Shampoo alternatives besides no-poo?

[Magelet]

I feel that all the shampoos I've tried have been very very bad for my hair. My hair feels much healthier when I shampoo it very infrequently. My hair doesn't usually get particularly greasy (it can go weeks and not get greasy...). However, I feel like I *should* do more than rinse it and shampoo maybe 1x a month.

Also, my DP's hair is very greasy, and needs to be washed every day or two. I know that washing his hair this often strips the grease, which perpetuates the cycle, but what alternatives are there besides no-poo?


For me, I'm looking for something to wash when it occasionally "smells dirty", to help with mild dandruff, and keep my hair healthy, pretty, and moisturized (its very dry). I do regular oil treatments on it as well with olive oil or coconut oil. Within 24-36 hours (without washing it out), all the oil is absorbed, and it doesn't look at ALL greasy.

For DP, I'm looking for something that will help keep his hair from looking/being greasy, while not being harsh or stripping his hair's grease.

Also, of course, we want to stay away from the standard problematic stuff in shampoo.

Can you use natural soap as shampoo? My mother always said it was impossible to get out of hair, but it seems healthier than detergents.

Rosemary gladstar mentions herbal rinses. Do these work?

I've seen some shampoo bars on etsy that look like they are just soap (fat and lye). Any reviews/recomendations?

Any other ideas? TIA

[Blueone]

There is additive free bar hair soap like on Chagrin or Clean Slate Soaps. Burts Bees also has a lot of safe shampoos and same with Trader Joes. I've never tried burts bees or Trader Joes because they had soy in them and I'm really allergic to that. But my brother uses it and likes it.

[Abarat]

Everyone is different and I'm sure you'll get a slew of answers....here's what we do...

I actually make my own soap, so I use an all natural basic liquid soap to wash my hair with and follow it with a herbally infused vinegar rinse. I used to have very oily hair and washed once a day, sometimes twice. Now I wash once a week or less. I could go longer but my head does get itchy from sweating, etc. I have hard water but don't have too much trouble with it. I also use oil on the length of my hair as it's so long. A wooden comb helps move the natural oils down my hair.

DH used to have bad itchy scalp and dandruff and since switching to soap (versus detergent-most of what you buy in the store) he's had no problems. He'll use whatever I leave in the shower, so basic soap bars or liquid soap and it doesn't make a difference to him.

Natural hair care is a process as far as finding what's right for you and also re-learning your body. Your scalp and hair will change when you quit stripping it with detergents and adding all that other store bought junk.

I love this more natural hair care regime and I sure hope you find something that works well for your family!

[Ruthla]

Most people who "no poo" use baking soda to wash the hair. It sounds like you're referring to "no poo" as just using water and not using any kind of cleanser at all- which is certainly an option, but not what most people do.

I wash my hair with baking soda, then rinse it out, and rinse my hair again with diluted ACV, then rinse again with plain water.

[sunnysandiegan]

We are dabbling with "washing" with conditioner only. DH has hair similar to your DH's and his hair looks much better the days he uses the silicone-free conditioner as shampoo. My hair seems the same, health-wise, but I get more curl the days I use the silicone-free conditioner as shampoo.

[Virginia884]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

We are dabbling with "washing" with conditioner only. DH has hair similar to your DH's and his hair looks much better the days he uses the silicone-free conditioner as shampoo. My hair seems the same, health-wise, but I get more curl the days I use the silicone-free conditioner as shampoo.

Ditto this. I have curly hair and use conditioner to scrub my scalp (sometimes with some brown sugar for scrub or honey for moisture mixed in). Then I use the same conditioner (or a deep conditioner about once a week) to comb through my hair.

My hair is never greasy and when I tell people I don't use shampoo and haven't in a couple years they are amazed!

[Magelet]

Ruth, by no-poo I mean baking soda. It just seems like a pita, rather than having something which can sit in the shower, and I don't have to worry about getting the container of baking soda wet and all. I'm definitely looking to use something besides water. (though admitedly, thats pretty much what I've been doing. I'd say we've been functionally out of anything but a drop or two of shampoo for months and I haven't noticed).

Interesting. I definitely condition more than I shampoo (which is almost never). I feel that conditioners are healthier than shampoos, even natural ones, with coconut based detergents.

I think I'll go ahead and give real soap a try for the occasional wash. Thanks.

[leaves]

Oh yes, I have to second just using conditioner. Not on myself, but my little sister has very dry, curly, course hair and she never uses shampoo. The conditioner keeps it pretty and tame.

[Denvergirlie]

I too have been doing the conidtioner only route. I'll admit that in the last 4 months or so that I have been doing this, that I have washed my hair with shampoo on average once a month, but conditioner only all the other days.

Shampoo, I've been using Suave naturals or this organic "good" shampoo, and thus far it's been only when coming back from camping. All that wood smoke and dirt and several days int he woods was just not coming off my hair using the conditioner only, thus the shampoo on rare occasion.

I really like the conditioner only route I've been taken. I know my scalp is heathier and my hair feels and looks better most days as well.

[LeahBoo]

I use J.R. Liggetts old fashioned shampoo bar. I love it!

Baking soda works well, I just start missing the lather if I use it alot. For baking soda, I have a 1 cup measuring cup hanging in the shower. I take it out, put some (3 tbsp or so) baking soda in it before getting in the shower. Get in, fill the cup with shower water, pour about half on my head, swish it around in the cup (it settles) dump the rest on. Work it in, rinse. Put a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar (I keep it in a plastic bottle in the shower) in the same measuring cup, fill with shower water, dump that on, work it in. Wash everything else, rinse the vinegar out at the end of the shower.

I tried the conditioner method, did NOT like it. Made my hair stick up and curl and fly all over the place, like when it's humid out.

I like the shampoo bar the best of everything I have used.

[His Own]

I haven't used actual shampoo for at least five years, and yes, my hair is clean and shiny!

1. Conditioner-only washing (sometimes called CO washing) works great as long as you really WASH your hair well (you know, massage the hair and scalp very well), then rinse for a LONG time. Your hair will actually lather slightly. I don't use any other conditioner afterwards, as it seems redundant to me. You want to use a cheap, light conditioner, without silicone ingredients. For my hair, the cheap old VO5 line works about best. I like the champagne kiss, the strawberry & cream, the sin-kissed raspberry and the kiwi lime ones. Another that works as well, and that has no fragrance is the Cure Care conditioner sold at Sally Beauty stores. I think it's about my favorite.

2. I used baking soda and vinegar. It worked sort of OK, but not as well as other things I have tried.

3. I used Indian herbs. You can mix these powders up and wash with the liquid mud you make. What I like best is to use Heenara Hair Wash Powder, made by Hesh company, (contains only the herbs, no soaps or detergents) and add in a little methi (aka fenugreek) powder for conditioning. This works great, leaving the hair clean and shiny, but is very messy to do, and if you get any in your eyes it burns like heck! I can explain how to use this if anyone is interested.

4. Lately I have been using, with great success, (get ready for this) plain old Borax, mixed in warm water and followed by a citric acid or vinegar rinse. It works so well, and is the fastest and easiest of the bunch. There are health experts who advocate using this who consider it the safest thing in the world to use. Some others think using borax sounds scary. I am completely comfortable with it. It's a dry, white mineral that comes from the earth and is used 'as is'. I love it! This one is so easy, I'll explain here. I take an empty quart bottle, dump about 1/4 inch of the borax into the bottom, fill the bottle up with warm water, shake very well, then use. In the shower I dump it all over my my already wet head, making sure to get it on all the hair and scalp, massage the scalp and hair only slightly, then rinse it out. That's it. It takes about 30 seconds. I follow with a vinegar or citric acid rinse which I don't even rinse out, and I'm done. My hair is clean and shiny and very happy. (By the way, my hair is tailbone length, so others may find that half this amount is more than enough.)

There are probably other things I tried too, but I'm tired of writing, so I'll stop here.

Just know that there are many ways to clean your hair and scalp that don't involve detergents or soaps, but that leave the hair in lovely condition.

[DevaMajka]

I mostly do conditioner only as well.
I use Jason's aloe something or other. That particular conditioner seems to cut any grease really well. When I do feel like I need a little bit more, I mix the conditioner with a gentle shampoo in my hand and use that to wash. It gets it a bit cleaner than just conditioner, but never "squeaky clean" and doesn't leave my hair dry and frizzy.
I use Avalon organics shampoo, I think.

I can't use hair products with fragrance (makes my scalp itch), so I basically am limited to more expensive natural products .

I tried no-poo with baking soda, and it left my hair frizzy, even when I used just a tiny tiny bit of bs. I have dry hair, and what I'm doing now is the only thing that keeps it relatively unfrizzy.

[amber913]

OP, i would agree with others that with your hair type (thirsty!), washing with conditioner would definitely be the way to go. It would quench your hair while also getting rid of that dirty hair smell you mentioned. There are lots of decently-priced natural, organic conditioners out there. Dr. Bronner's has two, and that's a company you can trust.

As for dh, i'm all about bs no-poo, but it seems as though men seem less likely to try new things. If he's up for it, great! If not, a gentle soap or shampoo should do it--like Dr. Bronner's, for instance. Back in the day, my hair would get greasy after about a day and a half, but i've managed to stretch it a bit (4 days after a few months) with no-pooing. And as for technique, i keep a jar of bs with a formula scoop on a shelf in the bathroom. I put a scoop into a color applicator bottle (any squirt bottle will do), fill with warm water once i get into the shower and apply to dry scalp. It's really not a difficult process, especially considering i only have to do it twice a week (at this point).

Good luck!

[Magelet]

I tried using soap yesterday.... I have to say that was not a success. Maybe I'll try another type of soap at some point but..... I don't think I've ever had as much "squeaky clean to the point of stripped totally" feeling in my hair, ever. Even with standard chemical shampoos growing up. I rubbed it with coconut oil and let all the coconut oil soak in. After rubbing a good 2 T of coconut oil through my hair, it does feel ok. But not the sleek shining picture of health that it usually does after an oiling.

I'll look into Dr. Bronner's conditioner. Definitely they are a company I trust, I didn't know they made conditioner.

I was just reading over on the long hair community forums about herbal hair treatments. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...&articleid=134 I'm definitely going to give those a try thanks for helping me find them by the name of that indian herbal mix, his own.

[adorabelle]

I have tried bars of soap and no poo too to no avail. This tutorial http://ultimatemoneyblog.com/no-poo-...-shampoo-again has lots of good info in the comments though! I just haven't been able to get it to work for me

[Freedom~Mama]

Originally Posted by His Own

4. Lately I have been using, with great success, (get ready for this) plain old Borax, mixed in warm water and followed by a citric acid or vinegar rinse. It works so well, and is the fastest and easiest of the bunch. There are health experts who advocate using this who consider it the safest thing in the world to use. Some others think using borax sounds scary. I am completely comfortable with it. It's a dry, white mineral that comes from the earth and is used 'as is'. I love it! This one is so easy, I'll explain here. I take an empty quart bottle, dump about 1/4 inch of the borax into the bottom, fill the bottle up with warm water, shake very well, then use. In the shower I dump it all over my my already wet head, making sure to get it on all the hair and scalp, massage the scalp and hair only slightly, then rinse it out. That's it. It takes about 30 seconds. I follow with a vinegar or citric acid rinse which I don't even rinse out, and I'm done. My hair is clean and shiny and very happy. (By the way, my hair is tailbone length, so others may find that half this amount is more than enough.)

There are probably other things I tried too, but I'm tired of writing, so I'll stop here.

Just know that there are many ways to clean your hair and scalp that don't involve detergents or soaps, but that leave the hair in lovely condition.

This caught my interest so I decided to give the Borax a try! Tonight will be my first time using it on my hair so I will have to post back here and say how it worked for me! I have done no poo before (baking soda w/acv for the rinse and although I loved the acv the baking soda made my hair greasy and yucky feeling) and didn't have the best results so I am hoping switching the baking soda with Borax will get me better results! I have very thick, wavy, long hair and I have so much trouble finding a good combo...most everything either makes my hair oily or dry and I also have a very sensitive scalp.

[Freedom~Mama]

Well so far so good! My hair came out really soft and shiny from the Borax!

[His Own]

A New Day,

I'm glad the borax is working for you so far. I really enjoy using it. For me it works WAY better than baking soda, and as well as any shampoo or conditioner ever did.

[mmhinton]

jumping in here:
His Own and ANew Day08 - I saw your posts re: Borax to clean hair....Is there any reason NOT to use that??? any precautions???
I tried bs/acv, but it did NOT work for my hair (nor has a natural/homemade herbal wash) which left my thick, wavy, oily hair feeling waxy and looking wet/very oily after washing
I currently use Burt's Bees shampoo with acv rinse (when needed), but would love to find something completely natural (and cheaper too like borax... so, if anyone knows why NOT to use borax - could you post??? if not, I'll have to try that!!!

[accountclosed3]

i'm in the same place. moving to a new country and looking for simple, inexpensive ways to get clean hair.

i have found that washing once twice or three times a week is enough for me (currently using Burt's Bees which is very expensive in NZ), conditioning once a week. i have naturally long, curly, blonde hair. soft hair normally. oily scalp with a bit of cradle cap.

i tried baking soda and ACV, but DH had a fit about the smell, and so we went to burt's bees. smells nice.

i'm thinking of trying an indian/herbal--though i haven't checked out prices yet--or seeing about making my own herbal (thanks for the link), or just using borax, which seems to be pretty affordable.

i have some borax, and i need to wash my hair tomorrow, so perhaps that is what i will try!

thanks!