I'm confused by the whole "NO Poo" thing...why?

[Nickarolaberry]

Hi Mamas!

I have to admit, I'm confused by the "no poo" idea. Why is this a good thing? And to be honest, my hair is very "difficult." It's thick, curly, coarse, tends to be dry, and impossible. If I don't wash it/condition it/control it with gel every day, it looks like a cotton ball. DH likes it long, and he's the only one who really sees it, so I don't want to cut it all off (which would be my favored option) - he really asks for so little in that vein.

So why the no poo, and if I can't do that, what's the best kind of natural shampoo/conditioner/product that would work and not break the bank?

[philomom]

The SLS in shampoo may contribute to various health problems. Just as I clean my house with salt, vinegar and baking soda; so I am trying to "go natural" with our family body care.

[Wildcrafter]

I've been no pooing for about a year now. Since I like everything organic, I was spending a fortune on organic hair care products. No more. That's the best part, because we are on a very tight budget.

I have thick long hair and after I shampoo using baking soda wash, acv rinse and cold water rinse, my hair looks good, stays looking good for longer, holds a curl better if I want some, HAS NO STATIC, and doesn't tangle easily. I will say my hair is not quite as soft as when I conditioned the heck out of it, but it still is soft.

[Nickarolaberry]

Right. I want to go organic also but we are also on a tight budget. So tell me, what's a baking soda wash and an "acv" rinse and how does one do this? Do you rinse with water every day?

[konadogsmom]

Im interested in finding out more about this as well. And, what all the abbreviations mean....

[jen-mom]

There are a couple of good threads here that outline the details of no-pooing if you do a quick search. Briefly - baking soda is used for washing and acv (apple cider vinegar) or other acid (lemon or lime juice) is used for conditioning/rinsing.

It's not for everyone, but if you browse the responses to the other threads here you can see how well it does work for some people.

Also, check out the book "Curly Girl" (can't remember the author) for more tips on how to care for curly hair. Really, if your hair is already dry, why would you want to shampoo with something designed to strip more of its natural oils away? There are options beyond just no-pooing discussed in Curly Girl that may work better for you.

[EnviroBecca]

For me, the main reason is that I now have to wash my hair with anything about 1/3 as often. Saves a lot of time!

I don't even use baking soda. Here is my routine:

Whenever hair looks a little dreary, brush under warm running water with a ventilated brush (the kind that has widely spaced bristles and slots that let the water run thru between rows of bristles). This distributes the oils.

When hair/scalp starts to feel oily or itchy, or when dandruff appears, put into a container (empty yogurt bucket or similar) 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 5 drops tea tree essential oil, and optional 3 drops other essential oil that smells pretty. Take into shower. Rinse-brush hair as above. When it is thoroughly saturated, fill bucket to near the top w/warm water. Hold hair away from scalp w/fingers, pour some of the mixture onto scalp, and rub w/fingertips. Repeat on the next section and continue until whole head is done. Dip ends of hair into remaining mixture and rub it in. Leave in for a few minutes while washing rest of body. Rinse-brush. Hair will feel oily and smell vinegary now, but it will be much better when it dries.

At first, I alternated this method of washing w/shampooing. That is, instead of shampooing every 3rd day, I would shampoo on Day 1, vinegar rinse on Day 4, shampoo on Day 7, etc. After a few weeks I found that my hair was not feeling dirty on washing day, so I began delaying until it seemed to really need it and just using a quick rinse-brushing to tame funny-looking hair. After 4 months my hair didn't tolerate the shampoo anymore--it was frizzy and weird for 2-3 days after shampoo--so I did just vinegar. Now I do a vinegar rinse every 8-10 days and a plain rinse-brushing every 3-4 days.

I have thick, wavy hair a little past shoulder-length. It used to "need" a heavy conditioner to hold down the frizz and keep the waves together. No more! This method gets the dirt and a lot of oil out (I actually have to be careful not to slip in the oil that runs out of my hair onto the shower floor!) but leaves enough oil on the hair shaft (as opposed to the scalp) to give me lovely waves. When I get out of the shower, I just comb my hair, put in barrettes or whatever, and let it air-dry, then brush it out when it's dry, and it looks great! Glossy, fluffy but not frizzy (except in bad weather), nice curls at the ends and subtle waves higher up. It also smells fresh and clean, even if I have to be in a place that's smoky or otherwise bad-smelling; I think the vinegar neutralizes odors.

Your mileage may vary. But I think it's worth a try.

[camprunner]

In only been doing this for a month but here are my reasons:

1. Because of our new house has hard water, I am having difficulty finding a soap/ shampoo that doesn't cause me to break out. So I decided to try to avoid soap at all costs. So far my skin has improved a lot.

2. It is convenient that I don't always need to wash my hair.

[PikkuMyy]

I'm not no-pooing at the moment simply because we are very poor currently, we ran out of baking soda, and we had several bottles of natural shampoo that DH bought but didn't like. So I am using those and using my leave-in conditioner which I rarely use as regular conditioner.

However, I definitely prefer the no-poo method. For me, I make it easier than the PP. I fill an empty shampoo bottle with about 1/4 full of baking soda. The rest I fill with water. I fill a second empty shampoo bottle 1/4 full with apple cider viner and the rest with water. Voila, shampoo and conditioner!

MUCH cheaper than shampoo/conditioner, esp. if you buy the ACV in bulk, and it doesn't strip your hair of its natural oils.

[Irishmommy]

What do the essential oils do? I've been doing the bs and acv, but I still have to wash my hair every 2-3 days, like before.

[MamaAllNatural]

How long have you been no poo Irishmommy? Sometimes it can take a while for your hair to adjust. I've been no poo for about eight months now I can go a whole week w/o washing! My hair feels like it needs to be washed at that point but doesn't even look greasy.

To the OP, basically shampoo dries out your hair causing it to be greasier. It's more eco friendly to not be using bottles and contributing to the manufacturing of products. No poo helps problems with too dry or too greasy hair and scalp. Most importantly it's best for your hair. Your hair looks so much healthier and shinier etc.

A basic way to start:

Mix about 6 oz. hot water w/a heaping TBSP of baking soda. (You can add a little bit of honey or rosemary EO later on if you want)

Wet hair, pour on the BS mixture over your scalp and scrub scalp thoroughly.

Rinse

Pour about a capful of vinegar (Most people use Apple Cider Vinegar = ACV - I just use regular white vinegar) into mostly all the ends of your hair and then massage your hair and scalp to spread it throughout your hair.

Rinse

You're done. I also like to do a final rinse with Lavender oil. You have to find what works best for your hair type. You also need to give it at least a few weeks before you decide if you like the results or not.

HTH

[girlndocs]

Might be easier to pour the vinegar into a jar or cup, add some water, then pour it over your hair. I use 1 tbsp vinegar to a pint Mason jar of water from the showerhead. Others use different ratios, though, even up to 1 part each vineagr and water (too much vinegar makes my hair feel stringy & greasy).

[Irishmommy]

MAN, a little over a month I think. I use waaaaay more bs than that, and it has to be almost mud consistency to spread. I also use more vinegar, but that would be really easy to cut down. I'll try cutting down on both. I have really thick shoulder length hair.

And about the essential oils????

[MamaAllNatural]

Irishmommy, I have found that making it a thick paste like that is too much and too harsh. Also, like you said, it could be too much vinegar too. I have thinner hair than you so maybe you could do 2 TBSP BS in 6 oz of water and try 1 TBSP vinegar and just take it from there.

Originally Posted by Irishmommy

And about the essential oils????

:LOL Um, can't tell you much there. : I do know I use the rosemary with the BS if I don't feel like adding honey and it does seem to do the same thing (adding some body and cleansing ). Also, I know Lavender can be used as a cleaning agent. I use it for extra conditioning and also I like to smell pretty.

[*LoveBugMama*]

This is so interesting!

I will definately try this! My scalp is always itching after shampooing, and no shampoo has made this any better. Maybe BS and ACV will help?

Someone in this thread said they poured BS in a shampoo bottle, and filled with water. Can I do that? Can the mixture be in the bottle like that until next tme I need to wash my hair? Or is it best to just make as much as I need for ONE wash at a time?

[Wildcrafter]

Here's my simpler's method:

(bs = baking soda and acv = apple cider vinegar)

Put tablespoon of bs in 2 quart plastic jug and bring it into shower. Wet hair and then fill jug and dump over head. Work into hair and rinse.

I have a container of ACV in shower. Put about a tablespoon of it in jug, fill with water again and dump. Work in a little and rinse.

After shower is done I always turn cold water on for at least one excrutiating moment - invigorates skin and helps a lot with dry skin/hair.

I no-poo every 3-5 days.

One benefit I forgot to mention; I used to always get dry scalp during the winter and I never do now that I am no pooing.

[babybugmama]

just subbing for when the poo runs out...

[velcromom]

I do it to save money, and because I have never found a shampoo that doesn't begin to irritate my scalp after a week or two... so I figured why waste money throwing away nearly full bottles of shampoo?? I can get as good or better results for much much less.

I use dry bs and just sprinkle it on, work it in and rinse. I make a acv/water mixture ahead of time. I have tested to see how much acv it takes to create an acid rinse and found that only 2 tbs of acv in a pint of water cuts the pH in half - the mixture has a pH of only 4. So a ratio of 1tb per cup is plenty to do what we need it to. I sometimes get more fancy and use a decoction of fresh rosemary instead of plain water. I love the way that smells! Since the decoction has plant material in it, any extras are kept in the fridge - don't want to grow any mold or bacteria!!

I also notice I can go longer between washings than I could with shampoo. I often skip the bs every other shower, and just rinse with very warm water and give my scalp a good vigorous rub.

When I had a perm many years ago, my hair was frizz city and I would rub a couple drops of baby oil between my palms and distribute it through my hair. It kept the frizzies down without looking greasy. I'd never use that now, but I would definitely look at using jojoba oil or shea butter instead. They are really good for both hair and skin. Jojoba is less oily and easier to work with so it might be something you could look into for controlling frizziness.

[babybugmama]

decotion = mixture?

How do you make it?

[Meiri]

I started doing this out of curiosity after reading about it here and at another site.

I liked how my hair looked right from the start and noticed that I could skip a day washing if I wished and it would still look okay. If I skip more than one day though, it goes flat and feels horrible.

I use my old shampoo bottles: baking soda, honey, water in one; vinegar and water 1:4 or so in the other. Convenience And natural And cheap. The honey is the most expensive aspect, but very little is used in each bottle and I get cheap honey for my hair (I save the expensive local stuff for eating. ) I get about 3 washes from one bottle's worth of the mix.