About a month or so ago, I stopped using shampoo and conditioner. Shampoo dries the hair out, conditioner coats it in crap, which eventually wears off, and you have to do it all again.
I now do the following every day:
- Mix approximately one tablespoon of baking soda (NOT baking powder!) with around a cup of warm water. Apply to wet hair, and massage thoroughly. Leave it to sit for a minute or two.
- Rinse with warm water (I usually do this while in the shower, but it would probably be fine in a sink).
- Add a tiny (and I mean teeny tiny itty bitty) amount of vinegar (I've been told Apple Cider vinegar is best, but I've been using white successfully) to a cup of warm water. Apply to hair, and massage thoroughly. If you use too much vinegar, your head smells pretty funky...
- Rinse with warm water
- Blast with cold water, and pat/squeeze/scrunch (anything but wipe) hair dry

Admittedly, I have to do this more often than I used to wash my hair, and it's a little less convenient, but so worth it. My curls are way more defined, and my hair feels all silky and nice.
About a week after I started doing this, my hair went a bit greasy. This lasted for around a week, then it went away.

I really recommend this to everyone, especially those who have wavy or curly hair - shampoo plays havoc with curls, this method has just made mine fabulous!

What a good idea, better for your hair and the Environment!

I've heard billions of good things about this for curly wurly hair, but I can't find anything similar specifically for straight hair. Discrimination I tell thee!

I'm glad it's working though, curly hair looks beautiful all glossy and gorgeous.

I wish I could do that. I just love shampoo so much. It is one of my real guilty pleasures...

Alka, I think it works for straight hair too, but I suppose the results aren't that different to shampoo. It just gives a really good clean without stripping too many oils or leaving anything behind.

Candiclaus, don't feel guilty! I've known a few people who couldn't do this more than once because it didn't lather. To each their own :)

of curiocity, is this pointless to do if you have hair that's oily beyond all sanity?

It depends, I suppose. It would likely get more oily for a week or two, but after that I would guess that it would even itself out. It could be that your current routine is what's making your hair oily.

There's only one way to find out ;)

Hmm I think i use too much product on my hair to get away with no shampoo but this is a really interesting idea

Do you think this method of hair washing could be better for coloured hair or make it last longer? That's what interests me. I'd go for it if it kept colour from washing out so fast. :)

And I suppose washing my hair once a day will be enough? It's what I do already.

-- Edited by electrosexual on Monday 12th of October 2009 06:11:11 PM

I heard that some people use cider vinegar when putting henna in their hair to make it brighter, so maybe?

I'm not sure about colour. I recently cut my hair to about chin-length, which got rid of the chunks of pink hair, so my hair currently doesn't have any colour in it.
I would imagine, though, that if you're washing your hair daily, this wont make the colour fade any faster, as it would be daily too.

Tried this last night ,my hair looks and feels healthier , I didnt use cider vineger only my normal conditioner , Im not sure were locally to me sells cider vineger, but I would encourage everyone to at least try this :)

this seems like a really good idea, i wanna try it :)
how often do you wash your hair like this?

It works best if I do it every morning, because it makes my curls nice and bouncy. I can get away with just the vinegar rinse if I'm running short on time, though.
It probably varies for different people.

I think I might give this a whirl. My curls have been super crazy lately with the damp weather and seem to be much more greasy too...

One of these days, I'll get around to posting photos...

I only use a little shampoo these days, on my fringe mainly, but I love apple cider vinegar rinses, leaves your hair so soft and shiny! I bought a litre for £1.50 in holland and baretts and its lasting me ages.
On the downside, my bf says my head smells like vinegar when I do it. Hmmm.

I might have to try this!

i also heard that the vinegar helps conserve color. anyone know if that's true? i've been using it regardless for how it makes my hair feel, just wondering.

how much vinegar do you use? a few drops per cup of water?

I do it all visually now... I guess 1 or 2cm in the bottom of the cup.

My ex uses this, "no poo". She's got to the point where she no longer needs to wash her hair at all. She combs it with a fine-tooth comb very thoroughly to clear dirt and dust from her hair, and otherwise has no problems at all.
As I heat-style my hair daily I use conditioners, more often natural (olive oil, mashed-up avocado, apple cider vinegar, etc.), but I never use shampoo because it fries my hair.

If your hair is oily, it's because something is drying it out and it's working overtime to compensate. It's a vicious cycle for a lot of people. Oil is good, it's your hair's way of protecting itself and keeping shiny naturally. :)

Yes, I'm now down to about once a week due to my use of hairspray on flyaways (goes a bit crusty after a few days in a row, like if I have lots of shifts at work).

I suspect that shampoo is specifically designed to make you need more and more of it. And then you need lots of conditioner and masks to compensate for the evils shampoo brought to your hair.

I'm moving back to the family farm tomorrow, the water there is great for hair and I'll take the opportunity to ditch shampoo.

Shampoo is very good for removing stains on stuff though.

I agree with all of that. Shampoo works quite well on carpet, actually.

i should so try this.


i like never shampoo my hair. in the beginning it was gross, but after a few weeks my hair just learnt to balance itself. now if i shampoo my hair its mega dry!

if your roots get oily and the ends are dry you can put baby powder on the roots, or comb your hair with a natural bristle brush to redistrubute the oils.

After getting annoyed constantly about the fact that my hair goes beautifully curly just at the point where it needs a wash, I'm going to ditch shampoo and wash my hair only with water.

I'm prepared for my hair to not look so great for a while (having said that, my hair can cope with not being washed for two weeks sometimes), the only issue I have is that I have very thick hair, and it causes my head to sweat, especially when I sleep. This causes my hair to smell dirty.

Does anyone know how I can prevent my hair smelling if I ditch shampoo?

I think I'm going to have to give this a go!

:)

I really want to try this but I'm wondering - has anyone with scalp problems tried this?

I ask cause I have mild dandruff - when I wash my hair my scalp is fine for a couple of days, but then starts to feels a little itchy and dry in places (sorry if thats tmi ^^). I'm thinking it's some sort of cycle and perhaps using this baking soda method, rather than harsh shampoo every other day, might help. Anyone got any experience in this?