10 Easy DIY Home Remedies to Detox Your Hair

Hair detox – it’s the process we love to hate (but secretly love) and one of the cornerstones of healthy hair and luscious locks. Hair detox cleans the scalp and promotes hair growth as well as improving the absorption of hair care products. It helps to eliminate toxins and harmful residues. Combined with a natural hair care routine and proper diet (think leafy greens and water-heavy fruits and veggies like watermelon and cucumbers), regular hair and scalp detoxes can go a long way in helping you achieve your best hair ever.

What Is Hair Detox?

Hair detox is something that many people go through when they first begin an all-natural hair care routine, but it can also be done intentionally to improve your scalp health. It helps remove debris, dead skin, and product build-up. This layer of gunk, if not removed, can keep your hair from receiving the benefits of your hair products and treatments. It can slow your hair growth, cause you to lose more hair than normal, and lead to poor color results if you’re dyeing your hair. During your hair detox, your hair may feel coarse, greasy, and generally not like the hair that you’re used to seeing every day.

Why Should You Detox Your Hair?

Use of hair care products, particularly synthetic and chemically laden shampoos, conditioners, gels, sprays, etc. can lead to the build-up of dirt and oils in your hair. This can cause dandruff and other scalp issues, hair thinning, hair loss, and even strange lingering odors. Detoxifying your hair can help minimize these effects, as well as some other benefits such as:

• Reducing dandruff and itchiness by cleaning the scalp.
• Boosting the absorption of hair care products, like oils, shampoos, conditioners, and hair packs.
• Promoting healthy hair growth by removing the gunk and toxin build-up so that your hair and scalp can absorb the nutrients from your hair products and treatments.

Detox your hair once a week if you have oily hair or use styling products consistently. If you have dry hair, detox it once every two weeks.

We recommend using Morrocco Method’s Zen Detox Hair & Scalp Masque, and we’re also sharing some of our favorite DIY detox recipes below.

10 Hair Detox Recipes for Better Hair Health

Bentonite Clay & Aloe Mask

Ingredients:
½ cup of bentonite clay powder
½ cup of pure aloe vera gel
4 tablespoons of regular apple cider vinegar
250 mL of diluted apple cider vinegar

How to:
Mix the bentonite clay, aloe gel, and the regular ACV until you get a smooth paste.

Apply the mixture to your scalp and hair.

To keep the mask from drying out, you can wrap your hair in plastic wrap, or wear a shower cap and spritz on some water with a spray bottle if necessary to keep it moist. Keep the mask on your hair for 20-30 minutes.

Rinse the mask with the diluted apple cider vinegar using about ¼ cup of ACV to 2 cups of water. You can add more water if your hair is prone to drying or add more ACV if your hair leans to the oily side.

Wait for 2-3 minutes & wash your hair with a mild shampoo and conditioner. All the Morrocco Method shampoos & conditioners can be used to clean your hair safely and effectively regardless of your hair type.

Frequency & Benefits:
You can use this DIY clay mask every other week. Bentonite clay is used in many therapeutic applications for its detox and antibacterial properties. It may slow down the growth of any harmful bacteria on the scalp.

Baking Soda

Ingredients:
½ cup of baking soda
3 cups of hot water

How to:
Mix the baking soda in hot water and keep the mixture aside.
Rinse your hair in the shower or sink until completely wet.
Pour the baking soda and water mixture through your hair.
Work it in well and massage your scalp for a couple of minutes.
Rinse it out and condition it to seal the detox.

Frequency & Benefits:
Once a week. The warm water lifts your cuticles and allows for some serious deep cleaning action, while the baking soda removes oil build-up and dandruff.

Caution: Do a patch test before you try this remedy. Baking soda may cause scalp irritation in people with sensitivities to baking soda. If you’ve never tried a natural deodorant and developed a rash under your arms, try a different detox recipe.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Ingredients:
¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
2 cups of water

How to:
Dilute the apple cider vinegar with two cups of water.
Shampoo and condition your hair as usual.
Pour the diluted ACV through your hair and rinse it off.

Frequency & Benefits:
Once a week. Apple cider vinegar is a mild cleanser with antibacterial properties that can help detox your hair. Diluted ACV ensures you do not develop any reaction to the otherwise acidic nature of concentrated ACV. The amount of apple cider vinegar can be adjusted based on your scalp and tolerance. Dilute more if you have a dry scalp/hair, dilute less if your hair/scalp lean towards the oily side.

Honey Shampoo

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of raw honey
3 tablespoons of filtered water

How to:
Add the honey to the water and mix until well combined.
Wet your hair and work the mixture in.
Concentrate on your scalp and work your way down to the tips of your hair.
Rinse with cool/lukewarm water.
Optionally, you can rinse the honey shampoo with the apple cider vinegar rinse we just mentioned.

Frequency & Benefits:
1-2x per week. Honey is a humectant that keeps your hair soft and moisturized. It also helps cleanse hair deeply and promote detoxification. 

Sea Salt Clarifying Shampoo

Ingredients:
2 parts coarse sea salt
1 part shampoo

How to:

Mix the sea salt and shampoo to create your own sea salt clarifying shampoo.
Work it into your hair until you get good lather.
Rinse your hair with cool water.

Frequency & Benefits:
Once a month. Sea salt is an effective exfoliant. It also improves skin hydration. This exfoliating salt and shampoo mix cleanses your hair and exfoliates dead skin and product build up from your scalp.

Note: Morrocco Method’s all-natural products skip the sulfates and surfactants that cause shampoo to foam, if you’re using one of our shampoos you can mix and scrub like usual. Sans lather.

Coconut Milk Shampoo

Ingredients:
¼ cup of coconut milk
¼ cup of castile soap – Dr. Bronner makes an excellent castile soap both solid and liquid. Castile soap can also be found in the laundry aisle of your local grocer/box store but may need to be melted down.
2 capsules of vitamin E oil
15-20 drops of a fragrant essential oil (optional)

How to:

Mix the ingredients and store them in a shampoo or a pump bottle.
Wet your hair and work the mixture in as you would with your regular shampoo.
Concentrate on the scalp and work your way down to the tips.
Rinse as usual.

Frequency & Benefits:

1-2x per week. The castile soap exhibits antimicrobial action. The essential oils used are also antimicrobial in nature. This shampoo detoxes your hair deeply by reducing any infectious microbes on the scalp.

Cucumber and Lemon

Ingredients:
1 large lemon
1 medium-sized cucumber
Essential oil (optional)

How to:

Peel the cucumber and lemon and chop them into small pieces. Check out this YouTube video for a great lemon-peeling hack that will make your life easier.
Blend the ingredients with the essential oil of your choice.
Use this mix as a regular shampoo.
Rinse as usual.

Frequency & Benefits:

1-2x per week. Lemon is a rich source of citric acid to cleanse your scalp. The cucumber in this recipe soothes your scalp. If you kept a couple of slices to put on your eyes afterwards – we won’t tell. We did too!

Shikakai

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of shikakai powder
Water

How to:

Add enough water to the shikakai powder to form a paste.
Wet your hair and work the shikakai paste through it, concentrating on your scalp.
Massage your scalp for 2 minutes and work the paste down the length of your hair.
Rinse with cool water.

Frequency & Benefits:
1-2x per week. Shikakai powder is made from the fruit pod of a shrub that grows in India. Long used in Ayurvedic practices, shikakai can relieve scalp scaling, itching, dryness, and greasiness. Also known as the “soap pod”, this all-natural fruit not only gently cleanses the hair, but is also anti-fungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory.

Other uses:
You can mix the shakakai powder to make a head pack to ease a headache. Mix shakakai powder with enough yogurt to coat your head. Leave on for 20-30 minutes before shampooing out.

Cinnamon Detox Mask

Ingredients:
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of olive oil

How to:

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix until you get a smooth consistency.
Massage the mixture into your scalp and work it through your hair in sections.
Leave it in for 20 minutes and rinse your hair.
If your hair is too greasy after rinsing, try using an apple cider vinegar rinse.

Frequency & Benefits:
Once a week. Cinnamon exhibits antifungal properties. It can effectively slow down the growth of Malassezia, a fungus that causes dandruff.

Coconut Milk and Aloe Shampoo

Ingredients:
1 can of coconut milk
¾ cup of pure aloe vera gel
Essential oil (optional)

How to:
Whisk the ingredients in a bowl until you get a smooth paste.
Pour the mixture into an ice-cube tray and freeze.
Pop a cube out and place it in a bowl in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it.
Wet your hair the next morning and work the mixture into your scalp and hair.
Massage and rinse as usual.

Frequency & Benefits:
Once a week. Coconut oil promotes hair strength by reducing protein loss. Aloe is a soothing and moisturizing agent with a host of benefits for your skin and scalp. Aloe is also the base of our Blood of the Dragon Styling Gel.

Foods That May Help Detox Your Hair

In addition to these recipes, try including these foods in your diet that are believed to detoxify your hair and scalp. While these DIY treatments can give fast, visible results if followed regularly, detoxifying your body promotes overall hair health too. You’ll notice that most of this list includes items with a high water content. That’s because hydration starts from the inside. Staying hydrated keeps your skin and scalp from drying out. So, drink your water, and add some of these nutrient-dense foods into your diet: 

Take the Challenge

The 30-day hair detox is a challenge that aims to remove gunk from your hair by not using any synthetic shampoos, conditioners, oils, or styling products on your hair for 30 days.

Fortunately, all of Morrocco Method’s products are raw, all-natural, and detox approved and can be used throughout your challenge. From shampoo, to styling gel, and even chemical-free henna hair dye, we have you covered!