This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure.
I haven’t washed my hair with Shampoo in about 1 year! So how do I wash my hair without shampoo?
We’ll it’s really quite simple all you need is baking soda!
Many refer to this as the “no poo method”. When I first heard about no poo, I originally was a little hesitant to try it as many who have, say that for the first few weeks your hair is greasy and unmanageable. Not that I was too concerned about how my hair looked for a few weeks, I was more concerned that all of the extra oils from my hair may cause acne. I was previously using an all natural shampoo, however, it still contained ingredients that I did not feel comfortable rubbing into my skin! To me if it is not edible then I do not want it absorbing through my skin.
SO….. I decided to try using no poo! And to my surprise my hair never went through the period of feeling greasy or dirty. The baking soda removes the oils from hair and my hair looked the same as it did after washing with shampoo (even during the first few weeks of using it).
However, some do experience the greasy period which can range from 1 week to several weeks until your hair adjusts. (I probably use more baking soda than most so that may be why I didn’t go through that phase.)Now, after washing my hair for about a year without shampoo, my hair is stronger, thicker, does not get oily after 1 day of not washing, and even looks shinier!
Why you should wash your hair without shampoo:
-Shampoo contains toxic chemicals such as; Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Ammonium Chloride, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, fragrance, Propylene Glycol – just to name a few.
-Shampoo removes your hairs natural oils.
Steps of How to Wash Your Hair without Shampoo – no poo method
- Take about 5 tablespoons of baking soda and put in a cup or bottle
- Fill the cup/bottle with water (about 8oz )
- Shake well or mix well
- Rub into scalp and through hair thoroughly
- Rinse out with water
- Optional: Condition with apple cider vinegar (mix a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into 1/2 cup water)
OR
Second Way of Using Baking Soda to Wash Your Hair
- Apply baking soda to your hair when dry, rub into scalp (basically use as dry shampoo)
- Rinse with water while continuing to rub the baking soda in your hair
- Rinse baking soda completely out
- Optional: Condition with apple cider vinegar (mix a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into 1/2 cup water)
I typically use the second method because my hair is very long and I find it easier to rub the baking soda in while dry. It also saves a little time as I don’t have to make the mixture in a separate bottle.
Does anyone else use the no poo method or have you considered trying it?
This is really interesting.
Hello my name is Patricia. My question is? If I have already tinted my hair is it possible to color my hair (or maybe roots) the natural way? Or will the mixture or the natural over the chemically treated hair, will that damage the hair? Or will it make no difference? My natural hair is or should be black? I have a med brown hair color. I love my black hair, I only colored it that color only cz the greys on my tempral area will not be as noticeable. Please if you have an answer for me please let me know, I’m do for a root touch up.
Thanky, attentively Patricia M
It worked over color treated hair for me. My very tips are color treated from many years ago.
I find baking soda to be kind of harsh for my hair as my hair is fine and thin, but it works better than many natural or not natural shampoo’s that I’ve tried. So, that’s what I use. 🙂
I also use a little bit of diluted apple cider vinegar, it’s been my “go to” for hair conditioner for quite some time since it doesn’t weigh my hair down.
I’ve already tried beer as a shampoo, eggs as a shampoo and honey as a shampoo, non of which were as effective as baking soda, well, eggs were pretty good, but it was a lot of trouble using them and eventually they would dry my hair out more than the baking soda tends to do.
I plan on trying almond flour next, to see if that might be less harsh and more effective than baking soda, since I have it on hand. 🙂
Yes, apple cider vinegar is the best 🙂
Hi Lori,
My normal hair routine is to oil my hair and leave it overnight and wash it with shampoo and then condition my hair. I want to know if the no-poo method would work on oiled hair as well? Or if something else needs to be added to the baking soda and water?
You can use the baking soda to “wash” out the oil.
hi, i want to try the no poo, but do you know if it is good to use after i put onion juice on my hair? i heard about castile soap, but i feel like that would be too harsh. For how many hours does one have to keep the onion juice on? Everywhere i read said 30 minutes but i think thats a short amount of time. I don’t want to put it on for like 4 or 5 hours bc I’m not sure if thats good or not. Would I have to do the no poo every single day or every other day like i would when i used shampoo and conditioner? and would i have to make a new botton of BS and ACV each time i do the no poo? please reply to this comment and not the other one i mentioned. thank you
When I was using onion juice on my hair, I stopped using the no poo method because it didn’t get the onion smell out good enough. Instead I used half water mixed with half castile soap.
Hey! I’m suffering from excessive hair loss. I have nearly tried every natural remedy to curb the loss but nothing proved effective. Please suggest a tried and tested method. I have started to develop bald patches at certain places. Please help me out with it to the soonest. Thankyou.
Will rinsing with things like honey and apple cider vinegar give your hair an odor afterwards? Hate using anything sweet in my hair …like when it comes to certain scented shampoos they actually attract more flys , bugs, and bees around my head in the summer. And whenever I use apple cider vinegar for like cleaning around the house…almost immediately the fruit flys come around.
Surprisingly, they don’t leave any scent after I use them.