Our town is a pretty earthy-hippy place but it still shocks some people to find out that we (Nolie and I) don’t use any shampoo, soap or face washes. Nor do we use any* typical cleaners for the kitchen or bathroom or store bought laundry soap.
Enter: Baking Soda
I have been using (nearly)exclusively baking soda and apple cider vinegar on my hair for about 8 months and Nolie’s for her whole life. The only lapses for me are when I visit and shower somewhere other than home or get my hair done at a salon. I was SUPER skeptical of this working, my hair was a grease ball after having Nolie (thanks! hormones.) and it seemed like nothing would work to keep it under control other than showering and washing it every.single.day. That just isn’t a reality with a baby/toddler so I started hunting around and read up on being “no-poo” (the name is a super big turn off to me). We knew with Nolie we wouldn’t use soaps for the main purpose of saving money. Quality reliable kid wash stuff, I am looking at you California baby, is SO expensive. But with all the scares that Johnsons&Johnsons have had I knew that the cheap stuff wouldn’t cut it. So we jumped in with both feet.
basically like this... only not at all
I keep a cute container of Baking Soda in our bathroom and then a small ball jar in the shower. I scoop a few scoops into the jar before every shower and then fill that with water and disolve the soda. I pour that on my head and some for my body too (GREAT gentle exfoliator) and then rinse it off at the end of the shower. Once a week or so I also do a few capfuls (not more!) of apple cider vinegar on the ends of my hair (not the crown, too greasy) to keep it soft and untangled. It takes about three weeks (or less) of doing this without cheating for your hairs PH levels to balance back out, they over produce oils when you strip them with shampoo often and the you get MORE oil all the time, and for it to work well. After you make it over that hump it is easy sailing of pretty hair!
We also use Baking Soda and vinegar for all of our household cleaning (bathtub with soda, countertops with vinegar, FYI: vinegar helps mold NOT to grow whereas bleach encourages it! who knew?!)). I keep a spray bottle of vinegar in my kitchen for the countertops as well. White disilled vinegar, the cheap stuff, works best.
We also use this for our laundry soap. Equal parts (in cup measurements) of baking soda or washing soda, borax and grated soap (we use ivory but you could use something more natural too like Phels Naptha- we use that for stains only).
Take the leap! Even if just to replace your kitchen cleaner or mold fighter, baking soda is cheap, easy and works SO well. Gauranteed it is what your grandma or great grandma used!
Hair by baking soda!
*I can’t seem to quit using windex. My mom bought us some when we first moved into our house and I am milking this bottle to the end… one day I will be rid of it but something about that fakey blue liquid keeps pulling me back!
OK, our budget just got SUPER tight this month (a little poor planning + a broken dishwasher + new tires = financial ouchies!), and I’m running out of shampoo. And your hair always looks so lovely and amazing! I’m jumping in! I’m going to try “no-poo.” (The name really IS awful, though.)
And for windows and glass? Plain water in a spray bottle + wipe clean with newspaper.
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Baking soda works wonders on your face too…a splotch of honey on a wet washcloth, shake some baking soda on it, and GENTLY scrub your face. Then rinse with warm water, and use apple cider vinegar on a cotton pad to tone.
Avocado oil to remove eye makeup.
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haha..i have to have my windex..but use the leftover newspaper to clean the windows!
i do clean some with bakin soda..but chris’s grandma keeps us stalked in stanley cleaning products!
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I no-poo also! And haven’t used anything but water on Evie for now. She doesn’t get dirty really that needs more than a rinse off yet. Everyone is always commenting on her “perfect skin!”
I totally just pinned your ideas
I need to use baking soda for much more than baking!
I have been trying to jump on the natural cleaning band wagon for a while. The most progress I have made is buying organic products that have only natural ingredients, great but these are SUPER expensive. So I am going to start finishing up what I have left and go with vinegar, baking soda, borax, and raw salt. In Greece we use vinegar to clean carpets, windows and basically the entire home. Any tips on how to make the smell less potent?
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Yes! Add a few drops of tea tree oil to it and not only will it smell divine but it is an a smell that bugs don’t like and it promotes healthy hair growth (so if your manly is worried… put a little in with your BS in the bath and it will help with balding!).
This is good to hear, I need to go down this path, have been looking into it but needed a kick up the butt, never thought about using it for hair & body…you just start assuming you need all that fancy crap after using it for years!
Total vanity question, but what (only if) do you use to shave your legs? Ive never done shaving cream, always just a bar of soap. But baking soda wouldn’t really do the lathering trick.
I just use just water to shave my legs and then afterwards I put a TINY bit of cocoanut oil on them to keep them from being scaly or dry. Cocoanut oil is pricey but bought in bulk (like through Azure standard) it is a pretty fair deal and works for EVERYTHING. Makeup removal, dry skin, diaper rash and is the best for cooking AND smells SO good to boot!
We’ve uses almost exclusively almond oil on Rockford (19 mo) except for a gifted Califorina baby bubble bath until just last week when I purchased a Johnson and Johnson knock off that was supposed to compare to Cal baby. One bubbley bath later and he’s broken out in a rash! Poor boy. So now we’re back to a no bubble bath (unless Cal baby wants to sponsor bath time). One question about the baking soda poo and kids…doesn’t it burn their little eyes? Any tricks?
I <3 you Autumn. And keep up the good gospel of the no poo word…My girls and I swear by it as you well know and so far SOOOOO good.
I'm LOVING the ideas in this comment thread. Totally planning on trying the honey/BS facial…tonight!
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I love baking soda! It seriously is good for everything. I use it as deodorant now. I put some in an empty spice container and sprinkle some onto my hand and under my pit! does the trick. It also absorbs smells for those days when you already smell. haha. If you have sensitive skin, some people mix it with corn starch. My sweetie likes to put a couple of drops of tea tree oil in it to make everything smell good.
I did NOT know this about baking soda! I’ve heard shampoo is bad because it both is expensive AND strips your hair…. I tried to switch to dry shampoo but this didn’t work for me. I’m going to be interested to try out your method. And clean with it!
Hey! I found your blog from then link on the FB Mama support group. I love it. And congrats on girl #2! So fun.
I moved here about a year ago, and until then used all sorts of cleaning products. A friend introduced me to using vinegar and baking soda to clean in the house and I’ve switched almost exclusively to that. I’m also going to start making my own detergent. Yay! I’m just waiting until I’m done with what I already have. Making myself practice restraint. Not something I’m good at. And at the beginning of October I actually gave up shampoo. Except I only use water on my hair. I had to learn I needed to brush my hair at least daily (I never used to brush my hair, *sigh*) to get the oils worked away from my scalp so they wouldn’t build up (ewww.), but now I’m loving it. My hair has never been so awesome. I was using shampoo on my girls about once every other week, so I’m giving that up and just teaching them to scrub their scalps (Uh, well, doing it for them, since they’re 5 1/2, 4 and almost 2) and I don’t use any soaps on them. That started because my oldest had really bad eczema until she was 18 months and you’re not supposed to use a lot of soap for fear of them drying out. We just let them have long baths and do a lot of soaking.
But anyway, loved this post. Kind of inspires me to do even more of the natural when cleaning.
Never got the idea of having a tight budget like yours! I thought baking soda is not applicable for our hair and it is only good for cleaning the house. Whoa! I really adore you and your tight budget, it really gives you a magnificent result!
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