There are a lot of people out there giving up shampoo. So many, in fact, that there’s a name for it. The “no poo” method (I kid you not) is when people skip the shampoo and use something else – namely baking soda and maybe vinegar – to clean their hair.
Yes, I too thought this was crazy when I heard of it. How can you be clean without the lovely fragrant bubbles? The bottle says you’re supposed to apply it twice for crying out loud.
But I’d been skipping the conditioner for months, so when my mega sized bottle of shampoo finally ran out, I thought I’d give it a try. The following is my “no poo” diary.
Day 1 – I tried using straight baking soda on my hair. The lack of bubbles is disturbing. I wasn’t sure how to apply it, so I just took a handful of dry powder, put it on the top of my wet head, and massaged my scalp for 2 minutes. It felt pretty clean when I rinsed it out, but I definitely miss the ‘clean’ smell of my shampoo.
Day 2 – Doing well. Hair looks normal, smells normal, etc, etc
Day 3 – My hair smells terrible. Really dirty. As if I hadn’t washed it in a week, but it’s only been 2 days. It’s also frizzy. . . is my scalp itchy, or am I just more aware of it because I’m thinking about my hair all the time? I washed it again. This time with a solution of baking soda in water as I’ve read about. It’s rather cold, and because it’s basically just water, it just seems to just run right off my head, so I hope it’s getting enough time to clean.
Day 4 – This is great! My hair feels squeaky clean. The baking soda: water ratio must have mattered.
Day 7 – Once again, my hair is seriously dirty. It actually looks greasy (which is a rarity for me – I’m usually more of the dry and frizzy type). Wait a minute. I just realized it has been 4 days since I washed my hair – no wonder it’s dirty.
Day 11 – Once again, it looks like 4 days is the limit. I can handle that – twice a week with the no poo method. I can’t say my hair looks awesome, but then again, it never does. And it’s not like people are stopping to stare or make comments like “what the heck did you do to your hair”, so I think I’m ok.
Day 14 – Yesterday I mixed up a new batch of water and soda. In retrospect, there was obviously too much soda because it fizzed everywhere. Today, there was a rim of crystals in the glass, and my hair looked terrible. It was limp and felt waxy – worse than just regular ‘dirty’. I caved and washed my hair with whatever shampoo I found under the sink. Feeling a bit guilty for my binge. . . .
Day 17 – Back on track.
So as you can see, I’ve been having an emotional with my hair the past couple weeks. I can honestly say that, although I have never thought as much about my follicles as I have in the past two weeks, I think I am finally at peace with the “no poo” method. It definitely takes some getting used to. But in the end, the fact that there’s no plastic bottle, no sketchy chemicals, and no debating between the million different brand names at the store wins over the fact that I don’t get to bathe myself in luxurious bubbles.
Anyone else out there tried it? Loved it? Hated it? Think is the weirdest thing ever?
The Clean Bin Project Blog 
I tried it a couple years ago for about 2 months and, no matter what cleaning schedule or combination of baking soda and water or vinegar and water I used my hair felt waxy. So I quit. I’ve also tried shampoo bars (which you can sometimes get with no packaging) with better results – but I still wasn’t really happy with them. These days, I use Nature Clean or Green Beaver shampoo and conditioner every other day, and thoroughly rinse my hair in between.
I know people with gorgeous hair who’ve no-pooed or used shampoo bars for years, though, so I think everyone’s hair is different.
Jen,
Congrats on the Vancouver Premiere!! Now that you’re almost officially “on the road”, I don’t know if you’ll still be blogging on your efforts, but here’s my 2 cents’ worth on the “No ‘Poo” experiement…
I stopped using commercial bubbly shampoo during the winter and have been making my own using just baking soda and vinegar since then – and all is fine and I’m clean and smell fine. Here’s what works for me:
I’ve got two little bottles in the shower stall:
1. Baking soda + water (when shaken it looks like slightly milky water – lots of water)
2. Vinegar + water + some essential oil of pine (smells better that way) in a spray bottle- about half vinegar, half water.
Squirt #1 all over your scalp and rub it around a little – mostly it’ll run off.
Then rinse with the vinegar solution. Very Important – Baking soda is alkaline, and unless you neutralize whatever remains in your hair with acidic vinegar, your hair will feel sort of heavy and coated.
My straight hair’s been shiny and clean, and it costs almost nothing in time or money to make these solutions.
Happy trails!
I think I’m a convert, actually. Probably helps that I have short hair at the moment. I tried when I started running out of shampoo, and I’ve been pretty steady with it for about a month now with now problems. I do about a tablespoon of baking soda for a cup of water, and I found the freshness of the baking soda makes a big difference.
FANTASTIC MOVIE THE OTHER NIGHT!!! by the way. I loved it, the friends I dragged out with me loved it (and thanked me for dragging them out), well worth the wait and big big congratulations!
I’ve been using the “no poo” method with great success for nearly 2 years now. I’ve had plenty of bumps along the way, but I can honestly say that my hair now looks better than it has in years. Here are my thoughts:
1) Don’t skip the vinegar, especially if you have hard water. The baking soda actually mixes with the oils on your scalp to make a mild soap. But like any soap it leaves soap scum (worse if you have hard water). The vinegar cuts through the scum left by the baking soda and leaves your hair soft and smooth. Without the vinegar it can start to feel sticky and brittle.
2) The waxy stuff is sebum. It’s the stuff that naturally coats your hair and helps water to bead off of it instead of soaking in (think mammals in the wild). My biggest issue with no poo is a buildup of sebum. I’ve dealt with it by upping the vinegar and by using several different kinds of brushes to sort of scrape the excess off.
3) You’re so right about the ratio of baking soda to water being important. I finally got it right… you have to make a mixture that feels slippery smooth.
I’ve posted many more details about what has and hasn’t worked for me, along with interesting quasi-scientific facts that I’ve found that help to explain why certain things do and don’t work here: http://www.greeniacdigest.com/lovin%E2%80%99-my-%E2%80%9Cno-poo%E2%80%9D-do-secrets-to-hair-care-without-shampoo/2010/05/21/
Best of luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of no poo!
I had no idea there were so many people on board the ‘no poo’ boat! Thanks for all your advice and comments.
So it seems like the baking soda to water ratio is very important, and so too is some kind of rinse. Scraping sebum off my hair sounds disgusting and time consuming, but maybe if it’s just part of the routine, you get used to it? I have one more question – how much of the baking soda solution do you use each time? A cup? A tablespoon?
Hmmm… well, I think that the amount you need to use varies a bit with the length of your hair and how dirty it is. My hair is pretty long, but I concentrate my washing around my scalp. You want enough so that you can thoroughly work it into your scalp and as far down your hair as feels dirty. It’s a little bit hard to explain, but when you’ve got it right it feels soapy or slippery.
I have an old vitamin bottle (it holds about 3/4 cup) and I mix the baking soda solution each time I take a bath. Come to think of it, it might be easier to mix a big bottle ahead of time but I fear I’m not that organized. Anyhow, I vary the amount of baking soda that I use depending on how greasy/gunky my hair feels. Anywhere from a half a teaspoon to half a tablespoon. I put the baking soda in the bottle and then fill it about half way up with hot water and shake until I can see that the baking soda is fully dissolved. Then I dump it on my head and work it in like shampoo.
And speaking of gross… in my no poo travels I have come upon some people with mighty interesting ideas of how to get their hair clean. There’s one woman who actually washes her hair in urine. EEEWWWWW… just the thought of it makes me cringe. Although, in her defense, back in the tie-dying days of my mispent youth we did use something called “urea” to set the die, so perhaps there is some method behind her madness.
But in terms of sebum… scraping it off is a tad bit gross until you get used to it… but much less gross than having it on your hair!
Best of luck… let us know what does and doesn’t work for you!
I’m not technically a no ‘poo-er. I wash my hair about once a week with a bar of handmade soap from my favorite soapmaker. Other than that, I just rinse it, and use coconut oil to help it curl. That’s about it! I like this system. My hair is the healthiest it’s ever been.
Tried the no-poo method last year. Fine for about a week, then it started turning into greasy not-so-nice looking mayhem. =( I never knew about the baking soda… but I DID try apple cider vinegar, which was… a) COLD from being in the fridge, and b) STINKS.
=P It was pretty nasty but after covering my head in hats, trying to wash my hair with smelly apple vinegar, and going shampoo-less for about 3 weeks I caved like you and washed my hair in shampoo. I’ve just been enjoying having my shampoo for now, but I’ll probably try it again another time…. with baking soda. =)
I’ve been trying no poo for a few weeks now and am having a really tough go.
I get that waxy weird hair IMMEDIATELY upon washing with baking soda. I’ve tried rinsing with apple cider vinegar, I’ve tried without… it doesn’t matter. Same result every time. It’s so weird because it feels like my hair is really dry, but it looks really gross and thick/greasy. I’ve heard it can be difficult with hard water, which is what I have, but I don’t want to give up! I’m just not sure what to do.
I had the same problem, but solved it by switching to straight distilled vinegar (with a little lemon oil for scent) instead of the diluted apple cider vinegar. I let the vinegar sit for at least 3 minutes (usually more like 10-15 since I’m a bath person not a shower person). Then I comb the vinegar through with a fine toothed plastic comb. It really helps to get the scum off that the baking soda leaves behind. It’s actually a bit gross at first because you can see all of this grey stuff coming off in the teeth of the comb.
Also, if you’ve been using any products that have silicones in them (anything ending in “xane” or “cone”) you need to wash them out with regular sulfate shampoo (something really cheap without any silicones) before you try to start a no poo regime. The baking soda isn’t strong enough to get the silicones out, and they coat the hair making it so that the natural oils and sebum (the waxy stuff) can’t absorb like it should, so it just piles up and gets really gross really quick.
I have a no poo post on my blog with more details about what did and didn’t work for me.
Best of luck!
I tried the no-poo method last year in November. The first week was fine, my hair didn’t care, I just sort of scrubbed it in the shower when it was rinsing…. then the grease came. =| I NEEDED to find some way of cleaning it but I didn’t know about the baking soda + water method so I used Apple Cider Vinegar…. which a) is COLD from being in the fridge.. and b) STINKS. =( It helped a lot at first but after a few days of using it the effects started to wear off. I resorted to wearing hats and seeing if leaving the Apple Cider Vinegar in for longer would help.
My 17th birthday was coming close so I gave up my grease hair after about 3 weeks and sadly returned to my chemical shampoo sludge. =(
My past shoulder length hair was happy and soft again but I was disappointed that some sort of anti-shampoo miracle did not happen.
Maybe I’ll try it again some time except with the baking soda. =)
I asked my hairdresser of 20 years about this recently and she said to be careful – the baking soda can really do damage to the cuticle of your hair because it’s an abbrasive. She said she’s had people come in with very damaged hair after going the baking soda route.
I researched all-natural ingredient shampoos and went that route instead.
Good to know I’m not the only one who had that waxy build up. I will have to be more vigilant with the vinegar.
Christine – you don’t find the soap leaves a residue of some kind?
Mairi – thanks for the hairdresser’s tip. Hairdressers always comment that my hair is so dry to begin with, so they’re probably be appalled with the baking soda thing. I definitely think that the all-natural shampoo are the next best options, especially if you can buy in bulk.
I have naturally curly hair which tends to be oily at the scalp. I tried the baking soda with a vinegar rinse for a week and a half. My hair definitely felt damaged – it became very dry & brittle. I had similar results with a shampoo bar. I went back to using shampoo once a week and conditioning daily – I had to use a shampoo/conditioner for dry/damaged hair which I’d never had to do before. My hair seems healthy again so my next step will be to try some of the more natural products.
my no-poo method was to slowly extend the period between washings so now I only wash my hair once a week. When i do I use the shampoo bar from lush. Lasts forever and doesn’t stink like vinegar. I geuse that’s not completely no-poo but its better than the bottles
Baking soda is an alkali. If you have coloured (semi-permanent or permanent) or permed hair, baking soda will “undo” your treatment by opening up the cuticles (this is why the chemical treatments smell so much in the first place – the alkali that is used [- ammonia smell -] opens the cuticle to allow for permanent changes within the hair shaft. Neutralizer [usually an acid] is then used to close the cuticles and “seal” the treatment). I suppose if you are truly green you wouldn’t use a chemical hair treatment in the first place, but I happen to like mine very much … so I would never use baking soda unless it could be neutralized completely before using (exact ratio necessary) with an acid. Not something I’d fiddle around with. Cornstarch works well as a dry shampoo for those greasy days when you don’t have time for a wash. Just rub a small amount of cornstarch into the scalp and brush, brush, brush it out (clean brush, please). It is gentle for the hair and works quite well. In the “olden” days people used to use their homemade soap and wash their hair with it once a week or less; as women didn’t generally get chemical treatments and didn’t brush their hair more than once or twice a day, and the rest of the day it was pinned up, they didn’t really accumulate hair damage despite the soap (which is, usually, very alkaline …). For modern times, I don’t know what the really green answer would be. But I guess we can all just keep trying …
Hi, I’ve been going no-poo for 2 weeks now. I don’t use baking soda at all.
I have a spray bottle that I mix half and half water and white vinegar. I spray my hair and scalp with it and give my head a good scrub/massage with knuckles. I wait a couple of minutes (usually long enough to get my shower stuff together) then rinse it off in the shower.
I’ve gotten a lot of compliments the last 2 weeks on my hair. A couple of other ladies I work with are trying it now, as is one of my relatives.
I think I’ll try this one! Thanks for Sharing Shirley!
I did far more damage to my hair than good when I tried the no’poo method for about 3 months last year. Not only did I develop sores on my scalp, in spite of constant tweaking and re-tweaking of my baking soda and vinegar mixtures, but my hair started to fall out at an alarming rate…It’s still in the process of recovering, actually. I wish I could do it, because it’s so lovely and simple, but I really don’t think it’s for everyone. Glad to hear you- and so many other people!!- are having better luck with it than I did!
I haven’t used shampoo for almost 2 years!
So, it can be done!
There’s lots of advice on Livejournal and on Long Hair Forums!
I couldn’t find soda here first and only tried salt solution and vinegar solution once – didn’t like it very much (some good results re: how it looked, it seemed I had to wash/rinse sooner again though and wasn’t a fan of the smell either) so I went back to water-only, and now I just use nothing! 🙂
With water-only or this, you find that nutrition and mood/health or outside chemicals (or that time of month – hormones!) influence how the hair looks (or how itchy the scalp is – chemicals!) more than anything!
The hair is WORST after 10-14 days or so, or after a month, hair needs some time for adjustment and this is the transition period, it’s a bit different for everyone, some of it depends on quality of water too – then it usually gets better and almost never gets as horrid again! (if you keep the same regime; with different regimes, hair needs an adjustment period again!)
Grandma says her Mum usually washed her hair every few months or so, otherwise just kept it up in a hairdo and wore a scarf over it.
Some people also use what is basically mud/sand or vulcano mud or such.. Haven’t tried that either.
When I was experimenting with various options I read somewhere about using bentonite clay. Apparently they sell it in beauty shoppes as a facial mask. But since I was far too cheap to go that route, I figured I’d just dissolve some unscented bentonite kitty litter in water and try that.
Well…. it takes several days to get that stuff to dissolve, but it actually had interesting results! It really does work to remove excess oil if that’s an issue for you. For me, the main issue has always been sebum, not oil, so I decided to forgo the kitty litter wash.
It was an interesting experiment though!
Oh, and check out this blog: http://www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com/how-i-cured-my-dandruff-and-itchy-scalp/
I went for a year without using anything but water on my hair. It was fine, clean and shiny in the rural area where I was living. It took about two weeks for it to become so – its natural oils needed time to reassert themselves. As soon as I moved back to the city it became dirty and greasy very quickly and I took to shampoo again. So, pollution would appear to make a difference.
I stopped washing my hair in high school and pretty much never went back. I’m now almost 28 and no one notices.
Its never gross, smelly or greasy… in fact, my gf tried to get me to start washing it again, and after I do it gets super gross and sticky at a moments notice. Definitely habit forming.
I’ve been doing the no poo thing for over a year now.
I have 2 milk jugs in the shower – 2L each, and one has 8 tbsp baking soda and 8 cups of water (“shampoo”), the other 8 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 8 cups of water(“conditioner”).
I use a little baby food jar (the really small ones) and just fill it up half way with the “shampoo”, pour it around my head slowly, and massage it into my head. Leave it on for a minute while I wash other things, then rinse. I pour the same amount of “conditioner” in, and just pour it over my head, rinsing well. The smell is strong, but it disappears once you’ve rinsed your hair. I’ve had great success, and whenever I use regular shampoo when I’m on vacation or whatever, it totally sucks. I’ll never go back.
I have been using baking soda and water for almost two years and my hair feels and looks great. .
I fill a small bottle with about 1 tablespoon of baking powder and then fill it with water. I keep it in the shower and just shake it before I use it.
I also use baking soda as my underarm deodorant and as my general household cleaner and carpet deodorizer. It’s cheap, works and no nasty chemical smells.
Margaret
Just wanted to give you a “no poo” update.
First of all, I’m no longer “the greeniac”, not because I’ve given up on being green, but because apparently the term was trademarked (guess I wasn’t the first person to make up that word). Anyhow, a bunch of lawyers came after me, so I had to shut down my blog and I went back to my old (and somewhat user un-friendly) blog at open salon.
Secondly… I’ve recently had a HUGE problem with wasps (5 stings in 10 days!) After a bunch of research I found out that they are attraced to acetic acid (the acid in vinegar). Sooooo, with great remorse I gave up and used some shampoo. And… I promptly broke out in hundreds of hives from head to toe!
Lordy, it’s never simple. Anyhow, I finally discovered that one can use citric acid in place of the vinegar and it has no smell. You put about 1/4 teaspoon in about 500 ml of water to make up a bottle. Then use it like you would the vinegar rinse. So far so good, and I’m back on the no poo track with no further wasp stings (although a fair amount of wasp paranoia!)
If you try citric acic, be careful mixing it up. I read some horror stories about people inhaling the powder or getting it in their eyes and apparently it’s quite unpleasant!
Happy no poo travels one and all!
Unbelievable! I can’t believe that wasps were that much of a problem! I haven’t been carrying vinegar on the road, so I was trying to go without any baking soda or shampoo of any kind which ended up being nasty. I think I’ll have to wait until I get back home before going back to the routine. In the meantime, I swim lots and wash my hair when I can.
Well… it turned out there was a yellow jacket nest on my back deck, which probably has more to do with it than the vinegar. But you know, “Once bitten twice shy” as they say … or perhaps in my case it should be “5 times stung, a million times shy!”
I tried going “water only” but had the same experience as you did. For the moment I’m happy with the citric acid, but I think it would be hard to do while traveling!
Best of luck with your bike tour! Hope the film is a huge success!
I also tried it while we were doing our no waste project. I’ve been told your hair needs at least 2 weeks to get used to it, and I couldn’t make it through- I’m too vain. I get the most natural shampoo I can possibly get in refillable bottles at health food stores in Toronto or here in Kingston at the Farmer’s Market. I can’t refill the stuff I get at the Farmers market but he does accept the bottles back to use again.
Hi!
I’ve only just only found your blog. It’s great! I can’t wait to see your movie.
I tried the no-poo thing when I lived in rural Japan 10 years ago. It was a total disaster! My hair is really easy-going, straight, no hassle, but it had turned into a bird’s nest mess, dry and brittle.
I never went back, but maybe I’ll reconsider. For the moment, I’ve the low-impact shampoo route, not necessarily ‘green’, but I look at all the ingredients, and choose accordingly.
I found a recipe for a natural shampoo in a raw food book by Rose Vasily:
Gound flax seeds (two or three tablespoons) mixed with water, a few drops of lavender or rosemary (or what you fancy) essential oil added.
I wait until it all gels well (an hour or overnight) and spread the stuff over my wet hair. Leave it on for a few minutes. It seems the longer the better. Rince (I rince my hair in a plastic – sorry! – basin so the ground flax doesn’t end up clogging the drain. I put the flax water on my garden beds in the dry Victoria summer. Now, in wet weather, I let the flax settle down and pour only the bottom part with sediment on my outside plants.)
I can put a little (very little) natural shampoo I still have left for another rinse after that to get rid of more flax bits, then rinse with water. After the hair is dry, there may be bits of flax falling on my shirt, so I don’t wear white shirts the first day. But the results have astounded me: fluffy, shiny hair with a lot of volume! And I didn’t need to wash it for three weeks! (a record) Instead of every week, I now wash it about every two weeks, in a rather moderately polluted city (Victoria). No scratchy scalp, very manageable hair.
When I lived in France years ago, I met a man who didn’t use any soap: just plain water, and he didn’t smell funny.
I have heard of a young man in the Kootenays who has never used shampoo in his hair, just water from birth. And his hair is reportedly shiny and clean. (The Native Americans didn’t have shampoo either and their hair looks good on those Touch the Earth photos)
Marie, the flax sounds great – except for the not wear white shirts the next day! I tried not using anythign at all while cycling this summer, adn it did not smell good. Might give your flax method a go though.
I’ve been no-poo for, hmmm, i guess about 5 or 6 months now. I use the baking soda & vinegar method.
I have 2 old shampoo bottles that squeeze well & have relatively small “outlet” holes (they are Trader Joe’s peppermint shampoo bottles, in case anyone is wondering). I put about a tablespoon of baking soda into one and fill the rest with water, and about 2 tablespoons of vinegar (white, or apple cider, or balsamic, whatever’s around! haven’t noticed much different) and a few sprigs of rosemary & lavender from my garden, and then just fill the bottles with water & leave them in the shower rack like “normal” shampoo bottles – I top them up with water when they get about halfway down and they still work well (so you can use QUITE dilute baking soda & vinegar).
The technique I’ve found works best is to lean my head forward so my hair is hanging down, wet it well with warm but not too hot water, and then dribble the baking soda water onto my scalp only. I find the smallish hole in the bottle helps control how much comes out and where it goes. Then I just scrub my fingers against my scalp for a bit – you can feel which parts of your hair have baking soda on them as opposed to just wet, they feel a bit more slippery. Then I rinse with water, then I do the same thing with the vinegar bottle. I have experimented with not rinsing out the vinegar, and my hair will look good the first day, but not last as long as when I do rinse out the vinegar. I have fairly curly hair (I have heard that no-poo does work best with curly hair), about shoulder length. I don’t comb it or anything, just scrunch it in a towel and let it air dry. My hair looks wonderful for about 3-4 days, then it will somewhat suddenly look quite greasy so I wash it again.
I live in Victoria & it works really well here & in Vancouver, I have also used the technique while on vacation in Hawaii and visiting friends in Calgary where the water / air is quite different and it still worked pretty well. And I just recently found that the humangear “GoToob” from mec works really well for taking baking soda & vinegar mix with you when travelling! I can stick my little rosemary & lavender sprigs in & they look pretty 🙂
I’m hoping to catch your movie in Victoria the week after next; friends in Vancouver saw it recently & highly recommended it!
take care & good luck with the hair care
Good tips on the shampoo bottles – I mix mine every time and it’s a bit of a pain. And I agree that the vinegar rinse is important – haven’t tried it so diluted yet though. . .
I washed my hair again with ground flax seeds yesterday, but this time ground them superfine, and that made rinsing much easier (did not use any leftover shampoo) and today I had no flecks of flax on my clothes.
The book I read about this method in is ‘Uncooking with Raw foods’ by Rose Vasile.
This sounds good and all but what about people with dandruff . If I don’t wash my hair evey other day with dandruff shampoo my head gets really ichy.
Emma, my sister who washes with Head& Shoulder has much worse dandruff than I do – I don’t use anything.. 🙂
Those shampoos damage your scalp (and hair) and make things worse in the long term.. so that you NEED to use them again, and again, and again…
There is a transitional period if you switch to more natural hair care, and it can be ‘bad’, after a month or so things usually normalize..
It depends on you hair/scalp and water quality a bit too, as well as nutrition, stress, etc. (More stress or iffy chemicals in environment = itchy scalp)
The waxy build up is (usually) NOT sebum. It is junk found in hard water that clings to your hair.. in between washes i started using only filtered water on my hair and it is WAY different. There is now no junk coming off on my combs and the texture is much better.
I’m majorly late to this, have been going through the archives! But I thought I would add my story. I discovered some time ago that shampoo is one of those things that once you use it is really hard to give up, I learnt this when my son was 6 months and stopped using shampoo on him, two years on his hair is lovely and you would never guess that it doesn’t get shampooed at all, once a week I rinse it with some very diluted vinegar and tea tree oil, mostly to keep the nits at bay as he has long flyaway hair! I tried going no poo with little success but I literally just stopped using anything, I have however been using ACV instead of conditioner for some months now and my hair does feel better for it. At the moment I am trying to space out how often I need to use shampoo, I’ve gone from every two days to every four days in the last few months, once I run out of shampoo I may try going no poo again!
Okay so I’m on day eleven of no poo. And I’m loving it! You’re hair will transition I found out the fastest way to get that over with is to start out with baking soda and water as shampoo and apple cider vinegar as conditioner. I used that for a while and then I went to just rinsing my hair. Your hair will transition but you have to stick with it! Your hair is so used to over compensating for lost oil (shampoo strips your hair) it will look greasy for a while. But it will get better! Once you stop stripping your hair your hair will regulate to a natural healthy oil production. I went eight days then washed my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
My hair is adjusting and my hair is healthier. Just
stick it through that greasy phase it will pay off. A boar bristle brush will help with that it disturbutes the oil evenly throughout your hair. Corn startch and baby powder will also absorb the oil. Remember your hair isn’t dirty and it will
take a While for your hair to get through the initial shock.
I have on week 6 or 7 of no poo. I am soo close to giving up and just washing with shampoo. My hair is crazy greasy and when it isn’t then its waxy. Help!!! I have tried different things like more baking soda, no ACV in the roots; however my hair is the same. I use 1tablespoon of baking soda with 1cup cold purified water. I applied that to the scalp and massage. I even rinse it out twice. Then use 1 tablespoon of ACV with cold purified water to the ends. Rinse out. My first day my hair is greasy. Close to the third day it is waxy. To where my hair almost looks like dreads. I have tried the dry shampoo but about half way through the day the grease on my hair has over taken the dry shampoo. Please Help ME!!!!
I didn’t have the best luck with the no poo method, but I do like the Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. I’ve posted your query on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clean-Bin-Project-The-Documentary-Film/111551675539167?hc_location=timeline to see if anyone else has answers for you.
You need to change up your wash methods. The No Poo method is, mistakenly, thought to be using only baking soda and water and vinegar. In reality, you need to be using several different wash methods based on your particular scalp environment (that day,) hair texture, and water hardness.
Waxy buildup is a common occurrence in areas with hard water. Applesauce masks will help to remove this wax. In the future, avoid baking soda except rarely. It’s too harsh to be used constantly.
Try rye flour one day, then a tea rinse in a few days, then maybe a honey wash with a vinegar rinse the next wash day. Buy some soapnut no-poo shampoo and use that. Keep your scalp clean and free from fungus with apple cider vinegar rinses with tea tree oil, every few washes.