Going no-shampoo!!

[spyiispy]

I'm just wondering if anyone has has done this. After alot of research and some inspiration.....I've decided to go no shampoo. You really would be shocked at the amount of loopholes that allow not-so-natural ingredients in the most organic of shampoos. I'll be washing my hair.....but not with shampoo. Will be using baking soda/hot water and apple cider vinegar rinses. There are any number of things you can use to condition, if you feel the need to.......

Has anyone had experience in this area?

Lisa

[srain]

I did this for a while, and while my hair felt clean, I couldn't get it to look "right." Good luck to you, though- I know others it worked great for. It took my hair a long time to accept the lack of shampoo- probably 4 weeks- but stick it out!

[amber14]

Hi,

This seems very interesting to me. I've known about the concept, but nothing in particular.

Could you post some specifics on how to make whatever you use to wash and condition instead of shampoo and conditioner?

Thanks
Antonia

[marilynmama]

I know one girl who is a hairdresser and she has the most beauitiful, strong, long, stunning hair I have ever seen and she only washes it once a week. She said washing your hair any more than that just ruins it basically.

Of course I still wash mine every other day....lol

But ya, tell us more, I would be interested! What do you use to condition?

Marilyn

[~Megan~]

Last week we were snowed in and so I didn't bother to wash my hair when I showered. And now I've still not washed it. I've found as long as I get it wet when I shower and brush it thouroughly with a natural fiber brush it looks fine and smells fine.

[spyiispy]

Oh don't get me wrong....I'm going to continue to wash my hair (once a week like I normally do....)...just not with shampoo. I'll be using baking soda/hot water every other washing and/or apple cider rinse coupled with a good brushing before hair is wet. You can condition with a ton of things....like mayonnaise....or an egg (just use lukewarm water to rinse unless you like your scrambled eggs in your hair); even plain old EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). But, if I am understanding the concept correctly....if you get your hair to its normal state....conditioning shouldn't be a necessity. A noble goal....we'll see how it goes.....

I posted this under CityGirl's post...but I'll post it here as well....this is what inspired me...sorry for the format...don't have time to adjust it to this font.....

Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2003 04:14:56 EST
From: Richard Strauss <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Shampoo

Hi, my name is Rachelle - partner to Richard and mama to Verona - 2 1/2
years.

I'm popping out of lurkdom as this thread has been going on for some
time and
I feel I have something to contribute.

When I was pregnant, Richard and I decided we wanted as 'natural' as
possible
in EVERY way for our child - extended breastfeeding with me eating
organic
food, leaving her unbathed for several days so that she could absorb
all the
vernix, natural fibres for her clothes etc etc.

I also had this aspiration through researching chemicals in toiletries
products that I didn't want her covered head to toe in Johnson and
Johnson
cocktails, so I looked into 'green companies' for alternatives and was
shocked at my
findings - the loopholes in the laws, the amount of rubbish allowed
into
products, the 'mass medication' I suppose that we enforce onto
ourselves and our
children through the efforts of being a 'good consumer'.

We finally decided that we would use no products at all - we made up a
combination of distilled witch hazel and grapeseed oil for her nappy
area and that
was the sum total of her toiletries. I did an experiment while I was
pregnant
because I strongly felt I did not want to wash Verona's hair, so I
stopped
washing mine.

For two months, hats and scarves became my closest friends - my hair
looked
dreadful; lank and greasy, but interestingly neither smelly or itchy -
from
going through dietary changes at various stages in my life I saw this
greasiness
as a 'detox' process and just went with it; rinsing my hair with warm
water,
brushing it with a natural fibre brush and tying it back,

After a couple of months things changed and my hair started to look
better,
*Much* better - the thickest it has ever looked (my hair has always
been
impossibly fine), shiny and just in superb quality and condition.

I'll fast forward here, otherwise this will turn out rather long:
Verona has
never had a product anywhere near her - never had shampoo, soap,
powders or
lotions and strangers still comment on her beautiful hair and skin:
she is an
active child who loves mud and shit and running food through her
hair :-) but
everything has come out with water alone. There are many similarities
to the
conditon of her hair and the fur of an animal in that she has not had
the natural
balance of oils disturbed, so things just wash out easily - even
things that
you would consider not easily water soluble such as scrambled eggs or
butter
just come out with a bit of water. It is a wonderful indication of her
health
too - when she is ill then it is clearly reflected in her hair, so it
acts as a
kind of 'health signal' for us; as soon as she is getting better, any
oiliness or dryness readjusts itself.

I have not washed my hair with shampoo since being pregnant but my
balance
changed when I stopped b/f at 2 years. Now I have a very successful
regime that
I would like to share:

I make a paste from around 4tbsp bicarbonate of soda with HOT (this is
the
key to success in my experimentations) water - mix it up and the water
should
foam a little if it is hot enough.

I apply it to my dry hair and then wrap a towel round my head and
leave it to
work for half an hour.

Rinse with lots of warm water and then follow with a cider vinegar
rinse. I
have experimented with a fresh lemon juice rinse and pineapple juice!
All are
effective - I just choose the cider vinegar for cost effectiveness.

A couple of other ideas which I have used with great success are
soapwort
(*so* easy to grow) and green clay.

Please forgive me if this is off topic to the list, but I hope it has
been
useful for some of you.

blessings
Rachelle

[amber14]

About the vinegar: I had 2 foster daughters who had lice at the same time. We were told to use mayonaisse overnight, then rinse with vinegar. The vinegar burned the pee-waddin' out of their scalp!!

So, how exactly do you do a 'rinse'?

Thanks!
Antonia

[spyiispy]

Antonia......I'm thinking that perhaps your foster daughters had open scraches on their scalp cuz of the itchiness that comes with lice....and that would definitely cause the apple cider vinegar to burn. I'm not planning on using straight ACV to rinse...probably a 3:1 ratio of water to vinegar. Still researching....

Day 2 of no shampoo.....lookin' alright....think I will rinse it tonight in the shower.

[amber14]

Originally posted by spyiispy
Antonia......I'm thinking that perhaps your foster daughters had open scraches on their scalp cuz of the itchiness that comes with lice....and that would definitely cause the apple cider vinegar to burn. I'm not planning on using straight ACV to rinse...probably a 3:1 ratio of water to vinegar. Still researching....

Day 2 of no shampoo.....lookin' alright....think I will rinse it tonight in the shower.

Ahhhh...yep, that could be

Antonia

[rubym]

I stopped washing my hair last summer. I tried doing a vinegar rinse every couple days, but my hair got so nasty and greasy and looked terrible.
A few months later I ended up just cutting it short. Now i wash it about once every week and a half. It works for me, having short hair but I couldnt do it with longer hair.

[amber14]

Originally posted by rubym
I stopped washing my hair last summer. I tried doing a vinegar rinse every couple days, but my hair got so nasty and greasy and looked terrible.
A few months later I ended up just cutting it short. Now i wash it about once every week and a half. It works for me, having short hair but I couldnt do it with longer hair.

Do you use the baking soda to wash it or shampoo? How exactly do you keep it from looking greasy during the week and 1/2?

Thanks,
Antonia

[momto l&a]

I used mayo in my haironce , never again will I do that. I took about three weeks to get it washed out.

I love olive oil for my hair.

I am going to try doing no shampoo for my hair also. This morning i used a lemon juice wash and I needed no conditioner. Have had to use the stuff since my hair hit neck lenght, needless to say I was happy.


With the hair I have to have it look good I find it needs to be washed at least every two days. Its naturally curly, hangs in ringlets.

When I have short hair its straight and needs to be washed everyday to look good. Takes more care for me to have short haid then long.

[rubym]

amber14
I wash with shampoo.
Now that it is short I use greasy hair goop to style it , so the natural oiliness doesnt really matter. Short hair actually looks better when its a little greasy, otherwise it tends to get all puffy, imo. Greasy makes it cute.

I say just cut it off

[amber14]

Cutting it all off sounds good to me!! lol

I used to love messing with my hair, but the older I get the more I hate it.

Antonia

[*Erin*]

I used mayo in my haironce , never again will I do that. I took about three weeks to get it washed out

me too, and me either.
yuck. i thought i would never get it out.

[MaShroom]

i am so glad to see this thread, i have been really considering going no shampoo for a long time. it will go nicely with my unshaven pits and legs.:LOL

back in august i shaved my head because i didn't want to color my hair anymore and wanted to let it grow out. now it is getting to a really funky length so i wear scarves most of the time. it feels like crap when i wash it so i don't think i will anymore. i've also decided that i'm never cutting my hair again either. except for maybe the occasional trim. i had short hair for years and it is so high maintenance!!! i do not have that kind of time to spend on my hair anymore so out it grows.

thanks for the info!

[zealsmom]

Neither dh nor ds use any shampoo (only water usually). Dh rarely conditions his hair and I put conditioner or ds' hair about once a week (to help with the tangles). They both have very beautiful hair and are told so practically daily by anyone and everyone.

Godd luck.

[jessi]

we've been using terressentials clay-based hair wash and loving it. they have a very informative web-site( i don't know how to do links) if you search for terressentials you might find it. no chemicals or anything weird in their stuff as far as i can tell. i like apple cider vinegar (diluted) as a hair rinse, too. sorry about my typing, ds is asleep on my arm. also, ds has had no more flaky cradle-cap type ick on his scalp after stopping his "natural" baby soap!!

[spyiispy]

Day 8......No Poo!

This is soo exciting! I thought I was pretty fringe for doing this....its nice to see some interest out there in Mothering-land. Wanted to share a quick story......

We got some gut-wrenching, violent puking stomach bug last Saturday night. I passed out in the bathroom early Sunday AM....woke up with DH cleaning me out of a pile of my own puke. Lovely imagine, huh??? I thought...oh great...there goes my no shampoo vow. BUT...bravely, I just rinsed it very well, and did an apple cider rinse. It dried with NO smell...and feels great. I have longish hair.....and kinda dry...so, I normally would need a conditioner. So far, I haven't had to condition once (even with an egg or olive oil, etc...)

NO POO!!!!

Lisa

PS...zealsmom....how long has your DH not used shampoo?? Do you do this also?

jessi...gonna check that out; sounds cool. But you can't beat baking soda and apple cider vinegar for the price!

[SMPH]

so you use the baking soda/hot water on wet or dry hair? how long do you leave it on?

last week i didn't wash mine at all. went exactly one week. by the end it was getting a bit funky i'd say. my scalp get oily so that was where it was icky, the rest was fine.

i did 2 apple cider rinses and that was it for the week. but i did them on wet hair...should it be dry?

and what's the deal with the natural fiber brush?how does it help?