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?

Google how to make flax gel and be amazed at how easy it is to make and use. Good for your hair apparently.
I am waiting to get a shipment of soapnuts. Some have used it as a shampoo and recipes can be also found on the net. This is my last comment on what I have found and will try concerning hair.
Good locks and wishes to you.

I read a shampoo method that is as simple as your baking soda shampoo, but may be even easier on the hair, and that was fine ground Rye flour. Simply make a paste with water and work it thought the scalp. As you rinse the cleansing is said to work through to the ends. Rye is PH balanced approx 5 ph and contains b vitamins and many healthy benefits, to not damage the hair shaft. The shampoo user said she followed with a ACV rinse if needed.
Have never used this shampoo method myself, as I am going to try making a shampoo using liquid castile soap and adding pectin in a attempt to normalize the ph level.

will it work if I just use the BC solution and not worry about the apple cider vinegar solution?

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.

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?

@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?

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.

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

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.

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.

Thanks for sending me over here. I might try it…I was just discussing with someone how showering and all that goes with it (like shampooing and conditioning) can be really boring if it's not what you're in the mood to do, which I'm often not.

And several good hairstylists have told me that the key to good hair is washing it less often. Maybe the key to *great* hair is washing it not at all.

At any rate I love the thought that maybe the whole fancy shampoo and conditioner industry is basically unnecessary.

I have long, newly curly hair. After I had a baby my hair became straighter and limper, and I missed my old hair of crazy curls. No shampoo is a lot easier for me, and it gave me back my hair =). For me that is the fascination; it was not just hormonal changes that made my hair limp and flat, but my beauty routine. Like so often in life, less is more.

I do bs and acv about 3 times a month, brush with a wooden brush to move oils, and use olive oil on the ends. I wet it down about every other day to restore the curl and rinse the dirt out. Easy Peasy.

I haven’t tried the baking soda, but I rinse my hair with vineger every time I wash it. I have light brown hair the is past my waist.

I’ve got typical straight, fine, white girl hair, and I’ve been going no shampoo for 3 weeks strong! I miss lathering up a little bit, but it feels so good to break free from another consumer trap, so it’s worth it. I do a little BS every other day and then ACV rinse once a week. My hair gets a little greasy by day 2, but I think it actually feels worse than it looks… so no one knows! I’ve been brushing and using a wash cloth to try to distribute the natural emollients down the length of my hair. I’ve been doing water only for my son (1 yr old). He definitely doesn’t need any chemicals on his hair. Good luck to you all, and enjoy laughing at shampoo ads!

You found some great information. I was apparently using WAY too high a concentration of apple cider vinegar. I also read somewhere that the baking soda is only for the roots.

But I noticed instant results when I switched to using baking soda on my whole hair (I’ve got short hair), and a lower concentration of ACV. My hair is much lighter now, more like when I use shampoo, but more manageable. It also doesn’t get as much greasy buildup, and I think it dries quicker, but I haven’t been paying much attention to that (it’s summer and 85 degrees out).

I have been doing the “no poo” thing for about 2 weeks. I am excited about doing it but am not enthused about my hair – yet. It is brown curly white girl hair and looks very dry and frizzy. I am determined to stick with this until my hair and scalp become accustomed to the new routine.

I want to write about “no poo” in my blog but figure I must walk the walk first. I see this as another case of the consumer being marketed into thinking we need a useless product, like bottled water.

I went no ‘poo a couple months back, and my hair has never been better. I’m still using the rinses nearly every day, but my stringy curly white girl frizz has calmed into curls with far, far fewer flyaways… so in addition to being just as clean as ever, I also don’t feel the need to add gel or other styling product to keep the frizz down. I am so happy I heard about this and tried it. I anticipate doing it forever and ever. peace.

blondeoverboard–I can second the comment about shampoo and acne. I had awful acne as a teen and going on the pill finally fixed that. But after going off the pill, I began washing my hair just every other day, with no conditioner. That took care of it, with exception of about 3 days out of every month, which is little enough to handle.

I’m a late-20s white chick with a very light complexion and very dark hair in a pixie cut. No way can I do the no-shampoo thing. Any oil on my head and it’s instantly obvious, because the oil works like gel for me. I’m too vain, I guess. The washing-every-other-day thing has worked with both long hair and short. The oil-as-gel went for both long hair and short, too.

For people who don’t cook their own soaps and other things, you could try using aloe on your hair. I find it works pretty well, but I rarely use it. Two birds with one (admittedly plastic) bottle: the sunburn and the hair!

I’ve been having really horrible dandruff ever since last year. It was a very stressful year for me, though I’m not sure if stress was the only
(or root) cause of the dandruff.

I’m willing to try anything, but having two weeks to make the transition is an issue. Oh well.

Regarding plastic – I was eating out and the bartender spoke to a couple sitting next to me that the tangerine juice he uses which comes in a carton no longer sports a plastic gabletop spout fitment (not his exact words but the industry uses those terms.)

In my world whenever a vendor discontinues an optional plastic item from some packaging I chalk it up to oil going from $20/bbl to $140/bbl and the impact on the price of plastic that results. If they have a campaign about what great environmentalists they are being I think they are just getting their marketing departments to put a spin on the fact they are being forced to take something away from their customers. I call it “green smoke” as in “green smoke and mirrors” where you hide behind environmentalism to cover up the price effects of The Peak and Decline of World Oil Production Rates (“Peak Oil”.)

I’ve been using a tablespoon of baking soda in water, followed by a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water for about two months, and I love it. I’ve had no transitions problems whatsoever, although I do use it pretty much every day.

I gave up conditioner two years ago. I realized that the small improvement it was doing for my hair (fairly straight brown hair) did not compensate for the horrible breakouts on my face and back. With the new routine, my hair is softer than it’s been since I gave up conditioner, and totally tangle-free.

I was completely skeptical and planned to do this exactly once. At this point, I can honestly say that I’ve adopted it because of its effectiveness rather than environmental benefit. And the unexpected benefit of having a cleaner bathtub and never-clogged drain is a just a bonus!

I use baking soda for shampoo and cider vinegar for conditioner, too, and I love it. I’m trying to transition to using is less often. I currently do it about 3x/week and am experimenting with just rinsing with water sometimes instead.

On a related note, if you’re looking for a very natural, no-plastic-involved styling product, try making your own flaxseed hair gel. It’s so easy. I just boil about 1 c. of water, then add about 1 T of whole flaxseeds. I simmer it, stirring, until it has a consistency about like hair gel (but not too thick), then strain out the seeds with a tea strainer. I keep the remaining liquid, which works exactly like regular hair gel on my wavy hair, in a container in the fridge. It took me a few batches to get the timing right–if you let it simmer too long, it becomes so thick that you can’t strain the seeds out and have to toss it and start over. But once you figure out at what point to take it off the heat and strain it, you have a styling product that’s dirt cheap and, if you buy your flaxseeds in bulk, has absolutely no disposable packaging. And apparently, this is what women in the 1920’s used on their bobs. I highly recommend giving it a try if you’re looking for a styling product.

I’ve been poo free for about 6 months now. It was a bit icky for the first few weeks and i did squeeze a little poo at neck level just to break it up. (For the record I have long fine grey hair.) After that I have only needed to use baking soda twice a week – I never got around to the rinse and haven’t missed it. My itchy allergic scalp is now itch free…Yay!!!

Very good post, I like how you got into detail about what you did and why. I have not gone ‘no poo’ but have drastically cut down my shampoo usage and looking into making my own shampoo. I do the vinegar rinse occasionally, which is awesome for my very long and thick dreadlocks.

I have very thick curly hair and skin allergies that make many cosmetic products off limits for me. This is an unhappy combination. There are not a lot of fragrance free/hypoallergenic hair products out there to choose from, especially not for curly hair.

Shampoo bars gave me the most miserable skin rash of my life. “Normal” commercial hair products often give me eczema and cause my eyes to swell shut. There are a million and one hair products for curly haired people but I can’t use most of them, and I’m not convinced they’d really work in the long run anyway. (I feel that trying lots of different kinds of chemical goop on my hair throughout my life is what helped bring on these severe cosmetic allergies in my late 20s. The pain this has caused me makes me think long and hard about how toxic we have let our environment become.)

For about a year I’ve been using conditioner-only “shampooing” with fragrance free conditioner, which has helped some, but my hair is still unruly. I’m going to try going with the no poo option since some people report this helps the condition of their curly hair, and I really don’t have a lot of other options left besides cutting it all off.

Intuitively it seems right that restoring the natural oil balance should be the best thing for my hair, if I can get there without too much grossness in between.

My understanding is that the raw versions of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, and honey work better on hair–due to their enzyme content–than the cooked/pasteurized versions.

I’ve been doing this with mixed success. A little tired of the routine, I started washing my hair with regular shampoo once a week recently. This worked for a while, and allowed me days when I had very light, very non-greasy hair (which didn’t hold it’s style as well, though). Now, my hair seems to want me to go either all shampoo or none. I’m going to try none.

I’m a 65-year-old mostly bald guy, and my head (including the bit of fringe of hair I’ve got left) gets the same soap I use for the rest of my shower. Works fine.

Ms. Crunch, To respond to your question about the benefits over soap from my experience…

Everyone’s hair is differnt, but mine just doesn’t seem to like bar soap, and I’ve tried several different brands. They all seemed to leave residue on my hair (excluding the Lush brand bar soap, which unfortunately has SLS in it). After several consecutive days of washing with any of them, my hair would get a bit crazy–and almost wet-looking sometimes it was so filmy. Twasn’t good, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to get better (although I guess I have no evidence since I haven’t tried).

A lot of people really like washing with bar soap, though, so it’s definitely just my own hair issue. Maybe I needed to be washing less?

Anyways, I don’t have this problem with baking soda now that my hair has adjusted. Also, it seems a lot of people don’t really have such a serious oil slick while the’re getting used to it like I did.

I hope that helps make sense of why one person has a no ‘poo fascination.

Or shall I say a no sham’ fascination for clif? :)

I have medium-short, thick, mostly straight with a little wave when it gets humid red hair (with some “yellow” — the redhead’s version of gray). I’ve been using the baking soda/apple cider vinegar method for over six months now and will not go back. My hair has more body than it did before and needs “washing” far less frequently. I did try a shampoo bar in the middle there for a couple of weeks and it cleaned okay but I found it left my hair far too straight and limp looking. If anybody is considering trying it, I say go for it. I didn’t even really have much of an “icky” phase, but I may just have been lucky.

I have been shampoo free for years- of course it helps that i have no hair, and what hair i do have i keep shaved. Good luck fishy!!!!

Hi there

I stopped using shampoo altogether a year ago. I only use water and it works extremely well! You do not need anything at all, vinegar, bicarb etc – you are actually much better off using nothing but water. Mind you, I do use rainwater, so the water is very soft, not sure how well it works with hard water.

At first I had to wash my hair a bit more often (twice a week instead of once), but now I am back to my weekly hair wash. It take a couple of months until my skin had reached its natural state again.

I have long hair, and it does not get greasy or matted or dull at all now. I only wash it to get rid of dust or dirt.

ecodea – I want to hear more about the mint, please share!

Thanks!!

Hey great minds look alike ! I’ve reduced the frequency of washing since I got my Barbie-like blond hair cut 2 years ago. Now one shampoo per week is enough – during last winter I made it to 17 days without shampoo.
I must confess I got addicted to Lush’s “the blonde” bar I recently adopted but I think I’ll try the vinegar rinse soon when the last drop of my organic conditioner is spent.
By the way my mum does it every week, it is a marvel on her short grey and very thin hair.
keep going you have such wonderful suggestions…
By the way do you have any ideas on make-up ?
Cheers

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?

:-)

P.S. I wanted to the link to Sarah’s posts on no-poo and forgot:
They are very interesting and also great reads!

Sarah on goingbananas.blogspot.com has done it too and because of her I started trying too :) I’ve tried baking soda, apple cider vinegar, mint tea (from my garden), and diluted lemon juice (which works the best for me).

I haven’t had a shower or used soap or shampoo or any kind of moisturizer on my body in a week. My skin feels great, my hair is great, I smell fine. It’s all about baking soda. I don’t use vinegar or lemon juice rinses. I wash my dishes, which include a lot of clear glass jars for storage, with baking soda and by golly, it works! My stainless steel kitchen sink stays shiny. Baking soda comes in a CARDBOARD BOX. No frills. We’re not paying for advertising. What do you bet that all this will change once the word gets out about bs…

Life Less Plastic inspired me to go no poo. It’s been a very easy transition for me and I am pleased with the results. I just posted on my blog about my experience over the last couple of weeks.

I never washed my hair in the summer time when I was growing up. We had a pool, and we went swimming every single day. My mom would tell us we didn’t need to shower if we swam, so obviously we opted to swim. Maybe that’s why we always wore bathing suits under our clothes in the summer… My hair was long, way past my waist, and blonde. In the summer, it was bleach blonde (probably a combo of the chlorine and sunshine), but never greasy. I still go by the rule that if I swim I don’t need to shampoo.
Now you’ve got me wondering, do I need to shampoo at all? Isn’t showering without shampoo the same as swimming?!?! Hmmm….

The Living Small house has been ‘poo free since February (see my revelatory post); it’s been fantastic. No more greasy hair, no more dry-straw hair, no more chemical-coated hair. Good stuff.

What’s more, I’m a curly-headed white girl whose curls have gotten softer and springier since the switch. I’m a convert, to be sure.

Good luck, Beth!

this year my 13yo son’s face exploded in a salvo of teen angst and acne. after much experimentation we reasoned it was his shampoo routine (he has longish, “fluffy” bright blonde hair that after a washing sat atop his head like a dead rodent). he agreed to try baking soda and vinegar for a week. not only did his hair look, feel and smell much better but due to the reduced amount of oil on his scalp(i’m guessing), his forehead cleared up beautifully. for our vinegar rinse i mix up 3/4 C white vinegar, 4 C warm water, a sprig of fresh rosemary and a chamomile tea bag. i let it sit for at least 30 minutes before using to give the tea and the rosemary time to do their thing.

I am never ever running out of shampoo I don’t think. I still have shampoo leftover from my pre-green days, and I only wash my hair once (maybe twice at most) a week.

When I’m done with the shampoo, I’ll probably just wash my hair with my Dr. Bronner’s bar soap.

I don’t use conditioner.

I am not entirely sure about this, but I believe in the motherland, people just wash their hair with soap about once a week and do a hot oil massage in their hair once a week. I know it seems counterintuitive from a Western perspective to be putting oil in your hair but I think when you are only washing once a week and using soap, your hair does get dry.