I began the No Poo Experiment on July 30th, 2007.

What is No Poo, you ask? Well, it means not using shampoo on one’s hair. That’s right, I discontinued shampooing — with chemical-laden, hormone-disrupting, commercially-produced detergents. What am I using now you ask?  Baking soda and vinegar.

My hair is doing great. The first thing I noticed — and continue to notice — is my hair isn’t falling out like it used to. It is normal to lose a few strands of hair but when I’d shower there would always be a pretty good sized wad to deal with. Not anymore. My hair dries faster and my scalp feels much healthier also. For the record, my hair is long and straight as a board.

I wash my hair every other day. I have a plastic container with a screw on lid that I keep my baking soda in, and an old shampoo bottle (take THAT commercial shampoo companies!) which holds my apple cider vinegar.

Because my hair is so long, I use 2 Tablespoons of baking soda to 2 cups water. Dump the baking soda into the plastic glass that I keep in the shower, then fill it up with water. Pour it over my head and massage my scalp all over. Rinse, and do the same with about 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar in the cup diluted to the top with water. I pretty much guesstimate the amounts, but I can tell when I don’t get enough baking soda, because my hair feels heavy and can have a greasy look to it. It takes some experimenting. Also, your scalp will overcompensate when you are first starting out, for it is accustomed to overproducing oils to make up for all the stripping you have been doing your entire life. You might want to wash your hair every day for a while, then try going to every other day. I sometimes wait for three days to wash my hair and it looks great.

I love it! It’s inexpensive and all natural!

Here are more links why you should go No Poo:

How to “No Poo” Shampoo Alternative: Don’t Shampoo Again!

Why You Should Go No Poo

The Great Shampoo Scandal

And another with reasons of why you should at least be careful about the ingredients in your shampoo: Can the Methyl Paraben in Your Shampoo Make You Fat?

Update:  Today it’s October 3, 2010, and I’m still using the No Poo Shampoo method.  It’s been 3 and a half years since I gave up shampoo.

I have learned a couple of tips over the last couple of years since I posted about this method.

1. I’ve learned to never try washing my hair by no poo with warm water.  The water needs to be good and hot to help to break down natural oils.  My hair suddenly started ending up clumping together and remaining very greasy and I finally pinpointed the problem to using water that was too cool.
2. When I’ve made the mistake of washing with too cool of water, I just wash my hair a second time with baking soda.

Have you ever tried No Poo Shampoo?  Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about it or if you could ever do it yourself?