Of No Poo Hair and Homesteading

First off I want to mention the visitor counter.  I installed it long after this blog was rolling.  My official visitor count as of right now is 5,761.  When I track my stats, an overwhelming amount of visitors appear on days I blog about my hair.  I'm talking over 1,200 people have read about me using henna in my hair.  Just thought I'd mention that little factoid.

Today at my little urban homestead I will again be talking about what I've done to my hair.  I hope Blogger's servers are prepared to handle the incoming traffic of my hair groupies.

Thanks to the internet and the library (ancient way people research things), I've been able to expand my efforts in urban homesteading without fear of horrible consequences, i.e. losing a limb.  There are so many involved in this that it creates a wealth of information, free for anyone who wants to learn.  It's an interesting movement that is fluid and ever evolving.  With so many people participating there could never be a finite location or singular ownership of the idea.  The things I've managed to conquer:  productive gardens my family can use as a source of food (in winter we would starve, but I'm working on it), a real compost pile,  crocheting wearable items, making household bath and beauty products, cooking and eating better, exercising, canning, and giving back to others in the urban homestead movement without a price tag attached. 

On to the hair.  I know you're asking what I'm talking about.  No Poo Hair?  Some of you may know about this and have even contemplated it, maybe even tried it.  The No Shampoo Method is to use alternatives to shampoo to wash your hair and still come out with clean, managable hair. 

I have tried several different recipes, some from videos off Youtube, and all of them had failed me.  I ended up with what I call "sticky hair syndrome."  This will make the hair look and feel like you have never washed your hair, sticks together, and is uncombable.  It's disgusting.  I was depressed thinking I wouldn't be able to go the distance in this urban homesteading project. 

Well, last night I decided to try again but I cut down the traditional No Poo recipe...a lot.  The traditional recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of baking soda per cup of water.  Generally, people need 2 cups of this to get all of the hair wet.  I opted for putting 1 teaspoon of baking soda in 2 cups of water (16 oz.).  I made a total solution of 2 teaspoons baking soda to 32 oz. of water, since I have long hair.  I poured it onto my dry hair and made sure it all got wet. 

The apple cider vinegar rinse I use is 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar to 20 oz. of water.  I rinsed my hair 3 times with this solution.  The apple cider vinegar acts as a conditioner for me. 

Lastly, I rinsed 3 times with only water.  I just had to wait for it to dry....

Here's my result for day 1 of No Poo Hair.  My hair feels like it usually does when washed with shampoo and conditioner.  I'm very happy with the results.  I've read the stronger baking soda solution is good for people with curly hair and the weaker solution is more appropriate for people with straight hair. 

I'll keep you updated and include any variations I might add, such as any other natural conditioners or essential oil usage.  I hope you found this urban homesteading project useful.