Anyone NOT using shampoo?

[Seie]

I have tried to cut down on the shampoo for several months now.
I have heard that your hair is actually better off if you don't use shampoo in it. I think it is a fascinating thought and I like the thought of not using chemicals in my hair. I now rinse it with warm water every two days or so.
What I have heard is that eventually the hair will stop producing too much grease/oil and will be shiny and clean even without the shampoo. So far it is not really happening though I have noticed that my hair greases far less now.

While writing this I have not used any shampoo for the past 3 weeks but my hair is feeling quite greasy to touch and when I brush it the brush gets all white with leftover stuff in my hair Gross - I know- I am expecting this to be a phase until my hair gets used to no shampoo.. )

So question is : Does anyone here NOT use shampoo? How is your hair? How long did it take for your hair to adjust to self-cleaning? Is your hair long or short? (Mine is pretty long - reaching my hips)

HOpe someone can help me here..

[Ruthla]

I've been washing my hair with baking soda (BS) and doing a diluted vinegar rinse for several months now. Occasionally I'll wash my hair with soap (the same bar I use for the rest of my body) and then do the vinegar rinse, but I find it comes out much nicer with the BS. I haven't used shampoo in about 6 months (except for one time when I was at my friend's house and I used her shampoo.)

[Seie]

Thanks for your responce. What is the reason you use baking soda? I have heard of people doing it but what exactly does it do`?

And what does the vinegar do?

[kamilla626]

I do the baking soda / apple cider vinegar method too.

The baking soda cleans your hair without stripping the natural oils. (Baking soda will clean anything!) The diluted vinegar - I use about 20% vinegar - works sort of as a conditioner because it's somewhat acidic.

I'm not sure how or why, but the vinegar smoothes the cuticles (scales) on your hair, so your hair ends up being shiney and smooth, without looking greasy.

There are 1000's of "no poo" threads on this board, and I think the baking soda / acv method is what most no-pooers are doing.

[velcromom]

I haven't used shampoo for about a year now. I did the bs/acv method for a few months then switched to making my own shampoo bars & using them with dilute lemon rinse... with these I get the same cleansing as bs w/o chemicals, but I can add a bit of extra oil to the batch and have a more conditioning wash. I also like having a scent to the wash, lol, I love fragrances.

One side effect of both methods was that my scalp really reduced oil production. I can go a week w/o washing if I want and my hair doesn't get greasy. The only time I ever feel greasy at the roots anymore is once in a while as a sign of AF. That is a huge improvement, I used to wake up each morning with my hair already beginning to feel oily & I would end up shampooing every single day.

[mamakay]

I've been doing bs (no vinegar) for almost a year now. (with a couple of relapses here and there).
I had hoped that eventually I wouldn't have to even use bs, but I'm wondering if all those years of abusing my scalp with harsh chemicals has traumatized it to the point where now it will just always over-produce oil?

On the bright side, when I was using shampoo, I had wash every single day or I was greasy in less than 24 hours, while now I only have to use a very, very diluted bs mix a couple of times a week.
I think I've topped out here, though.

[Ann-Marita]

How do BS and vinegar rinse work?

The outside of your hair is covered in tiny scales, called imbrications. In healthy hair, these imbrications lay tightly closed against one another. This makes the hair shiny and helps keep moisture in the hair shaft.

When those imbrications get damaged, or aren't closed, the hair looks more dull, and can dry out more easily, causing fly-away or unmangeable hair, and even more damage.

Hair is naturally a slightly acidic pH, like 5.5 to 6.5. I'll come back later and make sure that is correct when I find my book that has all this information in it. At that pH, the imbrications are closed tightly against each other.

Baking soda has a pH of 8.0. When you put a solution of that on your hair, the imbrications sort of stand up, away from the hair shaft. Also, the BS acts to gently dislodge oil that is on your hair.

Then you rinse with plain water (neutral pH, near 7), and any dirt that was trapped in the imbrications, plus the excess oil, get rinsed away.

Vinegar has a pH of 2.4 to 3.4. At that strength, it can cause damage to your hair! So we dilute it way down. A 1:7 ratio (one part vinegar, seven parts water) is the strongest I would ever use, and that's only for oily hair. Hair that is dry, chemically treated, or damaged should use closer to 1:12. My hair is pretty normal now and I use 1:9 or so.

The stronger strength vinegar solutions (like 1:7) can also help wash away excess oil, which is why they are recommended for oily hair.

When you rinse with a vinegar solution that is close to your hair's own natural pH, several things happen. The imbrications close tightly against the hair shaft and each other. This helps your hair look shiny. It also helps keep moisture inside the hair, which is a very good thing. Also, because the imbrications are all flat like the surface of a mirror, the oils that your scalp produce (the best natural conditioner) flow more easily down the hair shaft, which in turn makes your hair shiny and more manegable.

I've been using vinegar rinse for over 20 years, using information in Totally Natural Beauty (can't remember the author's name for sure, could be Nona Aguilar). I've been using baking soda instead of shampoo for about 1.5 years. My hair is hip length.

[Ann-Marita]

I wanted to add something about the choice of vinegars for hair rinses.

White vinegar is suitable for all hair colors/types, but especially good for light colored hair or hair with a significant portion of grey. Apple cider vinegar is best for brunettes (since it's brown) and not that great for oily hair (since it has "solids" that can make the hair oilier, although I used it for years and years and never really noticed this). And red wine vinegar is good for red heads.

I haven't figured out if balsamic vinegar is particularly good for anything. It's too expensive for me to use on my hair.

Oh, and those ratios I gave earlier (1:7 for oily hair, 1:9 or 1:10 for normal hair, and 1:12 for dry or damaged hair) is ONLY for "standard" strength vinegar. There is also "stronger" vinegar, so be careful when you are buying.

[missgabs]

How do you use the baking soda? Do you just rub the dry soda through your hair and scalp, make a paste? I want to try it but don't know how to go about doing so!

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by missgabs

How do you use the baking soda? Do you just rub the dry soda through your hair and scalp, make a paste? I want to try it but don't know how to go about doing so!

You put a few tablespoons in some water (In a cup or whatever...doesn't matter).. Figuring out the water/bs ratio is kind of tricky. It'll take some experimentation to find what ratio works best for your hair/scalp type.
I suggest you start with it being very diluted and just use more later if it wasn't enough the first time. Too much bs will seriously dry your hair out.

The technique to washing your hair with bs is also different than it is with shampoo. You want to pour it right on your scalp and use your fingertips to really work it into your scalp.
It feels really odd the first few time if you're used to bubbles and suds, too.
It feels more like wet chalk.

Be prepared for an entirely different hair washing experience.
And be prepared to have to "practice" a few times before feeling comfortable with it.

[wynkenblynken&nod]

I have done lots of experimenting with my hair. It takes a month to wean your hair of shampoo. I started washing my hair every three days with conditioner. Put it in, clip it back, wash normally and at the end, rinse. Then I added a vinegar rinse (old 'poo bottle, filled 1/8th of the way w/apple cider vinegar and the rest water or tea).

Then I used a little bit of oil on the tips (coconut oil).

Now, I mostly just rinse my hair (massaging the scalp to get the stuff out and off of my scalp). I do this every 3 nights or so, and once a week or week and a half, I use conditioner to wash my hair. I use vinegar rinse and I made a concoction of mango butter and coconut oil in a face cream jar. I add the size of a small pea to my hair at the tips and run my hands down ward on my head until it is in there evenly.

I use two drops of glycerine (it is a humectant and keeps everything soft) and 4 of jojoba oil once it is mostly dry. Then I run my fingers through it and then a soft brush.

I'm done. Soft hair, treated like old lace and looking great.

)

BTW, have you been to the long hair community?

[Seie]

THanks for all your responses. I think I will pass on using the baking soda. If I am rinsing out the oils I might as well be using shampoo- it has worked before. The idea is to NOT use shampoo- but only water.
I have been doing it for more than 3 weeks now and - like magic - within the last couple of days my hair seems to adjust.. It is less greasy than it was just a few days ago. It is easy to comb- and it usually never is - and it is shiny I have only rinsed with water for all this time.. (and that was the original idea)
It does feel different than before. It feels heavier and thicker. It is still oily-feeling but that is good since it was so dry before.
Here is a pic taken after 3 weeks of only water.


I told my DP about the option of using baking soda and he said something like "but that is a chemical too - so why not just use shampoo then?" So now I will keep doing the water-rinse and then if I feel it is truely necessary with a real rinse I will try the baking soda before going back to shampoo.
I may try using vinegar though. We have very hard water here and I think the vinegar could help..

Thanks again for your replies.

[PikkuMyy]

Well, it does rinse out some of the oils, but not all of the oils like shampoo does. My hair is far less oily than it used to be. I also don't use anything but water on my face and body (except for pits and bottom sometimes) and I stopped having oily skin and pimples. But my hair still needs something to get some of the oil off. DH uses it too with great success. We both use apple cider vinegar as a rinse.

[momofcutie]

If you do end up deciding to use shampoo, you can always go "low poo." You can use a more natural shampoo, only use it on your roots, and not shampoo very often. I've been doing this for a few months and it's really worked. We use JASON Natural Jojoba Shampoo.

[Ann-Marita]

I did "low poo" for years, but didn't know to call it that. My hair is hip length. The roots and top 1/3 get oily way before the rest is dirty. So I started washing only my head, and trying my best to leave the rest of my hair out of it (at least until it is time for the dilute vinegar rinse). My DD would actually hold the length of my hair up out of the way while I washed my head.

[JaysMama]

I don't use shampoo, I only use conditioner. I get a real cheap conditioner and use it like a shampoo and then use a richer conditioner on the ends of my hair. I like this method because it doesn't strip my natural oils but still cleans my scalp. I don't get a greasy scalp like I use to with shampoo and my hair is full and shiny. I can go a few days in between whereas with shampoo I felt the need to wash every single day because I got greasy every day. I just started doing this method so I'm hoping the longer I go the less I'll have to wash.
It sounds like you were maybe going for a totally chemical free method but I just thought I'd share what I've been doing.