No 'poo combo in a hard water area?

[wooljaguar]

I've tried to do the baking soda and ACV version of no 'poo before, but the water here in SoCal was too hard and the minerals left my hair gummy. Does anyone have any tried and true suggestions for making a no 'poo solution that works in hard water situations?

(Bonus points if it works for you here in SoCal and if you have fine hair!)

[HappierAtHome]

PTF because I want to try no-poo and I too am in a hard water area :-)

I know one mustachian in my city made it work by heavily diluting the baking soda and ACV. Maybe one teaspoon to a litre of water. Now I think she washes with just water.

[wooljaguar]

I've seen rumblings elsewhere on the internet about soap nuts, rye flour, aloe vera, and egg yolks. Aloe vera and egg yolks sound more expensive to me than shampoo. Not sure about the soap nuts or rye flour. Rye flour sounds potentially cheap enough to be worth a try?

[oldladystache]

I use just baking soda. And I'm in southern California. It works fine for me.

[wooljaguar]

Huh. I definitely tried that before and, over time, ended up with a gummy-feeling mess in my hair. Maybe the water quality has improved since then? That was 2012... I suppose it couldn't hurt to give it a try!

[ANewLeaf]

I transitioned to no-poo by just gradually using less and less shampoo less and less often.  I just scrub and rinse with my hands and water and then add a bit if herbal conditioner on the ends f my hair, because it's curly and they get super-tangled.

In soft water, I didn't use anything else.  In hard water I still don't bother with acv or anything else (I have read of people finding these harsh over time), but I do keep a bottle of high-quality herbal shampoo around, and I use it maybe once a month or when I feel like there has been some build-up that's bugging me. I just find that hair doesn't really need much of anything once you give your oil glands, etc a chance to adjust to not being stripped all the time. Same with my skin, actually. I just use water and use soap on my hands and hairy bits. The rest of my skin I just scrub with my hands and water and let it adjust the oils as necessary.  Works great! :)

[Moonwaves]

I just use water. Used to just occasionally use diluted apple cider vinegar as a conditioning rinse but now that I live in a very hard water area, I do that every week instead. It definitely helps with that gummy feeling (great way to describe it actually, I've always struggled to find the right word). I have used ordinary clear vinegar once or twice when I ran out and it was fine, too.

[wooljaguar]

I already wet/wash my hair only once a week and use a shower cap the rest of the time. Once in a while, I'll use some dry shampoo in between or wash my bangs in the sink with hand soap if they're looking particularly stringy. Overall, though my hair stays not-gross for surprisingly long. Maybe I'll try the ACV rinse instead of washing next time and see what happens!

[grantmeaname]

Dumb question but what does hard water have to do with baking soda/vinegar? I've lived in four different cities on two different continents and it's worked fine everywhere.

[Poundwise]

I have to say. We have soft water, and I tried "no 'poo" for about a year. Tried ACV, tried baking soda, tried both. Then I tried to use just water. My hair was a nasty oily mess and I was embarrassed to go to the hairdresser with it, so I bought shampoo and washed my hair.

Two of my children have used shampoo only once or twice in their lives... usually wash their hair with just water.  Unfortunately my 9 year's hair has become quite oily and unpleasant to the touch. I think he is going to have to start using shampoo. My 4 year old's hair is still adorable and soft.