Ditching Your Shampoo and Conditioner
I have been wanting to do this for awhile now. If you haven’t seen a current theme yet I am trying to go all natural. Shampoo and conditioners have tons of chemicals and ingredients that aren’t good for the environment. Also, previously I was using the fancier shampoo and conditioner that has no sulfates in it which also means it is much more expensive. Well, being a newlywed in graduate school we don’t have money to buy that sort of things. So it gave me just another excuse to try this! You may be wondering does it work? Yes!!! Yesterday I got coconut oil in my hair and the “no poo” got it right out!
No Poo “shampoo”
Dilute 1 Tbs baking soda in 1 cup warm water and place in a container. I put mine in an old shampoo container. Depending on the type of hair you have you might need to alter this. Fine hair might need less baking soda and curly hair might need a little more. You will have to play around with it after the first week or two.
To use: squirt the mixture onto the roots of your hair massage in well. Then work your way down squirting more of the mixture. I wouldn’t recommend going all the way down to the ends (learned that from experience) Then rinse!
Usually there is a transition period where your hair is getting used to the new procedures so don’t give up if in the first few weeks or so if your hair is oily. Eventually it will balance out. Luckily I haven’t really experienced this yet! What I have experienced is my hair feeling soft, smooth, and way less frizzy!
“Conditioner”
Dilute 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar in 1 cup water. I added a squeeze of lemon since I have dirty blonde hair to brighten it up a bit. Place in a container (I used a spay bottle.)
To use: After no pooing spray or squirt apple cider mixture pretty much everywhere but your roots. Then rinse
You should try to wash your hair every other day some people can go 3 or 4 days without washing while using this method.
The hardest part of all of this is getting used to the feeling of not shampooing and conditioning how I was used to. Do you “no poo” or do you dare to try? I bet you will be happily surprised!
This was part of the Homestead Barn Hop, the Morris Tribe, Sew Chatty, Sew Can Do, Craft-O- Maniac, Homemaker on a Dime, Frugally Sustainable, Thrifty Decorating, Master Piece Monday
I just made some of this no poo shampoo! I already added some apple cider vinegar to my regular conditioner, so I figure I will just make the shampoo for now.
Yay so excited your going no poo! Hmm I wonder how adding the apple cider vinegar to the conditioner would be. Do you like it?
I love chemical free alternatives. Thanks for sharing.
Environmentally friendly and cheap! Glad you liked it!
Brilliant! I’ve been thinking about ditching the shampoo for a while now… I’m going to give it a shot!
So glad I could help! Thanks for coming by!
I have been thinking about trying this for a while now. I have fine hair that easily gets oily…I’m nervous to try it. Thanks for sharing, it is one more person I’ve read using it…helping tip me toward trying it.
Thanks!
Its worth a shot and you don’t have much to lose! I think you should at least try it for a couple weeks! Good luck!
My hair is very fine and oily and this works great for me!
Can only buy baking soda in the small tubs over here as people only use it for baking and not for other purposes. Because I can’t buy it in bigger containers it probably wouldn’t turn out any cheaper for us.
O thats a bummer maybe you could still switch to the conditioner and save a little money there. Or maybe you could find baking soda online for a good deal!
Not sure where you are from but I live in the UK and just found out I can get 1 kg of baking soda on Amazon, can’t remember how much but was very reasonable compared to the tiny containers in the shops.
Finally went brush free at the beginning of the year, so have lots of lovely baby dreadies forming, but I went no poo at the same time, and keep a spray bottle with some lemon juice, sea salt, and essential oil in it to spray on, when my hair tells me it needs a little more, i use a mix of AVC and rinse. While it may look a hot mess right now, lol I love the way it feels, which is a big improvement as I have always hated my baby fine, so thin hair.
I’m glad your enjoying it so far. So am I and its funny to think something so simple works even though it seems like it wouldn’t. Thanks for commenting 🙂
I have been thinking and thinking about trying this, but my hubby is not quite convinced yet. When he says I can, I’m definitely going to.:)
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My husband was kinda suspicious about it too. He usually likes my crazy ideas so he lets me try it out first before he will commit. But he said as soon as his shampoo runs out he will try this! What a trooper!
I tried this recently and have only shampooed once in the last month (I forgot to refill before hoppingin the shower). I didn’t tell anyone I just did it and revealed later! I do love the simple aspect of it. I have naturally wavy hair. My husband has always been suspicious of any of my new ideas but usually comes around once he sees that there’s no harm done LOL!!!!
Great blog, just found it through the blog hop:)
Christi
I love the fact that you didn’t tell anyone! I bet they didn’t even know either!!! My friends start to call me a hippie lol even though Im not! My husband is the same way but now he wants to try no poo too! Thanks for coming by!
I went no poo back in January. My hair is very fine and usually oily. Commercial shampoos strip your hair of it’s natural oils so it over produces to keep up. this is why there is a transition period for your scalp to get used to it. It usually only lasts a few weeks. I have noticed my hair is no longer oily and the vinegar rinse makes it so soft. I now have wavy hair when it used to be so straight. Glad you gave it a go too.
I have been using this recipe for shampoo and conditioner for a year now and people are stunned when they find out I haven’t used real shampoo or conditioner for over a year. I love it and find that I only have to wash my hair every other day.
People think I am a little crazy but its not big deal since Im saving so much money and the environment. I hope I can make it as long as you without using shampoo!
My daughter had such oily hair that at the end of the day her hair was stinky. I started using this instead of store shampoo and her hair is absolutely amazing! She can go every other day and it still is sooo much cleaner at the end of day 2 with this than day 1 with store shampoo. Don’t keep thinking about trying this. Just do it! You won’t regret it. It cleans your hair way better and is kind to your hair.
That’s a great story and I’m so glad it worked as well as it did! I couldn’t agree more! I think everyone should do it!
I would like to try this but have a few questions. I style my hair everyday with “products”. Would I have to use it everyday to get them washed out? Also I color my hair, will it strip the color? Any help would be great!
Thanx!
With no poo you should try to wash your hair every other day or even less then that. I don’t know if you would need to wash it everyday to get the products out or if you could just put some water on your hair to re vamp it. No poo doesn’t work well with colored hair. It can strip the color. I looked up some blogs and one person says with colored hair you can wash with baking soda about once a week and keep up with the vinegar to keep it hydrated. Hope this helps!
Thank You!
I don’t know if this is recommended for African American hair. Do you? Following you. I’d love it if you’d follow me too! http://chatonsworld.blogspot.com. Interesting blog!
I am not sure Chaton! I tried doing a little research and I had a hard time finding an exact response. If I were you and going to try it I would only do it once every 2 weeks just to test it out. If it seems to be working then slowly increase it to once a week. Sorry I can’t be more help! Thanks for following!
I was doing this for about 8 months and I was really happy with the way my hair felt and looked, not to mention it didn’t have any chemicals in it. Recently I have had issues with this recipe and my hair has felt like straw, very stiff, and there is a baking soda residue in my hair. I tried using 1/4 tsp. of baking soda and rinsing it out very well but still had the same results. I am now using Jason shampoo which I just found out also has carcinogens so I have to find something new and organic. I still used the ACV rinse which I absolutely love. Any thoughts?
I started to get the build up too so what I did was just washed my hair with normal stuff once and then used the baking soda mix again. Or you can try this really cool recipe http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/homemade-coconut-milk-shampoo.html and see if that works better for you! Hope this helps!
I want to try this, but my hair tangles really bad. I’be always had to use extra thick conditioner to be able to stand brushing through it. Any other tangle heads tried this ” no poo” shampoo? Thanks!!
my hair tangles alot to but i have had no problems using this method not a snarl. i had my doubts to but i gave it a go and loved it.
Me too! You would think it would be the opposite. So glad you love it!
Hi, I went no-poo about a year ago, but I only use 1 teaspoon of baking soda instead of 1 tbs. “Less is more”, here… I have thick wavy hair, and I wash once a week, but I can go over two weeks without washing, with no difference.
I had split ends when I started, so I started adding Aloe Vera gel (from my own plants at home) both to the “shampoo” and the “conditioner” formula (3tbs to each)… I use rosemary herb tea instead of water for my conditioner (it helps darken hair ;)), with vinegar and I add lemon juice (1/2 a lemon) to make my waves “sharp”. My hair looks beautiful and shiny, and it doesn’t tangle at all!!!
These are amazing ideas! Aloe vera is so useful! I am definitely going to try this!
For those that have buildup, do you use vinegar for conditioner? It is important, because vinegar neutralizes the baking soda.
I tried this about 5 months ago, and I loved the way it cleaned my hair. There was only one problem with the baking soda/vinegar rinse: it left my scalp line with acne. After three months of this recurring issue, I finally had to quit and go back to traditional shampoo. I figure there are plenty of other places I can skimp in my budget, and this became a non-negotiable one.
O no thats horrible! Im sorry that happened to you! I’ve seen a few other recipes for homemade shampoo and conditioner you may want to look into! I think one was from One Good Thing by Jillee. It was coconut milk kind!
My grandmother has once advices me to use acv, however I thought that she was joking =) Anyway, thanks for the recipe!