Cleaning scalp with diluted tea tree oil?

[nietsdoen]

I've recently started water only washing, and tea tree oil is an essential oil that is anti-bacterial and cleans a bit, so I'm thinking of using it when/if my hair starts to smell or look icky. Has anyone tried this? What are your thoughts?

[nietsdoen]

A little update: Last night, I put 8 or so drops of tea tree oil into a bowl, filled it with a little water (like a cm from the rim), swooshed it around, and dipped my fingers in it and massaged at my scalp repeatedly in different places, then poured the rest onto my nape and onto my forehead where my bangs were (the oilest part), and did the whole preening/massaging thing (for water only). Then I rinsed in cold water.

Then, this morning, I took a shower and rinsed it again but without any preening or massaging. It dried, and I notice that my roots looK A LOT better. They don't look as greasy and feel kind of polished and my hair smells minty!

I feel like I've made a small, but cool, discovery. Although I'm sure other must have done this.

[pelicano]

Glad it's working for you. :)

I personally find tea tree oil very drying...

[nietsdoen]

Glad it's working for you. :)

I personally find tea tree oil very drying...

Interesting. I can see this. My hair was getting pretty greasy, and it cut the grease maybe in half. Can't imagine doing that to shampooed hair.

[Natalia]

Great to know thanks for posting your experiment. Im WO too and have been having more trouble lately especially with our hard water problem. I have a huge container of TTO so thi smight be worth a shot.

[UltraBella]

Tea tree oil is very drying for me as well.
On the bottle I have it states that it must be mixed with a carrier oil and that it should not be applied directly to the skin, so I always assumed it would be terrible for my hair.
Then again, I think water only washing would be terrible for me too, personally. I think my scalp would freak out totally. If I wait too long between washes it itches and I feel so much better after a good scalp scrubbing.

[Natalia]

Just wanted to stop back in since i plan to experiment with an alternate cleanser soon. This weekend im thinking of trying a coffee rinse to help cleanse my roots. I oiled my ends throughly last night so hopefully it wont overdry them just my roots. So if anyone find TTO too drying it might be worth a try for you. Figure if it dried out my S&C hair maybe it will be just cleansing enough to work on my WO hair.

[BunnyBee]

Water is not effective for diluting essential oils, however you can use ACV for diluting, then add the water.

[slz]

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