Water only washing, WO, 2018

[Olux]

So 4 years ago i started to experiment with alternatives to commercial shampoos with very bad results at the beginning due to my lack of information. Since then i have been through periods in which i give up and then go back to experiment what is best for my hair.
I started with BS followed by ACV rinse and didn't like it at all. Then i started to stretch hair wash days from every day to every other day.
I have to mention that i used to constantly bleach and used to flat iron my hair often as well.
Then i switched to chemicals free shampoo and conditioner. This took a while for my hair to get used to, but when it did i stretched my hair washes even more to twice per week.
Then i started oiling and putting deep conditioning products in my hair before wash day. During this time i kept bleaching and using styling tools, less often than before though, sometimes i would go back to regular, but expensive hair products through multiple times, by my hairstylist advice. At first they would work great, but the effect would wear out gradually the more i continued its use, until i was there right back to the beginning, feeling guilty for not being tough and determined enough during transition phase. at this point my search for a hairdresser that actually have some respect for my hair started until i landed with the current one I'm going to, who i consider "less bad than the others", to put it someway. She is very expensive, but i can go 2 or 3 times per year and my haircut looks fresh and her color technique allows me to look ok/decent enough for a while, plus she started to understand i don't want to be overwhelmed with the offering of the tons of products and treatments she sells.
This time i growing my natural color again (long story in between) and i have been 2 months completely free of any kind of bad or good chemical shampoo, only natural methods. At this point i wash my hair in a weekly basis, i stretch it more if i can, or more often if i have to, due to social events. I completely quit heat tools, actually i stepped by accident in my old very expensive flat iron recently (took it as a sign).
I'm very thankful for all the posts in this thread, cause I'm wanting to give it a try to WO and its so helpful to read your experiences with it.

[Olux]

And though I'm not water only (yet) i think i have a few advices that worked for me during my transition and i hope you could find as helpful as i found yours.
I excuse if i make grammatical mistakes since English isn't my first language, but i hope the message its clear enough.
First is related to my battle against hair wax. Oh how i suffered, this was one of the main reasons it took me so long to quit shampoo, even when shampoo was not the giving me the best results.
So i read apple sauce would help with that and everytime it was my wash day (which was more often that i wanted too at this point cause all of the horrible looking wax) i would alternate between my homemade applesauce, egg yolk and vinegar rinses. After about a month, it got better, but not enough. So i did it all together. First i let the applesauce mask sit for an hour on my dry hair, then rinsed it with water and applied the mixture of 2 eggyolks (non-diluted) with one spoon of honey and one spoon of olive oil. And for final rinse i diluted a couple spoons of vinegar in a lot of water. When my hair dried it wasnt looking smooth and silky, it looked stripped, with a lot of flyaway hairs (which i have a lot cause breakage in my lengths before i stopped bleaching), but since then i have been wax free
Since then i adopted the egg yolk cleanse as my main kind of cleanse, mixed with other natural hair masks and rinses.
My second advice has to do with the hard water. After the first month i started this journey i thought of ordering a camping shower head in Amazon. I live in Mexico, the water is very hard, it smells heavily like chlorine and the dream of showering with soft water was growing very strong in me. But i live in a rental house, i might have to move soon again and the idea of spending tons of money in a whole softening system seems impossible by now. I did went through lots of shower head filters, in all price ranges, they helped a little, but it wasn't enough.
As i said before, i ended ordering the camping shower head and buying jugs of purified water, a bog one one varies from 1 to 2 dollars in my city. I only spend like 4 dollar per month, since i only use it for my hair.
Since then i've been watching my hair with very cold water (cause its winter, and the room temperature is cold) at the ebd of my shower and results have been beyond great.
My DBF ordered me now a portable water heater (a piece of metal you put inside the bucket of water), but I'm a little concerned, cause the cold water might have more benefits, according to what i've read. It's nice to have the option though.
So my main concern right now about switching to WO has been the amount of water i would need to rinse all the oils out. But that i will have to find out yet.

[Olux]

I forgot to mentioned i've done other stuff that might have contributed with my wax problem, but those are the main things that i think helped the most.
One was putting amla fruit juice (which i bought in the frozen stuff aisle of an indian supermarket) directly to my scalp and lenghts. Just read it might have chelating properties.

[Tinyponies]

Thanks for sharing your experience Olux, it was interesting reading. I especially love my cold water rinses too.

Enjoy your journey! Keep us updated.

There’s a new 2019 thread here: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...d.php?t=148692

(your English was great )

[Olux]

Thanks for sharing your experience Olux, it was interesting reading. I especially love my cold water rinses too.

Enjoy your journey! Keep us updated.

There’s a new 2019 thread here: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...d.php?t=148692

(your English was great )

Thanks! Ill follow it right now.

[01]

I forgot to mentioned i've done other stuff that might have contributed with my wax problem, but those are the main things that i think helped the most.
One was putting amla fruit juice (which i bought in the frozen stuff aisle of an indian supermarket) directly to my scalp and lenghts. Just read it might have chelating properties.

That's an interesting wash idea!

Obviously you just needed to use some natural washes, not hardcore/literal WO because it didn't work for you. Have you tried using egg yolk alone, without all that other stuff, maybe it wouldn't dry out your hair as much? Egg yolk is pretty cool, I agree!

[lovely26]

Hi I want to try water only washing only want to know success stories of people who did it and gain some thickness back and did it help in growing your hair long I have medium 1c/2a hair and right now I m washing once a week with Indian herbs.
Thanks

[lovely26]

Hi I want to try water only washing method. I want to know success stories of people who try it and gain some thickness in their hair and did it help in growing your hair long I have medium 1c/2a hair and right now I m washing once a week with Indian herbs.
Thanks

[purple_omelette]

There is already a thread for this https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...d.php?t=145310

[EdG]

Your present routine is pretty close to water-only. The goal is to avoid washing out all of the body's natural conditioner (sebum). Water-only washing, diluting shampoo, and stretching washes all have this effect.
Ed