I haven’t used commercial shampoo in over three years. So far this year I’ve been successfully living without commercial conditioners too as a curly girl. Naturally I’ve experienced transition periods with my hair. Throughout this process I’ve been using herbal hair cleansers with herbs, oils, butters, and other natural ingredients as conditioning moisturizers.
Although I’ve lived in the city this entire time, I had never understood the frustration of going no ‘poo with hard water because of having a strong water filter in the shower. Somehow the filter had not been changed in the timely fashion recently, and I was experiencing hard city water for the first time.
The reason why many including myself stop using traditional store bought hair products is to avoid the unhealthy chemicals, and stop the cycle of completely stripping the hair of its natural oils and replacing them with synthetic conditioners.
Traditional store bought shampoos and conditioners contain chemical surfactants and detergents which remove the minerals which can build up on hair strands regardless of water quality. If you live in a place with hard water, your hair will feel as if it is not coming clean if you do not use something with surfactants or detergents. Natural herbal hair cleansers obviously do not contain synthetic surfactants or detergents. When using herbal hair cleansers especially if you have hard water, you will never feel as if your hair is ever getting clean. Instead your hair will have an unpleasant residue feel that will continue to build up and never fully rinse away.
I’m actually really happy that I’ve experienced what washing my hair with hard water truly feels like, or I wouldn’t be able to speak on it. It’s pretty damn awful! If you are someone who is extremely interested in 100% natural hair care without any hidden synthetic ingredients, then I have two suggestions for you.
1. Get a good shower filter
Not only will your hair absolutely adore you for it, but your skin will too! One thing that stands out to me most of all is to keep the filter changed in a timely fashion. Shower filters remove chlorine, chemicals, and minerals from the water which sanitize water for safe use. Using a shower filter will further clean the water of the unwanted chemicals and minerals and make the water even better for your skin and hair.
2. Use an acidic rinse after cleansing your hair
Acidic hair rinses not only seal your hair cuticle after washing it, but will also help when dealing with hard water issues. You could use an herbal hair rinse, apple cider vinegar hair rinse, or an herbal infused apple cider vinegar rinse which is one of my favorites.
If you use a 100% natural hair care regimen, and live in an area with hard water, what has worked for you?
(Image by D Sharon Pruitt)
Ruth says
Are there any shower filters you recommend? I think you live in an apartment – I do too and I know I won’t be settled in one location for years to come. If I got a water filter it’d have to be something I could take with me. Is yours one that fits over the shower nozzle?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Ruth, I will do some research as well as get the name of our shower filter for you. It is one that you can change and carry with you from apartment to apartment. Have a beautiful day!
Heather says
I’m wondering if this is what is going on with my hair. I’m stopping use of conditioners altogether. I’d been using very little conditioner along with various herbal hair washes and detangler. While on vacation, I dropped down to just a teaspoon or less of conditioner as a leave in. But we were in a location with hard water and ever since, my hair has felt very oily and almost sticky some days. I cut out all conditioner after we got home. I was assuming it was some sort of detox, but it’s been a month and my hair is still off most of the time.
Right now, I’ve been rinsing only most days and using a herbal wash with clay followed by a vinegar rinse about 2 days per week.
I have also noticed my ends are more dry than usual. I’ve tried shea butter on the ends, and been wearing my hair in a braid.
Is there anything I can do to speed my hair back to balance? I’d love some ideas!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Heather,
It is possible that rinsing your hair daily and not sealing in the moisture with something such as aloe vera, a light oil, or even a conditioning herbal spritz such as catnip (or any other herbs that you like) could contribute to dry hair. This summer I’ve been washing my hair more frequently with an herbal hair wash three times a week. I will usually use a DIY flax seed gel (for curl control and moisture), an herbal spritz and/or a light oil as a leave-in.
I usually never recommend this, yet if you feel your hair is sticky or oily because of hard water and mineral build-up, you can try adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to 8 oz of your herbal hair wash (without the clay added) to remove any strange build-up from your hair. I don’t recommend using baking soda in general for your hair because it is extremely alkaline (hair and skin is naturally acidic), and can cause damage to the hair cuticle with consistent use, and also dry out and irritate the scalp. Yet sometimes it is good to have some simple remedies for extreme cases. I’d also recommend a water filter. As soon as I changed mine I saw an immediate difference compared to just dealing with hard water.
Hope this helps,
Dawn Michelle
Heather says
I have been using a little bit of jojoba every day. I tried baking soda yesterday morning and my hair seems a lot closer to normal! Thanks for that suggestion!
This is all residual from vacation. Our water is very soft.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Heather, I’m so glad that worked for you! Best wishes!
Della says
I live in an area with hard water (Indiana) and went cold turkey no shampoo (no water filter nor softener) It took about 8 weeks to get through the transition period, but now all I do is this:
Morning and night I systematically brush with a clean boar bristle brush. At night I braid my hair. 2x per week I scritch my scalp and preen, and then rinse my hair in warm to hot water, 30 seconds or less under the water.
My hair is long (mid-back) and previously bleached on the ends. With this method it is soft, voluminous, and not tangly.
I did have a gross, sticky feeling during transition, but once I got a boar bristle brush it went away and has not returned.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Della,
Thank you so much for sharing what worked wonders for you! It seems like heaven to be 100% hair product free! This is also great info to encourage others. If I wasn’t a curly girl, a boar bristle brush would most likely be my best friend with a no ‘poo hair regimen too. It is great to know that one can get to the other side of it all even if they live in an area with hard water.
Best wishes always!
Ashley says
Is there anyway to have soft water on vacation to another country? Thinking about taking one if those water bottles with the filter in it. Will the bottle filter out the right chemicals? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Ashley,
The water in every city varies. You can possibly research online the area in which you are visiting to see the water conditions. Depending upon where you are visiting you could see how your hair reacts to the water or use filtered water like using the water bottle and filter you mentioned.
I think taking a water bottle with a filter would be good in general for your trip. You would have to research the company in which you are purchasing the water bottle and filter from to know what gets filtered out and what does not though. I wouldn’t have that info myself. It is filtered water that makes a big difference though if you are in an area with hard water.
Have a wonderful trip and safe travels!
Jenny says
I am day 3 of no shampoo and wondered if you could share the name of the shower filter? Also, how often would you recommend doing the BS and ACV?
Thanks!!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Jenny,
My husband purchased our shower filter years ago so I honestly don’t know the brand. I can tell you that the replacement filters are by Sprite Showers though since we do have the shower filters in our bathroom. The filter may also be from Sprite Showers but I’m not 100% sure.
As for how often you cleanse your hair depends on your hair texture and hair needs. If your scalp is over producing its natural oils as a result to commercial shampoos and conditioners sometimes stretching out your wash days as long as you can is helpful. There is definitely some trial and error with no ‘poo hair care. I wrote a bit about my transition to chemical free hair care here.
I’m not a fan of using baking soda as a hair cleanser because it is way too alkaline for hair. I wrote why in this article.
There are other natural ways to cleanse your hair that are 100% chemical free though. There are four articles about chemical free hair care beginning with this article which give the details and a ton of information.
I hope this helps and please keep me posted!
Kim says
[Oops, I realized you already made a post about pH balance right before I posted this, but I will enter it anyway!]
I washed my hair with baking soda and vinegar for 5~ years but I am about to stop, because I am too worried about damage from the high pH differences and quickly switching between them. I am going to try washing with rye flour which I read about here – http://blog.kanelstrand.com/2014/02/testing-diy-shampoos-rye-flour.html
First test will be tonight, so I don’t know yet how well it works or if it’s a long term solution.
However, to get BSV wash working despite hard water, I did learn an amazing tip which may be helpful with any water condition for those who still wish to use it:
Boil the water!
Bring the water to boiling before mixing in the baking soda, make sure it fully incorporates, and if the water looks cloudy, keep mixing it and adding in more water to the mix until it’s pretty clear. This will go through your hair easily and clean it like THAT. It’s so easy.
After a quick baking soda wash and rinse I used vinegar in WARM water to give it a quick second wash, and let the vinegar set in my hair for a few minutes. Rinse out, then add the rest of the vinegar water, and final rinse. The final rinses could be cold water to help close the hair but I didn’t see too much difference from repeated experimentation.
That is the best washing method I had, the baking soda was only in contact with the hair for a short time and the vinegar presumably had some time to help rinse out heavy metals or whatever. But my hair is just not as strong & healthy as I want, and I am incapable of water only washing (it doesn’t feel healthy to even attempt, I tried twice for over a month each time and it was unpleasant, also too many fuzzies/lint get attached by only day 3 and I can’t get them out)
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Kim,
I’m very interested to know how the rye flour works as a hair cleanser. There are many different natural ingredients that have saponins. It also sounds like you found a solution for washing hair with baking soda if you have hard water yet using baking soda for shampoo will rough up the hair cuticle and possibly cause a lot of damage over time because it is extremely alkaline. Thanks so much for your comment plus tip and keep us posted on how rye flour works for you.
Best wishes!
Kim says
Rye flour worked BEAUTIFULLY for the first few weeks, then suddenly it seemed like it wasn’t cleaning my hair at all. I was finally able to comb through my hair easily at first (I don’t know anyone else whose hair instant tangles as bad as mine), but that all went away. Eventually I even decided to try shampoo/condish again (first time in 5+ years? I used Trader Joe’s brand) just twice to see if my hair could look decent; besides feeling empty/limp, it did look better :F It could maaaybe be because I didn’t keep the flour sealed well (kept not realizing it WASN’T sealed, in fact), but I don’t know!
I have a Sprite water filter and either it’s not great, or my water is just so terrible it destroys the filters too fast 😛 The water seems fine for probably only a week after I change the filter. Nevertheless, trying water only washing again – as I posted elsewhere here 😉
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Kim,
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve never tried rye flour as a hair cleanser yet have heard of others using flour because they contain saponins as well. Have a beautiful day!
Crystal says
I used shikakai for a year and then started washing only and using glycerine on my scalp to make sure it was moisturizer and the transition period was so natural and easy so I thought I’d share what worked for me.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Chrystal,
I love the simplicity of your hair regimen. I haven’t used glycerin in a long time but a little goes a long way. Thanks for sharing this!
Angela says
Hi there! I have been doing variations of no-poo and water only for the past 9 months. During that time I have done a lot of travel which made me realise I have very hard water at home and has enabled me to see the huge difference it has on my hair! It is awful and though I am willing to see it out, water only has become too unmanageable with hard water. I’m in the third world for work and don’t have an option of a shower filter so in my research, I have tried many things. Just thought I’d chime in that washing with a raw egg and rinsing with a very diluted ACV mix has been amazing and has left my hair like new! Sometimes I mix a Tbsp of gelatine powder with the egg yolk for extra protein. I’m currently watching how fast my hair gets oily again as I want to do this ideal once every 7-10 days, which was a breeze in soft water areas. I do use the BBB brush and do plenty of scritching and preening too. I’ve also recently tried a castor oil hair mask that came out with the egg wash. The hard water has just been so bad for my hair here. Anyhow, I loved reading your info and just thought this could possibly help somebody else out there too! 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Angela,
I’m so happy that you shared this and I hope that it will be helpful to others too. It is crazy how hard water can really create damage to your hair. Thanks so much for your comment and I’m so glad you are enjoying the site!