Give It A Try - No Poo
Posted on July 31, 2007 by
After reading several articles about the “No Poo” movement (insert juvenile joke here), I decided to give it a try. Going No Poo means giving up shampoo in favor of natural choices like baking soda, honey, and apple cider vinegar.
The reasoning is that shampoos can contain harsh and possibly harmful chemicals. As the chemicals strip the natural oils from your scalp, your body catches up by increasing oil production. Stop shampooing and your scalp will return to its natural balance.
I gave it a try. I mixed some baking soda and water and massaged it into my scalp. I loved the exfoliating action of the baking soda, but after a lot of rinsing, I still felt like I had some gritty residue left behind.
Instead of conditioner, I rinsed with apple cider vinegar and cold water. I thought I’d never be able to get a brush through my hair without a good gob of traditional conditioner, but I had no problem with it.
I let my hair air dry. It was soft and clean, but the ends were stiff. The apple cider vinegar made my hair shine, but later, when I went for a bike ride with my husband, the smell of vinegar wafted out from under my helmet.
I would definitely consider doing this again as a clarifying treatment, but I can’t see myself doing it every day. Right now, I’m growing my hair to donate, so it’s super long. I’ll give No Poo another try once I chop it all off. Less hair may make it easier to rinse out all of that baking soda grit, and there will be less of it to hold the vinegar smell.
Have you tried No Poo? Is there a technique or ingredient that made it work better for you?
Click here for more information on No Poo.
Have you come across a natural remedy, treatment, or cleaning technique you’re unsure about trying? E-mail me at alliesanswers at gmail dot com and I’ll give it a try it for you!
I use organic shampoo from Trader Joe’s.
I use aveda shampoo and conditioner. You should check out Aveda products as they are 100% environmentally friendly. No chemicals, organic ingredients, even Aveda’s warehouses are solar powered. And, this might work better for your hair than trying to cleanse with honey and baking soda is really drying (and the pH would be off). FYI, I am in no way connected with Aveda, just wanted to recommend this environmentally concious brand/company. The makeup is great too from Aveda.
[...] a month ago, I attempted to give up shampoo in favor of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, but I wasn’t impressed with the results. A [...]
From the sound of it, you gave it a good shot, but it was a shot in the dark. I think you were probable using to much baking soda to water. “I loved the exfoliating action of the baking soda, but after a lot of rinsing, I still felt like I had some gritty residue left behind.” The mix should not feel exfloiating, and nothing should be left after your rinse. A mix should be about 1TBs baking soda to 1C water, the baking soda is harsh if you use to much and can do wonkie things to your hair. This wont make a paste or even anything thick, its more of cloudy water. As for you saying “I would definitely consider doing this again as a clarifying treatment, but I can’t see myself doing it every day.”, it makes me giggles. You have to keep in mind here what you are trying to do! When using this method you are not trying to “Clean” it in the traditional sense, but rather restore your hair natural glory. This not only takes time, but, oddly, LESS WASHING! Doing it once here and there wont do much at all, it will take a few weeks even up to a month before you get past what you might call hair from hell! Once you start doing this your hair will go though a detox, and after you will be able to see what really helps! Like with the “I let my hair air dry. It was soft and clean, but the ends were stiff. The apple cider vinegar made my hair shine, but later, when I went for a bike ride with my husband, the smell of vinegar wafted out from under my helmet.” One again you probably used to much vinegar, 1ts to a 1C is all you need, hence the smell you had. As for the ends, again I stress IT TAKE TIME! You need to give time for your hair to have its oils reach the ends, or nothing will happen. To help with this you can “brush” your hair with a wash cloth when your hair is still wet, and use a bores hair brush to move the oil along.
I hope the next time you try this it really is for more then one wash, and I think you will see it really is wonderful!
I’ve been using this system of washing with baking soda and rinsing with vinegar and honestly my hair is in excellent conditon. I soaked Rosemary in the vinegar for three weeks and dilute that down, one tablespoon to a cup of water. I’ve also soaked some lavender but that isn’t ready yet.
Thanks Angil!….your info was so helpful. I’m new to no pooing. I tried it after reading about it but kept reading different amounts to use. So, last night I tried it and my hair is SO nice today. So clean and shiny! The only con was I picked my hair up this morning while I only bathed my body since I washed it last night and some of my hair got a little we….ughhh the smell came out! but when it dried again it went away. I know for sure it’s that I used too much vinegar. The next time I wash my hair which hopefully will be in a few days…b/c before I had to wash every other day or my hair would get oily. So, next time I’ll use the amount you recommended. Thank you SO MUCH. I’m also going to add rosemary or lavender as Audrey suggested….THANKS to you too Audrey
Do you think that I can add a few drops of an organic lavender essential oil?