Anybody try chickpea/garbanzo bean flour for a shampoo substitute?

I hope the above link works.

I've been gradually going poo-less for awhile now, trying different things. For the last few months, I've been using baking soda dissolved in water as a shampoo substitute, with a rinse of plain vineger. That worked pretty well, but my hair would still get greasy after three days. Then I saw the above video, in which she is using chickpea flour made into a paste. She says that she only has to wash her hair once a week, and that sounds wonderful to me. I'm pretty much a minimalist when it comes to personal care these days, doing just enough to be clean and healthy.

The only flour I could find locally was a garbanzo bean/ fava bean mix. I was impatient to get started, so I went ahead and got it. So this makes it a less than pure experiment.

Yesterday was my first time trying this. All went well, except the flour took a lot longer to rinse out of my hair than baking soda does. I did like the lemon juice/apple cider vinegar rinse a lot better than the plain distilled vinegar. Probably just because it smells a lot better. I didn't do the oil part at the end. I'll wait and see if that's even necessary.

Also, when I was combing my hair, little white flakes flew out, smaller than dandruff. It was not a good idea to wear a black shirt that day. Those white flakes very well could have been the fava bean flour, though. Today, I just rinsed my hair with water, and that seems to take care of it.

I'm liking this so far. My hair really feels cleaner and softer than it has in a long time. I'm going to keep this up for awhile as long as it works for me.

Haven't tried it but I have been water only ... and BBB only before.

Are you getting good brushing sessions in with your hair?

The key for me was to have a good bore bristle brush and to use it multiple times a day to distribute the oils in the hair from the scalp. Once your scale "calms down" you won't have to do it as often ... but that might not be true depending on your genetics.
I "wash" my hair only when it gets dirty ... from touching it with dirty hands which is rarely ... maybe once every 2 months if that. For me this means allowing the water from my shower to touch my head long enough to remove the dirt then doing a rinse with filter water and ACV
Most of the day though my hair is up in a bun as it is classical length and too much to deal with when down.

Thanks for the reply!

Burton Rosenberger wrote:Haven't tried it but I have been water only ... and BBB only before.  

What is BBB?

Are you getting good brushing sessions in with your hair?

I comb my hair when I get out of the shower, when it dries, and once at work because of "hat hair". I don't own a brush since my last one vanished while on vacation. Does it work better? I'm really not a fan on spending too much time on grooming, but it might be worth it if I can cross hair washing off my list of things to think about.

 I "wash" my hair only when it gets dirty ... from touching it with dirty hands which is rarely ... maybe once every 2 months if that. For me this means allowing the water from my shower to touch my head long enough to remove the dirt then doing a rinse with filter water and ACV

I'm going to wait and see how long it takes before my hair gets greasy again. Day 3, and it's still good.
Filtered water does make sense with the rinse. I have hard water and I'm sure those minerals bog my hair down.

Stacy Wright wrote:Thanks for the reply!
What is BBB?

BBB = Boar Bristle Brush

combing just detangles hair and will do little to move oil / sebum from the scalp down the length of hair. To do this people who have long hair turn to something called a boar bristle brush ... if you google long hair community forum there are a ton of threads about methods of brushing / how often / why / cleaning brush / etc.

You could do it when the hair is wet or dry but for best results I suggest dry hair and if you do it at a fixed frequency it can "replace" washing as it will remove dirt a bit as well if you keep your brush clean ;)

Stacy Wright wrote:
I'm going to wait and see how long it takes before my hair gets greasy again. Day 3, and it's still good.
Filtered water does make sense with the rinse. I have hard water and I'm sure those minerals bog my hair down.

The way I would do it is prep the filtered water and vinegar in a large deep bowl and place it outside the shower / bath whatever. Then after showering and turning off water bring the bowl into the shower and dip my head into a couple times being careful not to tangle it in the process.  Each time I would let it slowly drip out a bit then use my hands to help it or the BBB and do it again ... I did it about 5 or 7 times with the last time ringing out all the water ... I often made this water cold as well to help close the follicles of the scalp and hair.

Oh, and when you dip if you don't cover your scalp in this process you will need to bring a measuring cup or something similar to pour it over your scalp as well :D

Any new process requires time to adjust though ... diet is another key factor and changes there can really affect what happens at your scalp :/

Thank you for sharing this and thus giving me the extra push to try it! I had seen it in my suggested videos on youtube, but hadn't given it a shot. I have been trying various attempts to be free of shampoo for probably about two years now. I've tried the baking soda and vinegar method, various plant powders, and herbal teas. Mostly, I have attempted to just go water and boar bristle brush only, but it has been frustrating as my hair rarely ever feels or looks clean. It almost always remains waxy feeling, heavy, limp and much darker in color than when I used shampoo. I don't know whether it's my hair type (very fine, pretty straight, light blond hair), hard water or simply a change of expectations that is needed. I really want to make the water and brushing only thing work, but not at the cost of feeling lousy about my hair. So I am quite excited by the results from the chickpea flour so far! I used the flour only, no rinse or oil. A couple days later and my hair is still feeling clean, bright and has more volume. I will say, it took quite awhile to rinse the flour out of my hair and off my body, but we have a very low flow shower situation, so others might not have such a time of it. I will be curious to see how long it stays clean. I still hope to figure out the water and brushing only thing, but this is a great option for now.

Yes! I started this a few months ago and I'm still absolutely loving it. My hair is clean and has more body and natural bounce to it.

I came to it because I ran out of my favorite plant enzyme-based shampoo that I can only get by driving 1.5hr away, and it comes in a plastic bottle. I wanted something cheaper, easier, and waste-free. It was total chance that I saw the chickpea flour method posted in an unrelated group on FB.

My tidbit to add is that adding fenugreek powder to the chickpea flour is really helpful. It's conditioning and I like the smell, though for some the smell might take getting used to. Once your hair is dry, the smell is gone, anyway. If you're using 3tbs chickpea flour you could add 1/2-1tsp fenugreek. I find that too much will end up negating the effect of the chickpea flour; it becomes more "slick and slippery" - like you'd expect from a conditioning ingredient - than absorbent, which is what you need from the chickpea flour.

I have to rinse a lot to get it out, too. And even then, I don't usually get it all out until my hair is dry and I can give it a shake. I haven't found this to be an issue, though I can see how it would be if your hair were drying while wearing a black shirt.

Heather Olivia wrote:Thank you for sharing this and thus giving me the extra push to try it! I had seen it in my suggested videos on youtube, but hadn't given it a shot. I have been trying various attempts to be free of shampoo for probably about two years now. I've tried the baking soda and vinegar method, various plant powders, and herbal teas. Mostly, I have attempted to just go water and boar bristle brush only, but it has been frustrating as my hair rarely ever feels or looks clean. It almost always remains waxy feeling, heavy, limp and much darker in color than when I used shampoo. I don't know whether it's my hair type (very fine, pretty straight, light blond hair), hard water or simply a change of expectations that is needed. I really want to make the water and brushing only thing work, but not at the cost of feeling lousy about my hair. So I am quite excited by the results from the chickpea flour so far! I used the flour only, no rinse or oil. A couple days later and my hair is still feeling clean, bright and has more volume. I will say, it took quite awhile to rinse the flour out of my hair and off my body, but we have a very low flow shower situation, so others might not have such a time of it. I will be curious to see how long it stays clean. I still hope to figure out the water and brushing only thing, but this is a great option for now.

I'm glad that you got inspired to try it! I too have been trying different things, trying to get away from plastic bottles and the desire to simplify my daily routines. I had been using shampoo bars and started out with one that worked pretty well, but it seems they stopped making it, so I tried a few others that were horrible. Then I found the baking soda/ vinegar idea here on permies, and I've been using that for months. It worked pretty well, but the harshness of the combination may have resulted in excessive oil production on my scalp. My hair feels much cleaner with this method, and so far, I've gone down to twice a week, although I rinse my hair with water every time I shower.

I might skip the rinse next time to see what happens.

I have a hard time rinsing too, and I get really good water pressure from my showerhead. I use a washcloth when rinsing it off my body. I consider it a bonus to have the tiny granules to clean off, because it works as a scrub.  

Erin Blake wrote:Yes! I started this a few months ago and I'm still absolutely loving it. My hair is clean and has more body and natural bounce to it.

I came to it because I ran out of my favorite plant enzyme-based shampoo that I can only get by driving 1.5hr away, and it comes in a plastic bottle. I wanted something cheaper, easier, and waste-free. It was total chance that I saw the chickpea flour method posted in an unrelated group on FB.

My tidbit to add is that adding fenugreek powder to the chickpea flour is really helpful. It's conditioning and I like the smell, though for some the smell might take getting used to. Once your hair is dry, the smell is gone, anyway. If you're using 3tbs chickpea flour you could add 1/2-1tsp fenugreek. I find that too much will end up negating the effect of the chickpea flour; it becomes more "slick and slippery" - like you'd expect from a conditioning ingredient - than absorbent, which is what you need from the chickpea flour.

I have to rinse a lot to get it out, too. And even then, I don't usually get it all out until my hair is dry and I can give it a shake. I haven't found this to be an issue, though I can see how it would be if your hair were drying while wearing a black shirt.

Thanks for the suggestion on the fenugreek powder. That is worth trying!

I'll have to just avoid wearing black on the days I wash my hair. That's the only time I have that problem. The day after, when I'm in the shower just rinsing out my hair, I can tell there's a little left from the beany smell. That's fine with me. It doesn't flake out anymore or make my head itchy or anything.

This is an interesting idea that I will have to try.

First I will have to make some chickpea flour.

Or maybe I will try pinto bean flour as I already have that.