The 'No Poo" Hair Saga

So I'm trying to save a few cents and not put yuck chemicals on my scalp by going "no poo" (no shampoo). So far it's a trial and error situation. I've looked online in all sorts of places. There are lots of blogs on the subject, with various stories on what works best. Evidently, everyone has a little different experience, depending on their water, body chemistry, etc. I haven't used shampoo or conditioner for 2 weeks now, so I'm only a fraction into the change-over according to most. From what I can tell, it usually takes 6-8 weeks for your hair to totally settle into the new routine. I've tried using baking soda first, and then an apple cider vinegar rinse, but for some reason the ACV leaves my hair feeling kinda chunky. I don't know if I'm using too much or too little. I've changed the amounts a little, just to see if I can find the right mix. The most common recipe I've found for the ACV rinse is 1 tablespoon ACV to 1 cup water. I've also seen 2 tablespoons ACV to 1 cup water, and 1/2 tablespoon ACV to 1 cup water.

What I think I'll do next time, is just skip the rinse. I've read in a few different places that you don't have to use the rinse every time you wash. Last night I used the baking soda on my scalp and then the ACV rinse on my hair only, and the hair on the top of my head has been nicely manageable today. It might be that I have oily enough hair not to need the vinegar rinse all the time. I'll try it and find out.

For the baking soda mix, I'm mixing 1 tablespoon baking soda to 1 cup water. This seems to be the same recipe almost everywhere I look. I don't think you have to use the whole cup of mix if you have less hair, but you still have to use the same amounts of the ingredients no matter what.

It definitely gets rid of the natural oil build up on my scalp, and like I mentioned, my hair was very nice today after using it last night and not following with the vinegar rinse.

I did think I would try to just use water to rinse my hair from now on, using nothing to clean the oils off. Some people have dry enough hair to actually do that! I'm not sure I'll be able to do that, at least not in the summer time. I did order a natural bristle hair brush so that I will be distributing my natural oils down the hair shaft when I brush now.

That will probably help with the build up on my scalp, too. I used to use a natural bristle brush when I was in school, and it just disappeared one time at a friend's house I suppose. My hair is pretty thick, so it will take some getting used to, but it used to work fine, so I'm sure it will again.

If you are willing to try this, or have been doing it already for a while, please let me know your tricks of the trade and your experiences!!