No more poo
Wait… didn’t I just write this post two days ago?
No, because this one my friend Axelle is doing. And a few days ago, I started to do it too. No, we’re not constipated. (Although that is the tagline for the No ‘poo forum.) We’re all just attempting to give up shampoo. And conditioner. And most hair products in general.
I’ve written about solid bar shampoos and how they can help us save plastic bottle packaging waste. But giving up shampoo altogether saves not only packaging but excess ingredients and a ton of money. And according to believers, it’s a lot better for our scalps and hair.
Inspired by Life Less Plastic once again, I asked Jeanne to write a few pointers on her experience going shampoo-free. This is what she had to say:
I know you’re probably feeling extremely skeptical right now. I was the same way. When I started my no ‘poo experiment, I kept thinking to myself, How could this possibly work? My hair is going to be so disgusting. I’m going to be hideous.
And to be honest, I was sort of right.
When I initially stopped shampooing, my scalp wasn’t used to my new routine, so my long hair got really oily. It was bad. Real bad. But in about two weeks, my scalp started to figure out that I’d made a change, and it stopped producing so much oil. That’s when things started to get good again.
Of course, that’s also when I started to feel completely deceived. All my life, I’ve thought that I needed to buy expensive shampoos and conditioners that generate mounds of plastic waste to have good hair, and it’s not true. I mean, I don’t even need ANY shampoo or conditioner. All I need to do is use a little baking soda and a vinegar solution now and again. Insane!
(My routine, by the way, is to shower as usual, and rub about a teaspoon or two of baking soda into my hair on Wednesdays and Sundays. You can also pre-mix a baking soda and water mixture, but I’m to lazy. Then I do a vinegar solution rinse on Sundays to condition.)
Anyways, now it’s been over a month since I stopped ‘pooing and my hair is pretty much back to the way it used to be. Sure, it feels a little greasy now and again, but in general it’s healthy, happy, and pretty nice-looking.
I can’t guarantee it, but I suspect you’ll have the same experience. If you thinking about ending your ‘poo days, please do! It’s worth it!
My routine so far (if you can call it that because I just started this experiment this past Sunday) is to use a premixed solution of baking soda and water (2 Tbsp baking soda mixed with 2 cups water in a sports bottle) and a premixed solution of apple cider vinegar and water (same proportions as the baking soda solution.) It’s a good use for the unused plastic sports bottles we had stashed in the cupboard once we switched to stainless steel Klean Kanteens for drinking. (Jeanne uses a glass pitcher, but we tend to be a little too spazzy to keep glass in the bathroom.)
[09/26/2012 Update: We still use this method and love it. I now add a few drops of rosemary essential oil to the apple cider vinegar rinse because it smells good and is supposed to be good for the scalp. Here’s a list of other essential oils used in hair care.]
I found organic apple cider vinegar in a glass bottle at Trader Joe’s, during the same shopping trip when I broke down and bought toothpaste. So while I may have given up the baking soda as toothpaste this week, I found another use for it in my personal care regimen.
The results so far are fine. Not brilliant or amazing. But I will say that for the first time, I have been able to style my hair without any holding product and have it keep it’s shape for the whole day. I have no idea why that should be, but it makes me happy. We’ll see what happens as I continue this process. I’m hoping to get to a point where I only have to wash my hair once or twice a week, like Jeanne does, and use the vinegar rinse once or twice a week as well.
Here is a post with much more detailed instructions for going “no ‘poo.” And once again, here’s the forum where participants discuss all the finer points and nuances of the practice.
Have you tried this method yet? If so, what’s been your experience with it? What kind of hair do you have? Jeanne’s a long-haired white girl. I’m a shorter-haired, white chick going gray on the sides (Yeah, I know, I didn’t add the gray bits to my little cartoon avatar. Sue me.) which is starting to add a bit of sexy older woman wiriness. No Impact Man’s a short-haired white dude. So I’d like to hear from folks of different ethnicities with different lengths and textures of hair. How can we all take care of our scalps and hair with as little environmental impact as possible. And still look hot? (Cuz you know that’s what’s really important.)
Ideas?
Have you seen the company LUSH? They also make plastic free hair and skin products, including the lotion bars that you mentioned in another article.
Can distilled white vinegar be used instead of Apple cider vinegar?
I think it will probably work as well, but I haven’t tried it personally.
I have tried the flax gel several times, and it’s never worked for me, unfortunately. What is your secret?
will it work if I just use the BC solution and not worry about the apple cider vinegar solution?
No. The baking soda is very alkaline and will dry your hair out if you don’t balance the pH with the ACV or something else acidic like lemon juice.
Hello. I have been using BC and ACV for the past 6 weeks, and it’s been great. I think it helped that I didn’t wash my hair often to begin with, because through the process I haven’t had to wash my hair more then twice a week, except when I missed a spot. It’s a little harder to tell where I have gotten without the lather.
The first two times was really weird for me, because I felt like I was getting out of the shower without having conditioned; it had that dry icky feeling till I woke up the next morning (I take my showers at night). After that it started feeling almost normal.
Speaking of taking showers at night, I always had to rinse my hair in the morning to get rid of the dented mess caused by sleeping on wet hair. I don’t have to anymore. And I do believe that my hair dries faster now. In addition to that, I work at a place where I have to wear a hat, I used to never take it off after work because the hat hair was always so bad;I don’t get ANY hat hair anymore, even on hot sweaty days.
I am curious though, if you are still using this method and how your hair is now. Of if anyone else has long term experience with it. I read that someone got brittle hair after a year or so. I have since slowly reduced the amount of BC from 1 Tbsp to 1tsp so I can prolong how long I use it.
Edit: When I said “After that it started feeling almost normal.” I meant at the end of my shower. It doesn’t feel quite as moisturized and slippery as conditioned hair, but almost. After it dries, it feels completely soft again.
I do still use the “No Poo” method to clean my hair, and it still works great for me. My hair is generally at its best the 2nd day after I wash it because the first day, it tends to be frizzy. But that’s true even if I use shampoo. ACV is a great detangler. Some poeple even mix it with water in a spray bottle and use it as a spray-on “conditioner” even if they don’t wash their hair with baking soda.
I tried “no ‘poo” for two months. I am in my early 20s with wavy brown hair. For the entire time I got really thick grease at the roots and lots of dandriff flakes; and I was breaking out like crazy. I ‘washed’ my hair every 3-4 days. I used diluted BS at the roots, rinse, then diluted vinegar on the rest of my hair.
Sometimes I would make a rosemary tea to put on my scalp that definately helped with the dandruff. But any recommendations as to why the ‘no ‘poo’ did not work for me, or at least how to cut the grease when going no ‘poo?
@Anon, what was the ratio of water to baking soda and water to vinegar?
@anonymous – olive oil makes a great moisturizer. Just a few drops or a bit more should do it. Ntoo much and it will take awhile to absorb
For about two weeks now I’ve been washing my hair with bs and using fresh lemon juice (it’s nice having a lemon tree in the backyard) as a rinse. My hair is very thick, coarse, a little wavy, and has serious bleach damage. After two weeks of no-poo my hair is still thick, coarse, and damaged… but I was amazed that something as simple and cheap as bs and free lemons could compete with the shampoo, conditioner, and glossing spray I was using before.
What I really wanted to comment about is my face washing regimen. For the past two weeks I’ve also been washing my face with bs and applying a moisturizer (from a plastic bottle… still not sure what I’m going to replace this with when it runs out). My skin is very oily to dry and flaky in my T-zone and I occasionally have horrifically huge zits on my jaw line. After two weeks of washing my face w/bs in the morning my skin looks smooth and less red/blotchy. The abrasiveness of the bs sloughs off dead skin meaning I’m less flaky and I have only had one outbreak on my jaw that cleared up after a couple of days.
Baking soda has not CURED all my beauty issues, but it certainly competes w/the pricey, contained in plastic products I was using before.
Anyone have a natural moisturizer they could recommend?
hello, i make a great natural cream by simply using coco oil, shea butter and a bit of beeswax. you can add castor oil if desired for extra moisture. i simply add more or less coco oil to control thickness. any essential oil may be added but most times i love it as is. its also an excellent hair balm.
So I decided to try this “no poo” routine, as of the 5th of this month. I’m pretty disappointed about the baking soda. At first I thought I was doing it wrong but after alternating whether I dissolved it in water, diluted it, used it as a paste, or used it dry, for 3 weeks, it’s only made my scalp burn and itch like all hell.
I decided to try using vinegar and water ONLY, today, to see if it would help.
Sure enough, my scalp doesn’t itch or burn when I play with it. It still itches from time to time, but nothing like the horrible urgent itching before. I also noticed my scalp sloughing a little when I scratched, even if lightly. I have scabs on my head from this.
I asked a question about it on Yahoo answers, but the people hanging out in the Alt Medicine category seem to all be teens and tweens asking about drug fixes, so I met a lot of abuse there for trying no poo =\
I’m not sure if vinegar and water alone is gonna be okay for my hair. Any ideas?My ACV rinse is 1/2 tbsp to 1 cup of water.
Rivs, how much baking soda do you use compared to water? I dilute 1 tablespoon baking soda in 1 cup of water. You might want to use even less baking soda. And it helps to use warm water. I don’t know why it would burn. You are using baking soda and not baking powder, right? (Just checking.)
I don’t know that vinegar will actually clean your hair. It’s possible that No Poo will simply not work for you. If you’re trying to get away from plastic containers, you could check out solid shampoo and conditioner bars. Let me know if you need more information.
Oh and I have long white/asian girl hair 🙂
The waxy hair that happens when I use the lye soap on all of my hair actually helps keeps my hair in braids and such.
I tried the baking soda and vinegar thing a year or two ago. It was good for a week but then my hair got oily. Now I know that if I would’ve stuck it out it would’ve been all right in the end!
I started using natural shampoo (just random things from Whole Foods) and even that is a million times better than regular brands of shampoo. I only had to wash my hair every other day and it felt lighter.
These days I use my own homemade lye soap on my roots, rinse and spray vinegar on my hair out a repurposed spray bottle. If you use the lye soap on all of your hair it gets really waxy. The roots are clean and nice, but the rest gets weird. Thats why I only use it on my roots. Works great. In between washes whenever my hair gets too oily I use baby powder to freshen up.
I’ve been trying the no poo method for about a week and a half. Its been great for my scalp – unlike some posters, my hair hasn’t been as oily as usual. The trouble I’m having is the length of my hair (I have long, fine hair and an oily scalp) is getting dried out. I tried putting a few drops of Vit E oil or an essential oil in the ACV mix, and it doesn’t help at all. Any suggestions? I really want this method to work for me too! 🙂
I just used the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse method for the first time, as I am forever on the search for all natural products to shampoo my hair with. I have to say my hair is naturally wavy/curly, kind of dry but a great tendancy to be oily at the crown, and fine. After using 1 tbsp baking soda into 2 cups of water to wash with, I rinsed with 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar into 2 cups of water to rinse with and my hair has never looked so shiny, felt so soft, or had so much volume. I havent gotten results this nice from many professional products. It is really quite amazing. Like I said this was my first time so I will continue to see the results.
I’m a member of Long Hair Community, and yes, we do go on about non-commercial options for hair care.
While I have not begun the no-poo method, I think the adjustment sounds like the same adjustment people have going from SLS shampoo to the soap based versions.
I’d suggest someone trying no poo clarify their hair, which could be three treatments of BS and ACV/ lemon juice in one shower, or borrow a -cone free shampooo.
That way, you are starting with HAIR, not hair and a bunch of products.
I also suggest scenting the acv with herbs or a tiny drop of essential oil of your choice.
I used patchouli and sweet orange, but my partner hates patchouli scent, so I use bay or a sprig of rosemary off my leggy-and-needs-to-be-pinched plant.
Citrus peels work. Spices work. Experiment and be unique!
(masala chai hair rinse?)
I was very hesitant to try this. I started washing my hair every other day, then every 3 days. So when I started no poo a month ago I had no melt down with greasy crazy hair. I have fine/thin a little past the shoulders curly white girl hair that tends to get frizzy and when using gels etc it gets weighed down and the curls are not defined. I spent so much money trying different shampoos and conditioners, hair gels, mousse and different combinations of all of these. Nothing seemed to work. Since going no poo the curls are more bouncy and defined and my hair does what I want it to do much more often. I use the baking soda and apple cider vinegar twice a week. In between I just rinse it with water. I will never go back to using shampoo and conditioner again! I still use hair gel and my next experiement is making hair gel with flax seeds. Wish me luck!!!! ;op
my mother uses flax seed hair gel and it works really well for her and she has just above the shoulder medium hair. she boils the flax seeds for about 20 minutes.
Soap nuts. I use soap nuts for laundry soap (I buy the nuts in a muslin bag and steep them myself.) One day I ran out of shampoo and tried soap nut “tea.” I still needed a vinegar/water rinse, but it worked better than any no ‘poo I’ve tried. My waist-length, heavy red hair is very happy.
Wow, I’ve never heard this, and I’ve tried a lot of crazy green things… I’ve always thought there had to be another way, because every morning I wake up and think I’d love to not shampoo, but then I look at my thin greasy hair and get in the shower. I never really thought about the no plastic as the motive for shampoo bars, but I hate bars, they get everywhere and you have to clean out that little container, but maybe i’ll try and get over that (just not for travel).
I will definitely try baking soda and a vinegar solution tomorrow since I don’t have work or anywhere to be and we’ll see how it looks! Thanks for the tip!
By the way, I saw someone post about brushing your teeth with baking soda. I don’t recommend this as a daily practice because it causes sores on your gums. I’d like to go back to trying it every few days to cut back on my use.
Hey Stephanie. Just be aware that you need to give the No ‘Poo method a couple of weeks to really see if it works. Some people who have been using regular shampoo and conditioner have to go through an adjustment period. It could get worse before it gets better.
I’m not brushing with baking soda at all. My gums hate it.
About a year ago, I dyed my hair blazing flame red. A totally unnatural color that would wash out if I put any product on it. To keep it bright, I gave up shampooing or conditioning my hair for a few months. Guess what? turns out that after a few days of not being washed, my hair naturally settles on the texture and style I used to use shampoo, conditioner, and three different stying products to achieve.
I think I’ve washed my hair with shampoo maybe a dozen times since discovering this.
Ms. Chicken,
O.M.G.
You want us to give up toilet paper. You want us to pee on our plants. You want us to freeze our asses off in the winter and melt in the summer. And you think this is hairshirt environmentalism?
ROTFLMAO!
Okay, assuming you’re not kidding, I’ll list a few pluses:
1) You spend way less money on shampoo or soap.
2) Your hair and scalp end up much healthier after going through the transition period.
3) You spend much less time washing your hair because, after the transition period, you don’t have to do it very often.
4) No shampoo or soap residue.
Also, you don’t smell like a salad. Really. Vinegar is a great rinse, whether you wash with baking soda or not, and the smell dissipates very quickly as the hair dries.
You’ve challenged us. Now I’m challenging you. Try it with me for a month. I’m just a beginner too. If we end up hating it, we can rant about it on our blogs, but at least we will know whereof we speak. Whatya say?
🙂