Has anyone given up shampoo?

Gillby1

I have very greasy hair, and the more I wash it the greasier it seems to get, so I'm thinking of giving up shampoo and letting my hair take care of itself! I like the idea of saving money, and i want to help the environment and to avoid putting any unnecessary chemicals into/on my body, too.

Any tips? Anyone else want to try it? I'm dreading my long, fine hair becoming filthy and smelly, but I've read a few internet posts on the subject and apparently washing with bicarbonate of soda and rinsing with diluted cider vinegar should do the trick.

Gilly

themull1

Dry shampoo maybe?

culpepper

I have done it in the past.
You can use bicarb by making a dilute solution in a little bowl.
You then wash it into your hair and massage it in and then wash it out.
It does get it clean.
I didn't do the vinegar rinse.
You will probably find that after a while you can go longer between hair washes.

Waffle_On

I tried it a couple of years ago. I got to 3 weeks and had to give up as it was disgusting and I had a big family do to attend.

I'd love to try it again sometime, but I don't think I can get through the horrible (and itchy) process long enough to end up 'poo free'!

theoretica

I find my hair adapts reasonably rapidly to my washing habits - if I shampoo it everyday it starts to expect it and gets greasier than if I shampoo it every day, or twice a week. When I want to reduce how often I shampoo then I sometimes wash using only the faintest trace of shampoo and not massaging it into the roots so my scalp doesn't sense it is drying out.

Gillby1

Thanks all. It's been four days since I last washed with shampoo, which is a big thing for me! I used the bicarb solution and cider vinegar rinse yesterday, and it did clean the grease from my hair, but it definitely left it much flatter and less shiny than it usually looks.

Waffle-on - i'm glad you mentioned the itching, as my scalp has been itchy all day! I'll stick with the bicarb/vinegar wash every couple of days for a while and see if things improve. I imagine it takes a while for the scalp to settle down....

elantan

From what I can remover it take 6 weeks to get through, but apparently it's one of the best things you can do for your hair

Good luck op will keep a wee eye in this and see how you go

jenhug

I have waist length hair. i only use baby shampoo and i dont have any build up issues.

hannah899

Gillby1 Have you tried loreal elvie nutri gloss?
I have suffered from greasy hair and it did get to the point I just couldn't be bothered anymore and sometimes id go weeks without washing it. I ve tried everything even went to the doctors. I washed my hair in the late afternoon and before id even be in bed it went greasy. I would not wear my hair down or lose if I had not washed it the hours before. Then a few months ago I read an article where they had tested shampoo including the mega expensive ones and loreal elvi nutri gloss was the one that cleaned the best. They used microscopic technology it wasn't just washing peoples hair and reviewing it. Im not one of these "it has to be a brand" person but I thought id try it. It was on offer at £1.99 so I got one for greasy hair and one for normal. I must say its fantastic although my hair still goes greasy within a few days but its nowhere near as quick as I used to be. When I do wash my hair it looks so much better to its shiny and bouncy and looks like it has volume as mine to is fine. Id definatley recommend giving it a try.

Gillby1

Hanah899, thanks for the tip! However, i'm hoping not to use shampoo at all, as i'd like to start avoiding chemicals, being kinder to the environment and saving money etc...

Well, today I have been mostly itching. My hair is greasier two days after the bicard 'wash' than it would usually be after a normal shampoo wash! But I did find brushing it loads (which I never normally do) made it look better, presumably as it spread the natural oils through the hair and I therefore didn't just have greasy roots. I found a normal brush didn't make much difference, but my nit comb (I have two nursery age children!) really worked wonders.

Have bacarb 'washed' again tonight, and cider vinegar 'conditioned'. Hope my hair looks ok for longer this time...

hannah899

You may want to do a bit ofhistorica research gillby, Have look at Victorian farm programme maybe, The female ruth who does living history where they live like Victorians and Edwardians she wont even use detergent anymore and the show you how to make a lot of health and beauty products like lip balm and hand cream. The brushing is what they used to do aswell many people think you have to brush it 100 times to have fantastic hair but it is infact like you say to spread the oils around. Abit like people think you have to use shampoo twice all the time. It was only when shampoo first came out and didn't have all the cleaning chemicals in.
I would definitely recommend searching ruth goodman and her work.

HTH Let me know how you get on