The great baking soda shampoo experiment

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 03:32 PM

Okay, read this on another site. We all know shampoo is basically just detergent that strips your hair of oils, which is ultimately bad for it.

This site recommended rinsing your hair out with a simple solution of hot water and baking soda. (1 c. water to 1 T. soda)

I have long hair, and it gets dirty/oil fast. I have to shampoo it every other day. This site stated that once you start using the baking soda and water solution, you will find that you might start going several days between hair washings.

So I gave it a go today. I have used all sorts of shampoos, and have never been thrilled with any of them. Today I mixed up a solution of soda and water, and used only that. My hair was pretty dirty, sweat and oil and dirt from being out and about and working pretty hard.

IT WORKED!!! My hair feels completely clean, and doesn't feel stripped!

So I'm going to give this a try for a month, to see what the results are.

**Ceashels** · 09-30-2008, 04:25 PM

Please keep us updated on how you hair feels after a few weeks. I may experiment myself as well, but the more information/subjective data gathered, the happier I will be. hehehe

**shortstack** · 09-30-2008, 04:45 PM

If your hair has coloring on it I am not sure I would recommend this because it will strip out color. When you need to remove color from your hair you are supposed to mix a bit of baking soda with your regular shapoo to take it out. About 2 years ago I dyed my hair too dark and I did this three times in a row on my hair and not only did it smell like chemicals and strip some of the color from my hair but it also left blisters on my hands.

Andrea

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 06:18 PM

Here is what it says about coloured hair on the site:

If you colour your hair, you may notice it dulls when you use a baking soda wash very frequently. However, if you've been using no-poo for a while before you start colouring you'll be at a point where you rarely need to wash your hair - at which time your colour may last longer since you need to wash so infrequently. When I used to colour my hair, I'd initially let it go as long as possible without washing to "set" the colour. Whether or not this actually worked I have no idea, but it made me feel better. I also found that I could go as long as a week before "needing" a shampoo after colouring. I haven't dyed my hair since going no-poo, but I'd imagine I'd have even better results. Alternatively, use a conditioner wash during the time you colour your hair. You can buy "clarifying" conditioner from any pharmacy or grocery store which contains a small amount of mild detergents. If you use a wash-out colour, the baking soda will probably be rid of it quite quickly.

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 06:20 PM

http://community.livejournal.com/nat...ily/53928.html

Here's the site, if anyone is interested...

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 06:45 PM

In the interest of full disclosure, I do not have hair colouring or a perm. I do have sebhorreic dermatitis (SD), and it affects my hairline and parts of my face. I also have relatively long hair.

Typically, after shampooing, I have a nasty reaction (because of the SD) which results in unpleasantly large flakes of skin sloughing off from around my hairline and along both sides of my nose, leaving raw, weeping patches of red skin underneath. I have tried all sorts of shampoos, including prescription, and none really prevents this. Just a reaction of some sort. Make-up does the same thing, but takes a little longer.

SO FAR (crossed fingers) no such reaction to the baking soda. It has been about four hours now. My main interest is: a) will it control the SD (as opposed to the pine tar evil-smelling stuff I use right now that literally burns and has such strong fumes it makes my eyes water) and b) will I have to wash my hair more often to keep it clean. According to the author of the site, the answer to b SHOULD be that I'll actually have to wash less.

**Dancing Lotus** · 09-30-2008, 07:55 PM

My husband has SD on his face and armpits. He uses medicated shampoo but still has trouble on occasion. I wonder if the baking soda would be good for him.

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by AnnK

My husband has SD on his face and armpits. He uses medicated shampoo but still has trouble on occasion. I wonder if the baking soda would be good for him.

I haven't read anything about baking soda being used to treat SD. However, it has now been about six hours, and at least I am still not having any reaction to having used the baking soda, so I am least confident in saying it has not exacerbated it!

I was on prescription Nizoral, then was told to switch to H&S (original formula). Then I started using Denorex, which is REALLY nasty, but seems to help a little.

**Nishu** · 09-30-2008, 09:07 PM

I'm definitely trying this!
My hair is thick and long and it gets greasy by the end of the day after washing in the morning. It would be nice if this works.

I might have to try it on the kids.

**madhen** · 09-30-2008, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by Ceashels

Please keep us updated on how you hair feels after a few weeks. I may experiment myself as well, but the more information/subjective data gathered, the happier I will be. hehehe

In other words, you'd rather hear about my hair falling out than have to experience it yourself.

**Marie78** · 09-30-2008, 09:50 PM

Good Luck with this shampoo and please keep us posted on how your hair turns out. I have long, self-color treated hair and would be interested in how this works for you.

**itsahumanzoo** · 09-30-2008, 10:18 PM

I'm interested to hear about it too! I was considering going to this method once I run out of stockpiled shampoo. My scalp has always been oily, and when I was it, it seems like it's greasy as soon as it dries!

**Squirt** · 10-01-2008, 07:05 AM

This sounds great- can't wait to see what you think of it after a few weeks.

Does this mean you don't use conditioner either?

**joyofsix** · 10-01-2008, 07:20 AM

I have not tried the baking soda but I'm a no-poo girl. I have extremely curly hair and shampoo wrecks it. I just scrub my scalp really well with a little conditioner. It's not greasy, dirty, whatever. No one knows my 'secret' to how my hair is so undamaged, lol.

**madhen** · 10-01-2008, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by Squirt

This sounds great- can't wait to see what you think of it after a few weeks.

Does this mean you don't use conditioner either?

The site doesn't recommend a commercial conditioner, but she has a number of homemade recipes you can use for a number of different problems (dry hair, oily hair, etc.) She recommends an ACV + water rinse every 2-3 wash, or as needed.

Woke up this morning, and my hair still feels pretty good. I can normally go two days without washing it, so the baking soda is doing at least as well as my regular shampoo.

One thing I did notice yesterday is that my hair didn't feel as dry after I shampooed as it normally does. The dandruff shampoo I use really makes it feel like straw, and I have to slather on the conditioner to make it feel/look better. I didn't use conditioner yesterday, and I'm going to try to do using as few commercial products as I can.

I did use a tiny amount of hairspray (one spritz) on my bangs, as I am trying to grow them out, and they are at THAT stage, where they are too short to clip back and too long to let hang.