# A question about the no shampoo hair regimen **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081 "2009-10-08T18:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/41 "2009-10-17T16:56:34Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > For those on the regimen, how would you deal with semen? Does it end up looking like Cameron Diaz in _There’s Something About Mary_? I’m actually both a lesbian and a nun, so that’s not something I encounter. I would imagine semen to be fairly water soluble though, so I’d probably not stress too much about it (other than stressing about the circumstances that got it in my hair). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/42 "2009-10-17T19:09:35Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > My hair isn’t oily anymore, but it used to be before I went through menopause. Now, I’d describe it as “normal”. Here’s what works for me. > > Try using baking soda and water to “wash” it (2-3 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 pint of water, lasts about 3 “shampoos”) followed by a rinse of 1:1 water and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. About every 2 weeks I use a commercial conditioner on it. Soft, wavy and pretty. (no, the vinegar doesn’t smell.) > > I live in San Francisco, where the water is lovely. I just spent a month in Southern California, where the water is laden with minerals and chemicals. My hair became stiff and hard to manage. I broke down and shampooed it three times in that month and applied conditioner once or twice a week. The change when I got back home was immediate! If anyone is having a hard time with no poo, it may be the water. > > I’ve been shampoo-free since April, except for those three times within a month (and once rinsing out henna, but that’s another thread). It hasn’t mattered. You can shampoo on occasion (hair cut, dye job, exceptionally dirty) without having to start over. I think I’ll probably be no poo for life. I will vouch for the efficiency of vinegar and water for the final rinse. It adds volume and shine to the hair as well as helping to clean it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/43 "2009-10-17T21:06:17Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > For those on the regimen, how would you deal with semen? Does it end up looking like Cameron Diaz in _There’s Something About Mary_? I’m hoping this was a Freudian slip for _ **sebum** _. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/44 "2009-10-17T21:54:21Z")
I have extremely hard water in this apartment, and am not going to go collect rain/snow water like one website suggested - unfortunately, that was at one of the aforementioned shampoo bar websites, which said that they might not work well with hard water. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/45 "2009-10-20T20:32:19Z")
I tried the baking soda + apple cider vinegar rinse detailed in [this blog post](http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=365) tonight. My hair looks (and feels) really nice! I had to use about a 50p-sized dash of conditioner, as it was a little dry afterwards, but it was really greasy and now it just feels very clean. The site recommended adding essential oil(s) to the vinegar rinse. I added a bit of rose, which I can still smell even through my (fruity) commercial conditioner. It’s great! I’ll definitely be keeping this up for at least a few weeks to see if it stays this nice. London has fairly hard water, so I’m not sure if I can go water-only for a very long time, but I’m really excited about the brave new world of easy washing and (hopefully) great hair I’ve just found. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/46 "2009-10-20T20:46:32Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > I tried the baking soda + apple cider vinegar rinse detailed in [this blog post](http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?p=365) tonight. My hair looks (and feels) really nice! I had to use about a 50p-sized dash of conditioner, as it was a little dry afterwards, but it was really greasy and now it just feels very clean. > > The site recommended adding essential oil(s) to the vinegar rinse. I added a bit of rose, which I can still smell even through my (fruity) commercial conditioner. It’s great! I’ll definitely be keeping this up for at least a few weeks to see if it stays this nice. > > London has fairly hard water, so I’m not sure if I can go water-only for a very long time, but I’m really excited about the brave new world of easy washing and (hopefully) great hair I’ve just found. 😃 With hard water, you probably won’t want to use baking soda very often. Once in a blue moon is enough for me, along with vinegar rinses once or twice a week. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/47 "2009-10-20T20:52:26Z")
> [@Never\_Say\_Dice](#): > > Why use shampoo when there’s soap in your hand when you wash your face and neck? Soap does it all. How do you get a lather from bar soap that’s thick enough for hair? ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/48 "2009-10-20T21:53:43Z")
> [@MissMossie](#): > > With hard water, you probably won’t want to use baking soda very often. Once in a blue moon is enough for me, along with vinegar rinses once or twice a week. Thanks for the tip, I would have assumed it was the other way around (hard water meant I would have to wash with baking soda more often). Do you think I should jump straight into washing much less often during my “adjustment period”? I was planning on using the baking-soda wash whenever my hair got grotty, which I understand will happen more often now than it will when my scalp is used to not having shampoos strip all its oils away. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/49 "2009-10-20T23:22:23Z")
Well, I tried the baking soda/vinegar approach, and . . . blech. Mind you, it’s been three days since I used conditioner on my hair, and two weeks since I shampooed it. Right now, it’s incredibly greasy. The only way I can stand it is to pull it back into a braid. I’m about ----\>| |\<---- this far from giving up. But I will try the hand towel approach, as my tips are dry and could use some of the oil collecting on my scalp. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/50 "2009-10-20T23:32:47Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > Thanks for the tip, I would have assumed it was the other way around (hard water meant I would have to wash with baking soda more often). > > Do you think I should jump straight into washing much less often during my “adjustment period”? I was planning on using the baking-soda wash whenever my hair got grotty, which I understand will happen more often now than it will when my scalp is used to not having shampoos strip all its oils away. Using baking soda with hard water too often for me leaves my hair feeling…sticky; it leaves some weird build up. I would try just doing the vinegar rinse whenever you feel like you need to wash your hair. If it doesn’t do the trick, then try the baking soda. I’m pretty lucky hair wise because I work in an environment where it’s acceptable to wear my hair pulled back in a ponytail. If my hair is a little greasy, it isn’t a huge deal. I think the adjustment period people talk about is more on the washer’s end than the scalp’s end, if that makes any sense. I think it takes a little bit to figure out what works best for you and that makes it seem like there is an adjustment period when it feels like your scalp is over producing oil like mad. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/51 "2009-10-21T00:58:40Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Well, I tried the baking soda/vinegar approach, and . . . blech. Mind you, it’s been three days since I used conditioner on my hair, and two weeks since I shampooed it. Right now, it’s incredibly greasy. The only way I can stand it is to pull it back into a braid. I’m about ----\>| |\<---- this far from giving up. But I will try the hand towel approach, as my tips are dry and could use some of the oil collecting on my scalp. There is a _reason_ that the ladies of yore used to sit in their rooms and brush their hair with a hundred strokes every night and morning … it distributes the oils along the hair shaft. Preferably w natural bristle brush, though a wooden comb works. Don’t wash the oils off the comb/brush, simply rinse any dust and stray hairs off. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/52 "2009-10-21T01:03:54Z")
I lurves my ox- and sheepshorn combs! I went through a lot of beautiful wooden combs. They’re nice on my hair but I was never good about oiling/waxing them and they always split along the grain. The ox combs are my favorites, sturdy, chunky things that make you feel like you’ve just had a scalp massage. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/53 "2009-10-21T13:33:32Z")
> [@NajaNivea](#): > > I lurves my ox- and sheepshorn combs! I went through a lot of beautiful wooden combs. They’re nice on my hair but I was never good about oiling/waxing them and they always split along the grain. The ox combs are my favorites, sturdy, chunky things that make you feel like you’ve just had a scalp massage. Where did you find such combs? That sounds lovely. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/54 "2009-10-21T13:52:58Z")
It’s a totally [painful website](http://www.hairgasm.com/products.php?cat=138), but their combs are lovely! It used to be worse–lots of random colors and fonts and highlights. I have seen similar fine-toothed handle combs on the cheap in Chinatown in SF, but I’ve never seen the hefty, “super-chunk” palm combs anywhere else. They’re pricey, but it’s one of those things that I could conceivably give my granddaughter 🙂 I am just about emotionally bonded to [these](http://www.hairgasm.com/products.php?cat=141&prod=238) [two](http://www.hairgasm.com/products.php?cat=141&prod=263). ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/55 "2009-10-21T20:30:41Z")
Thanks! You’re right, they do look like heirlooms. Now to figure out which one is best for my hair… ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/56 "2009-10-31T17:47:25Z")
I’ve always had thin, fly-away hair (no “body,” unless I use some sort of mousse, gel, etc.). I read this thread a few weeks back, and tried it, doing a weekly conditioner-only “wash,” and daily rinses in the shower with a vigorous scalp massage with my fingers. And I have seen good results. My hair has more body, stays where I put it, combs back out nicely after being messed up (like after wearing a hard hat all day long, which I often do at work), smells better (to me, at least; if others think differently, they have as yet been forthcoming with me), etc. The place I get my hair cut thinks I’m nuts; they insist daily washings and conditioner treatments are the only way to go. They also coincidentally sell several different brands of higher-end (than off-the-shelf name brand) shampoos and conditioners, so I’m a bit skeptical of their impartiality on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/57 "2009-10-31T19:35:54Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > I’ve always had thin, fly-away hair (no “body,” unless I use some sort of mousse, gel, etc.). > > I read this thread a few weeks back, and tried it, doing a weekly conditioner-only “wash,” and daily rinses in the shower with a vigorous scalp massage with my fingers. > > And I have seen good results. My hair has more body, stays where I put it, combs back out nicely after being messed up (like after wearing a hard hat all day long, which I often do at work), smells better (to me, at least; if others think differently, they have as yet been forthcoming with me), etc. > > The place I get my hair cut thinks I’m nuts; they insist daily washings and conditioner treatments are the only way to go. They also coincidentally sell several different brands of higher-end (than off-the-shelf name brand) shampoos and conditioners, so I’m a bit skeptical of their impartiality on the subject. ’ I think you’ve got my hair. I am going to try this routine as well. The vinegar is good, but I need something to go with it. ---
**Author:** ![bri1600bv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@bri1600bv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bri1600bv)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/58 "2009-10-31T23:07:43Z")
I have short hair, wash it every day. If I don’t it looks like I’ve been dunked in grease. Would these natural shampoos mentioned before work for me? I live in a hard water area. Or do you just “not wash it” for a week or so and the grease dies down? I once went a month without a shower or shave (hiking trip in the North Cascades) and it didn’t really seem that greasy then. What do you recommend? ---
**Author:** ![Sandra\_Battye](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sandra_battye/32/552_2.png) [@Sandra\_Battye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandra_Battye)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/59 "2009-11-01T02:45:18Z")
There may be some confusion about the “no poo” process. I still wet my hair and massage my scalp with every shower (every day, in my case). I use baking soda/cider vinegar every other day or so. If you (generalized you, not anyone in particular) do this with every shower, the water and massage should be enough to clean your hair and leave it with enough natural oils to make it easy to style. My hair doesn’t smell, it looks fantastic, and the styling products I use don’t seem to build up. However, if I went a week without stepping in the shower, my hair would look and smell like a greasy rat lived in it. “No poo” does NOT mean you can ignore basic hygiene. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081/60 "2009-11-01T02:53:54Z")
> [@Sandra\_Battye](#): > > “No poo” does NOT mean you can ignore basic hygiene. I think that’s what the stylist who cut my hair today thought I meant when I told her I no longer wash with shampoo. I had to reassure her that yes, I do bathe regularly, with soap (actually, Nivea for Men soap-free body wash), and use deodorant, wear clean clothes, change socks, do laundry, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-the-no-shampoo-hair-regimen/513081.md?page=4)