Shampoo Free? Honestly??

I just happened across a post on a blog that referred me to another blog entry from December 2004 about going shampoo-free: http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html. Here's the gist of it:

1. Commerical shampoo is harsh and costly
2. It's a detergent which strips necessary natural oils from your hair, causing it to be brittle and damaged.
3. It can contain potentially harmful stuff (granted, in very low levels that probably won't hurt you anyway)

So, how do you go shampoo free?

1. Use one tablespooon of baking soda in a cup of warm or hot water. If you need to increase the amount because your hair is long or thick, be sure to increase it in the same ratio (2 tablespoons of baking soda in 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of baking soda in 3 cups of water, etc.)
2. Put it in a recycled shampoo bottle and apply it to your hair with warm water.
3. The mix should not be gritty and should be a liquid.
4. Let the mix sit on your hair for about a minute, then rinse with warm water.
5. Every 2 to 3 washes, follow the baking soda cleansing with an apple cider vinegar rinse as follows: Make up a solution of 2 to 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in 1 cup of water. Apply to wet hair, massage into scalp, and rinse off with cold water.

So why am I even considering this? I have what my dermatologist refers to as "stress-induced psoriasis". This manifests as a red scaly patch on my hairline above my forehead. Not only is it unsightly, but during flare-ups it actually HURTS. There've been times (during unusually high-stress times at work) that my scalp has hurt so bad that I'd have to grit my teeth while brushing my hair. The dermatologist gave me a prescription for some really expensive prescription shampoo. It removed the scaling and relieves the inflammation for brief periods of time. Sometimes only a day or two.

So I'd love to find a natural approach to cleansing my hair and scalp and reducing the scaling and inflammation of the psoriasis.

I'm off to the shower now to try it out. I'll keep you posted.