Could I Kick The Shampoo Habit?

Feeling clean is one of my favorite things.  I don't camp (unless blessed with a traveling home, which isn't really camping), because camping just doesn't feel clean.  If you're tent-camping, you hope there's a community washroom, or even better shower stalls, but it's not a guarantee.  I know people who love to camp to get-away from it all and that includes showering and washing their hair.  They embrace the bandana, wrap their hair up and experience the back to nature life complete with natural odors.  Nothing about that sounds like fun to me.  I rely heavily on functioning plumbing for modern conveniences, like showering.  Some days I'll shower multiple times, but I've relaxed on washing my hair daily.  It's too dry living by the ocean with the sun.  It needs a break from daily washing.

Today Simple Mom presented readers with an alternative to shampooing. She re-posted her method, or lack thereof, of her hair washing routine.  Apparently she doesn't wash her hair, at least not with store-bought shampoo.  She uses just a baking soda/water mixture followed by a vinegar/water mixture. She has an informative post explaining how to clean hair while avoiding commercial shampoos.  Shampoos have so many chemicals that are questionable, I'd love to find an alternative for our kids (and even an uptight clean-freak momma) that still ensures cleanliness.

After reading the post, I began thinking, if baking soda, vinegar and water can clean and unclog a drain then surely they could cleanse hair sufficiently. 

While the boys were away tonight, my girlie and I made our hair cleanser.  We have two plastic squeeze bottles.  We filled one with 2 tablespoons baking soda and 2 cups of water and the other one we filled with 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 2 cups water.  My girlie loves beauty shop treatments.  I washed her hair first with the baking soda water, rinsed and then did the vinegar water.  Be prepared, with baking soda and water there's no soap and bubbles.  Trust the baking soda is doing what it's supposed to do.  We blew it dry and it looked great and smelled clean.  I was next.  After washing, I always do the "squeak" test to make sure my hair is clean and it definitely squeaked while running it between my fingers.

So far so good.  We'll see how it looks tomorrow and if we notice a difference.  If this works, Simple Mom adds there will definitely be a difference in the money spent purchasing hair products.  That's a benefit every family could use.