This is a one-gallon lawn sprayer, like you might sling over your shoulder, filled with poison or margarita mix. You might also rest it on the bench of your shower compartment, filled with hot water. Different strokes. I'm not here to judge.
I started out filling it completely with hot water, but by the end of my first shower I had half the container left.
The next time, I filled it only halfway. I got wet, I got sudsy, I got rinsed, I got clean. It was the whole package. Still half left.
[PSA: I just learned that suds have no connection to cleaning power. I've been sold a bubbly bill of goods.]
Annie tried it, too, and declared it yucky. And, no. It's not wonderful like standing under endlessly hot water as though you were in a hotel. It's wonderful like I don't have to decamp to go get more water. It's wonderful like I feel and smell as though I just took a shower, because I did.
Have any of you gone no-poo? I accidentally went SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate)-free when I started using Avalon Organics, and I know that my hair doesn't get as oily, and neither does my face. I was crediting a phantom menopause, but after I started reading I took back menopause's credit and gave it to an SLS-free product.
I'm curious about no-poo, but a little afraid.
I'm curious about no-poo, but a little afraid.
20 comments:
no-par sounds like a constipation problem :~)
Is this all so you can boondock longer in one place?
I've heard using baby wipes works pretty good for body odor reduction.
Darn that auto correct! It corrected no-poo to no-par!
"I've been sold a bubbly bill of goods"...hahahahaha isnt that crazy about suds? they are put there so we FEEL like we are getting cleaner:) big sigh of relief over the menopause scare.....
Amazing that you can shower on 1/2 gallon of water! That is wondrous, and makes me feel guilty over how much water I waste in the shower. I like the margarita mix idea too. I could brush my teeth with it for a tasty bright smile.
Re: the SLS...I stopped buying any product that contains it a few years back. It seems especially hazardous in toothpaste...most brands contain it, even the cruelty free ones. But I've found that Jason Organics and Weleda leave it out. Of course, I should be frugal and just brush with baking soda and/or finely ground sticks and stones...
Finely ground sticks and stones! *grabs pencil and Moleskine* Hahaha! You're pushing me to the brink of my Thriftianity. I think I'm still buying into the fluoride orthodoxy, but I'm willing to be talked down on that. Something else to research.
Oh, make no mistake: if I were in my house, in my ordinary life, I would be standing under the stream until the water heater gave out. I have no middle ground. I tried being moderate and just taking short showers, and I could NOT do it. Out here in the Duck, I have been taking military showers. Which is fine, but there's that thread of obsession that runs through everything, and I had to see how far I could take it.
I KNOW! Something else The Man uses to keep us down and oppressed! And overcleaned! :oD Yes, that is a shocker for me. Wait a minute - does that mean the extra-expensive HE laundry detergent just has something left out to make it extra-expensive???
At my age there are really only two menopause alternatives: do it, or don't make it. So, I'm resigned. It's now, or it's next week, but it's coming, like Something Evil.
The iProducts make me insane with their Autocorrect! I seriously can't take it, especially when bundled with a non-keyboard. If my MacBook did that it would have been out the window already. But, Annie loves her iPad a lot, so apparently we stick together despite our incompatibility. :)
Ha! Doesn't it?
Yeah, that's my main motivation. I don't want to skimp on drinking or cooking water, but this seems like a way I can comfortably make a serious reduction.
Definitely true about the baby wipes. But, it's good to know that after a month of baby wipes I can take a luxurious one-quart shower. :oD
Not sure I understand why the very short shower. If you are camping, you should have access to water wherever you are. Is it the dumping thing or the more water thing that has you doing this?
hey! don't be afraid of no-poo! i have been no-poo for 18 months, using baking soda once or twice a week. as of today, i am about 10 days into to no-poo, no-baking soda. the last couple days were iffy, felt a little greasy, but oh, the body! just warm water rinses every couple days. i am determined to stick it out for a couple weeks more and see the results (after all i never believed that just baking soda would work, either!) today it feels a little better, just a little strange in the back. we'll see.
i also went no soap at the same time! gonna blog it up soon. i was real REAL skeptical about that, because i obsess about being smelly. i used to struggle with underarm odor, but since i have gone no soap, my underarm odor is almost non-existant. i use a dusting of baking soda on the pits. i love the freedom! (caveat: i am interested to see what happens in hot weather, or when i am more active )
i love your shower! i had one of those, but for space reasons, went to a roll up black solar bag type thing. here's what i did with my sprayer.....i'd fill it up with warm water for first shower, but only use part of sprayer. next time, i'd add some boiling water for a warm shower.....and keep adding like that, enough to warm it up. great for boondocking or in low water situations.
you can read about no-poo here, lots of great comments from readers....
http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com/2009/09/no-poo-four-update.html
http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com/2009/08/no-poo-three.html
Hi Pidge,
We don't plan to spend a lot of time at campgrounds, and we hope to find a lot of boondocking opportunities (not WalMart as much as a little patch of desert). For that reason (and the dumping, too), we want to be able to radically conserve resources like water.
You know, it was probably reading your blog that started me on this no-poo line of thought. I hadn't considered noap (that's probably not what you call no-soap!). Do you think the ingredients in soap feed the bacteria? Something more for me to read about.
So, now not even baking soda? What about vinegar? Just warm water? I'll follow you closely to see how it's going! I do believe we've been sold a bill of goods about a lot more than suds, so I'm not skeptical, just not a pioneer.
Did you heat your water in the sun with the black bag, or just use it as the reservoir? I hadn't thought of that - here I am wasting space like it's nothing! I forgot to add in the post that the pressure is fine for nook-and-cranny access ... TMI?
ha, you are SO much better than me at replying to comments!
the soap thing....i think it upsets the normal flora and critters and allows nasties to grow. i also think we've been groomed by our culture (and soap company profits) to think that normal is "absence of all odor". i just got out of the shower. no poo, no BS, no soap, just a good hot water scrub with a clean (every time) washcloth, along with a good scalp massage. i feel wonderful, and smell great. the cloth (i prefer the cheaper thin washcloths that are a bit rougher, to act as an exfoliant).
nope, nothing on the hair right now. and like i said, the jury is still out. my fine limp hair is so thick and full i can't believe it! but it feels "different", and so i'm giving it some time before the final judgement.
the black bag is a heavy duty water bladder from MSR: i have the largest (i think 5 gal.) with the shower adaptor. it is also great water storage. it heats in the sun, or i add hot water from the teakettle:
http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/water-treatment-and-hydration/expedition-water-treatment-and-hydration/dromedary-bags/product
i used to have a smaller dromedary bag, in red, that i traded for the bigger black one, but you can see it in use in the desert here:
http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com/2009/06/hygeine-on-road.html
never TMI! i do miss the pressure for just that reason, although with a full 5 gal bag hung high, and the small shower nozzle, you do get some bit of pressure. hanging high is often the issue :-)
i'll be following to see how things go, and will be updating my blog too!
NOPOO. I just went into gales of laughter at the word. I wasn't thinking shampoo at all! More like constipation.
But now that you all have cleared this up for me, I must admit that I find my skin, including my scalp dries out terribly using soaps. The "bubbles" are definitely a marketing tool.
As for "odor", with decreased stress I find that is no longer a problem. And baking soda works great for teeth and armpits.
I run 4-5 miles every other day and even after finishing my run I find that if I just rinse off my hair and body with regular water, forget the soap, it's just fine. I do use chemical free "shampoo" about once a week but often just wash the hair in the sink. Even water dries out my skin.
But if you tell some folks that you don't shower every single day, they start backing away. LOL
Sherry
www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com
Ha! Now that you mention it, the other no-poo would be convenient in the mobile lifestyle.
Do you want to take the rest stop, or use the Nature's Head?
Neither one, thanks - I've gone No-Poo!
Interesting about stress and aroma. I'd never thought about that as a factor. It's true about perceptions, and what Madison Avenue did to our hygiene practices. FDS is the most egregious example I can think of, but I'm realizing slowly that 95% of what we "know" is just hype and marketing.
Your sprayer sounds a lot better than breaking the ice in the stream and crawling in like I would have to do right now!
ACK. Don't even joke about such things! Where are you, that bathing requires an ice auger? Please, just wait 'till spring!
It sounds like a great idea. Much better than a gallon jug because I waste most of it when I try that. You don't suppose I could clean out the one I used for the horse's fly spray? Naw I guess not.
I don't know ... you might appreciate the residue come summer, if you don't start trying to swat your back with your tail.
I've been no poo for years now - at least a decade. I wash my hair with water and conditioner. The friction of a good massage loosens any dirt and the lack of soap keeps my hair in the best condition of my life. And yes, I don't need to wash as often. I had a friend do the sniff test and my hair doesn't smell.
As for the baking soda, it is too harsh for my curly hair and is ineffective as a deodorant. I've tried to go with the natural deodorant and it doesn't work. Not really. I think some people are lucky enuf to not be very smelly but most of us are smelly unless we take baths 2-3 times a day.
How's your composting toilet working out? We need an update on it.
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