:D I am very excited about this one. I think I found something really truly natural that my hair likes. For those of you who don't know Yucca is a plant that grows all over the western US. It is a really spiky plant with a very thick, fibrous root.

I still don't know how I came across this but I found an article on line about the Navajo tribe and shampoo. I thought, "humm, we have that all over the yard." So this morning I went out and dug my own shampoo!:cheese: It is a really interesting feeling seeing it go from the ground to your hair. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/american/navajoland/yucca.html

I cleaned the root and with a knife peeled the outer bark off it. (:patrol: It's pretty tough) After my hair was wet in the shower I took a stainless steel bowl with some warm water in it and rubbed the root like a bar of soap. :stirpot: Your hands and the bowl have to literally be squeaky clean or it won't work at all. It foams pretty well but I couldn't get it to look like they show in the article.:rolleyes: Then I poured the liquid over my scalp and massaged it in. :grin: So since my hair was pretty oily I decided to do multiple washes. Eventually I figured out that when you pull the root apart you can rapidly swish the bits of root (about and inch long, maybe a centimeter thick) in the water to get better foam, it doesn't take a lot of water.

I think I could have rinsed a little better, feels a tad bit gunky, but I'm learning :cool:. I didn't use conditioner and I don't really think I needed it. My hair is drying and it is really very soft and brushed out really easily.

I have always wanted to make my own shampoo but everything had to be special ordered so I never did it. I am impressed at how well it cleans, my scalp isn't oily and yet it didn't squeak when I touched it.

Con- you get little bits of yucca in your hair :doh: if you don't pour slowly
I don't think I rinsed well enough but I did do about three washing, a bit of overkill methinks ;)
If you don't have yucca where you are you would have to order it.

Pro- Clean scalp, I have seen articles that say it is good for dandruff so we will see about that
No funny smell
Soft hair
I didn't seem to need conditioner

Normally I don't jump the gun with this kind of stuff but I was so happy with it I had to share :flower:

I tried dried yucca as a shampoo - 2 species - several times a while ago. I could not get fresh yucca root where I am - Toronto, Canada - I ordered it online.

I infused it with boiled water, simmered water, used a hand blender to get it to foam and hand swishing before straining. I also tried it with warm water.

I found that both species left my hair with a residue that left it stringy/gunky after 2 consecutive washes several days apart, although they left my hair clean and soft right after washing. I tried both again after using shampoo to remove the residue - same thing - after 2 more tries in a row - the residue effect.

Yucca may have just needed a vinegar rinse to follow - I never tried that. I followed the yucca shampoo with catnip.

One species was more drying than the other. The more drying one was Yucca shidigera. I did research it - Shidigera has more saponins that the other species I used, which I believe was Yucca filimentosa - it did not get my hair as clean as the shidigera.

I did not keep my research records but I still have yucca in my cupboard, one bag just says yucca root - it is powdered and I think it is shidigera - the other is cut and sifted - it is shidigera - I do know that.

The first yucca I tried was the filimentosa but I threw that one out after buying the shidigera. If nothing else, taken internally, yucca is supposed to be good for arthritis - which thankfully, I do not have.

Cassava - the plant you can buy at the grocery store, that can be referred to as yucca is not a true yucca - that is just a common name for it. Cassava is used as a food and is high in starch.

I think that the fresh yucca root may be different in terms of the results I had with the dried root. I will be reading this thread with interest.

The colour of the liquid I got that I used as shampoo was a light golden yellow - it did not affect my hair colour or stain my grey/white. I did not leave in on my hair for long. It was easy to wash my hair with - it had a slip to it. I tested the liquid - yucca is acidic - I do not remember the approximate pH but is was not below 4.5 or very acidic.

I had no permanent problems or damage from trying dried yucca root as a shampoo. The residue washed out easily enough with conventional shampoo. Neither yucca species irritated my scalp or stung my eyes but I do not remember either getting in my eyes particularly.

I was just disappointed that it did not work out for me.

Curlyone congratulations on the Yucca wash. I have used Yucca before and it was okay. But it did try out my hair a little. It does clean very well through.

I recommend mixing it with conditioning herbs, and following up with a vinegar rinse. Herbs you could add are: marshmallow, red clover, elder flower, and horsetail. I have often used these together and gotten good results.

Thanks Shell

I was wondering about that.

I recommend mixing it with conditioning herbs, and following up with a vinegar rinse. Herbs you could add are: marshmallow, red clover, elder flower, and horsetail. I have often used these together and gotten good results.
Have you done yucca with this before? I don't claim to be an expert by any means but I seemed to get pretty good results with just the yucca. How would I go about adding other herbs to it? Would you do EO or the actual plant?

Have you done yucca with this before? I don't claim to be an expert by any means but I seemed to get pretty good results with just the yucca. How would I go about adding other herbs to it? Would you do EO or the actual plant?

Yep. I've added all of those herbs, and others, to my mix. I don't really use many EOs, I just used the dry herbs. Recipes will be forthcoming in the Western herb article, but generally 1/2 cup of yucca and 1/4 cup of the other herbs should do it.

Have fun!

Thank you a bunch!

Recipes will be forthcoming in the Western herb article
Now, when you say 'western' do you mean western US or something else? I would love stuff about plants here!

Thank you a bunch!


Now, when you say 'western' do you mean western US or something else? I would love stuff about plants here!

Western as opposed to Indian. We did an Indian herb article last year--you can read it in the articles section.

hibiscus and fenugreek are also good conditioning rinses. Hibiscus less than the fenugreek, but if you didn't need a conditioner, it might be all you need.

hibiscus and fenugreek are also good conditioning rinses. Hibiscus less than the fenugreek, but if you didn't need a conditioner, it might be all you need.

Hibiscus can give you red highlights, and be sure to buy powdered fenugreek, or strain it.

i just want to contribute my yucca experience to this thread since I LOVE IT!!

i live in north florida and have access to fresh "adam's needle" yucca plants at my parents' 20-acre wooded yard, so last weekend my husband and i decided to dig some up (we thought it was the edible type of yucca--oops!). even though it wasn't edible, when i learned about the saponins in it i decided to try it out...

as others have already detailed, you have to peel the hard bark off first, but it's not too bad. then i chopped it into small pieces and pulverized it (as best i could) with a mortar&pestle, added water here and there, and lo and behold it lathered a bit! i decided not to boil it since i had read that heating it destroys the saponins in the root, but that may or may not be true. in any case, it didn't need boiling.

so after i had a foamy liquid pulpy mess, i poured the liquid onto my wet hair and sort of rubbed it in, let it sit for a minute, and rinsed. my hair combed out easily and actually got clean!

the next day i went the extra mile and used a stick blender to get as much lather as i could out of the root pieces, and the wash was even better. so now i'm on consecutive day 3 of yucca root washing and i totally love it; my hair is soft, shiny, and feels like it is retaining its own moisture and oils while not looking oily or dirty at all. no conditioner needed, despite my pretty fried ends from old bleachings. i do need to wash every day with it--probably because it is not a strong detergent like regular shampoo--but i'm ok with that.

note: my skin burned a little bit after the washing, around my face and neck, but there was no rash or redness of any kind and it went away after a few minutes... *shrug* apparently some people DO get rashes though, so be warned!