I’m not “crunchy”. I don’t consider myself to be all that “green” either, although I do recycle. I’m not a frugalista either. I’m definitely not an all-organic using, eating and wearing girl. Even so…
It has been 6 weeks since I have shampooed my hair!
I have long thick hair that takes forever to dry. I had been really frustrated with my “blah” hair and itchy scalp. I had little bumps that would appear at the nape of my neck and drive me crazy. I had a sneaking suspicion that my shampoo and conditioner were the culprits. So I switched… again… and again…. and again… trying new shampoos and found no relief.
Finally I decided to stop shampooing cold-turkey and try out Simple Mom’s “no-poo” technique.
I grabbed a squeeze bottle filled it with 1 cup of water and added 1 Tablespoon of baking soda. I shook up the bottle and squeezed it onto my scalp. I used quite a bit the first few times, saturating my scalp then massaging it really well. I’m not lying when I tell you that I could FEEL the oil washing out of my hair. (for more technical, scientific reasons why this works be sure to check out Simple Mom’s Post!)
As a substitute for conditioner I grabbed a second bottle added 1 cup of water and 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. – do not worry your hair will NOT smell like vinegar at all! – I pour this over the middle and ends of my hair – intentionally avoiding my scalp. Because my hair is so long I used a wide tooth comb right after I add the vinegar mixture to my hair. This helps with the tangles. I rinced the vinegar mixture out of my hair and voila! Squeaky clean hair!
I’m not going to lie, weeks 3-4 were rough, a bit oily and I almost wanted to throw in the towel, but I didn’t. I kept going and I’m thrilled with my hair now!
5 Reasons I love cleaning my hair with Baking Soda and Vinegar:
- Super duper clean hair and soft – it nearly squeaks!
- Less frizz = less products
- Cheap hair care
- New found CURLS!!
- No more crazy hair loss— Previously I would have a huge wad of hair in the shower when I was finished shampooing and conditioning my hair. Gross, I know!! I could run my hands through my hair and have a good handful of hair. I truly believe that something in the products I was using (rhymes with pan-tene… whoops I said it!) was causing me to lose so much hair.
I wish I had taken a good “before” photo but I think you can see a bit of the difference. My hair has always had a bit of a wave to it but now I can scrunch it up and have really nice curls. I can still blow dry it straight easily but it’s nice to have the option to let my hair just air dry.
People have asked me if I’ll start shampooing again and honestly I don’t think I will. I may find a really good organic conditioner to use occasionally but I can honestly say I don’t think my hair has ever been cleaner. So for now I’ll be sticking with my baking soda and vinegar combo!
Have you ever tried this method for cleaning your hair? I’d love to here your thoughts!
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
hot mama!!
right back atcha Kamille!
Donna! Your hair looks awesome!! I’ve seriously considered doing this (after reading Simple Mom’s post about it a while back)…now I feel even more inspired. I was a bit dubious about the transition period, but your hair says it all. It definitely looks worth it!
Thanks Erin! The transition period is not fun, but wasn’t terrible for me either. In the end I’m pretty sold on it, mostly because I can tell that my hair is clean and not coated with a bunch of waxes and other gunk from the conditioners I was using.
Oh wow! Very interesting!! I’m going to consider trying this. Thanks Donna!
I think your hair looks great! And, it’s better for your hair if you don’t blow dry it. 
I love that I can let it air dry – my hair takes forever to blow dry and honestly I’m always afraid to wake the kids with the dryer!
OMG! I love it and am tempted to try it out even though I don’t have lovely curls like you =)
It’s nice too, if you have oily hair – it cleans up your scalp so your natural oils chill out. You might want to grab a cute hat or two to help you through the 3rd week. You look cute in a hat anyways!
for realsie??? truly? this will really work??????
I was doubtful, to tell the truth but once week 5 came around I was thrilled. I still think I might use a light non-junk-filled conditioner on the ends of my hair once in a while just to ease my tangling. Other than that I’m sold!
I tried that, but I was disappointed b/c no matter how much I rinsed, I always had bits of baking soda in my hair that looked like dandruff:( I even dissolved the baking soda in hot water, so I don’t know how that happened. I would love to use this method because it’s so safe, but for me it was not effective at all, which really bums me out.
I haven’t noticed any baking soda in my hair! I add the Tbs of soda to room temp tap water and shake it up. I don’t even see chunks in the water. hmmmmm… That stinks!
I have lots of fine, straight hair. I don’t think I could ever give up the hair dryer-especially since it is short. I wonder how this would turn out on my kind of hair… cause I am happy with it now. interesting.
Sam – I’d love to hear if you try it and how it works. For me it was more about my scalp feeling clean and not itchy anymore. The curls were just a bonus
You’re hair does look great. And I have hair like you – thick, long, falls out when I wash it ( but I have so much anyways I can’t tell I’ve lost any). I feel like I’m damaging my hair with today’s retail products (I use cheap stuff).
I’m going to give this baking soda wash a try tomorrow. Just so happens I have 2 empty dish soap bottles ready to be used!
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Tracy – yes! Those clumps of hair in the tub were so annoying and sometimes I wondered if I was going to have thinning hair the way it was falling out. Just don’t expect a huge change unless you stick with it for a few weeks, although I do wonder if you do it every few weeks for a week if that will help to give your scalp a deep clean. Hmmm.. something to ponder.
You are so brave!! I’ve read this but don’t think I will ever be brave enough to try it!! Your hair looks amazing!!
That P shampoo you mentioned I cannot use either. It makes my scalp hurt so bad. Anything that is shampoo and conditioner in one does that to me. I will have to try it!
Very impressed my dear….. very impressed….
I really should TRY it, but it just seems so scary. That’s probably silly, huh?
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Rebekah your hair would LOVE THIS!! Maybe you should add it to your Insane list for 2012??
Va Va~voom!! Your hair looks amazing!!
I use to do a vinegar rinse on my hair when I was a teenager ~ along with other home spa things like oatmeal face scrubs etc… and I do remember I had great results ~
somewhere along the way I’ll have to rummage through my pantry again! Remember lemon juice for highlights?
~CA
Awww… thanks!
I remember using lemon juice to try to bleach my hair when I was a teen. I would soak my hair in it and sit in the sun…. then I broke out the Sun In. Do you remember that stuff? LOL
Hey Donna! Your blog is awesome btw =) And my roommate and I were just talking about doing this no shampoo thing!! Question though – I have very curly hair and use mousse and hairspray to keep it contained…will I still be able to use the products I am using and still do the no shampoo thing? Will the baking soda get all the product out?
If you try it just remember that the 3rd week can be rough. I love how clean my hair is now and I love having new curls! It really gets rid of the frizz too. I’ve been going back and forth between the baking soda / vinegar method and organic shampoo and conditioner. I like how the baking soda really cleans the hair so much better than any shampoo!