My hair is really thick and frizzy, but it gets greasy if I don't wash it every morning. Often, I get a buildup of shampoo and conditioner that makes it feel unclean, even when it's not. I've avoided going without shampoo though, because I'm afraid of the transition period- 2 weeks to 2 months of greasy hair while it gets used to being shampoo-free.
However, there's another option, and that's what I'm trying out. Wash your hair with baking soda, and rinse with apple cider vinegar. Many people say that doing this in lieu of shampoo helped them totally skip or drastically minimize the transition period.
Here's the plan:
- I mixed two tablespoons of baking soda with two cups of water and keep it in a jar in my shower. Use a few tablespoons of this mixture in the shower, rubbing it in to the roots. Rinse.
- Next, make a mixture of 1 part apple cider vinegar to 4 parts water. Pour about a quarter cup of this over your hair. Rinse.
Different people might need to adjust those ratios substantially. I'll let you know what I end up doing. I'm on day 3 of this plan, using the baking soda treatment every other day, and I'll probably add a bit more baking soda and a bit less vinegar. Here's a few blogs that got me started:
- Simple Mom: How to Clean Your Hair Without Shampoo
- Nature Moms: The No Shampoo Alternative
- It's also worth checking this cosmetics database, just to see what's in your daily products.
Did you happen to take a "before" pic? I'm curious to see how it will change your hair.
ReplyDeleteHey, I've been working on going 'shampoo-free' for the past couple months using the baking soda and vinegar. For years (ever since I can remember, really)I have had a horrible scalp condition where the skin would have large dry scaly patches that would flake off (gross, I know), ever since I've gone shampoo free, that has completely cleared up!
ReplyDeleteMost of the time my hair is great (I did have a transition period where my hair was really yucky of about 2 weeks) - but recently I spend the weekend with a friend who lives in the city. Apparently my hair wasn't used to city water (as we have a well) and I haven't yet gotten it back to where it comes beautifully clean just from the baking soda and vinegar. Just something to keep in mind. I've decided that I will go shampoo free at all times, except when I have to travel to a city or some place without well water - then I will simply use a sulfate-free shampoo. . . hopefully that theory will work. :D Otherwise, I am absolutely loving not using shampoo.
I wish this would work for me! I've tried it before but even after weeks of brushing with a boar bristle brush and no shampoo, my hair was incredibly greasy and my scalp itched constantly. I felt gross. I really wonder why it works for some people and not others. :/
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your attempts, though!
Hey Sara,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how this is going. I am thinking about trying it myself, and since it seems we have similar hair textures I was wondering how it was working for you. Hope things are going well!
-Casey
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear how this turned out for you! I don't think it would work for me - my hair is thinner and very fine. If you've heard of it working on that sort of hair type, I'd love a link or two; I could try the adjustment over this summer. Good luck with this and the plastic-free adjustment!
I am confused. Do you mean you are aiming to wash less often or never use shampoo again?
ReplyDelete