I kid you not, ladies and gentlemen. This really works.
Last year, I started DIY-ing my lifestyle by making all of our household’s cleaning products and beauty products. I thought, “Being a holistic chef has allowed me to make healthier meals for my loved ones with whole ingredients found in my kitchen. Time to improve our beauty and cleaning routines with the same principles.”
Here is one of those success stories.
Baking Soda Shampoo
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda (depending on length of hair)
- ¼-⅓ cup of water
- small jar for mixing
Procedure
- Spoon the baking soda into the jar. Add the water, seal, and shake.
- Pour in batches over wet hair, beginning at hairline and working in each section with your fingertips.
- Once your entire head has been gently massaged with the baking soda solution, allow to sit for a couple minutes before rinsing out.
- Follow up with conditioner or apple cider vinegar rinse.
Since starting this routine, my hair has been softer, has more volume, stays oil-free for longer and holds its style longer, although since it’s improved the natural texture of my hair, I style it about ⅓ as often as I used to.
People stop me at cafes and clothing stores to ask what my secret is. Naturally, they’re shocked when I credit baking soda and not expensive designer products.
Try it. Report back. And if you love it, treat yourself to something beautiful with all the money you save from replacing $20+ bottles of shampoo with $2 boxes of baking soda.
*Due to concern over the high alkalinity of baking soda and potential weakening of hair, this treatment is not recommended for daily or regular use. We’ve been using it as a clarifying treatment, and fortunately, this has been working wonders for us. However, this is not recommended for color-treated hair. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes!
Originally posted 2015-02-17 14:09:32.
will it remove the color from color treated hair?
Valerie, thanks for your comment. While none of us have color treated hair and can’t speak from direct experience, we hear from other listeners that it does dull color. We’re investigating easy DIY alternatives for color-treated hair, and we’ll keep you posted. Thanks again!
What is the apple cider vinegar rinse?
Hi Debbie – here it is: Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse. Let us know how you like it!
Too harsh alone. Needs to be mixed with something to get its pH down or will be harmful to hair after a year or so.
Vicki, it’s so helpful to hear your experience. What have you found is a good mixing agent? We’d love to hear about your evolution with this method. Thanks!
thanks dear
Love learning natural
What do you use for conditioner. Do you have a recipe for a natural homemade one that works. Thanks
Hi Mellisa,
We just posted a recipe for Apple Cider Vinegar. Let us know how you like it!
been using baking soda on my scalp for about 2 years now. The hair just gets cleaned in the process of washing the scalp. no harmful effects. i suppose using vinegar afterwards would change the pH, but i haven’t done that regularly. No shampoo means no harmful chemicals like “fragrances”.
I just got out of the shower after using the baking soda wash + apple cider vinegar rinse and I am pretty amazed! I was kind of unsure how it would work, but my hair felt clean (not “squeaky”) after the wash, and then silky as soon as I started pouring in the vinegar rinse. My hair feels soft, smooth, clean, healthy, balanced! I *think* there might still be a very slight vinegary smell but my hair is very short so it’s hard to tell. It’s also still a little damp so the smell might fade when dry. I usually shampoo and condition my hair once a week, so this might be the perfect alternative for me.
Note: I have bleached out hair dyed pink, very suseptable to shampoo fading, but I see no color difference after using this treatment. That being said, I’ve on,y tried it once so there could be more fading with over use, but it sounds like this method is not intended for everyday anyway.
The only thing is, when I mixed up the bottled I wasn’t really thinking and used the filtered water straight from my refrigerator, so I was pouring icy cold water over my head! Next time I might just bring the concentrated ingredients into the shower with me, and dilute them with the warm shower water.
Is there any advantage to using filtered water, or is tap ok?
Thanks for the comment, Katie! You might consider speaking with your local municipalities to get a water report. This will allow you to see what minerals are in your water that might affect your hair. From there, an inexpensive shower filter head could remove chlorine and some other minerals and/or metals, removing the need to mix with filtered water in advance. Chlorine can take color out of hair or bleach hair over time, whether it is colored or not. And in general, the baking soda clarifying treatment and apple cider vinegar is not recommended for color treated hair. If you experiment with other DIY shampoos, do let us know how your hair responds. Thank you for listening!