Rye Flour "Shampoo" Washing Method

[Reyn127]

Hello all!

I am hoping to create an ongoing thread for those of us who use or are interested in using rye flour (or similar) to wash their hair! There have been a few threads already started on this topic, but none which are recently active or serve as a great database for very much information, in one thread. I'm hoping this is allowed to stay on the Mane Forum despite being more of an "herbal" method, because threads over there get MUCH less traffic and easily go dead. And I've been clogging up the Water Only thread for a while, so here is our own!

The main idea is to mix water and rye flour, apply to your scalp/hair like any other "shampoo," rinse out as much as possible, and then let the remaining flour fall out as your hair dries. Technically you can use any low-gluten grain flour and it should work similarly - rice, chickpea, oat, etc. are all possibilities.

Now, does this really work???
For me, it has worked. For some, it doesn't. It depends on your individual hair, your goals, how you desire your hair to feel, and so on. Depending on your water to flour ratio, your technique while applying it, and probably a few other factors, you can end up with pretty different results, sometimes better than others.
Some common PROS I've encountered or heard about are:
-It's all natural. Doesn't contain chemicals,shouldn't cause irritation, eco friendly, etc.
-It's PH balanced, which is somewhat uncommon with alternative hair washing methods. There's nothing you need to do to balance back your scalp PH after using it.
-It doesn't strip your hair like a soap or strong shampoo would.

And some common CONS, as well:
-It's inconvenient. It takes longer to wash than it would with shampoo, and although it can be travel-friendly, it makes a mess which might be difficult to explain to travel partners.
-You are usually left with flakes in your hair that the water can't rinse out, they only come out when your hair is drying.
-Some people's hair gets dried out/frizzy/unmanageable after using flours/powders. Some people's sebum doesn't get fully washed away. So depending on your hair you may get varying levels of success or failure.
-Used alone, it is NOT conditioning, so you may need to figure out something to help you there.

Here are a handful of pictures showing my personal success. The "dirty" hair pictures here are taken after not washing my hair at all for 2-3 weeks, and the "clean" hair pictures are taken the day after washing, once it's all dry. It is very different lighting, but you should be able to see the difference in oiliness:







There are still a few rye flour flakes remaining in my hair in those "clean" pictures. That is way more than I usually have left once my hair is fully dried, but that day I was in a bit of a rush and didn't get them all out right away. But as you can see, the flour can get a good deal of sebum cleansed away!

Overall, I have personally stopped looking for other no-poo methods after landing on this one, despite the challenges. After going no-poo about two years ago, I experimented with a bunch of things for a year before trying out rye flour, and since then, I have dropped every other cleansing method besides the rye flour and water only.

I hope this is a decent start to this thread. My next post here is gonna be my routine, aka basically HOW to do this method. Coming right up with that.....

[Reyn127]

Here’s my personal washing method, plus a few tips/tweaks I’ve discovered or heard about:

Just about any low-gluten flour should work. The finer the grind, the better, as bigger particles don’t rinse out as well. I learned that hard way that stone-ground flour is not ideal, although it works just fine.

Right before showering I mix up the “shampoo.” I used to mix it up about an hour before showering, but after learning a bit about breadmaking I learned that that is NOT a good idea - letting it sit in the water will make the gluten develop more, and we want to avoid high gluten flours as much as possible with flour washing. The gluten sticks, while the starch rinses out fairly well.

For my hair (since about hip length, high end of II thickness), I use about half a cup of dry flour, and as much warm water as it takes to make it around a thick shampoo consistency. Most people add more water, sometimes so much that it can be applied through an applicator bottle. I like the thick consistency personally, but it IS much harder to apply evenly on the scalp. I also add a few drops of essential oil, and mix thoroughly.

Once in the shower, I wet my hair and do a small amount of preening on my scalp to make sure everything is saturated with water. And then a basically scoop/pour small handfuls of the rye mush onto my scalp. I need to lift my hair away from my scalp to do this thoroughly. A lot of the time I will apply it from below as well as above, if that makes sense - I’ll come from down by my neck and smear it upwards, as well as putting it on top of my head and working it down. It’s during this time that I can really see why some people do it with more water and an applicator bottle.

Once it’s all applied, I usually let it sit on my head for a few minutes. It seems to soak in more and clean better if I leave it on for a bit. Near the end of those few minutes, I will add a tiny splash more water from the shower head and work it in, kind of like sudsing up regular shampoo. I actually get a little bit of a lather from it once I add more water after letting it rest on my head. I’m not sure if that’s also the case if you were to start with a more watery product in the first place, though.

Once it’s all on, rested, and lathered a tiny bit, I go right into rinsing. When I first started, I tried to rinse out as much flour as possible in the shower, trying to avoid getting the flakes out while drying. But after a while, I realized that you’ll just be wasting time trying to rinse beyond a certain point. Some flakes just do not come out in the water. Basically, as far as I’ve discovered, once the water from your hair is no longer flooded with bits of flour, you’re probably done. I used to rinse for a good 20 minutes before giving up, now I’ll rinse for maybe 5 minutes before I realize it’s as good as it’ll get in the water.

After that I’ll condition my ends, and get out. There are still usually a bunch of flour flakes in my hair, which I think is very common. But they DO mostly fall out on their own as your hair dries. Both airdrying and blowdrying work just fine, it’s simply a matter of your preference.

For me, the washing process takes about 30 minutes, plus drying time. So about an hour and a half with a cool blowdry to get the majority of the flakes out.

And that’s that! There are of course more tips and tricks and whatnot, but this is the gist of my own personal routine. I am super interested in hearing about all of YOUR experiences, experiments, and questions as well!

Let’s get this thread started and going strong!

[JennGalt]

Thanks for sharing your method. I assume this would work similarly with cornstarch? I have a bunch of the stuff that needs to be used up before I move across the country in a few weeks. I’ve used it in hair masks before and my hair seems to like it, but hates shampoo. I just never thought to use it to clean my hair until now. Any words of wisdom or routine tweaks from cornstarch users?

(Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this. I don’t mean to hijack a thread.)

[elfynity]

Yay Reyn, I am so excited that this thread is up! Washing with flour is such a legit way to shampoo your hair. I really had no idea how incredibly effective it was until I tried it myself. I am still amazed that something so simple can work so well. Rye specifically, from what I've researched, has a lot of minerals and nutrients that are very good for your hair when used topically - hence the reason to specifically use organic fine rye. I still haven't been able to get my hands on the fine ground one yet, so still using cornstrach when I need to.

One of my future experiments is to oil my hair and see how well the flour washes it out. But I will probably only try that early next year.

Thanks for sharing your method. I assume this would work similarly with cornstarch? I have a bunch of the stuff that needs to be used up before I move across the
country in a few weeks. I’ve used it in hair masks before and my hair seems to like it, but hates shampoo. I just never thought to use it to clean my hair until now. Any words of wisdom or routine tweaks from cornstarch users?

(Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this. I don’t mean to hijack a thread.)

Jenny, I have used cornstarch shampoo in my hair to wash on a few occasions. I mixed 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into water and have made pastes with it and put it into a spray bottle. It works incredibly well! Cornstarch also is so fine that there is no visible sediment at all left in your hair. My hair was greasy before going in and clean when I left. It is not the sort of clean that shampoo leaves you with though. Shampoo dries out your hair and seems to remove it's 'life' so to speak. You will have to try it. I didn't specifically wash my ends with the mix as I didn't want too much drying out there, and just allowed the mixture to rinse out down my ends for a gentle wash. Hope that helps you make a decision.

[TwilightMermaid]

Your hair looks super healthy in the clean photos! Also does anyone think it would be suspicious if you take some rye flour in a pot on a plane? Or will they not allow it because it's food, plant, etc. product. I'm sorry I. Just looking for a travel compatible no poo or low poo method. And I actually have a pancake mix of gluten free flour I'd like to us on hand.😋

[Reyn127]

JennGalt, no worries about hijacking, I think it’s all the same principle. I’ve never used corn starch myself, but I do know that it’s the starch doing the cleaning, so it should work.

TwilightMermaid, I actually brought an entire bag of rye flour on the plane a few months ago. They did do a little search of my bag because it looked weird on the x-ray, but they let me have it with no problem. I think as long as you don’t bring a ton like I did, you should be just fine.

[squirrrel]

I’m currently sat with a mix of extra fine ground besan flour and water on my head. I tried 1/4 cup this time, I think I might make it 1/3 another time.

I followed instructions I found on YouTube that suggested that if I sifted the flour before adding the water this would cut down on those white flakes. We shall see. I left it in for a bit as I’m not washing my body at this time, and decided to give it a little time to soak into my hair before rinsing out. I’m considering following up with a herbal tea rinse.

I shall report back when it is dry/tomorrow.

[MusicalSpoons]

Subscribing to this thread as cornflour (cornstarch) works well as a dry shampoo for me; cornflour wet shampoo is a no-poo method I might be tempted to try

[squirrrel]

Tomorrow has arrived. My hair has dried, and been brushed (tangle teezer) around half an hour ago. I didn’t specifically note many flecks of flour, but my brush definitely picked some up.

First thoughts... my hair is clean, soft, and fluffy. It doesn’t look hours since I brushed it, as often happens to me. Some of the condition could be due to the other recent washes, but feeling conditioned when I have only used one substance (decided to delay the herbal rinse as I want to Team that with a planned rice water soak) is a surprise.

Compared to other things I have put on my hair, the package of besan flour cost just over £1, probably around $1 for those of you in America, and the amount I used barely made a dent. I suspect I could get many washes from one packet. Plus, with only adding water to taste, it is simple and easy to make. It could well make the travel with no poo washing materials easier. Having just got back from a trip when I reluctantly took along some Shea Moisture conditioner to wash my hair with, that’s a big thing.

Overall, I would say that’s a good experience.

[ReptilianFeline]

I've been no-poo for a little bit more than a year now. My base is besan/chickpea flour at the moment with neem, henna, indigo and/or katam as a scrub. I sometimes add a bit of aloe vera gel to it and usually a bit of citric acid to keep the pH down. I have hard water so I need the acid to remove buildup, so I also rinse in magic water.

I've tried rye flour but didn't like the bits that stuck to my hair. Instead I let it ferment and just use the water from it.

I will try starch as a poo.