Washing the hair

[KLina]

Like someone mentioned, I found out that my "dandruff" was really just an extra-dry scalp. My hair is fairly dry, too, so I only shampoo once or twice a week with a very moisturizing shampoo/conditioner. I have a friend who tried the "no poo" method on her dry, curly hair. She made it a couple of months, but never found a good balance. I think just cutting back and using more natural shampoo/conditioner (or oils) can give you great hair at a much lower cost.

I DO NOT recommend using baby shampoo. I found it to be extremely drying and it made my hair look terrible.

[sheepstache]

Funny story.  I filled an old shampoo bottle with the water and baking soda solution (with a little bit of shampoo left in so there's some lather so I can tell what areas I've gotten to).  My husband ran out of shampoo a couple weeks later and went to use mine.  He saw it was mostly filled with water so he assumed the cap had been left off and it had just gotten filled with shower water.  So he dumped all "the watery stuff" out thinking he would get to shampoo at the bottom.

Other than that though, it's been going well.

[Rebecca Stapler]

I'm also in the no poo camp, but I use Deva Curl, which runs $16/bottle. Expensive, but 1 bottle lasts me a year because I only wash once, maybe twice, per week. My hair has never looked better. It's so much healthier and curlier with my natural oils staying put.

When my current bottle runs out, I'm going to try the baking soda!

[ralay]

I've been doing baking soda + vinegar once a week for about a year.  I wanted to add that I think brushing my hair more thoroughly helps distribute the oil from my scalp to the rest of my hair and keep me comfortable longer between washings.  I really like the feel of brushing my hair, so I'll sit down most nights and brush my hair every which way for 100-200 strokes without it feeling like a big chore.  Folks who feel like all the oil just sits on their scalp might enjoy trying extended brushing sessions.