troubleshooting no 'pooing (2 1/2 months in)

[Bluejenn]

Hi all-
The last time I shampooed my hair was 10/12/09. Since then I've been using a tablespoon or two of baking soda mixed with a cup of water. Since my hair is short, I haven't needed the apple cider vinegar, but I do sometimes use a gentle conditioner so I can get through the tangles easier.
The thing is, though, even after almost 3 months, my hair still gets quite oily after about a day and a half to two days (about on par with what it did when I used shampoo). I can tell a difference in the volume and texture of my hair- definitely better than before- but isn't the scalp supposed to calm down on the production of oils after a while? Am I doing something wrong?
Any help/advice/suggestions would be terrific!
Thanks for reading!
Jenn

[Barefoot~Baker]

I just came here to find out how to unshampoo

[Bluejenn]

There are a lot of articles out there about starting, but I haven't found much in the way of troubleshooting problems.
You might want to start here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/...entry_id=37131

I've read a little more about the transition period, but after 3 months now, my hair still gets really oily in between baking soda washes. Plenty of people have had success with it, though, so I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if it's just a quirk of my body.

[swd12422]

How often do you use the BS on your hair? I never had an oil issue til I stopped using shampoo and started with BS/ACV. Turns out I was using too much too often. (I was used to shampooing every day...) I started using less and less til it was just a sprinkle every week or so, and the oil has calmed down. I can't say how long it took to adapt, since it took me a LONG time to figure out what the problem was!

[Bluejenn]

I use the baking soda maybe every 3rd day? But maybe I'm using too much, now that you said something, so I'm going to try using less bs and see if that helps.
Thanks for your help!

[starrmama]

Yeah, for me it seems like washing with baking soda/vinegar is about the same as washing with shampoo as far as oil goes - if you're used to washing frequently, you'll still need to wash frequently with the baking soda... unless you can slowly lengthen out the time between washings, and/or cut back on how much baking soda you use. I just went "cold turkey" (well its only been a couple weeks) with trying not to wash my hair AT ALL, with anything... I suppose I'll go back to rinsing it with water and/or maybe washing it every few months maybe, but I've read other places that if you stop washing it all together, it will really stop producing excess oil and the scalp will heal and calm down and re-absorb any excess oil that there is... sooo... 2 weeks and really oily here - I'm just wearing a hat all the time when I go out! Hoping it doesn't take a full 3 months... if I do get to 3 months and its not better, I guess I'll go back to my once a week baking soda wash with a little vinegar rinse to follow it up lol.

BTW, I've heard of 2 other people who don't wash with anything except water every once in awhile and their hair looks great - one is a friend of mine...

[Bluejenn]

yeah, I had thought of going cold turkey, but was hoping to avoid the temporary grease pit that would be my head! I've lessened the amount of baking soda I'm using per wash, but have continued every third day or so- I'd like to say it's better, but it's really only been 2 or 3 washes.
Even though my hair is straight, I got the Lorraine Massey book 'Curly Girl' from the library. She's got some good tips and recipes- one of which is washing with the juice of one large lemon combined with your normal amount of conditioner. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good.
I guess I'll end up biting the bullet and just rinsing with water for a while. I'm not sure if what I had been doing was just making it worse- hopefully it won't take 3 months, like you said!
Thanks for your reply!

[Bluejenn]

it's been another few weeks that I've been 'washing' with one tbsp of baking soda rather than two, and although one doesn't do quite as good of a job as two did, the oil production does seems to be calming down. I actually washed with two tbspns on Tuesday and it's still clean-looking after 2 days.
So thanks, Starrmama! I was close to throwing in the towel and going back to shampoo, but I'm so glad I didn't! How is it going for you?