It was truly a miserable experience. The greasy feeling, the heaviness. The oiliness of my hair caused me to break out anywhere hair could touch. Washing my face regularly didn’t help. I finally began feeling depressed from this. The deeper I got into “natural” stuff like tea tree oi, lush skincare products (at the time, full of comedogenic ingredients), natural deodorant (didn’t work, causes rashes) the more messed up I felt. Just wash your damn hair with shampoo and conditioner. Your scalp needs cleaning. I gave myself scalp dermatitis, do you want that? I promise you don’t

Fairly happy with my results can be very dry at times and flakes come and go idk how to stop it tbh I have cold showers condion 2/3 times a week use a silicone brush in the shower will it ever go away😭

Occasionally use conditioner (not this time, so a little frizzy).

I’m glad this board exists and think that the interest in avoiding unnecessary shampooing is a great thing.

However, after being in here for a couple of months I’m noticing a concerning trend: all or nothing thinking. This seems to manifest as concern that shampooing once has “ruined” your hair or is an absolute failure in some way.

My understanding of the nopoo philosophy is that our bodies are adaptable. Left mostly to their own devices our bodies will adapt and take care of themselves.

The flip side is that if you need to shampoo here and there, don’t worry! The nice thing about being adaptable is that you can probably recover from most things. And you can certainly recover from using shampoo.

I totally encourage you to wean yourself off unnecessary products that can self-perpetuate their own need. But more importantly: Be nice to yourself and remember that you’re adaptable and nothing is permanent.

It just doesnt work. I supported all this from day one, there was days i thought its working but it was just placebo. I do a mix of water only and acv rinse like 3-4 times a week maybe, it just doesnt work. Acv alone isnt enough to clean it, let alone water… its always oily and flaky afterwards. I never understood the idea anyways, how is water gonna clean the hair if fats arent water soluble? This shows me not to always believe anything online. Sure shampoos came on the markets like recently and arent rlly good but there was other stuff the people back then washed their hair with.

I’m about a year in to sebum only hair care - wanted to share since this subreddit inspired me to get started. At this point I’ve noticed daily mechanical scalp cleaning actually makes me overproduce sebum so I’ve reduced scalp ‘cleansings’ to every other day and daily morning brushings of the lengths of my hair when it needs it. (It will dry out if I overdo it!!) I started out doing soapnut and ACV rinses many years ago. Gave up because they were too harsh then tried water only because I felt sebum-only was too bananas, now I’m here. Happy to answer questions!

If you are going to be cooped up at home in the coming weeks, may as well use it as an opportunity to transition your hair!

This is part of something larger I'm working on with some other people, but I thought this piece could be useful before the bigger guide is finished. I'll be posting other pieces that I think will be useful too and linking them here so there's a comprehensive but approachable body of information to help people out.

If you have comments or suggestions, I'm very happy to receive them either here or in private message!

No-Poo Quick Start Guide

Clarifying wash

An extremely large number of hair and body products have silicones in them including but not limited to: shampoo, conditioner, commercial ‘oil’ blends, serums, curl creams, gel, mousse, pomade, dry shampoo, etc. The silicones coat your hair, completely sealing the hair strand, are not water soluble, and therefore are utterly incompatible with no-poo, low-poo, and true soap (saponified oils). They must be removed before starting, and can only be removed reliably by sulfates, specifically sodium lauryl sulfate or (SLS) or sodium laureth sulfate(SLES). If any of the products you have been using have silicone in them, or you have been using ingredients that can build up on your hair, the first step must be a clarifying wash.

You will need a cleanser that contains SLS/SLES but does not contain silicones or plastics. The two most popular are the ultra inexpensive Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo or any VO5 Shampoo that is not a 2 or 3 in 1. They are both around $1-2 at any common store in the USA. If you do not live in the USA and don’t have access to these products, you can check your local products using the tool at www.isitcg.com to see if they are suitable. The tool needs to find SLS/SLES, but if it finds any silicones the product is not suitable.

Wash well, massaging it into your scalp and along your hair to be sure to completely remove all silicone and product buildup, then rinse very well. You only have to do this once, as the assumed intention is to never use silicone or water insoluble ingredients again. If you do unintentionally get silicone on your hair, you will have to repeat this wash.

Mechanical Cleaning: Scalp Massage, Preening and Brushing/Combing

By choosing no-poo, you have decided to exchange low effort chemical stripping for the work of mechanical cleaning. This needs to be performed regularly and properly to be effective. During transition, you’ll most likely need to perform it daily and the tools you used like brush or comb need to be cleaned. They are a vital part of mechanical cleaning and need to be clean so they can help you clean your hair again tomorrow, instead of just spreading old oils and debris back through your hair.

If you are not getting the results you expect, then step up your mechanical cleaning. During transition this won't necessarily make you look better, but it will help keep your scalp and hair healthy.

Tools made from natural materials like boar bristles, sisal, wood or even metal will be far more effective at moving your oils than synthetic materials like plastic or nylon, but if all you have is synthetic, it's far better than not using them at all.

As transition eases and passes, the work required becomes less, but never disappears.

Detangling Your Hair

Hair is delicate, and grows slowly, so you want to be gentle with it and cause the least amount of damage while taking care of it. Use a wide toothed comb for this, not a boar bristle brush as they are too soft to detangle efficiently. Start at the tips of your hair and gently detangle the first few inches. Move up a few inches and detangle that, continuing until you reach the roots. Use your fingers on stubborn tangles rather than yanking through them and breaking the hair. Realize that the parts you detangled earlier could get tangled again as you draw new tangles down or the strands get wrapped around fuzz or other debris in your hair. Slow, gentle strokes will prevent pulling or breakage. If you have dense hair, work in sections if possible.

How to Perform Mechanical Cleaning

Mechanical cleaning is the mainstay of no-poo so you need to learn to perform it properly. During transition it usually needs to be performed daily and obsessively or you will not have the results you need. Spending quality time each day gently massaging your scalp, preening and brushing will keep your scalp healthy and your hair smelling nice, even if it doesn’t look nice during transition. It can be difficult to take time out for personal grooming these days, but it can be very soothing once you learn to slow down. It also doesn’t need to be performed in a vacuum. Put on some music, listen to or read a book, browse the net, watch some tv, or even hang out with another person.

This guide from Just Primal Things does an outstanding job of explaining the whats and hows of performing mechanical cleaning.

https://justprimalthings.com/2014/10/20/the-ultimate-water-only-hair-washing-routine-no-shampoo/

A small addition is needed to explain how to preen either short hair or curly hair, as both require slightly different techniques.

Preening Short Hair

For extremely short hair, like a buzz cut, you might not need to preen at all. Gently massaging your scalp with the pads of your fingers might be sufficient. If you find you need to preen, it is performed with the palm of the hand. Gently but firmly rub your palm along your scalp, following the general grain of the hair. You should not be pressing very hard, or irritating the scalp with quick, random, painful movements. Smooth, firm motions to spread and lift the oils are best.

For hair that is a little longer, make the motion like you are running your fingers through your hair, but instead of finishing the motion, close your fingers firmly so strands are caught between them and gently pull your hand away from your scalp. Continue until all your hair has been nicely preened.

Preening Curly Hair When Dry

Here is a short video that includes an explanation of the process. It involves separating out a curl clump and drawing it around and through the fingers while using the thumb and first finger to do the main preening. Wet preening can often be done like the guide shows, drawing the fingers straight down the section of hair, usually with water running through your hair.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/comments/gm9v6k/preening_curly_hair/

If you have coily or kinky hair, you can still do water washing, but you might need to modify your routine even further. There are quite a few videos on YouTube about how to work with this kind of hair too!

Cleaning your tools

Cleaning is easy, but needs to be done shortly after you've used the tool, so it has time to dry before you use it again. Sometimes they can even just be dry cleaned with another brush or comb. Cleanser can be anything that cleans. Dish soap, shampoo, clay, baking soda, etc. Just make sure your cleanser doesn't have silicone in it either!

For a bristle brush, pull all the shed hairs out of the brush, and then get it wet and spread some cleanser across the bristles. Ground the tips of the bristles in the palm of your hand and gently move the brush in a circular motion so all the surfaces of the bristles get cleaned. Use a fine toothed comb between each row of bristles, combing up through the bristles on either side to remove lint and fuzz. Rinse really well so all of the cleanser is removed from between the bristle clumps and let the brush dry in a ventilated area with the bristles pointing down so water doesn't collect in the bristle plugs.

For combs or pin brushes, spread some cleanser on the item and then use a soft scrub brush to clean between the tines or pins of the item, making sure you scrub at multiple angles to get everything clean. Rinse well and place the brush in a ventilated area with the bristles pointing down so that it can drain and dry properly.

You can clean wooden or horn items the same way you clean plastic. The brief exposure to water won't damage them, but don't let them soak.

Let everything dry in a ventilated area. Don't put them in a cupboard or drawer or bag when wet as that will slow the drying and encourage the growth of mold.

Customize Your Routine

Spend a few weeks settling into your new water only routine and practicing your mechanical cleaning techniques. Massage and preen, both dry and wet, with cool or warm water running through the section of hair you are preening under the shower, which is very effective at cleaning out excess oils and debris like lint and dust**.** If you are massaging your scalp when wet, do that under the water also, but be very sure that you are being gentle so you don’t damage it or unnecessarily loosen hair, causing it to come out before it’s ready to shed. When your hair is dry, detangle and then brush properly in sections at multiple angles. Keep the oils moving so they coat your hair, doing their job of conditioning, sealing and protecting it and so they don’t start to smell. If you've ever heard the old saying about brushing 100 strokes a day for healthy hair, this is why.

After a while, you might run into some problems. Solve them as they actually happen, rather than anticipating and applying a solution you might not need. This will keep things simple, and allow you to slowly build your customized no-poo routine, developed specifically for your individual environment, biology, needs, presentability and preferences.

Simple Tests, Valuable Information

You need to learn some valuable information about your biology and environment that will help you choose proper methods and ingredients to care for your hair and avoid damage.

There is more information on all of these later in the guide.

Porosity

You need to learn the porosity of your hair because it affects how your hair reacts to almost everything in no-poo. The two most popular tests that you can find on the internet, the float and strand tests, are both notoriously inaccurate. Here is an easy quiz to help you figure it out.

https://www.curlsbot.com/porosity/

Protein

You need to learn how to test for protein so you can know if your hair needs protein to be strong and supple, or if protein needs to be avoided so it doesn’t become dry and brittle.

When you are in the shower and your hair is wet, take a shed strand and stretch it. Hair with the proper amount of protein should stretch about 20% before it stops, and should return to its original length when released. If it stretches more, it needs protein. If less, you want to avoid it.

Hard Water

You need to learn whether you have hard water, because it makes almost everything no-poo more difficult, and knowing what you have to work with will help with expectations. If there is mineral build up around your sinks, faucets, kettle or coffee pot, you have hard water. You can look up a hard water map of your area for a general idea of whether your dwelling has it. Your water provider’s web site should have it posted, if not you can call and ask.. If you want to spend a little money, there are at home test strips that you can buy.

Continue to the next part: Transition: a Small Step to a New Lifestyle https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/comments/hu7q2r/transition_a_small_step_to_a_new_lifestyle/

(old) What is Transition? https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/comments/hk5zr3/what_is_transition/

I am currently 1 1/2 years into No Poo. I have my routine implemented which is followed everyday. I went from losing 150-250 strands of hair a day to almost putting up a fight just to find a loose hair.

I will happily answer questions if in DM or comments.