Saving on Hair Care

[Tammy]

I've been doing a shampoo-free experiment, stretching out how often I wash my hair, and also not using harsh shampoos.

I recall that someone on this board said a while back that they wash their hair with baking soda. Well, that is what I've been using, and I am truly amazed at how well it works. I never would have believed it until I tried it.

Here's what I do:

In a small cup, mix 1 Tbsp baking soda with just a bit of water to make a runny paste. In another cup put 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar.

Wet hair, and put the baking soda paste onto the crown of the head. Massage into the scalp using short circular motions, working all over the crown, then down the back and sides of the head. Rinse thoroughly.

Then, pour the vinegar onto the hair ends (not the scalp). Let it stay for a minute, then rinse thoroughly.

I could not believe how clean my hair came, even though I had not washed it for FIVE days. It was not only clean, but also soft and tangle-free. I usually have to use a detangler after shampooing, and then I still lose a lot of hair. Washing and rinsing this way, I did not need a detangler.

Using baking soda and vinegar on my hair has been better than any expensive shampoo I've ever tried, and cheaper than the cheapest shampoo, too!

Hope that's a blessing to some of you!

[benshelpmeet]

Dear sister Tammy,

Thank you for the helpful tip. I'm going to give that a try.

Have you read anything about Laurel Sulfate? It is in all Shampoos and even in lotion. I'm curious.

Love, ~ sister Darlene ~

[George]

Sister Darlene, here I go jumping in where I wasn't invited again. Let me share with everyone an article I found on a site called "Healthy Communication.com."


"Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate

This inexpensive detergent is commonly used in cosmetic cleansers, hair shampoos, bath and shower gels, bubble baths, etc. - It is probably the most dangerous ingredient used in skin and hair-care products. In the cleaning industry SLS is used in garage floor cleaners, engine degreasers, car-wash soaps, etc. It is very corrosive and readily attacks greasy surfaces.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is used throughout the world for clinical testing as a primary skin irritant. Laboratories use it to irritate skin on test animals and humans so that they may then test healing agents to see how effective they are on the irritated skin.

A study at the Medical College of Georgia , indicated that SLS penetrated into the eyes as well as brain, heart, liver, etc., and showed long-term retention in the tissues. The study also indicated that SLS penetrated young children's eyes and prevented them from developing properly and caused cataracts to develop In adults.

May cause hair loss by attacking the follicle. Classified as a drug in bubble baths because it eats away skin protection and causes rashes and infection to occur.

Is potentially harmful to skin and hair. Cleans by corrosion. Dries skin by stripping the protective lipids from the surface so it can't effectively regulate moisture.

Another extremely serious problem is the connection of SLS with nitrate contamination. SLS reacts with many types of ingredients used in skin products and forms nitrosomines (nitrates). Nitrates are potential cancer-causing carcinogenics.

Because of the alarming penetrating power of SLS, large amounts of these known carcinogens are absorbed through the skin into the body. A variation of SLS is SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate- SLES). It exhibits many of the same characteristics and is a higher-foaming variation of SLS."

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate has been in the news quite a bit lately. I believe it has been mostly in respect to this chemical being present in a lot of products aimed at children. If you do a Google search on Sodium Lauryl Sulfate you will find out all kinds of nasty things about it.

In Christ,
George

[Donna]

I read an article that said we all wash our hair too often. We encourage the oil production by always stripping it out of our hair. Back in 1908, a woman's magazine of the time told women that it was alright to start washing their hair every two weeks instead of once a month. That has increased over time to where a lot of people think that they are not clean unless it is everyday.

Now adays, I think we look at that and think how could they!!! I suppose that is also why the woman had to brush their hair using 100 strokes of the brush....it would distribute the oils and keep the hair from getting too dry.

The woman that I work with was told by a hairdresser that she should wash her hair with the conditioner in between the washings. She processes her hair often, though so it needs the extra help.

After reading Brother George's article on the ingredients in shampoo, I think I will be looking for a formula for some homemade shampoo!! Thank you Brother George for bringing that to light.

Donna

[benshelpmeet]

Thank you Bro George for all that good info. Fascinating what they put in our hair products, and our tooth paste too! Shocking! Are they trying to poison us or make us sick... ;D There might be some truth to it...sick people need Doctors, and doctors need a job.



sister Donna,

Thank you for this information... I would like to figure out how to not have to wash my hair every two days.

What did women do in the old days to wash their hair? Did they use lye soap or what? I'm interested to know, maybe I'll try what they did.

I heard some people just was their hair with apple cider vinegar, I wonder if that gets the oil out?


Donna let me know if you find any good recipes...I'm game.

Thank you!



sister Tammy

I tried the Baking soda and water....this did not work for me, I waited two days, not 5 I just can't stand my hair to get that oily, I wish there was something to do in between washings.

I worked the baking soda water into my scalp then rinsed . At first it was ok, my thick head of hair felt kind of sticky in front and on top of my head, well as my hair dried it was tolerable, but my head started itching (I think from oils left in my hair) by the end of the day...I did not care if real shampoo had floor cleaner in it or not... ;D I just had to wash my hair, I used V05 and conditioner, boy did my hair and scalp feel great! Whew! I was glad that experiment was over.

Maybe it does not work as good on thick hair, or maybe it does not take out the oils, or maybe it irritates some peoples skin.

I normally do not have any reaction to baking soda, maybe it just left in the oils which irritated my scalp.

I did make sure to rinse real well.

Thank you, Tammy for the experiment!



I'm going to try and make home made shampoo with Dreft soap flakes.


Homemade Chamomile Shampoo

2 Tb pure soap flakes

2 bags chamomile tea ( or try other herbal teas of your choice)

3/4 Tb glycerin

boil 3/4 cup water, then add tea bags let steep for 15 to 20 min,
let cool, take out tea bags, add pure soap flakes, then add glycerin.

Shampoo hair and enjoy.

It will keep 1 week in fridge.


Peppermint tea would be good too! I might leave out the tea and do something different, maybe water and tea tree oil, you wouldn't have to refrigerate it that way. Burr cold shampoo!



If anyone has any good shampoo ideas please let us know.

~ sister Darlene ~

[Tammy]

LOL! Wow, you had a hard time of it, Sister Darlene. That's too bad! I think the baking soda is rather drying, and perhaps it is not good for your scalp, so I hope your chamomile shampoo works out.

Five days is a long time between washings, especially when you're used to washing daily. When mine gets too oily before I want to wash it, I just rinse it out with warm water. This gets me through to the fifth day.

The reason I'm trying to stretch it out that way is to see what my hair will be like, washing it just once a week. I've read of others' experiences with doing this, and while they do say their hair was really oily for a time, after that it balanced out and was clean, not greasy, and not smelly.

Interesting!

An article I read said that it used to be the norm to wash hair once a month. Women did not start washing their hair more frequently until 1908, when the NY Times published a column saying it was okay to wash their hair every two weeks.

Shampoo ads and models took over from there, until society in general now feels that we have to wash daily or we are "icky". In fact, we do get "icky", but only because our too-frequent washings strip the scalp of the oils it needs, so it over-compensates for the loss.

[benshelpmeet]

Hello sister Tammy,

I was hoping the Baking Soda would work for me, but I do have sensitive skin, and I have reactions to certain soaps, lotions, and shampoos anyhow.

Maybe the new homemade shampoo recipe will work for me, I would love to train my hair to not need such frequent washings, it would save on shampoo with 7 female heads to wash ( long, thick hair) thats alot of shampoo, I'm shocked at how fast it goes.



Here is a shocking thought!

Do a study on, when did women start shaving their legs?

And why did they start shaving?

Women use to not shave, and they were not unclean or gross, it was normal.

Vanity was the reason women started to shave.



Does anyone know of another Shampoo recipe I would be interested.

Love, ~ sister Darlene ~

[Donna]

I came across some old time recipes for hair care in a book that was written in 1884

1 or 2 ounces of borax mixed into a quart of sage tea

A little Spirits of camphor poured into water

A weak solution of salt in water

A solution of borax water

Just as a side note: a formula for tooth powder is given...1/2 oz of powdered borax mixed with 3 ozs of precipitated chalk add a couple drops of oil of wintergreen. Rub your brush first on soap, then follow with the powder

Here is a tip for stretching the shampoo that you are using... If you use a household spray bottle, put a small amount in ( you will have to experiment with what works for you) I used to use 1/4 shampoo and the balance with water. Instead of pouring the shampoo into your hand or on your head, you spray the solution on...lather as usual. You will use much less shampoo

Hope some of these are helpful

Donna

[benshelpmeet]

Thank you sister Donna,

I love to read how people did things in the old days.

I have Camphor Spirits, it smells horrible, I bought it for bug bites, but we decided to use '' CamphoPhinique '' instead, it has camphor, and it smells good and works great on bug bites. Real healing. ......I wish I could send some '' CamphoPhinique '' to sister Tammy so she could use some on Bro Daniels bug bites. That stuff works well.

I did not know you could, or should put Borax in your mouth, I wonder if it is really ok?

Quote: Brush first on soap! yucky... Boy those folks had it rough. ;D

I really like the spray bottle idea! That will stretch our shampoo and save us lots of $ with 9 heads of hair 7 being long female hair, we use alot of shampoo around here.

Oh by the way I've gone up to three days without washing my hair, it actually seems not as greasy on the third day, now I'll shoot for 4 days...I'm getting there, now I need to make homemade (no Lurel Sulfate or other bad ingredient) shampoo.

Have a great day!

Love, ~ sister Darlene ~

[Tammy]

The spray bottle idea sounds smart!

I have heard of using aloe vera gel instead of shampoo. It's supposed to help with dandruff and hair loss, but I've never tried it.

I have also heard of using a raw egg beaten with a little lemon juice, on the hair. That's good for people with oily scalp.