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Victorian Shampoo Alternatives

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Antique brush and bottle on a table with a bar of soap and a sprig of rosemary.

Since modern shampoo as we know it today didn’t come into existence until the 20th century, what sort of shampoo alternatives did people use to wash their hair before then? What did they use back in the 19th century? Or even earlier than that?

Some people might answer that question by saying that people who lived back in “the olden days” had really bad hygiene and hardly ever even washed their hair.

This was probably true for some people back in the 19th century. I doubt, for example, that washing hair would have been very high on the priority list for miners during the Gold Rush era or for cowboys riding for weeks on the dusty plains.

The majority of people living during the Victorian era, though, made an effort to keep their bodies, including their heads, clean and fresh. Judging by the amount of hair care tips mentioned in various 19th century lady’s magazines and books about etiquette and health, the average Victorian woman cared very much about having healthy, beautiful hair. 

Cleanliness Is a Matter of Perception

By modern standards, our ancestors living during the 19th century and earlier might seem to have had poor standards of cleanliness because they didn’t take a shower and wash their hair every single day the way that most people do now.

There were a couple of different reasons for this. One reason was that washing their hair every day would have been very inconvenient and impractical, especially for women with waist-length hair. The process of heating up water, washing the hair, and then letting it dry without the aid of any modern blow-dryers would have been too time-consuming for the majority of the working- class and middle-class women, not to mention the fact that it probably would have been highly unpleasant in the cold of winter.

Even the wealthiest of women didn’t wash their hair every day, though. And one of the main reasons is that they simply didn’t need to. Without the harsh detergents in modern shampoos that strip the natural oils from the scalp, the hair of women in the Victorian era could go much longer between washings without getting too oily.

How frequently a woman washed her hair would have depended on social status – a socialite attending galas and fancy dinners probably would have put more of a priority on washing her hair than a homesteader struggling to survive on the prairie – and on the type of her hair, whether it was thick or thin, oily or dry, etc.

One book of the period, Hints on Health published in 1852, says that washing “once a week could scarcely be deemed too troublesome” (pg. 121).

Once a week might seem disgusting to modern shampooers who are used to lathering up their hair on a daily basis, but going a week or more between washings was perfectly acceptable back in the time before the creation of modern shampoo. And since they weren’t constantly stripping the natural oils from their scalps with daily washing, their scalps most likely had more balanced oil production that kept their hair from being as greasy as ours would be if we just suddenly stopped washing our hair after doing it daily for years.

Victorian Shampoo Alternatives

I’ve listed several of the different natural hair-washing methods that I’ve come across while reading through my collection of 19th century books and magazines.

While some of these methods might work fine by themselves, most of them would probably work best when combined with one another. If you’ve been used to washing your hair with regular shampoo for years, then many of these methods probably wouldn’t be enough by themselves and you might have to combine methods.

The effectiveness of any of the methods also depends a lot on hair type and on water quality. Unlike modern shampoos which are formulated to work for specific hair types and for both hard and soft water, natural hair washes can take some tinkering to get just right for your own particular hair type and water quality.

Many people also experience an adjustment period where their hair gets extra oily if they stop using shampoo and start using other methods to wash their hair instead. Because of this reason, I’ve never gone fully “no poo” like some people have done. I’ve used some of the methods listed below as rinses or conditioners for my hair, but I don’t use most of them as standalone methods for washing my hair.

Soap (Shampoo Bars)

~ “Many heads of hair require nothing more in the way of wash than soap and water” – pg. 317, Decorum (published 1879).

~ “To cleanse the hair, there is nothing better than soap and water . . . the soap, of course, should be mild, and well and plentifully rubbed in, and afterwards thoroughly removed with an abundance of water” – pg. 121, Hints on Health (published 1852).

From what I’ve read, soap seems to have been one of the most common old-fashioned hair washes. The soap would probably have been a castile soap or “toilet soap” as it was often called because it was milder than the soap that would have been used for washing laundry.

Soap (or shampoo bars as they are usually called nowadays), can be a simple, natural way to wash your hair without stripping it of its natural oils. The only trouble is that, depending on the type of water you have, you might have to try a couple different soaps to find one that will lather well and wash out completely with the water that you have.

If you have very hard water, some soaps can leave a “sticky” feeling in your hair. The water in my shower is pretty hard, so I’ve experienced this stickiness before. Not very pleasant at all. After a bit of experimenting, though, I’ve found a soap that lathers well, rinses out completely, and leaves my hair feeling clean.

This is the soap that I’ve been using for the past few months. (See update below.) This link is for a 3-pack of the “original” formula, but there are also other ones made by the same company with different scents and oils, etc. It’s supposed to be made from a recipe that’s over 100 years old, so it’s probably pretty similar to the type of soap that might have been used during the Victorian era.

Update: 2/27/21 While I had good success using this soap previously, more recently I have experienced a bit of stickiness in my hair and some residue. This could be because something with the soap itself changed, or it could be because my water changed. I’m guessing it’s probably the water because I’ve read that hard water can make using shampoo bars more difficult sometimes. Either way, I can attest to the fact that trying to use soap to wash your hair can be tricky. Even though I used to use this shampoo bar and had good success with it in my hair and even though I would still recommend it for people who have soft water and don’t have the very hard water like I do, I am now using this natural shampoo as my primary hair wash with some of the other methods listed below as rinses and conditioners.

I’ve actually seen some Victorian books recommending soft water or collecting rain water, so that might be one way that they avoided the issue of residue left from soap. I suppose that using distilled water to wash your hair might help with the issue, but it would also be less convenient than being able to just rinse your hair in the shower. 

Vinegar

~ “Vinegar and water form a good wash for the roots of the hair” – pg. 316, Decorum (published 1879).

Vinegar is something that most people in the “real food” world are familiar with, especially those who have ever tried the “no poo” method. I gave “no poo” a try for a little while, but it just wasn’t working for me.

With the hard water in my shower, “no poo” was too finicky to try to get just the right amounts of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and the results weren’t consistent for me. I love using apple cider vinegar as a rinse after washing my hair, though.

The vinegar nicely balances out the ph of my hair and leaves it feeling soft and shiny afterwards. I use about a teaspoon diluted in a cup of water, but the best ratio of vinegar to water can vary depending on the type of hair you have, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different ratios of vinegar to water.

Black Tea

~ “If you want to have a good head of hair, never apply to cosmetics; use nothing else to clean it but strong, cold black tea. Rub it into the roots every evening before going to bed, with a little sponge, and every morning do the same. I generally use it, and recommend it to all ladies desirous of having a full head of hair” – pg. 261, Godey’s Lady’s Book (September 1867).

Using black tea is something that would be best for those with medium to dark hair. I’ve used it on my light brown hair with no problems, but it’s possible that it might temporarily darken very light blonde hair.

For my hair, using the tea by itself wasn’t enough to fully wash my hair and make it look clean, but I will occasionally use it as a rinse or rub it into the roots of my hair like the magazine suggests if I happen to have some handy.

The tea might work better as a cleanser for some people, depending on hair type. I find it really interesting, though, that books and magazines of the 19th century were recommending such simple ways to care for the hair like using just black tea. Compare that one ingredient to the huge list of unpronounceable ingredients in modern shampoos and conditioners!

Rosemary

~ “Any preparation of rosemary forms an agreeable and highly cleansing wash” – pg. 317, Decorum (1879).

Rosemary is a natural way to add shine to your hair without having to use silicone-based conditioners and styling products.

My favorite way to use rosemary is to make a strong cup of rosemary tea, let it steep and cool down until it’s a comfortable temperature, and then use it as a rinse for my hair after I wash it.

If I’m using apple cider vinegar to rinse my hair, and I also want to use the rosemary, I use the rosemary tea to dilute the vinegar rather than just water. As another bonus, the rosemary smells really nice and helps to balance out the acidic scent of the vinegar. Using rosemary and apple cider vinegar is a great way to make an old-fashioned herbal hair rinse that will help to make your hair shinier and healthier.

Egg Yolks

~ “The yolk of an egg beaten up in warm water is an excellent application to the scalp” – pg. 317, Decorum (1879).

~ “To cleanse long hair – beat up the yelk of an egg with a pint of soft water. Apply it warm, and afterwards wash it out with warm water” – pg.458, Godey’s Lady’s Book (printed 1869).

Egg yolks are great to use as a mask to nourish and moisturize the hair. What I usually do, when I have the time, is to mix an egg yolk with some water (or a cup of rosemary tea for an extra shine boost) and coat my hair with the mixture. Then I rinse it off in the shower before washing my hair. (I don’t personally find the egg yolk to be enough to wash my hair, but it works well as a conditioner. For someone with drier hair, though, it might work well as a shampoo alternative.)

Rum

New England rum, constantly used to wash the hair, keeps it very clean, and free from disease, and promotes its growth a great deal more than Macassar oil. Brandy is very strengthening to the roots of the hair; but it has a hot, drying tendency, which N.E. rum has not” – pg. 12 The American Frugal Housewife (published 1833).

This method is one I haven’t tried, but I’d be curious to see how it works. Again, this seems like the type of method that might work better for some hair types than others.

For someone with really dry hair, the alcohol content might be too strong and harsh of a wash. For someone whose hair tends to be on the oily side, though, this might work just fine. This method would also only have been used once a week or possibly even more infrequently since daily hair washing wasn’t done back in the 19th century like it is today, so it would probably be best suited for an occasional clarifying wash. It’s also possible that the rum was diluted with water before it was used for the hair. No instructions were given with this suggestion, but I would imagine that plain rum by itself might be drying to the hair and scalp even though Mrs. Child seems sure that New England rum would not be drying.

Brushing

Even though it doesn’t really fall under the same category as a shampoo, brushing was very important back in the 19th century as a means to clean the hair and to keep it healthy.

Brushing with a natural bristle brush also helps to make the hair shiner by distributing the scalp’s natural oils down the entire length of the hair strand. To our ancestors, brushing the hair daily was considered even more important than other methods of washing and caring for the hair.

The Results Are Worth the Extra Effort

Using natural, traditional methods of caring for your hair can require a bit of tweaking to get a routine that fits right for your individual hair and water type. It also might take your hair a little while to adjust to the transition from chemical-based products to natural ones.

Once you find a method that works for your hair, though, it’s so much nicer to be able to use such simple household ingredients to care for your hair and not to worry about all of the harmful ingredients that most shampoos contain. And, as an added bonus, it’s much cheaper too since most of the things you can use for washing your hair can already be found in your own kitchen!

And even if you decide to use some of these methods as additions to your regular hair care routine rather than giving up modern shampoo altogether, some of these old-fashioned shampoo alternatives can be great naturals ways to care for your hair and to help to condition it after you wash it.

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Antique brush and bottle on a table with a bar of soap and a sprig of rosemary.

Further reading about natural hair care:

All Natural Hair Care by Reformation Acres

Natural Homemade Products for Curly Hair by The Sweet Plantain

DIY Shampoo Recipe Roundup by Life Sanity

10 Tips for Going No-Poo by It’s A Love/Love Thing

This post is linked to: Sunday School at Butter Believer, Natural Living Monday at Natural Living Mamma, Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick, Party Wave Wednesday at Holistic Squid, Natural Living Link-Up at Jill’s Home Remedies, Small Footprint Friday at Small Footprint Family.

(We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)

The information in this post is not to be taken as medical advice and is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.

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Clare

Wednesday 24th of February 2021

Your soap link no longer brings up anything on Amazon. Would you mind sharing the name , please?? I, too, have hard water ( along with a sensitive scalp and super fine, tangle-prone, hair that is falling out due to illness and meds) and am desperate to find a soap that DOESN'T leave my hair waxy and gross. This is my last hope. Lol. Thank you in advance for any and all help you can give. Sincerely, Clare

Flora

Monday 4th of April 2022

@Clare, Personally i only soap (savon de marseille, i live near France ;) ) and then rinse with acidic water (vinegar/lemon/or with rosemary or... + water). It works just fine for me (but i needed 1 month to get my hair used to it because of the not so good shamphoo i used before (sillicones, and so on)

Lori Elliott

Thursday 25th of February 2021

I'm sorry that the link is broken. Thanks for letting me know about it, though, so I can update it. The shampoo bar I used was called J.R. Ligget's. They have several different kinds but the one I used was the "original" one. I'm glad you asked about this, because I should update this older post. I used the J.R. Ligget's soap several years ago and found it to work well with my hair, and then I stopped using it eventually because I was having a lot of eczema and was trying to figure out what might be causing it so I stopped using a lot of products that I used to use. (I don't think the J.R. Ligget's soap was causing the eczema, but I stopped using it during that period of time.) And then more recently when I tried using the J.R. Ligget's soap again it didn't work as well for me as it used to several years ago. My hair didn't feel quite as clean and I noticed a bit of a residue. I'm not sure if it was because something changed with the way the soap was made or if it was my water that had changed. (I used to use a different shower water filter, so maybe that filtered out some of the minerals that made the water hard.) Either way, I haven't fully experimented yet to see if changing things with my water would help, so my caveat would be that if your water is really hard than this soap might still have some issues with leaving residue in your hair. There may be some other tips online from people who use shampoo bars for how to deal with hard water, so you might be able to find some helpful tips by looking more into that. I'm sorry I can't offer more help than that, but I hope you can find something that works well for your hair!

Claire

Sunday 29th of July 2018

I am a former hair stylist. I owned and operated a small salon almost 8 years ago. I love the Victorian period for many reason. I have been no poo for years. Tonight I am infusing vinegar for sale! This excites me..

Thanks for this article and spreading the word on going natural! We can make a difference:) <3

Lori Elliott

Monday 30th of July 2018

That's really exciting that you're infusing vinegar for sale! You're absolutely right that we can make a difference :)

Jo

Wednesday 16th of May 2018

I wash my hair when it needs it, which is no more than once a week or even ten days. It probably looks its best the second and third day after washing. It doesn't get particularly greasy or dry, but eventually especially if I sweat heavily it looks like it needs a wash. I use a wide toothed wooden comb and only very occasionally a fine toothed comb. It is very long and fine and prone to static and breakage but not split ends. I very rarely get it trimmed as I hate going to the hairdresser, which is on a level with going to the dentist. Yet I almost never get split ends. I am interested in how women wore their hair in other centuries. I wondered what they used before modern detergent shampoos. Obviously the word shampoo itself could be a clue, as it comes from the Indian language, so maybe there are some interesting hair care methods in Indian culture? Indian women often have very long hair.

Victoria

Monday 21st of February 2022

@Jo, try silk pillow cases or silk headcap overnight and recommend natural hair brush: www.dixiecowboy.com

Jen King

Wednesday 14th of June 2017

I have super thick, straight under and curly over hair that is down past my shoulders. We have hard water and using commercial shampoo was burning/itching my scalp and making my hair dry and frizzy. I found a recipe where I used my home made castile soap, water, a little olive oil and coconut oil. I washed my hair with it about 5 months ago. I notice, depending on the weather (I'm instate Maine) the under straight bits can become a bit greasy. I then brush my hair before bed thoroughly and for about 5 minutes to redistribute the coconut oil. The next morning I get my hair wet in hot water to help redistribute the oil, squeeze towel dry and viola! Perfect curls all over and beautiful shine and tremendous thickness. I'm simply looking for a way to put a nice scent in it, rather than the coconut oil smell. It is possible to not wash your hair and have beautiful hair. We just have to watch and listen to what it needs.

ourheritageofhealth

Thursday 15th of June 2017

That's great that you found a natural routine that works so well for your hair! As far as the scent goes, you could maybe try adding a drop or two of your favorite essential oil to the coconut oil to give it a different scent?

natural

Thursday 18th of May 2017

Natural Donkey milk soaps are perfect too!!

ourheritageofhealth

Thursday 18th of May 2017

Thanks for the recommendation!

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