"No Pooing" Methodby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 12 Aug 2008 04:55 AM
Lately, the "no pooing" method has been hitting me left and right. I've been getting e-mails and phone calls about this phenomena, and a few of my friends are going to try it. I have to admit that when I first saw the name of the method, "no pooing," I thought to myself that this must be going somewhere in the frugal hall of fame for extreme frugality. How does someone not "poo?" But the more I learned about it, the more it didn't seem so crazy. I'm not ready to try this today, but perhaps I will give it a shot in the winter, when I can hide away from the public if necessary. So what is the "no pooing" method? Basically you forego washing your hair. Some advocates refuse any form of hair cleaning other than rinsing, while others use natural or chemical-free products. Believers say that this method saves money, keeps plastic out of the landfill, keeps toxins away from your body and improves your hair. There are a couple of approaches to going "no poo." The first is to rinse your hair every day with the hottest water you can stand, but use nothing else to clean it. Another method is to use baking soda as a scrub through your hair and then rinse it with diluted vinegar. Make sure to dilute it well, or you may smell like fish and chips. Most people using this method only "wash" with it once or twice a week. Supposedly, since shampoo strips the oils from your hair, your scalp responds by stepping up oil production. When you stop shampooing, your body adjusts, leaving you with bouncy, non-oily hair. Many people in favor of the "no pooing" method says that it works especially well with curly hair that tends to be dry and frizzy. There is no doubt that you will save some money. Anytime you use less of a product or use none at all, you save. Baking soda and vinegar, if you chose to use them, are relatively inexpensive. The important thing is to rinse in very hot water. If you tend to take cooler showers to save money, you might increase your cost a bit there. I would be interested in chatting with anyone who has either tried "no pooing" or is interested in doing so. What do you think? Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans. Related Articles Would You Use A Sawdust Toilet? Hall of Frugal Fame: The $1,000 Brownie How Far Will You Go to Be Frugal? (1) How Far Will You Go to Be Frugal? (2) Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Valorie Delp (49340) 12 Aug 2008 05:24 AMI can't imagine doing this with the pollution the way it is here. Not to mention the fact that I'm wondering how effective baking soda is at getting out the inevitible yuckiness that ends up in my hair from having sticky fingered twins. jonesx6 (1606) 12 Aug 2008 05:29 AMI have a dear sweet friend who only washes her once a week or so. In the winter time they shower about once a week also. Her hair always looks nice. Personally for me I wouldn't do it. ;o) I need my shower once a day. There is just something about that hot water hitting you on a cold winter morning. Laura  Libby Pelham (12871) 12 Aug 2008 07:10 AMI've read that model Jerry Hall did that to keep her hair looking nice, but personally, I cannot image! Mine hasn't been shampooed in two days now and it is about to kill me!  Dale Harcombe (10321) 12 Aug 2008 02:28 PMI'm a wash hair every second day person and can't imagine doing anything else. Otherwise it would drive me crazy. And I couldn't imagine not have a shower or bath every day.  eggplanthue (77) 12 Aug 2008 08:28 PMI tried going no-poo when I had long hair... but I have to admit that I'm addicted to nice-smelling shampoos :( I went about a week - the oiliness really got to me when I stopped. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 12 Aug 2008 09:33 PM@Dale and Jonesx6, if I understand it correctly, you'd still shower/bathe regularly but you'd only rinse your hair with water instead of shampooing. @Valorie, I can't vouch for sticky finger goo, but baking soda is wonderful at removing buildup from hair products. ---- I have greasy hair and can't tolerate the feel of it for long, so my attempts at no pooing didn't last long. I've used vinegar as a shine rinse and baking soda to remove product buildup and both were great for that, but I haven't tried either as a shampoo replacement. I did use some bar castille soap, but it also had salt in it and I think that may have been why it left me with too much of a sticky beachy hair look (though it could just have been the soap itself). I'm now using a locally-made tea tree oil, clear shampoo made out of 100% natural products. It's great stuff and I've even started using it as face wash. I shampoo every other day now and my hair still looks pretty decent on the second day -- and my mom even noticed that it looked thicker. It's not particularly frugal (not till I learn to make it myself at least), but it is nice to know what's in my shampoo and that it's environmentally safe -- especially if I ever get a graywater system up and running. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 12 Aug 2008 09:41 PMI also use cornstarch as a dry shampoo sometimes -- especially on my bangs. I have to brush and blow-dry it all out, though, or it looks like I'm going gray. fugalbaby (35) 12 Aug 2008 09:43 PMI did the baking soda/vinegar for three months. Washing about twice a week with baking soda at first was great. Everything I read said that the oil production needs about a month to adjust. It did adjust for about a month.The last month I got a build up that only shampoo could fix, So I incorparated a weekly mini poo with the routine.Then was sucked in by the smell and feel of the chemicals. A friend of mine did this after my attempt and didn't last quite as long. She has since moved to Oregon and says it works fantastically there, so mabey water makes a difference. I'll try again for sure if I get a chance with new water. Samual (11722) 13 Aug 2008 04:22 AMI've have never washed my hair, we only wash the childrens hair if they get something in it, then we soak it in warm water and a tiny bit of baby oil and it makes the dirt slide out of the hair.  deedee1231 (4030) 13 Aug 2008 10:04 AMReally Samual? You never wash your hair? Huh. How long is your hair? I am all about trying to be as frugal as possible, especially in these uncertain economic times, but my hair is one thing that I am known to spurge on. I love to get haircuts, color my hair, then buy salon products for my hair because it is colored, I get perms sometimes, I use lots of hair styling products-hence more shampooing is needed, and so on. And what about conditioning the hair? I use conditioner in the shower and then use a leave-in conditioner while styling. I also buy a more expensive brand of shampoo and conditioner for my daughters, all three of which have hair hanging down to their waists or below. I do not think I will be giving the no poo method a go any time soon.  Tristi Pinkston (10839) 13 Aug 2008 11:21 AMHaving clean hair is a total must for me. I go a little nuts if my hair isn't clean, and it's oily, so I shampoo every single day. If I've had a busy day and haven't gotten in the shower yet, I'll sometimes get out of bed and shower before I can go to sleep. Having clean hair helps me think, helps me relax, and I can't even imagine not "pooing." I say, if it works for some people, hey, more power to them -- but I'm a hair-washer. Has to happen for my sanity.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 13 Aug 2008 01:35 PMI can skip only one day without a shower, but it makes me cranky for the whole day until I can get to it. Samual (11722) 13 Aug 2008 01:41 PMThe only time my hair has been washed is just after I was born, my hair is shortish a few inches long, typical man lenght I guess, but it has been alot longer in the past. You don't need to condition your hair if you aren't washing it as it is the shampoo that strips the hair and makes conditioning necessary. Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Aug 2008 12:20 AMI'm sorry but YUCK! You've never washed your hair? I simply cannot imagine. I wash my hair before I go out. . .which may not be every day. . .but it always looks freshly done as I'm headed out the door. ;-) Otherwise, I wear it in a pony tail. Samual (11722) 14 Aug 2008 03:01 AMYou do realise the only reason your hair becomes greasy and smelly is because you put shampoo on it. Just like if you use soap on the genitals they become smelly, the hair is self cleaning, humans have the same hair type as cats, have you ever seen a cat with greasy smelly hair? I've never had the slighest bit of grease on my hair, never had dandruff and I have never had dry dull hair.  Courtney Mroch (9169) 14 Aug 2008 06:45 AMThis whole discussion reminds me of a fabulous book I read called Mutant Message Down Under. This Westernized lady (I forget if she was American or English) who was used to bathing regularly went on a walk about with Aborigines who have different ideas on hygiene. I've never forgotten how, because she was used to bathing her skin smelled even worse and attracted animals (ones who were curious about the odor she was emitting), than her Aborigine companions. I'm not saying it exactly right. You have to read the book to truly understand, but that part of the book was her epiphany about how maybe our society washes too much. I've always hated washing my hair because I'm lazy. When I was little (like 7-9) I didn't even brush my hair much less wash it more than once a week. (I was somewhat of a wild nature child and looked the part!) Ah...how I miss those days. Alas, these days I wash every other day. And, oddly, I still think about that book because it's why I don't wash more. What a fun discussion! Great article, Mary Ann! (not to mention hysterical title) Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Aug 2008 01:55 PMUm yes. . .cats smell horrible! You can always smell a house with cats in it unless the keepers are incredibly clean and deodorize. Samual (11722) 14 Aug 2008 02:30 PMCats actually cannot produce odor, similar to rabbits, unless in danger then they produce an immediate smell to ward of predators, the only cat owners will smelly houses are those who are extremely dirty themselves. deedee1231 (4030) 14 Aug 2008 04:09 PMSamual, what are you even talking about at this point? Cats do smell and so do rabbits. First you say that humans have similar hair to cat hair and now you say that cats and rabbits are similar. They are not. Rabbits are herbivores and a cat will eat a rabbit if it catches one. And all three smell, cats, rabbits, and yes even humans! How does the cat find the rabbit, he catches its scent of course! And if a rabbit smells a cat's scent it will hide from it even if he doesn't see it. Mammals release pharamones to find mates through use of smell. All of this is part of our biology. And you have to wash your hair and yes, your genitals also, and you must use a cleanser. You do not have to use shampoo or scented body wash or Irish Spring deoderant soap but use something. I am sure that even the Aborigines in Courtney's book had some self-cleansing ritual; it may not have been what we are used to and they may have gone the "no poo" way before Mary Ann made it cool, but they did something, I am sure even if it was just to cover themselves in mud and rinse it off. Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Aug 2008 04:47 PMNow see here's a question. . .don't they make some wigs out of horse's hair or they used to? I suppose though that horses, rabbits and cats are all similar. Neither do they produce an odor discernable to humans. . .but that's beside the point. Since cat hair is just like human hair. . .couldn't you make wig out of cat hair? And it would smell beautiful. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 14 Aug 2008 05:34 PMValorie, I have four cats and our roommate has two -- for a grand total of 6 indoor cats -- and our house does not smell of cats even though they never get baths. And people who have visited have flat out told me that they can't believe that we have so many cats because it "does not smell of cats". Cats generally take care of themselves very well. Assuming that the cats do not have any health problems, generally what you smell isn't them, it's their waste -- which some cat owners just do not take care well enough. Also, some male cats will spray, especially if they haven't been fixed -- and that can definitely smell since it can be hard to find and clean. Our two males have been fixed and have never sprayed. fugalbaby (35) 14 Aug 2008 10:48 PMWow ! Congrats smelly guy ( because whether you think so or not I'm sure others around you can smell your genitals!) you've managed to turn a discussion about a viable hair care method into a debate on whether or not cats, rabbits and horses smell. Visit thefamilyhomestead.com and look under health. There is a great artical on this subject that prompted me to try it. And since this post I have started shampooing less once again and my hair is loving it! deedee1231 (4030) 15 Aug 2008 07:35 AMValorie, I think you may really be on to something there. Not only would a cat hair wig smell beautiful, but can you imagine the ease of care? If it gets dirty the wearer can just whip it off and lick it clean!! You better file a patent! I laughed for two whole minutes, that was a scream! :) Samual (11722) 15 Aug 2008 09:02 AMYou will find, cats, rabbits,horses, humans and of course monkeys have extremely similar coats, which do not expell an odor, where as things such as arm pits do. You do not need to use a cleanser on the genitals, they destroy the natural bacteria which is why alot of women who use cleansers on their vagina get smelly discharge and/or thrust, unless designed for the genitals, in which case they do the exact same job as water. Ask your sexual health nurse or your GP, NHS direct might have something on it too. Pharamones aren't released from the scalp, they are from the armpits. This is about hair odor, not bodily odor. Frank used to wash his hair every morning and by night it would be greasy and it would smell, so he used to have to wash it before bed as well. WE went on a months camping trip, where he couldn't wash his hair,which at the begin lead it to be really horrible, since then he hasn't washed his hair and he has had no grease or horrible smelly hair. He used to have psoriasis of the scalp as well so he had to use medicated shampoo's and that cleared up when he stopped washing his hair. It is meant to be good for excema and psoriasis suffers though, I don't know why though because some shampoo's are really gentle. Valorie Delp (49340) 15 Aug 2008 06:41 PMMeg--thank you for the speech about the cats in your house. ;-) Enlightening. Truly enlightening. So unwashed hair, cats, horses, rabbits--toads perhaps? None of these smell if you just leave them alone. What about arm pit hair? ;-)  Kara |
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