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My grandmother used to keep a bucket outside to collect rainwater which she used to wash her hair. While I haven't tried this, I do notice that my hair is very soft after coming in from the rain.
I've been thinking I might try collecting it as my grandmother did. Has anyone else tried this?
In Bill Choisser's "On Being a Longhair" he discusses that in nature, the only thing we have to wash our hair with is cool rainwater or creek water.
Somebody a while back (don't remember who) said they were going on a two week experiment to not wash their hair, except to rinse it with water, and I have found that to be the best thing for me. My hair is smoother, and I have fewer tangles than ever, and it's been about a week and a half since I used shampoo and conditioner.
My girlfriend gives me a "sniff" test each day, to see if it has started to smell bad, and so far it hasn't!
I don't know if it's imperative to use actual rainwater or if tap water will work just as good.
Rising in Tap water works well for me, but makes my hair difficult to detangle. If I caught out in the rain (rare, cos I live in climate which gets less than 300mm of rain a year) then my hair is awful...
So I guess it depends where you live, wouldn't recommend it if you lived next to a power station...
*Wash with ACID RAIN and see the difference!*
The softness is due to the rainwater and a full wash rather than rain dampening will really have a greater effect. The one time I tried this myself was when going without running water on vacation. After waiting longer than the usual week, I was really ready to shampoo (before I knew about washing the scalp only, which would have required less water) and collected two gallons. This was enough to wash about four feet of hair so I am sure you will not need to collect much.
Using well water has given the same softening effect which makes sense, it is from the rain just filtered a bit more through soil and rocks. The water I had collected actually was snowmelt running over rocks and dripping down so easy to collect with a funnel over the milk jug. When saving water from runoff, off the roof comes to mind here too, be sure to pour into something else to prevent any sediment from agitating into the wash water. From an extra sandy day at the beach (and a bucket of a sand water mix poured on my head) I know stuff can be hiding on the scalp for weeks afterward. I was a lot younger then so maybe it would not take weeks now though.
Living in areas where the water was naturally softer, fewer minerals disolved in the water, the same wonderful hair effects were present. Some people change their hard water to soft for clothes washing with the addition of some sort of powder found in the laundry aisle. I have no idea if this would work on hair washing water because it is artificially softened and might have some odd results on the hair.
I'd say collect the rain, pick the bugs out of the bucket and give it a try on your hair.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth,
Thanks for your feedback about your experiences with various types of water. Now I really need to see a pic of your hair to
1) confirm you do indeed have long hair and
2) to see what effects, if any, your washing regimen has had on your hair.
Please provide a pic of yourself.
Thank you for your interest Jiargi, that is sweet of you. You are always most welcome to be one of the privileged few to benefit from my vast wisdom. :-)
Actually, as I was writing about an experience years ago, my hair is no longer four feet and it has little place here even if still was. The FAQs page advocates using a male hair photo whenever it is equally illustrative of a point. Perhaps you should experiment and post the result on you for all can benefit. I am surprised at your thinking though, softness is not a trait I would think conveys well in a photograph. Perhaps we should meet instead. A long hair picnic! Should you be up to it, write me privately and we can discuss many things.
Now if I posted a photo to satisfy your supposed desire, not a need, those are different things entirely, you might believe a wig is shown, the picture digitally altered, or not me at all. It is not for those reasons I choose not to present a photo at this time. Primarily, it is because it is not important to me to be believed. You are completely free to doubt, not that it believably seems like you do anyway.
Love,
Elizabeth
I don't really want to picnic with you. You've been somewhat condescending to me which doesn't sit too well with me.
I still would love to see a pic of your hair though. Please provide one.