Why shampoo?

Do you wash your hair with shampoo? Of course, every day.

But shampoo is bad for your hair!

Would you want to wash your hair in dishwashing liquid? Well, this is what you do. Shampoo is a detergent, like dishwashing liquid or bathroom cleaner, and it is made from oil. The only difference with shampoo is that it is not quite so strong, and has a nice perfume.

It is true that shampoo does clean your hair, but it also removes natural oils from your hair, which help keep your hair smooth, shiny and healthy. Your hair becomes dry and brittle, is badly damaged, and looks terrible.

Many years ago everyone used soap to wash their hair. Soap is made from vegetable and animal fats, and contains natural oils. It cleans your hair without damage.

But soap works best in soft water. Nowadays the water in most big cities is hard and alkaline, and soap does not work well in alkaline conditions.

So companies started making shampoo from detergent, which works well in all kinds of water. The shampoo companies quickly realised that their shampoo was damaging everyone’s hair, so they started selling conditioner, which replaces the natural oils in your hair. But conditioners are made with artificial oils which last only a day or two. So you need to wash your hair every day and use lots of shampoo and lots of conditioner, and your hair’s natural oils are lost.

Soap is much better than shampoo, the problem is the water.

If you live in an area with soft or medium water then it is easy to use soap, and you don’t even need any conditioner.

But if you live in an area with hard water you can still use soap if you put a little acid into the water to balance the alkali. For example you could fill a big jug with water and put a little vinegar (about a teaspoon) into the water, and use this for both washing and rinsing. This small amount of vinegar shouldn’t smell, but if you don’t like vinegar you could try lemon juice or even beer! If the water in your area is really hard then it may be best to use a little conditioner too.

This should leave your hair clean and shiny. You may find that you don’t need to wash your hair every day, sometimes warm water is enough. Your hair will clean itself with its natural oils and look even better.