, allergy, parasites, or another issue that deserves a closer look.
Table of Contents:
Essential Oils and Dogs
Did you know that pets can benefit from essential oils too?
It's true, but this is one area where I want you to use common sense and respect how concentrated these plant compounds are.
Dogs process essential oils differently than people, and a safe experience depends on the specific oil, concentration, route, amount, frequency, the dog's size and age, medical conditions, medications, and whether the dog can lick the product off its coat.
My friend veterinarian Dr. Janet Roark recommends dilution for topical use and advises keeping oils away from a dog's eyes, ears, nose, and genitals. She also emphasizes greater caution with young, pregnant, nursing, medicated, or medically fragile animals. (1)
For dogs, Dr. Roark recommends avoiding topical and internal use of:
- Melaleuca (Tea Tree)
- Birch
- Wintergreen
She recommends caution with stronger or “hot” oils such as:
Camphor also deserves special caution around dogs. Veterinary toxicology resources warn that camphor can be readily absorbed through the skin and should not be applied to dogs or cats. (2)
This is not an exhaustive “bad oil” list, and every oil not named here is not automatically safe.
That matters because essential-oil toxicity in pets is dose-dependent. Concentrated products create a very different exposure than a properly formulated, lightly scented grooming product.
A large retrospective case series involving 337 dogs and 106 cats documented significant neurologic signs after concentrated 100% tea tree oil exposure. Most cases involved intentional use by well-meaning pet owners. (3)
That is exactly why we never use “natural” as a synonym for “use as much as you want.”
Essential Oil Quality Matters Too
I no longer use the words “therapeutic grade” as proof that an oil is safe or effective.
That phrase is primarily a marketing term.
For any oil we use around our family or animals, I want to know:
- The common and botanical name
- The plant part
- The extraction method
- The country and source of the plant material
- Whether the company provides batch-specific GC/MS testing
- Whether the oil is adulterated, diluted, or fragranced
- Whether the product is appropriate for the intended route
Quality does not erase the importance of dose.
A beautiful, authentic essential oil can still cause problems if you use too much.
Lavender Essential Oil and Dogs
Lavender is one of the better-studied essential oils around dogs.
In a clinical trial involving 32 dogs with a history of travel-induced excitement, dogs exposed to ambient lavender odor spent more time resting and sitting and less time moving and vocalizing during car travel. (4)
A much smaller clinical trial in five Beagles found that topical lavender affected certain measurements of autonomic nervous-system activity, although the researchers concluded that whether it actually produced a calming effect remained uncertain. (5)
That gives us a reasonable basis for calling lavender a calming aroma for some dogs without pretending it works the same way for every pet.
In this recipe, lavender is included in a very different context: a dry grooming blend used in the exact amount specified by the recipe.
Lemongrass Essential Oil and Dogs
Lemongrass essential oil has a bright, fresh scent and strong antimicrobial activity in laboratory research.
But laboratory antimicrobial activity is not the same thing as proving that a lemongrass dry shampoo treats bacterial or fungal skin infections in dogs.
The older version of this article went too far by calling lemongrass an antibacterial and antifungal treatment for dogs with skin infections and suggesting it could relieve an upset stomach in nervous dogs.
That is not what this DIY is for.
Here, lemongrass is used primarily because we enjoy its fresh aroma and because it pairs beautifully with lavender.
Do not use this dry shampoo as a treatment for a skin infection. If your dog has a persistent yeasty odor, redness, oozing, hair loss, hot spots, crusting, or excessive scratching, find out what is causing it rather than repeatedly covering it with scent.
Toxins Found in Traditional Dry Shampoo
Our pets deserve thoughtful care.
Their coat touches our furniture, our children hug them, and many dogs sleep right beside us. The products we rub into their fur become part of our home's chemical environment too.
That is why I prefer a simple DIY where I can see every ingredient.
Talc
Powdered grooming products need an absorbent ingredient to soak up oils.
Some powder products have traditionally used talc.
The concern around talc has become stronger since the original version of this article was written. In 2024, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified talc as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on limited human evidence, sufficient animal evidence, and strong mechanistic evidence. IARC separately notes that asbestos can occur in some talc deposits and has contaminated some talc products; talc containing asbestos remains part of the Group 1 asbestos classification. (6)
That classification does not prove that using a talc-containing dog shampoo will cause cancer in your pet.
It does give us another reason to ask a simple question:
Why put a fine talc powder into a product that is intentionally shaken around an animal's coat when easy alternatives exist?
We use cornstarch or arrowroot powder instead.
Whatever powder you choose, minimize airborne dust. Dogs explore the world nose-first. There is no benefit to creating a cloud of grooming powder for them to inhale.
Synthetic Fragrance
Manufacturers often use fragrance to make grooming products smell clean.
The problem is that “fragrance” can represent a mixture of scent ingredients rather than telling you exactly what is present.
We already avoid unnecessary artificial fragrance in our home, and I see no reason to perfume our dogs with an undisclosed fragrance mixture when a simple recipe works beautifully.
Dogs also have an extraordinarily sensitive sense of smell.
More fragrance is not better.
Even strong natural aromas can be irritating. Veterinary toxicology guidance notes that concentrated or strong essential-oil odors can cause watery eyes or nose, coughing, wheezing, nausea, drooling, or other signs of respiratory irritation in some pets. (7)
The goal is a lightly freshened dog, not a dog that smells like a perfume counter.
Natural Dog Shampoo Ingredient 101
This simple DIY uses just a few familiar ingredients to help absorb coat oils and leave your dog smelling fresh.
Here's what you'll need for this recipe.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is one of my favorite household odor neutralizers.
It is inexpensive, easy to find, and useful in countless non-toxic cleaning recipes.
In this dry shampoo, it helps freshen the coat between baths.
Because it is a powder, apply it lightly and keep it away from your dog's face. You do not need a thick coating to freshen fur.
Cornstarch or Arrowroot Powder
Instead of talc, we use cornstarch or arrowroot powder.
These powders help absorb excess sebum that can make the fur look and feel oily.
Sebum is not the enemy. A dog's skin naturally produces oils that help protect the skin and coat, so we are not trying to strip everything away.
That is one reason this recipe is for an occasional refresh rather than constant daily use.
Lemongrass Essential Oil
The fresh scent of lemongrass essential oil makes it one of my favorites in natural cleaning and deodorizing blends.
For this dog shampoo, use the amount already specified in the preserved recipe.
Do not add extra drops because you want a stronger scent.
Dogs' noses are far more sensitive than ours, and stronger is not automatically better.
Lavender Essential Oil
Lavender is the classic calming oil, and canine research suggests that lavender aroma may help some dogs settle in stressful settings. (4)
It also gives this dry shampoo a soft, clean aroma that balances the sharper scent of lemongrass.
Again, the dose matters.
Use the recipe as written and resist the temptation to turn a light grooming blend into a concentrated essential-oil treatment.
Make Homemade Dry Shampoo for Dogs
This dry shampoo comes together in just a few minutes!
We like to keep ours in a glass shaker bottle for easy application.
Dry Shampoo for Dogs With Essential Oils
Quantity
Ingredients
- ½ cup baking soda
- ½ cup organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
- 3 drops lemongrass essential oil*
- 3 drops lavender essential oil
Supplies
- Dog brush or a mitt brush
Instructions
- Add baking soda and cornstarch or arrowroot powder to a glass jar.
- Pour essential oil drops into the powder mix. Shake well.
- Sprinkle dry shampoo on your dog, starting at their neck, being careful to avoid their eyes.
- Work your way down their entire body and rub in well.
Step One: Add Dry Ingredients
Add the baking soda and cornstarch or arrowroot powder to a glass jar. We prefer using one with a shaker lid.
Jars like this are usually called “cheese shakers.” If you don't have one on hand, you can use a glass mason jar and poke holes in the lid.
Step Two: Add Essential Oils
Add the essential oils to the jar, replace the lid, and shake until there are no clumps.
The goal is to distribute the small amount of essential oil throughout the entire powder mixture instead of leaving concentrated wet spots.
Step Three: Sprinkle on Dog's Fur
To use this dry shampoo for dogs, lightly sprinkle it on your dog's body from the neck down.
Be careful not to get it in their eyes, nose, mouth, ears, or genital area.
Using your hands, work a light amount of the dry shampoo into the dog's fur. Do not create a dust cloud.
Allow the dog to shake off the excess shampoo, then brush the coat thoroughly to remove loose powder.
This simple process is enough to freshen your pup between baths.
Mama Z Pro Tip: If insects and fleas are your bigger concern, use a product formulated specifically for that purpose rather than adding more essential oil to this dry shampoo. Try our flea and tick spray made with essential oils.
How to Use Dry Shampoo on Dogs Safely
Dry shampoo sounds simple, but dogs lick themselves, shake their coats, bury their noses in everything, and have a much more sensitive sense of smell than we do.
A few simple habits make this DIY much more sensible.
Use a Light Dusting
You do not need to coat the fur white.
Apply just enough powder to absorb surface oil and odor, then work it through the coat and brush out the excess.
Avoid the Face and Airways
Keep the shaker below the neck.
Do not sprinkle powder toward the face, nose, mouth, eyes, or ears.
If your dog has asthma-like respiratory disease, chronic bronchitis, active coughing, or another respiratory condition, skip powdered grooming products unless your veterinarian says they are appropriate.
Do Not Let Your Dog Eat the Powder
Essential oils applied to fur can become an oral exposure when a dog grooms itself.
After using the shampoo, brush away loose powder and supervise your dog until the excess is gone.
Do not use the product on paws or other areas your dog immediately licks.
Introduce It Slowly
The first time you use the shampoo, try a small amount on a limited area rather than covering the entire dog.
Watch for:
- Redness or itching
- Excessive licking
- Drooling
- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Wobbliness
- Tremors
- Coughing or wheezing
- Unusual behavior
Veterinary poison-control data show that adverse reactions from essential-oil-containing pet products can occur, including products marketed as natural. (8)
If your dog reacts badly, stop using the product, move the dog away from any airborne exposure, and contact your veterinarian or an animal poison-control service if symptoms are significant.
Use Extra Caution With Certain Dogs
Talk with a veterinarian experienced with essential oils before using them topically on:
- Puppies
- Pregnant or nursing dogs
- Very small dogs
- Dogs taking medications
- Dogs with seizure disorders
- Dogs with liver disease
- Dogs with respiratory disease
- Dogs with active skin disease or open wounds
If your dog uses a topical medication, medicated skin product, or topical flea and tick preventative, do not layer essential oils over that area without veterinary guidance. Dr. Roark specifically cautions against combining topical oils with topical medications or dermal patches. (1)
Do Not Use This Recipe on Cats
This recipe is for dogs.
Cats handle essential-oil exposures differently and are particularly vulnerable to several oils and constituents. Do not assume a dog-safe DIY is interchangeable with cat grooming care. (7)
Homemade Dry Shampoo for Dogs FAQs
Is homemade dry shampoo safe for dogs?
A simple dry shampoo can be useful for occasional coat freshening when the ingredients and essential oils are appropriate for the individual dog and the product is used carefully. Use the recipe exactly as written, avoid the face, minimize airborne powder, brush away excess, and stop if your dog shows irritation or unusual symptoms.
How often can I use dry shampoo on my dog?
Use it occasionally when your dog needs a quick freshening between baths rather than making it a daily grooming habit. If your dog constantly smells oily or unpleasant, investigate the cause instead of repeatedly applying dry shampoo.
Can I add more lavender or lemongrass essential oil?
No. More essential oil does not make the recipe better. Dogs have a highly sensitive sense of smell, and toxicity risk increases with concentration. Use only the amount specified in the recipe.
Can I use lavender essential oil on dogs?
Lavender has been studied in dogs, including a clinical trial in which ambient lavender aroma was associated with calmer behavior during car travel. That does not mean unlimited or undiluted lavender is safe. Route, concentration, amount, and the individual dog still matter. (4, 5)
Can I use lemongrass essential oil on dogs?
This recipe uses a small, recipe-specific amount of lemongrass dispersed through a full batch of dry shampoo. Direct canine clinical evidence for using lemongrass oil to treat skin infections is limited, so we use it here as part of a carefully formulated grooming blend, not as a veterinary treatment.
Why not use tea tree oil in dog shampoo?
Concentrated tea tree oil has caused documented toxicosis in dogs and cats. In a 443-animal case series, common signs included drooling, lethargy, weakness, loss of coordination, and tremors after concentrated exposure. (3) This is why tea tree is not part of this recipe.
Can I use this dry shampoo if my dog has itchy skin?
Not as a treatment for the itch. Occasional itching can have many causes, but persistent scratching, redness, odor, greasy skin, sores, hair loss, or licking deserves evaluation. Covering a skin problem with fragrance can delay finding the actual cause.
Can dry shampoo replace a bath?
No. Dry shampoo absorbs surface oils and freshens the coat. It does not rinse away mud, allergens, fecal contamination, environmental residues, or other dirt the way bathing can.
Should I use cornstarch or arrowroot powder?
Either option works in the preserved recipe. If you prefer to avoid corn or your dog has a known sensitivity to corn-derived ingredients, arrowroot is an easy alternative.
What if my dog licks the dry shampoo?
Prevent intentional ingestion. Brush away loose powder after application and avoid areas your dog immediately licks. If your dog consumes a significant amount or develops drooling, vomiting, lethargy, tremors, wobbliness, breathing problems, or another concerning symptom, contact your veterinarian or an animal poison-control service promptly.
Final Thoughts on Homemade Dry Shampoo for Dogs
I love simple DIYs that help us replace heavily fragranced household products with ingredients we can actually identify.
This Homemade Dry Shampoo for Dogs does exactly that.
It gives you a quick way to freshen your dog's coat when a full bath is not practical, while baking soda, cornstarch or arrowroot, lavender, and lemongrass do their jobs without turning grooming into a chemistry experiment.
Just remember that essential oils are concentrated.
Respect the amount in the recipe.
Respect your dog's nose.
Keep powders out of the airways.
And pay attention to what your pet is telling you.
Natural living should make us more observant and thoughtful, not less.
References
- Roark J. “Using Essential Oils with Animals Safely.” Essential Oil Vet. Accessed August 18, 2026. Source.
- Pet Poison Helpline. “Camphor.” Accessed August 18, 2026. Source.
- Khan SA, McLean MK, Slater MR. “Concentrated Tea Tree Oil Toxicosis in Dogs and Cats: 443 Cases (2002-2012).” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 2014;244(1):95-99. Source.
- Wells DL. “Aromatherapy for Travel-Induced Excitement in Dogs.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 2006;229(6):964-967. Source.
- Komiya M, Sugiyama A, Tanabe K, Uchino T, Takeuchi T. “Evaluation of the Effect of Topical Application of Lavender Oil on Autonomic Nerve Activity in Dogs.” American Journal of Veterinary Research. 2009;70(6):764-769. Source.
- International Agency for Research on Cancer. “Volume 136: Talc and Acrylonitrile.” Published July 5, 2024. Source.
- Benson K. “Updates on Essential Oils.” Pet Poison Helpline. Accessed August 18, 2026. Source.
- Genovese AG, McLean MK, Khan SA. “Adverse Reactions From Essential Oil-Containing Natural Flea Products Exempted From Environmental Protection Agency Regulations in Dogs and Cats.” Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. 2012;22(4):470-475. Source.
