Problems with Waxy Hair

Hi! I tried the No Poo method several years ago for a short time with baking soda & ACV, but it dried my hair out & I was afraid it was breaking off! Now, I have contact dermatitis (skin allergies), so I started the No Poo Method again in the beginning of April. I started with an egg instead of using a clarifying shampoo. I only used water after that, but then my hair got really waxy in the front. I have dandruff now, which isn’t something I’ve had to deal with in the past. I researched & researched concluding that the wax is from my hard water. I’ve read how shower filters & the like don’t help enough & people that have super hard water can’t really do the No Poo Method, unless, they use distilled water. So I started using rain water & distilled water from my parent’s dehumidifier. This is not easy or convenient & it hurts my neck washing it in a pot. My hair goes past my hips, so it’s also hard with having such long hair, but I’m determined to see this through & try everything I can to make this work. The wax didn’t go away, but seemed like it may not be quite as bad with the rain water. So I used ACV diluted with water to try to get the wax out. That helped, but not enough. So I tried a stronger mixture with a 1:4 ratio, which helped more, but still not enough. The first time my hair didn’t smell like ACV, but with the 4:1 ratio my hair stunk like ACV for at least a week, even after washing it with water days after. Now, I am trying to figure out what to do. My hair smells like dirty hair & still has some wax build up. I ordered a boar bristle brush & a wooden bristle brush to help brush everything out. Every time I brush my hair I have to clean the white waxy build up off it. If I massage my scalp I will have white stuff all over my fingers, then the water just beads up off my hands. It’s hard to even get off with soap; I have to wipe it off with a rag. I’m not sure if I should try the stronger ratios of ACV a time or two more to get the wax out, try eggs again or if I should just go ahead & try the baking soda. I just hate to use the baking soda, since it dried my hair out so bad the last time. I’ve read people using rye flour, but I’m gluten sensitive. I read about one woman who still has the waxy build up even w/ using distilled water, so she doesn’t think it’s from hard water, which is concerning. Ideally, I would like to get the wax out and then use distilled water from then on if it didn’t get smelly. Does anyone have any tips or advice?

What I learned from reading comments…I started No Poo about 8 months ago. Don’t use Baking Soda, it affects the ph balance of your hair. This is what I do for my oily hair, not sure if it would work for waxy hair…section off the oily/waxy hair ( tie the rest of you hair back out of the way. Wet just the oily hair and use a little shampoo to wash the wax out…be sure to not get any shampoo on your scalp. Rinse with water. I also use Apple Cider vinegar just my scalp… spray bottle with water/ACV set on straight stream. Part my hair and spray the part/scalp. I do a part about every inch. Let set for a 15 minutes and rinse…

Hi LauraBeth. I have felt your pain and wanted to share my experience as it might help you.

I live in an area with very hard water (surrounded by chalky cliffs and constant limescale) and after 4 to 5 weeks of washing with mostly chickpea flour and an ACV rinse, I had the most horrendous build up of wax on the ends of my hair. It looked awful and took hours to dry properly.

So I made some changes to my routine.

  1. I ordered a cheap shower head filter.

  2. Then I decided to wash the ends of my hair only using a strong bicarb, water and ACV mix (i know this is bad but I did it as a one off to really lift some of the wax). I kept rubbing the ends of my hair together between my hands just to really try and lift the wax.

  3. I followed the above straight away with a wash using a 100% natural soap nut “shampoo” bar - this was because I read that soap nuts are great for hard water and I also generally wanted something more convenient.

  4. I rinsed well and followed the soap nut wash with my usual ACV rinse.

  5. I waited until my hair was damp and then brushed repeatedly using a plastic bristle brush to pull out some of the wax.

Once I’d finished brushing and when my hair had dried I felt that most of the wax had gone and I was soooooo happy.

My subsequent washes have been using the shower head filter, with the soap nut bar and an ACV rinse. So far I’ve done two further washes and the waxy issue appears to have completely gone away now! My hair is also becoming less dry, tangled and frizzy on the ends.

To date I have tried ACV only, egg washes, chickpea flour washes and now the soap nut bar - i couldnt get on with ACV only or egg wash. The chick pea flour was good, but the soap nut bar really trumps all of them. Would highly recommend. I did start using the shower filter at the same time though, so it’s hard to say whether the change is solely down to that!

Thank you for your help! I will try that for my last result. I’m just really trying not to use shampoo or any products, unless, I can’t make it work. :slight_smile:

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and help me! Haha, do you live in the Ozarks too? :wink: That’s interesting that the ends of your hair are what got waxy when for me it was the roots and mostly, on the top of my head. I wonder why. I’m going to try some more ACV washes, and if I have to go back to soap I’ll try the soap nut bars. That sounds way better than shampoo!

Haha not Ozarks (I wish!) but White Cliffs of Dover UK. Hi from the other side of the pond :wave:

Yes that is strange, ‘no poo’ seems to affect so many people so differently - we all seem to end up on unique hair journeys! I dont think I’ve ever done this much experimentation with different washes and rinses through my hair.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you that the extra ACV rinses get it sorted :slightly_smiling_face:

Haha, cool :slight_smile: Hellooo! :raising_hand_woman:
Thank you👌