I’ve tried “no-‘poo”  — that is, the baking soda-followed-by-vinegar method.  It was not good.  I gave it a nice, long adjustment period, and it just got worse and worse.  As in, feeling all dried out like straw, but also nasty greasy at the same time worse.  Yuck.  Based on what other bloggers have said, I think it’s a water thing.  People with nice, soft water seem to be able to use this method with beautiful results, but those of use with hard water…well, it’s just BAD.  (I should probably add that lots of storebought natural shampoos did the same thing.  Kim’s solution didn’t seem to work for me, by the way.)

But I still didn’t want the chemicals, and I didn’t want something complicated, and I didn’t want something expensive, so I puttered around and experimented, and of course searched Pinterest.  And Pinterest is how I found the winning solution (at least for me).  Thanks to a few pins like this one, I found the liquid soap + coconut oil method, and it’s working beautifully for me!

Liquid Soap + Coconut Oil

The short version is pretty simple and straightforward: mix 1 part coconut oil with 2 parts liquid castile soap, and use that to wash your hair.  (A “part” is whatever you want it to be.  1/4 cup, 1 cup, 1 quart, 1 gallon – whatever.  You could go teaspoons or tablespoons, too, but that wouldn’t be a very efficient use of your time!)

The long version is the details of how I go about it.

First of all, I buy this liquid soap from Vitacost because (relatively speaking) it’s cheap.  It comes in a pump bottle, which is going to come in handy.  (Side note: We buy the Kirk’s bar soap from there for hand washing and baths, and love it.  But don’t get the Kirk’s shampoo; it’s no good.)

Now, when you go to mix it, you obviously can’t add any more to the bottle ’cause it won’t fit, so you’ll need to mix it in something else.  I use a quart jar.  That’s big enough to add the oil and still have room to mix it up, and I can store the excess in there, in a bathroom cupboard.

Making the “Shampoo”

Here’s what I do.

Open up the bottle of soap and open up the jar.  Dump as much soap as possible into the jar, then prop it and let it run while you do the next step.  (Sorry about the junk in the background.  That stuff in the tray is what I was using to prop up the bottle, so I couldn’t just move it to the side!)

The Kirk’s bottle is 16 oz., so we need 8 oz. coconut oil.  So I measure 8 oz. coconut oil into a glass measuring cup and melt it, then pour that into the quart jar.

Put the lid on and shake it gently.  (You don’t want to foam everything up a lot — just mix it.)  Then open the jar back up and pour as much as you can carefully back into the pump bottle.  It’s thick enough that I just pour slowly and it works fine.  I don’t use a funnel or anything.  Whatever doesn’t fit, just cap back up and store in the cabinet until the “shampoo”  bottle is empty again.

Using the “Shampoo”

This is a little runny compared to most regular shampoo, so I’ve found it if I tip my head too far forward, it will run into my eyes.  It’s soap, so…not fun.  A little trial-and-error, though, has shown me a method that works.  (This may sound a little complicated because I’m spelling it out in such detail, but it’s really not.)

When I’m ready to shampoo my hair, first I gently shake the bottle to make sure the soap & oil are still blended together.  If it’s really cold in the house I might stick it under the warm shower water for a quick moment first to make sure the oil is soft.  (I only shake it for literally about a second.  Nothing major.)

Then I pump a few squirts of the soap on my head, starting from the nape of my neck and moving forward.  Remember I said it’s a little runny?  So a squirt isn’t as much as you might think.  And this way when I pump it onto my head multiple times, I’m not doing the top and then leaning forward where it can run into my eyes.

Then I just scrub my scalp and such as usual and rinse.  No conditioner.  Nothing else.  Two to three times a week like this, and my hair is soft and manageable but not limp or weighed down. My wave sticks around better.  And it’s not oily or  dry.

Want More?

Be sure to check out my DIY haircut, and take a peek at my “Hair & Nails” Pinterest board for other pins about natural/DIY hair products.