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A few months ago, I read that you can wash your hair with only baking soda and apple cider vinagar. I tried it and let me say, I will never go back to shampoo. I used to wash my hair evey other day with garnier frutis (spelling?) shampoo/conditioner and now, two months later, I only feel the need to wash once a week. I have waist length very damaged hair that was very oily on top and very dry on the bottom. For about 2 weeks, my hair felt kind of grungy and waxy but I stuck it out and WOW! My hair holds style so much better and feel like baby's hair.Also, a $1 box of baking soda will last about a year and a $2 gallon bottle of vinegar lasts around 6 months for me.
I mix baking soda half and half with water to make a paste and same with apple cider vinigar. Use the baking soda paste just like you would shampoo and rince well. Use the vinegar as conditioner and avoid the roots. You don't smell the vinegar after and the hair feels fantastic. So bees, if you are looking to improve your hair and go cheap, try this!
I have never heard of this before. So you make a past for the conditioner as well? How much do you use per wash? Do you mix and keep it around, or mix before each wash?
interesting i've never heard of it. I have think hair that gets oily at the roots as well so i think i'll try it out! thanks :)
I've never heard of this, either. Sounds interesting! I'm game for trying it out!
I would also really recommend it. It's really difficult to find shampoos and conditioners that don't have really harsh chemicals. It's difficult to follow through on the no 'poo method but you just have to keep in mind that your hair will look the best it ever has once you've made it through the first month or so. I mean, it does seem kind of odd that using store-bought shampoo only makes you have to wash your hair more, doesn't it?
@MrsSl82be: I have these same questions... and could it be regular vinegar ?
I have noticed that once I switched shampoos, my hair would be soft at first then get dry. I really notice a difference since switching. It's consistantly soft!
You dont make a paste for the conditioner, just mix the vinegar and water around half and half and use enough to saturate the hair (I only put the baking sida paste on the roots or it dries the ends out too much, and vice versa for the vinegar). I washed out my old shampoo and conditioner bottles out really well and keep it in there. The baking sida settles and you have to shake it up, though.
@london: oh ok, that makes more sense. I think I will try this once my current bottles run out. Thanks for the info!! I only wash my hair a couple times a week anyway, but I am all for no more chemicals!
I am trying this I have to wash my hair day or every other day or it gets too oily at the roots
I might have to try this. I recently switched to a Garnier Fructics' no-residue, and even after rinisng thoroughly, it looks greasy! Does the vinegar/baking soda do the same thing, and I just have to wait until my hair adjusts to it?
@CanadianMermaid: I am trying this I have to wash my hair day or every other day or it gets too oily at the roots
Mine, too! It's super fine and looks greasy if I don't wash it daily. 
Just an fyi, this isn't reccomended for colored hair. Apparently the alkaline in the baking soda strips the color right out!
I want to try this but I am confused about what to do with the ACV. Do I mix it with baking soda too?
@Miss Apricot: My hair is fine and gets greasy easily. I was recently "yelled" at by a stylist for washing my hair every day. My response? But if I don't it gets all greasy. She explained to me that the reason my hair seems to get greasy on a daily basis is BECAUSE I was washing it every day. She said the shampoo strips all your natural moisture, causing your body to overproduce oil to make up for it and in the end creating a horrible endless cycle for your hair. She said, wash every other day at MOST and only put conditioner on the 2nd half of your hair and use a conditioning treatment every couple weeks. Lo and behold, for the 1st time in years, my hair is no longer super greasy and I don't need to wash till the 3rd day. Miracle. :) Switching to a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner helped as well since sulfates are super harsh on hair, yet for some reason they are in tons of shampoos. Weird...
I am really curious about this method though. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper than my current products. Might have to test it out...I think I have an almost empty shampoo bottle...
@Mary Green: No, just mix it with water like you do the baking soda.
@onyx81: That's exactly what I was worried about. :(
I've done this before, and it was going okay for a while (once I got over the nasty grimy stage), but it wound up leaving my hair super dry. Maybe I needed a more dilluted baking soda mixture.
Also, I thought that the ACV was supposed to help restore pH levels to where you used the baking soda -- you really don't let it touch your roots where you washed with the BS?
how do you apply the vinegar? spray bottle?
@Mrs.Lonestar: I just kind of pour it on to the lower half of my hair... I suppose a spray bottle would work though, haha.
@claireos: My hair is fine and gets greasy easily. I was recently "yelled" at by a stylist for washing my hair every day. My response? But if I don't it gets all greasy. She explained to me that the reason my hair seems to get greasy on a daily basis is BECAUSE I was washing it every day. She said the shampoo strips all your natural moisture, causing your body to overproduce oil to make up for it and in the end creating a horrible endless cycle for your hair. She said, wash every other day at MOST and only put conditioner on the 2nd half of your hair and use a conditioning treatment every couple weeks.
I hear that, too, and I tried washing every other day for a while. Maybe I didn't give it long enough before giving in! LOL! It was still yucky on days I didn't wash and I ended up going back to the more-frequent washing.
I've heard of it but (maybe tmi) I have bad dandruff if I don't wash my hair every single day, alternating between normal shampoo and dandruff shampoo.... Any clue if this works for that as well>?
@Leahhh: I've heard you can just use coconut oil for dandruff when you're doing the no 'poo method.
I have to use hair spray everyday. I have wispies and any amount of water/moisture/humidity = frizzy poofy mess. Does anyone know how well the no-poo method works for those of us who have to use product in our hair?
I actually don't use shampoo. Ever. I rinse in the shower daily and I condition every 2 to 4 days, depending on how grimy I feel.
Yes I've heard of this. But I'm AA so I wouldn't use the baking soda on my texture of hair. But I do ocassionally do the Apple Cider Vinager rinse and I love it. I use Organic ACV. It really does get rid of the build up and gives my hair a nice boost of sheen. I only use a capful with at least a mininum of 2 quarts up to gallon of water. It tends to be strong so you have to dilute it.
@Miss Apricot: Well, I did cheat a little. To kick start the correction she did this deep conditoning phyto treatment and force-reset my scalp and hair. So long as I make sure to follow the schedule things are wonderful.
@florence: Do you know if you have to leave the coconut oil in after using the the vinegar treatment or do you wash it out like conditioner?
I do this too! I've been doing it a bit over a year. I use a more diluted baking soda rinse instead of a rub, and I don't dilute the ACV. I do it once a week, and rinse my hair really thoroughly with water the other 6 days. I really prefer it; I will never use shampoo again!
I use Wen by Chaz Dean cleansing conditioner. It takes some getting used to but I love it. They sell it on QVC. There are different formulas for different hair types. It a little expensive, but worth it!
@onyx81: Thanks for the heads-up! I dye my hair red, and I definitely don't need anything to make the color fade even faster, lol.
For anyone else who can't use the "no-poo" method (for whatever reason), I've found that the Pantene color-safe shampoos work pretty well. They leave my hair feeling super-soft, and my roots never look greasy after using it. I also use a conditioner (Organix) that has egg white proteins and coconut milk in it, and between the two, I rarely have a bad hair day anymore.
@Miss Apricot: Yeah I have fine hair too , I have tried to wait it out (not washing everyday) but it doesnt matter ... still gets greasy ! annoying ! I am trying this !
I havent tried this yet, but I have cut back drastically on my shampooing. I was always told it was gross to not wash your hair every day, and then was told by my hairdresser to try every other day, and then eventually it has gotten to the point of once every week or so. I still rinse it almost every day, but my hair is SO much healthier now than it was. I may go ahead and try this method as well.
@claireos: Apparently you should just leave it on as a deep conditioning treatment. So use a couple of tbsp and massage it into your scalp. Then cover your hair with a shower cap or a warm damp towel and then rinse it out thoroughly either in the morning or after a few hours.
Just a tip to the other ladies, your hair definately gets greasy when you are first cutting back on washing your hair. It has been trained for so long to create extra oils to make up for the shampoo striping it of your natural oils, that it takes a little while for it to re-program itself to produce less oil. But I promise, its worth it, and you won't want to go back to shamppoing so often again.
Is there a way to do this if you color your hair, or am I pretty much SOL?
I tried this but it made my hair soooo hard to brush. It just wasn't worth it. I am using a natural bar shampoo from Rocky Mountain Soap which I quite love :)
I used to do this religiously- and my hair was a tiny bit thicker, and in much better health.
For anyone who might relate - I have thick, soft "S'wave hair with tighter curls in the underlayer. The individuals strands are fine, so they are weighed down by grease easily.
I want to go back ot this (thanks for the reminders) any ideas how to make the transition easier? I have a very public job where I meet with elected officials, CEOs, etc on a daily basis. I can't have horribly greasy hair. That's not an option.
Any ideas how to ease the start? If I switched to washing 1-2 days in a row, then one day off..and gradually decreased, do you think it would help?
I was skeptical about trying this, but now I might! Thanks for sharing!
@dragonlover: I read somewhere (it could even be in this thread, if it is I apologize.. :)) that you can just cut your shampoo with water as you use it. Buy a new bottle, and replace any you use with water.. then your hair will more gradually get used to not being shampooed:)
@Leahhh: thats really helpful! I have tried to do this no poo thing several times and each time I last like 3 and a half days before i freak out and shampoo haha (at least i use a natural shampo...) thanks!
btw, I do sometimes hesitate about this because i read a blog where the woman started breaking out really bad on her forehead from this, anyone else have this experience?
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