Shampoo-less experiment: Day One

Okay, so for the past several years, I've seen so many blog posts and articles about going shampoo-free, and I've finally become intrigued enough that I'm taking the plunge.  First off, I have waist-length hair and do not perm or color my hair, and never use any sort of styling products - no hairspray, no curling iron, hot rollers, mousse, or anything like that.  Just shampoo and conditioner, and air-drying for the most part.  I have been using mostly Pantene shampoo and conditioner for years, sometimes switching to something like Garnier or Herbal Essences.  My main reason for starting this experiment is that my hair tends to get really oily after about 24 hours, no matter what I do, and it's annoying.  Switching brands has had no real effect on this issue, so I've been looking for something else.

There are so many different ways to get started, but I've settled on this one as the easiest.  I'll try it for a while and see how it works, and tweak it as necessary.  My first experiment with this was last night...

First, just to make things easier, I decided to keep a small canning jar filled with baking soda on the bathroom counter and a squirt-top water bottle filled with apple cider vinegar in the shower (lots of people recommend using the organic apple cider vinegar with the "mother" still in it, so that may be an option later on, but for now, I'm just using the regular kind from the grocery store because that's what we had at home).  Before I showered last night, I added two tablespoons of baking soda to a separate 8-ounce canning jar with a plastic lid and took that in the shower with me.  After I wet my hair, I filled the jar with water and gave it a good shake to mix well.  Starting around the hairline, I poured the baking soda/water mixture, making sure to separate my hair to get it all over my scalp, especially the underneath part at the back of my neck (my hair is not super thick, but I still have to work to get the shampoo worked throughout my hair). 

I'll just say here that the baking soda scrub felt really weird, like I'd been swimming in the ocean all day and had gritty salt/sand buildup.  I'm used to having handfuls of suds, so this took some getting used to.  I did enjoy the scalp massage, though!  I can totally see how this would help exfoliate dandruff or even acne in the hairline. 

So once I got the baking soda rinsed out, I also rinsed my jar really well and squirted a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in it, then filled with water.  One site I read recommended dipping the ends of the hair in the apple cider vinegar/water, so I did that and let it sit for a minute or two, and then poured the whole jar over my hair, starting at the very top.  I let that sit while I scrubbed my face, then rinsed it all really well.  My bathroom smelled like apple cider vinegar, so I couldn't really tell if my hair still smelled or not.  So I towel-dried it a little, ran a comb through it (no tangles, just like with conditioner) and made my husband smell it.  He said it still smelled like the vinegar just after showering, and again after my hair dried (I always let it air dry unless it's freezing cold outside, and then I'll use the blow dryer on the cool setting), but this morning, the smell was mostly gone.  My husband said he could still smell it a little, but that you had to pretty much shove your nose right up next to my scalp to be able to smell it, so I'm okay with that.  If anyone but him shoves their nose up next to my scalp, whether or not they can smell the vinegar is not going to be the first thing to cross my mind.

As far as the texture of my hair, I didn't notice a difference.  I've seen some posts where people said their hair felt brittle and dry or even oily after the baking soda and vinegar treatment, and many say that there is a retraining period, where the hair has to get used to it, but to be honest, my hair doesn't look or feel any different than when I used shampoo and conditioner.  Granted, this is after the one treatment last night, but if it stays this way, I'll be happy.  Baking soda and vinegar are WAY cheaper than Pantene!

I did have to go outside and water the plants this morning, and I got a little sweaty, which is never a good sign for my hair, but it seems to be fine right now.  We'll see how it looks tonight after I work outside some more later today.  I may end up washing it again when I shower tonight, just because I hate feeling all sweaty and gross.

Also, I have been growing some silvery-grey hair for about six years now, and have read nothing as to whether or not this method affects grey hair, so we'll see.  If nothing else, if they'll just NOT stick straight up on top of my head, I'll be happy. 

I plan on doing this for at least two weeks, probably longer, to see how it works long-term, so I'll keep you all updated!