- 7 hours ago
Could a simpler hair-washing routine help you spend less on shampoo? This video explores an old-fashioned, Amish-inspired approach built around baking soda, diluted vinegar, less frequent washing, and gentle brushing. It explains how the routine is intended to cleanse hair, smooth the strands, and reduce reliance on commercial products, while noting that baking soda may not suit every hair type.
Alongside the soda-and-vinegar wash, discover practical natural hair care tips: using cornstarch between washes, adding a little oil to dry ends, rinsing with cool water, and handling wet hair gently. This traditional hair care guide is for anyone curious about homemade shampoo alternatives, budget-friendly beauty routines, and simple ways to care for their scalp and hair.
Alongside the soda-and-vinegar wash, discover practical natural hair care tips: using cornstarch between washes, adding a little oil to dry ends, rinsing with cool water, and handling wet hair gently. This traditional hair care guide is for anyone curious about homemade shampoo alternatives, budget-friendly beauty routines, and simple ways to care for their scalp and hair.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00There is a small bottle in your house that you will empty and buy again and empty and buy again
00:06every month for the rest of your life.
00:09And I'm going to tell you something about it that the people who sell it to you will never, ever
00:14say out loud.
00:15It is not that it fails you. It is far stranger than that.
00:19It works just well enough, in just the wrong way, that it quietly makes certain you can never stop buying
00:26it.
00:26You have been caught in it for years and never once felt the trap close.
00:31And here is the part that will stop you where you stand.
00:34The very habit you built up to fix the problem, the thing you do faithfully every second or third morning,
00:41the thing you would swear you must do, is the one thing keeping the problem alive.
00:47You are not failing at it. You are doing exactly what it was designed to make you do.
00:52Stop that one habit the way the old folk did, and within a fortnight, the whole thing unravels on its
00:59own.
01:00My mother never once bought that bottle, not in forty years.
01:05And she did not go without, nor look a fright for it.
01:08Her hair stayed clean and soft and thick through the leanest winters we ever knew,
01:13and the whole of it cost her a few pennies a month from two plain things she already kept in
01:19the house,
01:20that I will wager are in yours this very minute.
01:23Most folk walk past both of them every single day and never dream what they can do.
01:29So stay with me, for I am going to hand you the whole of the old way, start to finish,
01:35the two things, the way of using them, and the handful of small habits that go along.
01:40And the one that does the most work of all is the very one nearly everyone leaves out.
01:46By the end, you may look at that bottle on your shelf and wonder why you ever bought a single
01:52one.
01:53Quick word before we go further.
01:55My name is Esther Yoder, and the old household ways handed down to me,
02:00the kind I am sharing today, and a great many more besides,
02:04are far more than I could ever fit into one video.
02:07I have gathered the whole of them into a book, and you will find it at EliasYoder.com.
02:13If today's tips serve you, that is where the rest of what my mother and grandmother taught me lives,
02:19all in the one place.
02:21Now to it.
02:22My mother kept the whole of our family's hair clean through years
02:25when there was no money for a bottle of anything,
02:28and when I was a girl, I asked her how,
02:30and what she told me was not a bottle at all.
02:33Esther, she said, clean hair is not about scrubbing it raw and drowning it in scent.
02:39It is about lifting the grease away gently,
02:41and then leaving your own head be to find its own balance.
02:46Strip it bare, and it only fights you back with more grease.
02:50Treat it kindly, and it learns to keep itself.
02:53And there is the whole of it,
02:55for every trick I am about to give only serves that one idea.
02:58Your scalp makes its own oil, and that oil is not your enemy.
03:03It is what keeps your hair soft and whole.
03:06The harsh bottle strips it away in a rush.
03:09Your scalp floods back twice as much,
03:11and so you are greasy by morning and reaching for the bottle again.
03:15But lift the grease gently, only what wants lifting,
03:19and leave the rest.
03:20And in a week or two, your scalp settles,
03:22and your hair comes clean and light,
03:24and stays so far longer than it ever did.
03:28Gentle, not stripped.
03:30Now here is how my mother did it,
03:32starting with the heart of it.
03:34Here is the very heart of it,
03:36the thing my mother swore by,
03:38and it is so simple you will scarcely credit it.
03:41A spoonful of plain baking soda stirred into a mug of warm water.
03:46That is your shampoo.
03:47You wet your hair,
03:49pour that slowly over your scalp,
03:51and work it in gently with your fingertips,
03:53and it lifts the grease and the dirt away
03:55without stripping your hair raw the way the shop bottle does.
03:59Then you rinse it out well.
04:01A whole box of the soda costs pennies and lasts you months,
04:05and it leaves your hair clean and light,
04:07not squeaky and desperate.
04:09But the soda wash has a partner,
04:12and this is the half most folk leave out.
04:14And then they wonder why it did not work for them,
04:17so hear it well.
04:18After you have rinsed the soda away,
04:20you pour over a mug of warm water
04:23with a good splash of plain vinegar in it.
04:25Let it run through and rinse again.
04:28The vinegar smooths the hair down,
04:30brings back the shine,
04:31and takes away any last trace of the soda,
04:34so your hair sits soft and glossy instead of dry.
04:38The soda lifts, the vinegar smooths,
04:40the two are a pair,
04:41and you never do the one without the other.
04:43And do not fret about the vinegar smell,
04:45for I know that is your first thought.
04:47It goes clean away as the hair dries,
04:50every trace of it,
04:51and leaves your hair smelling of nothing but clean,
04:54which is how hair ought to smell.
04:56If it eases your mind,
04:58steep a sprig of rosemary
04:59or a little dried lavender in the vinegar first,
05:01and it carries the faintest pleasant scent.
05:04Now, and this is a great part of the secret,
05:07you wash less often than you think.
05:09The more you wash, the more you must.
05:11Every hard wash strips the oil
05:13and sets the scalp racing to replace it.
05:16So, stretch it out.
05:18Wash every second or third day at first,
05:20then longer,
05:20and give your scalp the week or two it needs
05:23to settle and stop over-making its grease.
05:25It will feel odd at the start.
05:27Stay with it,
05:28and your hair learns to look after itself.
05:31And between the washes,
05:32the brush does the work a bottle cannot.
05:35A hundred slow strokes of a night,
05:37from the scalp right down to the ends,
05:39carries the natural oil from the roots,
05:41where it sits heavy and greasy,
05:43all the way down to the dry ends
05:45that are crying out for it.
05:47It cleans away the dust and the loose hair
05:49and shines the whole length for nothing.
05:52A natural bristle is best.
05:54Brush it well,
05:55and you have conditioned your hair for free.
05:57On a day the roots feel a touch greasy,
05:59but you want no full wash.
06:01Do what folk did long before dry shampoo
06:03came in a costly can.
06:05Dust a little plain cornstarch
06:07or arrowroot onto the roots.
06:08Work it in,
06:09and brush out every trace.
06:11It soaks up the grease
06:12and freshens it right up,
06:14and for darker hair,
06:15a pinch of cocoa mixed in
06:16keeps it from showing.
06:18The very same thing they sell in the can,
06:20only pennies from your baking cupboard.
06:23And the ends,
06:24the oldest and driest part,
06:25want feeding.
06:27Warm the littlest drop of plain oil
06:29between your palms,
06:30olive or coconut,
06:31and comb it through just the ends,
06:34never the roots,
06:35only a drop the size of a pea
06:37or you will go greasy.
06:38It leaves them soft as silk
06:40and does the work of the dearest serum
06:42for next to nothing.
06:43And once in a while,
06:45for a treat,
06:46a raw egg beaten
06:47and worked through wet hair,
06:48left a few minutes and rinsed out,
06:50with cool water, mind,
06:52never hot,
06:53or you will cook it
06:54and have a right mess.
06:55Feeds the hair beautifully,
06:57for an egg is full of the very stuff
06:59hair is made of.
07:00And the old girls
07:01had a brewed rinse
07:02for every head of hair,
07:03made like a pot of tea
07:05and cooled.
07:06For fair hair,
07:07a rinse of chamomile
07:08brings out the light
07:09and the gold.
07:10For dark hair,
07:11a rinse of strong tea
07:13or rosemary
07:14deepens the shine
07:15and covers the odd gray.
07:16For red,
07:17a rinse brewed from onion skins
07:19of all things
07:20warms the color up.
07:22You brew it strong,
07:23let it cool,
07:24and pour it through
07:25as your very last rinse,
07:27the gentlest way there is
07:28to bring out
07:29your own natural color
07:30without a scrap of chemical dye.
07:32And mind the water itself.
07:35Very hot water
07:36strips the oil
07:36and roughs the hair up,
07:38so you wash in warm,
07:39never hot.
07:40And here is the old trick
07:42worth the knowing.
07:43Finish with a rinse
07:44of cool water
07:45at the very end.
07:46That cool rinse
07:47closes the hair down
07:48smooth and flat,
07:49and that is what makes it
07:51shine and lie nicely,
07:52where hot water
07:54leaves it open
07:54and dull and frizzy.
07:56A small thing,
07:57costing nothing
07:58but a brisk moment,
07:59and your hair
08:00thanks you for it.
08:01And for the drying,
08:03let it dry in the air
08:04whenever you can,
08:05for all that blasting
08:06with hot air
08:07day on day
08:07dries the hair
08:08to straw over the years.
08:10For those of you
08:11who do use a dryer,
08:12keep it cooler
08:13and held well back,
08:14and let the hair dry
08:15most of the way
08:16in the air first.
08:17Hair dry gentle
08:18in the air
08:19keeps its softness
08:20far better
08:20than hair roasted
08:21every morning.
08:22Now a handful
08:23of plain kindnesses
08:25that save more hair
08:26than any mix.
08:27Be gentle
08:28when it is wet,
08:29for wet hair
08:30is weak hair.
08:31It stretches
08:32and snaps
08:32far easier than dry.
08:34So never drag
08:35a brush through it hard,
08:36nor rub it fierce
08:37with a towel.
08:39Squeeze the water
08:39out gently
08:40in the towel.
08:41Then work any knots
08:42loose
08:43with a wide-toothed comb,
08:44starting at the ends
08:46and working up,
08:47slow and patient.
08:48Keep your comb
08:49and brush clean,
08:50for here is the one
08:51nearly everyone gets wrong.
08:53Wash your hair
08:54as careful as you like,
08:56but brush it
08:57with a brush
08:57full of old oil
08:58and dust,
08:59and you put all that
09:00muck straight back in,
09:01and it goes greasy
09:02in no time.
09:04Wash your brush
09:05and comb each week
09:06in warm water
09:07with a little soda in it,
09:08and try not to run
09:09your greasy hands
09:10through your hair
09:11all the day long.
09:12At night,
09:13a loose plate
09:14keeps it from tangling
09:15and snapping
09:16on the pillow,
09:17and a smoother pillow slip
09:18lets it slip
09:19instead of dragging.
09:20And every couple of months,
09:22a little trim
09:22of the very ends.
09:24For once an end splits,
09:25the split travels
09:26right up the hair
09:27and ruins the whole length.
09:29Trim it,
09:29and you keep the length
09:30long and thick.
09:32And above all,
09:33feed your hair
09:33from the inside,
09:35for no mix
09:35on the outside
09:36will make up
09:37for poor feeding within.
09:38Your hair is grown
09:39from what you eat.
09:40Good plain food,
09:42plenty of water,
09:43your eggs
09:44and your oats
09:44and your greens.
09:46That is what makes
09:46for thick, strong hair.
09:48In the lean years,
09:49my mother fed us simple,
09:51but she fed us right,
09:52and it showed
09:53in a healthy head of hair
09:54on every one of us.
09:56Now the honest word,
09:57for I always give it.
09:59When you first leave
10:00the shop bottle,
10:01your hair may go through
10:01a week or two
10:02of feeling odd,
10:03a bit greasy or waxy,
10:05because your scalp
10:06has been trained
10:07by those harsh bottles
10:08to make far too much oil,
10:10and it takes a little while
10:11to calm down.
10:13Do not lose heart
10:14and run back to the bottle
10:15on the third day.
10:16Push through that fortnight
10:18and the grease eases off
10:19and your hair comes good.
10:21But I will tell you true,
10:22as I always do,
10:24the soda and vinegar wash
10:25suits a great many heads,
10:27but not every single one.
10:29Some find the soda
10:30a touch drying
10:31over a long while,
10:32for it is a brisk
10:33sort of clean.
10:34So listen to your own head,
10:36not to me.
10:37If after a fair trial
10:38the soda leaves your hair
10:40dry and straw-like,
10:41ease off.
10:42Use it less often,
10:43make it weaker,
10:44or lean instead
10:45on the gentler ways.
10:47A plain egg wash,
10:48a good brushing,
10:49the herb rinses,
10:50the drop of oil.
10:52There is no single mix
10:53right for every head
10:54on earth.
10:55The old wisdom
10:56was never one bottle
10:57for all,
10:58but knowing your own hair
10:59and giving it
11:00what it asks.
11:01Try the soda honestly,
11:03keep it if it suits,
11:04and if it does not,
11:05the gentler old ways
11:06are all still here for you.
11:08And let me set it
11:09in the larger truth,
11:10for it is the very heart
11:12of why your hair
11:13is greasy by morning.
11:14The harsh bottle
11:15strips your hair,
11:16your scalp floods
11:17back with grease,
11:18and so you wash again
11:20tomorrow and buy
11:21another bottle next month.
11:22And that, right there,
11:24is a trade that never ends.
11:26A hair that cleaned itself
11:27and needed washing
11:28twice a week
11:29would be a poor customer
11:30indeed.
11:31A hair stripped
11:32and panicked
11:33into daily washing
11:34is a customer for life.
11:35It is no plot
11:37and no one schemed it.
11:38It is only that
11:39a bottle you must buy
11:40every month
11:41serves the one
11:42who sells it,
11:42while a box of soda
11:44and a jug of vinegar
11:45that last months
11:46and let your scalp
11:47settle into needing
11:48almost nothing
11:49serve only you.
11:50And there is
11:51no fortune in that.
11:52So the harsh bottle
11:54gets the fancy name
11:55and the advert
11:56full of shining hair,
11:57and the old gentle way
11:58gets quietly left out.
12:00The shelf of dear bottles
12:02is what they sell.
12:03A spoonful of soda,
12:04a splash of vinegar,
12:06a good brush,
12:07and a scalp left in peace
12:08are what the old folks
12:09simply had
12:10and kept clean,
12:11soft hair
12:12their whole lives long
12:13for pennies.
12:14So there is the whole of it.
12:16Wash gently
12:17with a mug of soda water
12:18and follow with a vinegar rinse.
12:20And wash far less often
12:22than you do now
12:23so your scalp settles.
12:24Brush a hundred
12:25slow strokes of a night
12:27to carry the oil
12:28down for free.
12:29Feed the ends
12:30a drop of oil
12:31treat yourself
12:33to an egg
12:33now and then
12:34and brew an herb rinse
12:36to suit your color.
12:37Rinse cool to finish,
12:39dry in the air,
12:41handle it kind
12:42when it is wet
12:43and feed it from within
12:45with good plain food.
12:47And listen to your own head
12:49keeping what suits it.
12:51Do that
12:51and the shelf
12:52of expensive bottles
12:53becomes a thing
12:54you never need again.
12:58Now I want to hear from you.
13:00Tell me down below
13:01which county
13:02are you watching from
13:03and how old
13:04is the house you keep?
13:05And tell me this too.
13:07What did your own mother
13:08or grandmother
13:09put on their hair
13:10to keep it lovely
13:11in the days before
13:12the shelf of bottles?
13:14For that is how
13:15the old ways stay alive.
13:16We pass them on.
13:18I read every word.
13:20It is a quiet freedom,
13:21is it not,
13:22to learn that your hair
13:23was never the problem
13:25nor are you doing it wrong
13:26only that nobody
13:28ever taught you
13:29the old gentle ways
13:30that cost next to nothing
13:32and let your hair
13:33simply be
13:34what it wants to be.
13:36My mother kept
13:37a whole family's hair
13:38clean and glossy
13:40through the leanest years
13:41on a spoonful of soda
13:43and a splash of vinegar
13:45and never once felt
13:46the want of a bottle.
13:48We very nearly forgot how.
13:50But it is a plain
13:51old wisdom still
13:53and it is a thing
13:54I think we are only
13:55just starting to remember.