Groom Professional Bright White Shampoo

The Groom Professional Bright White Shampoo is the brand's whitener -- for the bichon, westie, white poodle or maltese whose coat has drifted from white into a dull cream.

Key Features

• Brightens white tones: Built for white and pale coats and the yellow cast they pick up
• Lifts stains: Aimed at general discolouration as well as everyday dirt
• Coconut oil: Included to put moisture back, since whitening shampoos can be drying
• No bleach: Groom Professional state it is formulated without bleach
• Coconut scent: A light tropical finish that stays on the coat
• Concentrate: Dilutes 10:1

Getting The Best From A Whitening Shampoo

• Wash once with an ordinary shampoo first if the dog is properly dirty. A whitener works on a clean coat, not through mud.
• Leave it on for the full five to ten minutes. This is the step people skip, and it is the step that does the work.
• Tear stains and saliva stains on the face are iron-based and will not fully shift with shampoo. Keep the area dry and clean and accept slow progress.
• Two shorter washes beat one long soak if the coat is badly discoloured.

This Is A Concentrate -- Dilute It

Groom Professional give this one a dilution of 10:1, which means 10 parts water to one part shampoo. That is how a salon makes a 450ml bottle last, and it matters for the dog too: neat professional shampoo is far stronger than a coat needs and strips the oils out of the skin. Mix what you need in a jug or a bottle before the dog gets in the bath, and mix it fresh rather than keeping diluted shampoo for weeks.

How To Use It

• Brush the coat out before it gets wet. Water turns a loose tangle into a solid mat.
• Soak the coat right through with lukewarm water first -- diluted shampoo will not penetrate a dry double coat.
• Work it in from the neck down so the suds run away from the face.
• Leave it on for five to ten minutes. Groom Professional build these to work with a bit of contact time, and rushing the rinse is what wastes the product.
• Rinse until the water runs clear, then towel off and brush the coat as it dries.

How Often To Wash

Most dogs do not need a bath more than once every four to six weeks, and plenty need less. Washing more often strips the oils that keep a coat weatherproof and the skin comfortable, which can leave a dog itchier than it started. Salons wash frequently because they are working to an appointment, not because a dog benefits from it.

Who Makes It

Groom Professional launched in 2009 on the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland and is sold through the grooming trade supplier Christies Direct. The range was built for working salons rather than for the bathroom cupboard, which is why so much of it comes as a concentrate and in four-litre sizes. Groom Professional say the products are manufactured in the UK.

Good To Know

• This one is out of stock at the moment, so the page is here for reference while we wait on the next delivery.
• The whitening shampoos work with an optical brightener and a violet dye rather than bleach. The dye is what cancels yellow in a white coat, and it can temporarily tint a very pale or thin coat if you leave it on far longer than the instructions say.
• Groom Professional describe it as free of harsh chemicals, which refers to the absence of bleach. The published ingredients do include preservatives and a violet dye, so it is not a short or especially gentle ingredients list.
• This is a dog product. Do not use it on a cat unless the label specifically says you can -- cats groom everything off their coat and swallow it, and they handle fragrance and essential oils far less well than dogs do.
• Keep it out of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Rinse with clean water if any gets in.
• Groom Professional's published ingredients for this one include methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone. They are common preservatives and they are also known skin sensitisers, so wear gloves if you bath dogs all day, and stop using it if the skin goes red or itchy.
• A shampoo cleans; it does not treat disease. Broken, scabby or weeping skin, bald patches, a smell that returns within days of a bath, or scratching to the point of bleeding all need a vet rather than a different bottle.
• Keep it out of reach of children and store it somewhere cool and dry.