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Today is the fifth day since I used shampoo, and I was going to wait longer before I posted about my experiment again. But today for the first time I used baking soda to massage my scalp, and I am so amazed at how good it felt when I rinsed it!
I followed these directions: In a small cup mix 1 Tbsp. baking soda with just enough water to make a paste. In another cup, put 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar. Wet hair, then massage baking soda paste onto scalp, starting at the crown, then working to the back and sides, using small circular motions with your fingertips. (This is the same way I used to shampoo.) Rinse thoroughly with warm water. Then pour the vinegar onto the ends (not the scalp) and allow it to stay for a minute or two, then rinse again.
That's it. My hair felt so nice and soft, and it doesn't even smell like vinegar. Usually after I shampoo, I have to apply some sort of conditioner or detangler, and I also lose a good amount of hair each time I wash. But today, I did not need a detangler, and lost half the amount of hair I usually collect in my comb.
I am pretty impressed! I plan to wash this way about every five days, or maybe eventually every seven days. I'll post again about it in a week or so.
Self-hate is NOT Humility
5 years ago
12 comments:
Let me know what you think about it, really. I've been looking into alternatives for our family, but especially for my son who has skin problems. We've gone to a soap with natural ingredients, but I don't know what to do about the shampoo. Looking forward to a follow-up on this one!
I lose tons of hair when I shampoo too! :-)
OHHH..Good to hear. Everytime I wash my hair I loose so much hair I'm like "OMW...Am I oging bald?"
Thats good to know that you didn't need conditioner to detangle.
Have you heard of Welltellme.com? I think you might find it very interesting, there is a whole thread on the subject of going without shampoo. It is very interesting to read. :)
This is definitely interesting. What a brave soul you are! It´s worth a try that´s for sure.
Okay now this is good news but I'm curious, do you only wash every 5 days? What about grease and smell?
Tammy, I have heard of this before but didn't understand the process because it wasn't explained well on the other blogs I saw. My hair seems to look greasy when I wake up in the mornings and for sure it is sticking up everywhere! What do you do about that? Do you just wet it and redry it? I have done this when I didn't have time to wash it but I certainly don't think I could go several days without washing or at least something. How often is it safe to do the baking soda and vinegar? I tried cidar vinegar to help with dandruff and scalp buildup and it helps some but not completely.
Laura, thanks for telling me about Welltellme.com. Looks like a great resource!
Tori & Tammy, as far as I can tell, hair gets oily because we wash our hair too often. It strips it of our natural oils, so the oil glands work overtime to provide the sebum necessary to maintain healthy hair.
From the stories I've read of some who stopped washing altogether, I learned that one goes through a period of excessive oiliness, then the scalp balances out and the hair is glossy, clean and has body. Some women just pulled their hair into a ponytail during the greasy stage.
I'm not willing to stop washing altogether, but I do want to "wean" my hair off of frequent washings, and not use shampoo for a while to see how my hair does. I was already washing just every two, sometimes three days, and my hair is healthier than it had been in years. Fewer split ends, and it looked a lot nicer.
I'd like to see if I can eventually go a week between baking soda washes. Mainly, just to see if their theories are true, and to see if my hair will look as healthy as Grandma's did, lol!
Tammy, I did do a "refresh" rinse with just warm water during those five days without washing, and my hair dried soft and it was not smelly. (BTW, I'm amazed how good my hair has smelled through the whole experiment, at least so far. I asked my husband to be sure, and he said it smelled nice!)
I have not used hairspray or any other fixative products during this time. If you do, then you would probably have to rinse those out between washings.
About the baking soda, I think it is safe to use as often as shampoo, but I wouldn't do it every day because besides finding an alternative to harsh shampoo, I'm also trying to let my natural oils balance out. Can't do that, washing daily.
I have heard about using vinegar for dandruff. I'll bet if you used baking soda to massage the scalp first, then rinse thoroughly, then apply vinegar and rinse again, it might help more.
I can't complain about Tammy's hair. I don't know how well it would go over for a dirty, stinky guy like myselt to try this! Especially, with my thin and fine hair.
Daniel
Hi Tammy,
I'm not sure if you wanted to know other people's experiences or not with the Poo-Free Experiment, but I'll give you mine anyway. I tried it this morning and am very happy with the results, too. I like the vinegar WAY more than conditioner. My hair does smell like apple cider vinegar a little bit, but maybe that's because the vinegar is old (I bought it seven years ago!)
Thanks for the very interesting post!
Amy
I certainly am interested to hear other's experiences! Thanks, Amy.
Glad you liked the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse. I don't think I'll ever go back!
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