Trying No Poo- struggles

[TopHat]

It's 11 days since I've gone no poo. I have baking soda water in a spray bottle that I spray on my scalp and massage in and rinse out. I also spray the ends with diluted ACV (I have straight hair with a very very slight wave). Last week the routine was pretty good. Th past couple of days, though, I've had really greasy hair despite my baking soda routine.

Last week, I washed every other day, and this week because of the greasiness, I've gone to using the routine daily.

I have some white buildup, which I know means to use less BS, but with how greasy my hair is, I'm afraid to.

Is this part of the transition phase? I didn't notice any big "transition" phase when I started- does it come in the second week?

Is it due to hard water?

This morning before I showered, I combed through my hair to spread out the oiliness over the hair. Then I showered and my roots + the closest 2 inches of hair to the roots are still really oily.

Should I wash with just water? Any suggestions?

ADDED: I guess instead of greasy, the roots feel more waxy. Everything I've read says that waxy = try lemon juice instead of ACV, but I don't use ACV on my roots- only the ends. When my spray bottle of diluted ACV runs out, I plan on trying lemon juice to see how it goes- maybe I should try it sooner?

[sprouthead]

buildup and waxiness sound like sebum to me. It could be part of transitioning. Transitioning is different for everyone. I don't think there's really a difference between lemon juice and acv because it's all acid. Try dumping it all over your head- scalp too. I also have hard water issues..

How much bs and acv are you using?

[TopHat]

I use 1 tbsp of BS to 1 cup of water. Same with ACV: 1 tbsp to 1 cup of water. My little spray bottles only hold 1 cup of water. I use half a bottle of the BS solution every time I clean (my hair is slightly above shoulder length). I only use a few squirts of the ACV solution on the ends because I heard it can make your hair greasier. Since I already have thin straight hair (though I have a lot of it, so it looks like I have body), I didn't want to do anything that would make it too greasy.

ETA: Funny thing, I was thinking about my hair this morning and thinking it was a lot like a sheep's lanolin. Then I started wondering if I should lanolize our soakers and longies by rubbing them on my hair.

[Abarat]

I'm struggling with hard water issues too. I get a white type of residue on my hair that ends up all over my comb and it happens if I use a shampoo bar, bs/acv or nothing at all! I'm thinking at this point it's just hard water.

I did read somewhere about boiling the water you use to wash your hair if you have hard water and that might help. I'm not about to buy distilled water for washing my hair. I'm thinking I'll start washing my hair in the sink instead of the shower so I can use non-tap water.

If you do have hard water it does make this process a little more tricky and even after a couple years I'm still playing with it.

Be sure to update so we know what ends up working for you!

[shanniesue2]

I honestly think it's just part of your transition. For me, I was fine the first week and slightly oily for 2-3 weeks after that. Some people don't have much of a transition at all and some people will be total grease balls for a few weeks. I even read about one lady who was still really greasy after 6 weeks (although I don't remember exactly what her routine was or if she tried playing around with it at all). I've been no poo for 14 months now, and I've played around with bs mixes followed by some kind of acidic rinse (I've tried acv, lemon juice, and lime juice. I also did a conditioner only routine during winter... worked well for my hair, but my scalp was a flaky mess. I'm just now getting to the point where I'm finding that a bs/honey/brown sugar/TTO mix followed by an acv rince over the bottom half of my hair once a week is good... however, I understand that no-poo needs can change with the seasons.
My advice is to get through your transition (I'd give it another week or so), and then be willing to play around with your routine. That's one of the beautiful things about no-poo... you are free to experiment! Not constrained by the bottle any more

[TopHat]

Thanks! My husband is surprisingly supportive. He was telling me it was kind of weird to feel my hair, so I asked him if he didn't like it. He said, "It's just different for now. You have to be patient, right?" I REALLY want no poo to work because I've heard so many great things, so I will stick it out. I bought a boar bristle brush yesterday to help my hair feel less waxy at the roots.

[orangefoot]

I started no-pooing when I shaved my hair so I'm not sure I experienced the transition in the same way as anyone with longer hair.

On the days between washing, some days I don't wet my hair at all and other days I put my head under quite hot water in the shower and give it a good rub all over. On some water-only days I also spritz my hair with a 1:7 acv mix from a spray bottle.

Perhaps just using hott-ish water and brushing it in the shower then a quick spritz all over with acv might help you?

[shanniesue2]

Originally Posted by orangefoot

Perhaps just using hott-ish water and brushing it in the shower then a quick spritz all over with acv might help you?

Be careful brushing your hair when it's wet ESPECIALLY if you have wavy/curly hair. Hair is most fragile when it's wet and brushing it could cause breakage. If the point is to get it clean, you might rub a wash cloth over it from root to tip and spread out the natural oils. But other than that, the only thing that I've ever seen recommended for wet hair is a wide toothed comb or finger combing.

[TopHat]

Thanks! On Saturday night I washed my hair leaning forward into the shower instead of back into the shower thinking it might help. I put it in sponge curlers that night- the next days the curls stuck well! And my hair doesn't look greasy at all. After sleeping on yesterday's curls, I still have them (though looser). I brushed my hair this morning with my boar bristle brush. The curls kind of waved and then went back to curls.

I wonder will happen when I wash them again and it goes straight again.

But if anyone wants a way to hide the greasiness of the transition stage: curl your hair!