3- Smelly Clean

"Life's about changin', nothing ever stays the same..." Patty Loveless


The hair, it’s been driving me mad. Dry, course, nasty stuff I loathe most days. Earlier this month I’d read up quite a bit on no-poo, not out of environmental concern (note to self: learning to be more concerned about environment might make good future change challenge) but because well… my hair is straw. I can totally buy the theory that it’s being hunkered down with an extra 10 lbs of shampoo residue, I know what my kitchen floor looks like if it’s not properly rinsed after cleaning… it stands to reason my hair might suffer similarly.

After reading quite a few articles on the whole no-poo phenomenon I found a common complaint was that the baking soda scrub could in some cases strip already dry/coarse hair even more, exasperating the original problem. The solution is to rinse with apple cider vinegar instead of conditioner. Just like vinegar can rinse away soap residue from a kitchen floor, it can get rid of the nasties and help soften your hair. I decided I like poo… shampoo that is, and I’m going to keep using it for now. I would however, be open to trying apple cider vinegar as a rinse alternative.

This morning was my first test run. I did my normal shower routine. Scrubbed, shaved, sang a few rounds of “What do you do with a drunken sailor”, double checked the drain a few times to make sure the bathroom pipes monster wasn’t sneaking up on me. All was going well. Finally, I broke out my (Costco cheapie bulk bottle) shampoo, did my thing. Hair was clean, fresh, and still- coarse to the rub, even while wet. Eyed the conditioner bottle longingly but resisted the urge. Opened up the apple cider vinegar and proceeded to pour it (perhaps a bit too generously) on my hair.

This is where a word of caution is required. Vinegar is acidic, right? If you shave…. And are left with sensitive or nicked skin…. Pouring scalding acid on such skin, it might hurt. See where I’m going? Mother f*@^er, that hurt! Hopped around and shrieked a little. The searing pain passed momentarily. Felt my hair suspiciously. It felt smoother than before, but not “just conditioned” smooth. I was having serious doubts by that time. Frankly, I also found I smelled like a pickled egg. Not pickled pickles, or pickled beets, but seriously- pickled eggs. I have no clue why it was so specific to pickled eggs.

After rinsing, drying and dressing, I focused on the hair. I hesitantly ran a brush through it wet, afraid it would hurt- it didn’t. I found that while it didn’t have that conditioner feeling, it also didn’t have a dry shampoo only feeling. I felt more hopeful. I let it air dry most of the way and completed the job with a blow dryer. I have to say the end result was MUCH softer and smoother than it normally is post-condition. Here at the end of the day, it still feels clean- I generally shampoo daily because I hate feeling “dirty” hair, and I suspect the conditioner helps trap those tiny particles of dust and such- without said conditioner, I may find I can reduce shampoo to every other day or even less? As far as the smell, it seems to have dried itself out of the hair… my bathroom however, still smells like pickled eggs.

Apple cider vinegar in lieu of conditioner… day 1, I am giving this method a thumbs up!