De-toxifying

Image from GettyImages

I've become very concerned lately about the toxic lifestyle we've been living. No, we don't huff from aerosol cans or take illegal drugs or regularly play in nuclear waste... but that doesn't stop us from getting a regular, depressing dose of poison.

For example, let's say you use hairspray. The likelihood of it containing pthalates - which have been found in conjunction with damage to the kidneys, liver, lungs, and reproductive organs and have been found concentrated in breastmilk - is very high. Just that one source alone, used daily, exposes you and the rest of your family to extremely dangerous toxins. And that's not mentioning things like commercial deodorants, perfumes, air fresheners, nail polish, hair gels, shampoos and conditioners, lotions, eye make-up, concealers... the list is endless, because in America a product had to be proven, through multiple tests, that it is poisonous before it will be taken off the market. Compare that to the UK, where a product must be proven to be non-toxic before it is allowed on the market. Scary. (this is not to say the UK is toxin-free... just that the US is more toxic by comparison)

So, recently I began feeling pushed to try and limit the amount of toxic substances I willingly bring into the house or put on my body. There are some sources I can't avoid - the new carpet and living room furniture that are out-gassing formaldehyde, for example - but there are some that I can, and that is where the 'Poo-less hair-cleaning, natural homemade deodorant, and organic soap came into the picture. I also use a non-toxic hairspray and have started cleaning all the hard, non-porous surfaces (like countertops, toilet seats, sinks, tables) with nothing but white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, which work just as well - if not better - than pretty much every commercial cleanser on the market, without the pesky side-effect of dangerous chemicals being left all over surfaces that your skin will be in contact with.

I think Earth Motherhood summed the problem up well. In fact, why not head over to her blog, and check it out? Living in a World Where Everything Is Toxic

And once you've read her blog, if you're still interested in learning about the toxins in your life, what you can cut back on to preserve you health, try visiting your local library to see if they carry "Green Housekeeping" by Ellen Sandbeck, a guide to everything around you house that is probably poisoning you and causing everything from headaches to stomach upset to persistent allergy symptoms.

How do we No 'Poo?

Since the No 'Poo/'Poo-Free Method is working so well for the Husbeast and I, I thought it was time for a much more detailed post about how we do it.

We went cold turkey into the No 'Poo Method.... we didn't do anything like go a week without washing our hair, or go a week using nothing but conditioner on our hair. We just started using baking soda and apple cider vinegar and didn't look back.

My usual mix is 1/4 cup of baking soda per 1 cup of water. The container we put our mix into holds about 2 cup, so we put in roughly 1/2 cup of baking soda, then add water. This usually lasts for two washes for each of us (so, four hair washes per mix) before we have to refill it. I've more-or-less stopped measuring now, and just refill it in the shower by shaking what looks like the right amount of baking soda into the container and adding water straight from the shower head.

The apple cider vinegar mix is approximately 1 Tbsp ACV to 1 cup of water. Once again, the container we use holds 2 cup of water so I do approx 2 Tbsp of ACV. Since I'm not a big fan of the smell of ACV, I also add 2-3 sticks of cinnamon and a little vanilla extract. After soaking for a day or so, the mix smells more like cinnamon and vanilla than ACV.


A good look at the cinnamon sticks in the mix

The smell of vinegar SHOULD wash away when you rinse your hair... if it doesn't, you might be using a little too much ACV in your mix.

So here's the usual wash cycle: get hair wet in regular shower temperature water. Shake up the bottle of baking soda and water, and apply to your hair (I use one hand to pour and the other hand to scrub my scalp to insure the mix is getting over my entire scalp). Massage mixture into your scalp well, and allow to sit for a few minutes (I take this time to soap up and wash my body with my new addiction, LuSa Organics soap). Rinse well with warm to warm-hot water, massaging your scalp under running water to rinse all the baking soda out.


This is the patchouli, orange, and lavender blend and it's fantastic!

Apply the ACV mixture to your scalp. I usually find this part shockingly cold, after being under the warm water, but after the initial pouring, I adjust. Allow this to sit another three or so minutes (i wash my face and just enjoy the warm water). Finish by rinsing with lukewarm to cool water (this closes the hair shaft, and should be the last step in ANY shower, no matter what products you use to clean your hair). Rinse well to insure you are getting the ACV out of your hair (otherwise you will smell it any time you sweat, she says with the bitter voice of experience).



That's all there is to it! Yes, you do much more scalp massage using baking soda and ACV than you do with commercial cleansers, but here's the scary thing: most commercial shampoos and conditioners contain carcinogens. Yes, cancer-causing chemicals. And your skin - including your scalp - is the largest organ in or on your body, so why would you want to rub carcinogens all over yourself?

For more information on the toxins in beauty and personal care products, I will turn the mic over to EcoMall.

I can definitely attest to how successful this 'Poo-Free experiment is... my hair looks fantastic.

The No 'Poo Method

While the title may be misleading, it actually isn't a pro-constipation thing... it's all about not using toxic substances to forcefully strip your hair and scalp.

I won't get into all the details here - I'd rather post links to all the details and let you meander around and find out for yourself. The short version is this: washing your hair with baking soda and conditioning it with dilute apple cider vinegar. Since the toxin-free deodorant has been working so well, the Husbeast and I decided to give it a try.

It's been about a week, and my hair is doing fantastic (and as far as I can tell, his is doing very well, too). I was expecting my hair to freak out, since a lot of people say your hair has to "adjust" to not using shampoo... but then I remembered I haven't used commercial shampoo in months and have instead been using Miracle Soap to wash my hair, so it makes sense that my hair was already in a state where it didn't need to "detox" and freak out.

I will probably post more on this later, including photos of the mixes and some exact measurements (since we're experimenting with what is recommended to see what works best for us).

It's satisfying to know I'm putting fewer chemicals on (and therefore into) my body... and I'm also not contributing any more plastic shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant bottles to landfills (yes, we recycle, but there's only so much they can do with plastics). And I'm not using more of my hard-earned money on fancy-schmancy shampoos and conditioners that I honestly don't need. Stickin' it to the man, in other words.

Ah, natural is fun...

A Non-Toxic, Frugal Way To Wash Your Hair Without Buying Shampoo from One Green Generation

Letters to the Editor - Info: Shampoo Free from the Babyslime journal