Congrats!
Things had been going pretty well and then yesterday something when really badly When my hair dried the first 3 inches closest to the scalp was fine and the rest of it felt horribly dry and straw like. I put oil in it and it still felt awful. It feels somewhat better tonight but still not great. Ack. Makes me want to go shampoo and condition the old way.
Maybe you need to start going longer between washes, use less b/s? That's how I ended up going water only. My hair was getting too dry from bs/acv, so now I do water only and also use a natural conditioner afterwards. I do water only every 5 or 6 days and brush with a boar bristle brush inbetween.
Don't give up, you just need to find the routine that works for you, and that may need to change over time.
NStewart what conditioner do you use?
Part of me starting this was because I was so tired of trying to find a shampoo and conditioner I was comfortable with ingredient wise.
I use this one from Rocky Mountain Soap Company. Most of my body care products are from them: deodarant, soap in the bath tub, body wash for at the gym, moisturizer, lib balm, bubble bath for DS (actually, while it smells great the bubble bath isn't very bubbly. I'm happy with everything else though!)...If only they made makeup!!
Ah...these things happen. My whole family went onto the store bought stuff for years, and just recently started back up with no-poo. It's not a failure. There are just different phases to our habits throughout our lives. ;) If you're wanting to get back into it, go for it....if you're not ready yet, don't worry about it. Do what's right for you, and by you.
Thanks. I needed the encouragement. I felt guilty every time I washed my hair. 
Stupid, Anyway, I have been washing every other day so I just skipped my shampoo yesterday and did my baking soda and vinegar like I had been before. Hopefully the transition isn't too bad this time.
It wasn't for us. When we started using BS again, it was a really smooth transition. Dd is growing dreads and after her first shower her hair was still oily. So, I made up a more diluted ACV rinse for her, and it's fine now. The rest of us have just had clean hair after our showers, no adjustment period. We don't wait a week before washing our hair or anything though. We just wash it when it needs washing, like we did with shampoo.
Help me troubleshoot? First, I still love no 'poo (especially the convenience factor with a koala bear kid - shorter showers = less screaming). I'm just not so sure my hair does...
Is there such a thing as combination hair? When I first wash it, it seems normal (maybe a tiny bit on the dry side), just really static-y. As the days go by, I notice my hair tangles super easily, is still full of static, but gradually gets super greasy at the roots. I brush at least 2-3 x a day with boar bristles, but towards the end of the week, my roots are really slicked down, and my hair just below that feels very heavy with oil, and is stringy. Yet the lowest third is still brittle and straw-like. And kind of sticky - and really tangled.
I use BS/ACV once a week. I don't use ACV on my roots, and sometimes I don't want to use it at all, because when I get out of the shower my roots will be fine (just frizzy) and my hair will look the same dingy, stringy way it did pre-wash. So I've been moving toward less of it, and rinsing it out faster - helps avoid instant stringiness, not so much with the rest of my problems.
Any ideas? 
Help me troubleshoot? First, I still love no 'poo (especially the convenience factor with a koala bear kid - shorter showers = less screaming). I'm just not so sure my hair does...
Is there such a thing as combination hair? When I first wash it, it seems normal (maybe a tiny bit on the dry side), just really static-y. As the days go by, I notice my hair tangles super easily, is still full of static, but gradually gets super greasy at the roots. I brush at least 2-3 x a day with boar bristles, but towards the end of the week, my roots are really slicked down, and my hair just below that feels very heavy with oil, and is stringy. Yet the lowest third is still brittle and straw-like. And kind of sticky - and really tangled.
I use BS/ACV once a week. I don't use ACV on my roots, and sometimes I don't want to use it at all, because when I get out of the shower my roots will be fine (just frizzy) and my hair will look the same dingy, stringy way it did pre-wash. So I've been moving toward less of it, and rinsing it out faster - helps avoid instant stringiness, not so much with the rest of my problems.
Any ideas?
I remember when I first went 'poo free. I'm pretty sure it was in this thread, and a mamma posted about how she didn't even use ACV and that she just "washed" her hair with water. I remember thinking, "how is it possible that her hair and scalp is ever clean??" After a lifetime of using shampoo I just couldn't imagine it!
Well, FF a year later and I only use water too. My hair never gets greasy, and it isn't as dry either. It is really dry where I live, so I do need to condition to keep it healthy and wish I didn't but I just do.
So, I guess I am saying all this to suggest that maybe you try washing with just water? This will help with the ends not being so dry. If you stop washing the oils your hair produces naturally out with the bs/acv your body won't need to react by producing more oil, so this could help your roots from getting greasy. I found the BS very drying, so perhaps your body is just reacting to that drying effect on your scalp by creating even more oil. It follows from people with acne issues being advised not to over-wash or use harsh soap on their face as it causes the body to react by producing more oil.
Maybe someone else has a different suggestion?
I was shampoo-free for over 2 years and I STILL never got even close to washing only with water. I don't understand that. I just can't wrap my mind around it. I'm not calling you dirty by any means. I'm fascinated. I just could not even get close to that with my hair and I'm not sure why. I still had to use baking soda at least once a week, s ometimes twice, to keep it clean and not oily.
I was shampoo-free for over 2 years and I STILL never got even close to washing only with water. I don't understand that. I just can't wrap my mind around it. I'm not calling you dirty by any means. I'm fascinated. I just could not even get close to that with my hair and I'm not sure why. I still had to use baking soda at least once a week, s ometimes twice, to keep it clean and not oily.
I can totally understand not being able to wrap your head around it, a year ago I couldn't either. Conversation with my little sister at lunch on Wednesday:
Sis: "Are you still doing the no shampoo thing?"
Me: "Yup"
Sis: "So you use baking soda and what again?"
Me: "No, I just use water now."
Sis: "What?! But your hair is so clean! Your bangs aren't even greasy!"
Me: "I know. My hair doesn't get greasy."
Anyway, I am not sure why it works for me but BS sure didn't. My hair was as dry as straw! I do scrub my scalp when I wash my hair just as if there were shampoo in my hair. I also scrub it again when I rinse my conditioner out (maybe the conditioner washes my hair?). I also use a boar bristle brush every day (more than once) and I do have to wash the brush with soap or shampoo at least once a week because the brush gets dirty, so I think the brush is cleaning my hair?
That really is fascinating to me. 
I know that's stupid but I am blown away that you can get off shampoo completely.
That really is fascinating to me. I know that's stupid but I am blown away that you can get off shampoo completely.
I never thought I could do it either, and I clung to BS/ACV for a long time. It wasn't good for my hair, and it was like straw, but at least I knew my hair was clean.
Then I switched hairdressers, and she recommended I use conditioner to "wash" my hair. I told her I had started doing water only and prefer that b/c it makes for short showers (pickle, are you reading?) and no chemicals. She said she understood the chemical issue but that even with water only it should NOT mean shorter showers! You still "wash" your hair and scrub/massage your scalp and run your fingers through your hair like you do with shampoo. The only difference, she said, is that you don't actually use shampoo, but you DO the same things you would be doing with the shampoo. Make sense?
So I went conditioner-only for awhile, then dropped it and do water-only. I thought for sure I would have to use conditioner b/c my hair is so dry and frizzy, but now that I'm washing my hair and scalp, it's getting better. At my last haircut, I confessed to her that I stopped the conditioner and was concerned b/c my roots seemed like they might be starting to get oily. She said no, that's healthy hair. She said I have the healthiest hair of any of her clients now, and that my hair was NOT dirty (I wasn't so sure, b/c I'm used to it being so dry and now it's not). I sniff it CONSTANTLY to make sure it doesn't smell bad, and it smells like nothing. It took me a few months to get used to it, but I like it now. My bangs are actually drier than the rest of my hair, not greasier, so I use argan oil on them.
I never thought I could do it either, and I clung to BS/ACV for a long time. It wasn't good for my hair, and it was like straw, but at least I knew my hair was clean.
Then I switched hairdressers, and she recommended I use conditioner to "wash" my hair. I told her I had started doing water only and prefer that b/c it makes for short showers (pickle, are you reading?) and no chemicals. She said she understood the chemical issue but that even with water only it should NOT mean shorter showers! You still "wash" your hair and scrub/massage your scalp and run your fingers through your hair like you do with shampoo. The only difference, she said, is that you don't actually use shampoo, but you DO the same things you would be doing with the shampoo. Make sense?
So I went conditioner-only for awhile, then dropped it and do water-only. I thought for sure I would have to use conditioner b/c my hair is so dry and frizzy, but now that I'm washing my hair and scalp, it's getting better. At my last haircut, I confessed to her that I stopped the conditioner and was concerned b/c my roots seemed like they might be starting to get oily. She said no, that's healthy hair. She said I have the healthiest hair of any of her clients now, and that my hair was NOT dirty (I wasn't so sure, b/c I'm used to it being so dry and now it's not). I sniff it CONSTANTLY to make sure it doesn't smell bad, and it smells like nothing. It took me a few months to get used to it, but I like it now. My bangs are actually drier than the rest of my hair, not greasier, so I use argan oil on them.
How long were you off of the BS/ACV before you could go w/o conditioner? I did water only for a couple of months (same as you, I "washed" it with water just as if I were using shampoo) but my hair was so dry, I had bad split ends, etc. I would prefer not to use any product, but couldn't handle having such damaged hair (and my hair isn't waist lenght or anything, it is just past my shoulders). I wonder if it's the very dry climate, combined with hard water, where I live that makes conditioning necessary?
I'm in a dry climate too. I think it took me about 6-9 months to get off the conditioner. I used it daily for a few weeks, then went to every other day, then tried not to "wash" my hair at all but a few times a week. I alternated using conditioner and not, so I guess I used it about twice a week and then washed water-only twice a week. When I went off conditioner altogether, I started washing with water-only, I washed every day or only skipped one day. Right now, I don't like my haircut much, so I only wash a few times a week with just water My scalp is not oily at all, my hair is still on the dry side so I use argan oil on it, and it feels so soft. It has NEVER felt soft at all, but now it feels really good. So the next issue is to find a cut I can live with!
It's not only your scalp that needs time to adapt to the change; your hair will need time to grow out and it'll grow in healthier. I think my hairdresser said 5 months for my bangs to completely grow out (they're not really bangs, they're halfway down my face). HTH
It seems like a long time, but for me it was well worth it. I figured I have bad hair either way, so I might as well get away from the chemicals and at least have healthy bad hair!
Thanks SWD! Right now, I "wash" with water and condition every 5-6 days. I don't get my hair wet at all in between. It isn't even oily or greasy by day 5 or 6, but by day 6 it does need a "wash" more for my scalp than my hair. I could try conditioning every other time and using the oil you suggest on the alternate week, and see how that works.
Hair Type: Fine, Straight, Brown Hair
Poo Free for 1 year (Woot!) with way less hair fall out, what seems like faster hair growth and lots of new hair growth.
What is your no 'poo routine? I No Poo about every 4-5 days applying baking soda straight to my scalp and roots. I allow to sit till my roots feel "slippery" and then follow by using a spray bottle filled with my white vinegar rinse (ACV over conditioned my hair). I use an Aloe Honey shampoo that I make if I get "itchy" head (clears it right up) and actually helped me get out of the transition phase faster.
Products Used: Baking Soda and a white vinegar rinse
What gets rid of dandruff/flaky scalp? Aloe Honey "Poo" (mix aloe gel and honey and apply to scalp and hair)
What are your recipes, if any? You can find my Aloe Honey "Poo" here: http://coderedhat.com/no-poo-recipe-aloe-honey/
How often do you use the various "products"? After a hot oil treatment I have to use a low poo to get all the oil out. I love Shea Moisture Organic shampoo (about $8 at Walgreens...you'll find it in the African hair care section but works great on all hair types)
Do you ever wash your hair? Yes, when I do an oil treatment or egg mask. If so, do you have to start from square 1? No. I use a low poo shampoo so not to have to start from square one.
What are people's reactions when they find out you are 'poo free? They look at me like I'm joking. Then they ask me a ton of questions after seeing my lovely hair.
Me and my No Poo hair
I never thought I could do it either, and I clung to BS/ACV for a long time. It wasn't good for my hair, and it was like straw, but at least I knew my hair was clean.
Then I switched hairdressers, and she recommended I use conditioner to "wash" my hair. I told her I had started doing water only and prefer that b/c it makes for short showers (pickle, are you reading?) and no chemicals. She said she understood the chemical issue but that even with water only it should NOT mean shorter showers! You still "wash" your hair and scrub/massage your scalp and run your fingers through your hair like you do with shampoo. The only difference, she said, is that you don't actually use shampoo, but you DO the same things you would be doing with the shampoo. Make sense?
So I went conditioner-only for awhile, then dropped it and do water-only. I thought for sure I would have to use conditioner b/c my hair is so dry and frizzy, but now that I'm washing my hair and scalp, it's getting better. At my last haircut, I confessed to her that I stopped the conditioner and was concerned b/c my roots seemed like they might be starting to get oily. She said no, that's healthy hair. She said I have the healthiest hair of any of her clients now, and that my hair was NOT dirty (I wasn't so sure, b/c I'm used to it being so dry and now it's not). I sniff it CONSTANTLY to make sure it doesn't smell bad, and it smells like nothing. It took me a few months to get used to it, but I like it now. My bangs are actually drier than the rest of my hair, not greasier, so I use argan oil on them.
Yup, that's what I was doing when I did water only - I got that tip from this thread, to really massage my scalp, etc. I don't think I was washing with water every day, though. More like, BS/ACV once a week, and water once or twice in between (maybe daily would make the difference?). So my showers were shorter from skipping getting my hair wet altogether.
My hair had more body using BS/ACV, but it was dry - and over time, I had more and more breakage and split ends (and that awful greasy roots, straw hair combo I mentioned before after a couple days). So I broke down and busted out some all-natural, ultra-moisturizing shampoo for damaged hair - full of shea butter & argan oil. I am *much* happier using this! I use it about once a week (once every 5-7 days depending). It doesn't strip oil from my hair at all - it does make my roots seem a bit "cleaner" but not dryer, and it really conditions the rest of my hair. So even though it's a shampoo, the results are reminding me more of washing with conditioner. My hair is still heavy with natural oils (the shampoo is formulated for African-American hair - which I don't have - but to give you an idea of how conditioning it is).
If there was a magical way for it to be this nourished + the old body and shine of regular shampoo - now that would be perfection! But I'm happy wtih the cost and time savings of this trade. 
There is a great alternative for vinegar - citric acid (not ascorbic acid). It's cheap, relatively easy to find, you use less of it and it has no odor at all.
Here's how you make it:
Taken from Never Shampoo Again! How to Wash Your Hair Using the No Poo Method
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