poo free

[Katt]

     I have given up a lot of things; but, never considered giving up shampoo until about a month ago.  I have a few friends that tried that experiment and I was not impressed with their results.  I came across an article advocating washing the hair with baking soda and rinsing with diluted apple cider vinegar.  I decided to give it a try since I had all the ingredients on hand.  If it fucked up my hair I figured I would just dread it.  Well, it didn't fuck up my hair at all.  As a matter of fact, it has never looked better!!!!  And it's so cheap!!!!!  I love it!!!! My hair is more thick, full, and shiny. It has grown at least 1 1/2 in the last month.   

 

A couple words to the wise if you want to give this a try.  

1. It is important that you do both steps.  Baking Soda is very alkaline and Apple Cider Vinegar is acid.  The ACV is to restore proper ph to your hair after you use the baking soda.  Baking soda by itself will leave your hair dry and all kinds of nasty; but, combined with apple cider vinegar it's unbelievable!!! 

 

2. I don't dye my hair so I am not sure if this is good for color treated but it would be worth your while to look into it.  

 

3. Commercial shampoo strips the hair and scalp of its oils.  As a result the head is constantly producing a ton of oil in attempt to keep itself moisturized.  Beware that when you stop washing with shampoo it takes a little while before your head gets the message to stop making all that oil.  The cool thing about baking soda is it will clean your hair without stripping it of all of it's oils.  It took about 10 days.  I also bought a nylon and boar bristle brush which helps distribute the oils from my scalp through my hair down to my ends during this phase.  

 

4.  Perhaps this goes without saying, but, please only use aluminum free baking soda as your brain is right under your scalp.  

 

5.  If you are not ready to go poo free all the way make a paste of baking soda and your shampoo.  Just make sure you use the acv rinse.  Also this is probably a good time to tell you baking soda equals no suds.  Don't worry suds don't clear your hair; but, you will have to put a little more effort into actually washing your hair and distributing the baking soda through your hair. 

 

6. I rinse my hair with plain water after I do the acv rinse, but, you don't have to.        

 

Overall, I am impressed by the results, the cost and most importantly it is all natural.  I am not sure there is a such a thing as organic baking soda.  

[Danica Norris]

Yea! Glad to hear another person has gone poo free. My hubby is on
his third week of no poo and it's working great...he was having bad
dandruff and now it's getting better. Weeks 2-4 are the worst in the
poo detox...your hair looks like it's a big oily mess, but once you get
past that part, the scalp gets the msg and recovers. I'm on month 6 or
8 or ? I've lost count, but my hair's doing great. It's amazing to me
that I used shampoo for so long and never thought about
alternatives.... Also, my hubby just told me that Rogaine is actually a
chemical that cleans out your pores...that's how it makes your hair
grow, by cleaning out the pores that get all clogged up by regular shampoo.

Just wanted to add a few tips to yours, Katt:
We make a 1/2 gallon of baking soda mix and 1/2 gallon of ACV mix all at
once and then store it in a plastic container in the shower (we have a 2
yr old, so we don't use glass in there)...I use it once a week, my hub's
using it more often because he's still at the beginning of the detox
(so, every three days). For the baking soda mix, I heat up the water in
a boiler until it's almost boiling, then for every cup of water, I add a
heaping tbsp of baking soda. I stir it until it has completely mixed in
and there's no white stuff left...this ensures that you won't have any
white stuff in your hair after using it. For the ACV mix, we use a cup
of ACV for every three cups of water. I've also used coconut oil on my
little one's head to remove dandruff/dead skin and condition his hair/scalp.

Congrats on the poo free, Katt :)

[Eva Stong]

thanks for the ratio tip! i always struggled with that part.
I used this method when i had dreads and it was awesome . . am planning to go back to it because my hair is all kinds of gnarly from winter weather and also this shit i buy from the health food store is making my hair so dry and giving me so much dandruff it is not even funny.

and yeah. so cheap!!! :)
i also used to put essential oils in to the mix - a couple drops here and there was lovely!

--
"The Untold Want of Life and Land Ne'er Granted.
Now, Voyager, Sail Thou Forth To Seek and Find"-Walt Whitman

[Danica Norris]

oh, what a good idea...abt the essential oils. Hadn't even thought about doing that!  thanks!!