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Welcome to Home Shalom and Shalom Farm. We pray your visit here be blessed. We are learning to walk in the Ways (Torah) of our Father YHWH and follow Y'shua, His Messiah until He returns to "set things straight". We call it a "Messi-Life". Our walk is neither tidy nor perfect, but it is filled with passion, devotion and desire to serve our King. We are learning to be humble servants, and to be good stewards of the things that He has entrusted to us: His Word, our marriage, our children, our family, our community, our health, and our farm. Hitch your horse and stay a while--our door is always open!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

No More Poo


I started the "No Poo Challenge" Inspired by Mrs. Dixon's Invitation . The timing is perfect for me. I have been trying to formulate my own shampoo, with no success. I have very fine hair. It is like baby hair...but really thick and long. I have been using organic and natural store bought shampoos for about 20 years. I found a couple that work for me (after trying many and formerly using salon products). But still I would always have to have 2 kinds on hand and alternate them..otherwise there would be a build up on my fine hair. (Conditioner is never an option for me. My hair is super silky only with shampoo.. again think baby hair). Organic/natural shampoo is expensive and now that I have a house full of 8 using it...it's no longer a practical option...which is why I was hoping to learn how to make my own. 5 of the 8 of us have "my hair". While the other 3 have very different hair. I figure if this challenge works for me...most of us will be covered right off the bat, then we'll figure out the combination that works best for the other 3.

I read links and materials that were offered at the challenge and thought it would be worth a try. If you are interested, follow the link above. But the general idea is this: Instead of using a commercial shampoo, you make a solution of 1T of Baking Soda to 1C of water. Mix it well and wash with it. (although that will last you a couple washes) Apple Cider Vinegar is used as a conditioner (for normal people!). :-) The challenge is to try this for two weeks and see if it works for you.

I washed my hair for the first time with it today...it was WONDERFUL! I was SO pleased with the results. My hair is squeaky clean and full of body. I had a couple little baking soda flakes left in my hair upon inspection...but I will just take greater care in rinsing next time since I don't have the vinegar rinse to aid that. ( The specks brushed out with no trouble anyway.) I spent last weekend at my dads..both he and his wife smoke. When I got home, I scrubbed my hair a few times with both of my other shampoos and their was still a faint smell of smoke (YUCK!)...but after my soda wash..there was not trace of the smoke smell anymore! So that was also a wonderful thing!! 1 soda wash did what 2-3 shampoo washes couldn't with the smoke smell!

I may be a little too enthusiastic...but if there is no adverse effects of continuing this method as a full time way to wash my hair...I think I am hooked! I will report back with further washing to let you know how it goes. If you would like to take the challenge please go to the link above and sign on.

Really....It is no wonder this works...I make my own deodorant and toothpaste with baking soda as primary ingredients. I also use it in a homemade flea powder and homemade scouring powder for cleaning. Why didn't I think about it for my hair?? This also has me thinking...how would it work on washing the dishes??? Hmmm... I think I'm going to have to experiment with that!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear sweet sister, you beat me! I tried this last week, and loved it. one less expense and a shorter grocery list! I'll be posting and link you up for a great first testimony. Im lovin livin a simpler life, don't you?

much love
carmen

torahmama said...

Hi Pamela,
thanks for visiting my blog.
I went to the forum this morning and signed up, still waiting for approval.....
I will be happy to check it out! It looks great!!

I also wanted to let you know, since you said you liked music, that my husband released his first album last year and I am not sure it is listed on my blog...

It is called, "The Hebraism Music Project/ Born at Home Sessions"

You can listen to a sample on iTunes...
He also has a website, www.hebraism.com

I would love to get in touch with some believers in TX, so I can't wait to see where your friend lives!!

Texas is ridiculously huge though, so my hopes aren't too high...

Blessings,
Shavu'a Tov!!!!

Anonymous said...

I'll be waiting to see how you feel after the couple of weeks! :-)
I've wanted to give it a try, but I have been afraid that my hair would look oily/be smelly, and that with my naturally wavy hair, I would still need conditioners. Without conditioner - using commercial haircare products - it is very hard to brush out my hair. But since your hair is silky and you don't need conditioner, I imagine that I will just have to break down and give this a try for myself. ;-)

Mia said...

I hope all works out well with you! I just started going no-poo a couple weeks ago, and I'm with you on the conditioner issue. The hardest point for me is to remember to rinse the baking soda out of my ears! :)

Blessings,
Mia

MommySetFree said...

Michelle,
It does sound like you have different hair than me. However, all the testamonials had hair woes that me, and they were very happy with the No Poo Method...so I encourage you to give it a try! Just add Vinegar for your conditioner.

Mia....I'm going to go check my ears...just in case. :-)

Sustainable Eats said...

I'm curious to see if this works for you long term too. I also have fine hair but it's curly so I need to control frizz w/o buildup. I tried to make my own shampoo last year and gave up. Please do give updates! And thanks for linking in to Simple Lives Thursday.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, welcome aboard! I am doing it too!

To Michelle: I have thick curly hair, and with the apple cider vinegar rinse, I was able to run a brush through my hair just as if I used conditioner, easy peasy.

Anonymous said...

I've been no poo for a whole year now. I keep meaning to post about it but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm still happy with my hair and haven't felt like I "needed" shampoo at all. My hair isn't the same texture as yours so I do use a cider vinegar rinse. I look forward to your future reports!

Raven said...

I'm also on the nopoo train. Been doing it about 3 weeks & I love it. My hair is long & thick, so the 1 cup only lasts me one wash, but my hair looks & feels great. I use it on my dishes when I need to get grease off or a big stain & it's perfect. Tub & tile cleaner, too. Baking soda is really a wonder product.

Sarah said...

Were there any updates to this method. This was so long ago and I'm wondering how it worked out for the other 3 that have different hair.

MommySetFree said...

Sarah,
I find with my fine hair that gets oiling - that it is still something I have to "give a break" by alternating it with another cleaning method. I like the no poo method and still use it - but I do not use it exclusively like I had originally hoped I could. I have been told that the vinegar rinse is the answer..but I do not care for it. My hair is very long and (especailly in the summer when it is hot), I can still smell the scent of vinegar in my hair...that does not appeal to me. I have asked others if they notie the scent and they ALL say they do NOT...so it might be "me" or my water, or my nose. :-) Not sure....so when I do it, I do it without the vinegar rinse for that reason. It is a GREAT alternative for me to stretch my use of shampoo. It is also very budget friendly. I would just say that you have to TRY IT for 4- 6 weeks! I know several people who have used this method and it stood the test of time for them - they love it and don't use shampoo any more. Hope this helps.