So I'm going to do this "not washing hair" thing. What's in store?! page 2

[DinoHunter]

Im planing on giving this a try also, only im going to be using a conditioner to "wash" my hair with, probably about 1-2 times a week to start with ( I normally wash my hair ever 5-6 days)
The long hair forum mentioned on the other thread has lots of different no 'poo methods. what works for some dosent work for others... just gotta find out what works for you.

[magnolia1973]

I just can't. But I have started skipping washing one or two days a week, and I only wash the whole head of hair once a week. The rest of the time, I put conditioner on the length and only shampoo the scalp. It's made a huge difference in a positive way in the health of my hair. I only use Aveda products.

[richard]

I wash my hair maybe every month or two or three. I do find I have to have it fairly short or it will eventually look a bit oily. Otherwise no problems. When I do shampoo I am using a non-paleo coal tar shampoo as I get occasional dandruff and this takes it away.

[BestBetter]

What kind of hair do you have BB? And the times when you didn't use vinegar, how long did you rinse your hair for? I usually love that squeaky clean feeling you get from shampoo... So when I'm rinsing my hair now I'm literally spending about 15 minutes on it!

I have shoulder-length super thin/fine hair that's neither straight nor curly. It's the purgatory of hair, really.

The vinegar rinse was a super quick thing. In the shower, I just poured it over my head, and tried to work it through my hair, waited a few minutes, then rinsed it off. When I didn't use vinegar, I tried to stay under the running water for the duration of the shower and ran my hands through my hair and massaged the scalp a few times.

There were some great suggestions here - I think I might try a few of them instead of just trying again what already failed for me.

[mauler5858]

I'm glad I do not have this problem....note my avatar

[jfreaksho]

I can't remember the last time I used shampoo. It was probably 2 years ago or so. I kept increasing the amount of time between washings and finally just quit. There was a period of adjustment, with extra greasiness, then it settled down and became really normal. It is definitely much easier to style now than before.

If I start getting dandruffy, I use a bit of cider vinegar, let it sit for a few, and rinse it out. I do this maybe once a week or so.

[MamaGrok]

I stopped using shampoo (and almost all personal care products) in 2007. I read a ton on the long hair forum at the time, and here's what I remember of what I learned:

- Your hair, like all mammals, has natural oils that help to keep it from getting soaked in a light rain, clean itself with little help from you, and other wonderful features.
- If you simply run your fingers through your hair daily to get out the tangles, it is entirely self-maintaining. Some people (like me) need to "preen" daily, too - run the oils from the scalp to the ends after a very brief scalp massage. You can do this with fingers or a boar's bristle hair brush.
- If you don't run your fingers through your hair daily, and it's long, you will get natural dreadlocks.
- During the hygiene obsession following Pasteur's discovery of bacteria, people started washing their hair regularly. This is what shampoo does - it washes out all your natural oils. What you think is "dirty" on day 2 or 3 after a shampoo is actually your natural oils overproducing to try to get spread out throughout your hair again. (This also happens with your pets. That's why your dog stinks when it gets wet. Mine doesn't. :P My cat looks like it just came from the groomer's bath every day, thanks to a combination of good diet & no washing by humans, ever.)
- Since the shampoo rinses out all your oils, your hair becomes limp, flyaway, more tangly, and suddenly, you need "Volume & Body" shampoos, and most definitely, conditioner.
- When you stop using shampoo, there will be a transition period when your scalp is still overproducing oils, then it realizes it doesn't need to do this and slows up. It helps to wear hats, wear your hair up, or be on vacation during this time. The length varies individually from a few days to a few weeks. My short-haired hubby was the former. I'm the latter.

So I just went cold turkey. I did it at the beginning of summer when I knew I'd be wearing my hair up nearly every day, and it took several weeks. I made a ton of oil, and had to massage it and de-tangle it daily, but it was still less time than taking a shower every 1-2 days, and the ridiculous 30 minutes of blow-drying I had to do (I had THICK hair) if I didn't want the two-hour air dry time.

A few months later, I convinced dh to do it while we were on vacation. He has short hair an is an attorney at a major law firm. He can't look like a greasy hippie. His transition lasted about two days, and then he discovered that he didn't get hat hair anymore and he was totally sold. He no longer needs tons of styling products, either (he used to use hair spray & gel). He just uses a tiny bit of coconut oil and gets the same style he always did.

Benefits for me:
- Volume out the wazoo. My hair is never limp anymore.
- 3 minutes a day, max, to brush & massage. If I ignore it for a few days, it's fine, too
- Camping is a breeze
- Water bill way down
- My hair now has a natural wave to it! It was board-straight my entire life!
- No more dents from hair implements, pony tail holders, etc.
- Air-dries in 30-minutes now
- Not nearly as heavy (water-logged) when I get out of the water now
- Very rarely ever "fly-away" anymore.
- My hair cleans itself. I was in my sister's wedding and the stylist plastered my hair with hairspray. I expected I'd have to wash it, but instead, the next morning, all the spray was gone. Ditto for when I went to karaoke at a very smoky bar. You know how smoke stays in your hair for days if you don't wash it. Well, the next morning, it was *gone*. My clothes still stank, but my hair did not.

Downsides for me:
- When I go in chlorine, it seizes up and feels like a wax factory. I *have* to wash it then if I don't want it nappy for a week.
- I have to preen daily. DH does not. If I don't, after about a week, the back of my crown gets greasy and starts spreading around.
- Doesn't have that "Breck girl" shine that shampoo used to give me

I have bad hair days every now and then, just like I used to. More rare now.

If I neglect preening, or hit chlorine, I just do a baking soda & vinegar wash. 1T bkg soda in warm water, wash with that. 1T apple cider vinegar in warm water, rinse with that. Done. I do find that the more often I do the BS/ACV wash, the more often I have to do it.

I don't even use water. I only take a shower once every other week or so, and don't take baths unless they're ice baths. I do not stink. I have friends & family who wouldn't hesitate to tell me if I did, and I ask. I don't. I don't use soap unless I'm "showing or smelling". Like your hair, your skin makes oils that do the cleaning for you. Even water is usually unnecessary once your body gets back into "clean itself & don't overproduce" mode, and when dirty, water alone is usually enough. Soap is a last resort.

I don't use lotion. First I transitioned to olive oil; then I decided to work on my skin from the inside out through nutrition, and now I don't need anything, after a lifetime of dry skin, and eczema for dh.

I don't use commercial deodorant & certainly not anti-perspirant. When my diet's spot-on and I'm not detoxing, my sweat does not stink at all, just like the stories I used to hear about farmers. But when there's anything to worry about, I use my mix of 50:50 coconut oil & baking soda in the morning, and I never, ever stink.

My skin glows and is softer than ever.

I know it makes me a hippie, but at least I'm not a smelly, greasy hippie.

There is NOTHING like being able to take off into the woods for a week and not worry about personal care products, or stinking as a result of a lack of it.

[SophieScreams]

MamaGrok, that's truly inspirational! I'm dying to go poo-less, but must wait until my pixie is long enough to pull up. I currently wash my hair every 2 or 3 days, starting with a lavender oil massage, and use an ACV rinse once a week. My hair's responding beautifully. And I'm always pulling oils from my scalp down to the tips, esp. the day after washing.

I just couldn't give up showers and baths though. There's nothing more soothing to me than a warm, fragrant, oily bath or a steamy shower after a long day.

[BestBetter]

MamaGrok, you mentioned that your hair needs to be 'preened'. What do you do to preen?

[YogaBare]

I can't remember the last time I used shampoo. It was probably 2 years ago or so. I kept increasing the amount of time between washings and finally just quit. There was a period of adjustment, with extra greasiness, then it settled down and became really normal. It is definitely much easier to style now than before.

If I start getting dandruffy, I use a bit of cider vinegar, let it sit for a few, and rinse it out. I do this maybe once a week or so.

I stopped using shampoo (and almost all personal care products) in 2007. I read a ton on the long hair forum at the time, and here's what I remember of what I learned:

- Your hair, like all mammals, has natural oils that help to keep it from getting soaked in a light rain, clean itself with little help from you, and other wonderful features.
- If you simply run your fingers through your hair daily to get out the tangles, it is entirely self-maintaining. Some people (like me) need to "preen" daily, too - run the oils from the scalp to the ends after a very brief scalp massage. You can do this with fingers or a boar's bristle hair brush.
- If you don't run your fingers through your hair daily, and it's long, you will get natural dreadlocks.
- During the hygiene obsession following Pasteur's discovery of bacteria, people started washing their hair regularly. This is what shampoo does - it washes out all your natural oils. What you think is "dirty" on day 2 or 3 after a shampoo is actually your natural oils overproducing to try to get spread out throughout your hair again. (This also happens with your pets. That's why your dog stinks when it gets wet. Mine doesn't. :P My cat looks like it just came from the groomer's bath every day, thanks to a combination of good diet & no washing by humans, ever.)
- Since the shampoo rinses out all your oils, your hair becomes limp, flyaway, more tangly, and suddenly, you need "Volume & Body" shampoos, and most definitely, conditioner.
- When you stop using shampoo, there will be a transition period when your scalp is still overproducing oils, then it realizes it doesn't need to do this and slows up. It helps to wear hats, wear your hair up, or be on vacation during this time. The length varies individually from a few days to a few weeks. My short-haired hubby was the former. I'm the latter.

So I just went cold turkey. I did it at the beginning of summer when I knew I'd be wearing my hair up nearly every day, and it took several weeks. I made a ton of oil, and had to massage it and de-tangle it daily, but it was still less time than taking a shower every 1-2 days, and the ridiculous 30 minutes of blow-drying I had to do (I had THICK hair) if I didn't want the two-hour air dry time.

A few months later, I convinced dh to do it while we were on vacation. He has short hair an is an attorney at a major law firm. He can't look like a greasy hippie. His transition lasted about two days, and then he discovered that he didn't get hat hair anymore and he was totally sold. He no longer needs tons of styling products, either (he used to use hair spray & gel). He just uses a tiny bit of coconut oil and gets the same style he always did.

Benefits for me:
- Volume out the wazoo. My hair is never limp anymore.
- 3 minutes a day, max, to brush & massage. If I ignore it for a few days, it's fine, too
- Camping is a breeze
- Water bill way down
- My hair now has a natural wave to it! It was board-straight my entire life!
- No more dents from hair implements, pony tail holders, etc.
- Air-dries in 30-minutes now
- Not nearly as heavy (water-logged) when I get out of the water now
- Very rarely ever "fly-away" anymore.
- My hair cleans itself. I was in my sister's wedding and the stylist plastered my hair with hairspray. I expected I'd have to wash it, but instead, the next morning, all the spray was gone. Ditto for when I went to karaoke at a very smoky bar. You know how smoke stays in your hair for days if you don't wash it. Well, the next morning, it was *gone*. My clothes still stank, but my hair did not.

Downsides for me:
- When I go in chlorine, it seizes up and feels like a wax factory. I *have* to wash it then if I don't want it nappy for a week.
- I have to preen daily. DH does not. If I don't, after about a week, the back of my crown gets greasy and starts spreading around.
- Doesn't have that "Breck girl" shine that shampoo used to give me

I have bad hair days every now and then, just like I used to. More rare now.

If I neglect preening, or hit chlorine, I just do a baking soda & vinegar wash. 1T bkg soda in warm water, wash with that. 1T apple cider vinegar in warm water, rinse with that. Done. I do find that the more often I do the BS/ACV wash, the more often I have to do it.

I don't even use water. I only take a shower once every other week or so, and don't take baths unless they're ice baths. I do not stink. I have friends & family who wouldn't hesitate to tell me if I did, and I ask. I don't. I don't use soap unless I'm "showing or smelling". Like your hair, your skin makes oils that do the cleaning for you. Even water is usually unnecessary once your body gets back into "clean itself & don't overproduce" mode, and when dirty, water alone is usually enough. Soap is a last resort.

I don't use lotion. First I transitioned to olive oil; then I decided to work on my skin from the inside out through nutrition, and now I don't need anything, after a lifetime of dry skin, and eczema for dh.

I don't use commercial deodorant & certainly not anti-perspirant. When my diet's spot-on and I'm not detoxing, my sweat does not stink at all, just like the stories I used to hear about farmers. But when there's anything to worry about, I use my mix of 50:50 coconut oil & baking soda in the morning, and I never, ever stink.

My skin glows and is softer than ever.

I know it makes me a hippie, but at least I'm not a smelly, greasy hippie.

There is NOTHING like being able to take off into the woods for a week and not worry about personal care products, or stinking as a result of a lack of it.

Amazing and inspiring!!

I was hoping to go cold turkey because my hair is super delicate and shampoo never serves me well. It's been 6 days now since I used shampoo and it looks stiff (as opposed to greasy). I've resorted to plaits But I might try the Apple cider vinegar / nettle rinse once I get sick of them. I've got short hair so don't have many up-style options!

Sophie screams, that Rumi quote is one of my favourites - love it!