First a little history
The birth of commercial liquid shampoo, the way many of us have been raised with and taught, is fairly new. The first commercial bottled liquid shampoo, similar to what we know today, was introduced around 1927 in Europe and was developed by a German Chemist. It really took off in the 30’s when Procter & Gamble brought us Drene with the first synthetic surfactants (yes it’s detergent), removing any trace of the natural soap from shampoo.
Enter the post World War II era and the age of super convenient products and bottled shampoo was off to the races. Cheap to manufacture and easy to shelve, shampoo became a very lucrative business. Especially when super models started to convince us we needed to shampoo several times a week.
What the heck is No Poo?
It is a method of cleansing the scalp and hair without using bottled shampoo. No Poo is not really new, but it it started to experience a resurgence of interest for the community concerned about the global impact of the waist from plastic detergent bottles. The battle cry to “Ditch the Bottle” is a valiant attempt to turn the tide on global warming and environmental destruction by creating less waist.
The other benefit is the huge cost savings since the ingredients are fairly inexpensive and many of us can find them in our kitchen cupboards. No Poo just means no shampoo so even just washing with plain water is considered No Poo. You cannot get easier than that. I’ve never tried it and I don’t know anyone who cleans their hair with only water. The closest I got was when I developed the Hair Hydro’s and those worked fine for a time and I still use them on a regular basis as a natural detangler to moisten my hair before brushing or styling.
The most common No Poo treatment is to use a combination of baking soda followed by an apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse. The baking soda is the chemical used to break up oil and debris that may be close to the scalp and tangled in your hair follicles. The ACV rinse is there to neutralize the soda and soften the hair.
Before you get started, this is what you will need on hand:
- Plenty of fresh flowing water to rinse with. You’ll be rinsing more than once.
- Towel to pat dry your hair after
- Baking soda
- ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) Personally I only use Bragg’s ACV it has a solid reputation you can trust
- If you plan on washing in the shower: Plastic spray bottles or plastic tall cups to pour from. If you are basin washing, then glass jars work just fine. I will never recommend glass in the bathroom and never in the shower.
The Baking Soda & ACV No Poo Method. Use it only 1 time a week. Why? Because that is all you really need but also because it can be a bit harsh if used to often. Use the water only or our Hair Hydro’s in between to help keep a fresh clean feeling through the week. You could also try a dry shampoo.
- Dilute the Baking soda in water
Mix this in the spray bottle, pouring cup, or glass jar you will be using
Start with a 1 Tablespoon baking soda to 1 cup water ratio. If you have super oily hair, you may increase the amount of baking soda.
The purpose of the baking soda is to break up the oil close to the scalp. That is what alkali’s do, break up acids. - Dilute the ACV in water
Mix this in the spray bottle, pouring cup, or glass jar you will be using
I have found a 1 part ACV to 4 part water ratio works best for me. You could experiment with this if you feel you want more kick then try 1 to 3 part ratio.
The purpose of this step is to neutralize any residual baking soda, balance your PH level, and to soften the hair. - Step in the shower or wrap a towel on your shoulder
Personally I prefer to just step into the shower but maybe you don’t want to or you can’t for some reason, you can wrap a towel on your shoulder to catch and drizzle.
- Apply the baking soda and water to your scalp
Either pour or spritz the Baking soda dilution to your scalp and massage it a bit. You want to work it over your entire scalp to get the oils loosened up. You do not need to cover your hair shaft, in fact avoid covering the hair shaft.
- Rinse generously
You want to remove any remnants of of the baking soda
- Spritz or pour on the ACV
Now this one you want to get to your scalp and all the way out to the tips of your hair. A good drenching is in order. Don’t panic about the smell, it really will fade. Massage it in and give it a few moments before rinsing it out.
If you are basin washing your hair, apply the ACV and wrap the hair up for a steam treatment before removing. I would shorten the steam time to 10 minutes. You could experiment with going longer if you want. - Rinse generously
Rinse out the ACV dilution. This will help remove some of the scent but as your hair drys, more of the scent will fade.
- Style and go!
If you are really worried about the scent, you could use our Hair Hydro or one of our Aromatic Mists to add a natural scent.
We are not your Doctor
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