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Cleaning hair without shampoo

What to do when shampoo does more harm than good

Author: Charlotte Kuchinsky November 6 2011

Shampoo - problem or solution?

There is a secret that beauty specialists all over the world have been keeping for decades - shampoo is bad for your hair!

Back in the olden days, people used soap to clean their hair just like they did the rest of their body. It worked pretty well and, oddly enough, it didn't do the kind of damage that commercial shampoos do today. However, over time, women demanded a kind of soap that was specifically made for hair, and shampoos were born.

The good news is that they work - sort of. At least they are good at the job for which they were originally created, getting dirt out of hair.

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The bad news is that most shampoos contain sulfates, the chemicals that help the product lather up. Most people equate that lather to good a cleansing process, but in fact the opposite it true. Sulfates actually strip away hairs' natural oil, and it's that oil that helps keep hair looking shiny, healthy and strong.

Sulfates are also known to irritate skin, which causes some people no end of pain and sorrow. A few even claim that using sulfate shampoos leads to hair loss, and for others sulfates cause frizz, split ends and dryness. That leaves everyone confused. If shampoos aren't good for hair, but hair needs to be cleansed, what's one to do?

Some people point to the amount of shampooing being done. A lot of individuals shampoo every day, when two or three times a week would be more than sufficient. Less shampoo could indeed equate to less damage, but it doesn't solve the problem altogether.

One obvious solution is to switch to some of today's new shampoos that do not contain sulfates, a myriad of which are available in the marketplace.

Alternatives to shampoo

Another is to turn to other kinds of products that can cleanse the hair as well, if not better, than shampoo. Baking soda is one such product. It can be made into a simple paste by mixing a tablespoon of baking soda with a cup of water, then apply the paste to the hair just like shampoo. Work it through thoroughly before rinsing. Repeat if needed. It's just that simple and it works, clarifying the hair and removing buildup.

Others turn to apple cider vinegar. It works as a cleanser, while also balancing the hair's pH factor and removing tangles - it's also cheap since it only takes one teaspoon to a cup of water. As with the baking soda, apply it to wet hair and work through, rinse with cool water, and repeat if needed.

For people who have relatively normal hair those kinds of simple solutions may be more than sufficient. However, for those who need more from their hair cleanser, they might not be enough.

That's where Wen Cleansing Conditioners come into play. They provide a way to cleanse the hair without using shampoo. However, they do more than cleanse, they also condition and remove tangles. Best of all Wen products do not strip the hair of natural oil, and they also help to maintain expensive color jobs by stripping less color away from the hair cuticle.

The bad news is that Wen products are a bit more expensive. A giant bottle of product can cost as much as $60, but at least they do go a long way. No other product on the market today can make the same claim that it leaves hair in a better condition than it found it. Additionally, special Wen formulas claim to solve a myriad of problems like frizz, flat hair, dull hair or fading color. We'd be interested to see if our readers' experiences bear out these claims!