No-poo or going without shampooing?

**Chilly Willy** · August 25th, 2009, 04:55 AM

Lol, I thought this thread was about having to decide whether to poo or wash your hair when you're in a hurry in the morning.

**qwerty** · September 14th, 2009, 05:27 PM

Okay, so I decided to do this and am on Day 5 of water only washing. I think I have enough grease in my hair now to get some dreadlocks going. When does this get better? I'll tough it out for a couple of more days and then perhaps try a baking soda rinse to cut some of the grease. I'm really determined to say goodbye to shampoo and all its nasty chemicals but the process is not for those who are excessively vain.

**Shinola** · September 15th, 2009, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by qwerty

Okay, so I decided to do this and am on Day 5 of water only washing. I think I have enough grease in my hair now to get some dreadlocks going. When does this get better? I'll tough it out for a couple of more days and then perhaps try a baking soda rinse to cut some of the grease. I'm really determined to say goodbye to shampoo and all its nasty chemicals but the process is not for those who are excessively vain.

querty, as of day 5 you haven't washed your hair at all? I'm trying to remember what I did when I tried this. IIRC, I just substituted the baking soda/vinegar combination for shampoo, washing every couple of days.

But after three or four weeks, it still didn't look presentable.

**burnt_toast** · September 15th, 2009, 12:39 PM

qwerty, i would definitely do a baking soda 'wash' and vinegar rinse now. it will take several weeks for your hair to not feel/look pretty nasty .... sad but true.

**katez** · September 15th, 2009, 05:44 PM

I use witch hazel astringent in about 1:4 water when I don't want to use shampoo and want to get rid of product buildup without shampoo, it work great and witch hazel is very mild, not like the usual astringents. I also sometimes put a few drops of Dr. Bronner's peppermint oil liquid soap in a bottle of water for a very mild hair wash, it might leave a very light film on the hair, but that's just olive oil residue and I don't mind. I would not recommend Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps on the hair without diluting in water though.

**qwerty** · September 15th, 2009, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by burnt_toast

qwerty, i would definitely do a baking soda 'wash' and vinegar rinse now. it will take several weeks for your hair to not feel/look pretty nasty .... sad but true.

I've been doing some more reading on the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse. Won't the baking soda stimulate the oil glands much like Shampoo does? My preference if possible is to not to have to put anything on my hair at all. My hair is actually on the dry side perhaps because I never condition it and blow it dry several times per week. I have the hair of a pubescent 12 year old now. I'm working the boar bristle brush hard.

I was never one for much hair product and only shampooed my hair every other day. However, I probably should have started this whole experiment out with a baking soda scrub to get rid of any shampoo build up.

Originally Posted by katez

I also sometimes put a few drops of Dr. Bronner's peppermint oil liquid soap in a bottle of water for a very mild hair wash, it might leave a very light film on the hair, but that's just olive oil residue and I don't mind. I would not recommend Dr. Bronner's liquid soaps on the hair without diluting in water though.

I've tried Dr. Bronner's on my hair full strength before and hair looked like really flat, lank and greasy. I'm not going there again.

My hair actually doesn't look bad today. It's not its normal self but it doesn't look like I haven't shampooed it in 6 days. My hair has a lot of natural body so I fluffed it out and it "almost" looks clean. And it braids great!

**witchcurlgirl** · September 15th, 2009, 06:02 PM

Qwerty:

Are you rinsing it daily in the shower without the shampoo? When i was doing it the salon had suggested that, or to do a 'conditioner wash', which is how I did it. They also suggested lemon juice rubbed on the scalp and rinsed with water as a 'wash'.

I ended up giving up after a while.

**qwerty** · September 15th, 2009, 06:06 PM

I am doing a water only wash as part of my daily shower and scrubbing my scalp vigorously to break up and loosen dirt and oil. I am thoroughly familiar with the "curly girl" condition only technique and have tried it even though my hair is very thick and straight. My hair got very heavy and lank. Works great though for my curly haired mom. I'd really prefer to do without the estrogenic chemicals and other toxins.

**witchcurlgirl** · September 15th, 2009, 06:09 PM

Hang in there. Some people end up loving it. I ended up back with shampoo, but I use a super mild one, no sulaftes, or coco-betaine. But I don't wash it much anyway.

**qwerty** · September 15th, 2009, 06:34 PM

Thanks everybody. I'm determined to see this through.

**qwerty** · September 18th, 2009, 12:27 PM

Day 9 - there's light at the end of the tunnel. I'm still doing only daily water washing. My scalp seems to be producing less grease already and my hair is becoming more manageable. Using a boar bristle brush has really helped to move the hair oils down along the entire length of my hair. It actually has some body now.

Interestingly, my hair has no smell whatsoever.

I think this might work.

**burnt_toast** · September 18th, 2009, 12:30 PM

There really is no smell. It's amazing how fooled we are into thinking that our bodies will smell unless we use huge amounts of detergent and fragrance... My hair doesn't smell either and yes, the brush is a god send!

Glad it's coming together for you.

**FashionVictim** · September 22nd, 2009, 04:36 PM

I just can't do it, I work out and my scalp is greasy. So I wash my hair 2-3 times a week with a non sulfate all natural shampoo. In between washings I put coconut oil on the ends.

**qwerty** · September 22nd, 2009, 05:57 PM

I've been working out while doing this - the sweat washes out of my hair easily with water.

Day 13 and hair looks decent. To me, it looks like it hasn't been washed in a day, maybe 2 so it's not terribly greasy at this point. It continues to have good body with some light fluffing.

I went out with friends a couple of times this past weekend and warned them in advance that I might be wearing a baseball cap but hair looked good enough to go without. 2 guys asked me out too so it must look OK!