Oh, cool. Does it feel soapy or lather or anything?
I mostly just roll around in the slough to get clean. If I have any extra dirty areas I rub sand on them. But the slough’s pretty muddy, so I’m sure I end up looking as dirty as I started. Now that it’s winter it’s the season of melted snow washcloth baths and I’ve been using Dr. Bronners. Totally civ. :-\
What plants grow in your area? Maybe some of them have soap in them.
[quote=“chase, post:42, topic:425”][quote author=wildcarrotdances link=topic=460.msg13867#msg13867 date=1228323105]
Now that it’s winter it’s the season of melted snow washcloth baths and I’ve been using Dr. Bronners. Totally civ. :-\
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What plants grow in your area? Maybe some of them have soap in them.[/quote]
Soapberries! But I’d have to go sooo far to find them, and then not very many grow in one place.
Mostly there are birch, spruce, willows, high bush cranberry, rose, stinkweed (alaska’s special kind of wormwood), and… well, a lot of cranberries. Some bluebells and fireweed and rhubarb gone wild too, but mostly it’s very shady under big trees and there’s lots of cranberry and roses.
[quote=“Ravn, post:37, topic:425”][quote author=Ravn link=topic=460.msg10574#msg10574 date=1212490596]
Try boiling pine sticks for a long time, you will see that the tre oil gathers on the top of the water, mix this with fat and you have green soap(Used for over thousend years in norway). This soap can be used for whasing your body, your hair(especialy good if you have dreads), treat woodwork(floors, tabels and the likes) and it’s antiseptic, so you can use it(mixed with water) to clean out infections in the skin.
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And yeah, just one thing I forgot to mention, the pine sticks has to be fresh and preferabely still have teir “leaves” on …[/quote]
Which sort of fat would be best to mix it with?
Ai just read this again. How could ai be so stupid? Its an artemisia genus plant right? Most of the artemisias in mai area were used as a shampoo. Also, if you have pure clay (of any type) it works well for light to medium strength jobs (reputed to clear dandruff).
Its an artemisia genus plant right? Most of the artemisias in mai area were used as a shampoo.
chase, i’d love to know more about this. i tried doing a search of ‘artemisia homemade shampoo’ but couldn’t find anything.
Ai cant find the original reference just now (grrrr >:(). But for your consideration:
Artemisia campestris L.
Field Sagewort; Asteraceae
Blackfoot Other (Soap)
Infusion of roots cleansed and used for scalp infections.
Hellson, John C. 1974 Ethnobotany of the Blackfoot Indians. Ottawa. National Museums of Canada. Mercury Series (p. 123)
and
Artemisia douglasiana Bess.
Douglas’ Sagewort; Asteraceae
Kawaiisu Drug (Dermatological Aid)
Infusion of plant used as a hair wash to prevent the hair from falling out.
Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 12)
(same as above) - Kawaiisu Drug (Other)
Infusion of plant used as a bath for mother and father after childbirth.
Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 12)
Plus the many references to curing rashes and colds by bathing in Artemisia infusions.
(all found at http://herb.umd.umich.edu/)
Ai’ll try to find the reference to more ordinary bathing uses :P.
the nettle root i put it in watter it foam much.
So i got to the idea using cranberry or lingonberry juice with water for washing. Do you think that works?
10 minute discussion of primitive soaps, with a little of brushing teeth with sticks and using sandstone on nails. Nothing new, but she does talk through making a lather a couple times:
I have not used shampoo in almost five years now. I only use water to wash it. I’ve also stopped using deodorant and soap. Soap strips the oils from your skin (which is also bad now in the winter time because you will be colder). I only use soap occasionally if I’m really coated in grime or something. But for the most part, water is all you’ll ever need. My girlfriend has complemented me on my smell, both my hair and my body. That’s all the confirmation I need to know I’m doing things right. Other people have complemented me in the same ways, including other girls.
The hard part of going shampoo-less is the two or three weeks it takes for the oils on your head to settle down over-production and ease into a calm regularity. Be warned, you will look like a grease-head for a couple weeks. But the good news is that will all settle down and balance out with time, and then you’ll never have to worry about it again! Alternatively, you could just shave your head / buzz your head, quit using shampoo, and then let it grow back.
Also, cold turkey is the only way I know to go. I don’t think you can incrementally cut down on shampoo usage to good effect. It’s certainly worth trying out though.
Have you heard of dry shampoo? It’s great for the transition period. I have brown hair, so I make it with a 1:1 ratio of carob powder and arrow root powder (or you can use corn starch). If you’re blond just the arrow root works, if you’re red head, cinnamon and arrow root. You dust it into your clean but oily looking hair and it absorbs the oil and makes your hair all nice and fluffy. 