Wash your hair without any water

One of the challenges to be met and conquered during my upcoming mission to Mars is the limitation on showers. We have a very limited supply of water for our mission, just 39 gallons per day to support six crew members. We anticipate this supporting only one shower per day, so we’ll have to rotate through and wait six days between our individual showers. I don’t think I’ve gone more than three days between showers since reaching my teens, and those gaps have been few and far between (camping trips). The crew briefing documents recommend bringing baby wipes to facilitate sponge baths between showers. But now I’m stuck wondering: what about my hair?

It’s not the appearance that I’m particularly worried about, and my hair is actually rather short, which probably makes this easier than it would be otherwise. It’s just that I’ve observed that going even 1.5 days between showers leaves my hair greasy enough (to me) that I don’t want it touching me. I don’t like the hair oil smell. (Does this mean I’m over-civilized? Or is it true that daily showers make your hair produce more grease than “normal”?) I have no idea, but eventually I confessed my worries to my hairdresser and asked her advice.

“Take a dry shampoo with you,” she said.

A dry shampoo? What? I’d never heard of such a thing. It turns out that dry shampoos are powdered substances that perform the same function as the liquid shampoo you’re currently using: they bond to the sebum (oils) in your hair, and can then be brushed out, carrying the oil (and any dirt or other particles stuck to the oil) away. The efficacy is generally lower than that of a wet shampoo (probably due to easier distribution and bonding in liquid form), but apparently still can provide a good between-shower cleaning. Just the ticket for a restricted water environment!

The dry shampoos available commercially seem to be rather expensive ($20-25), but the web is teeming with advice about making your own from corn meal or cornstarch or salt or clay or what have you (plus baking powder, to absorb odors). I think it’s worth a test run prior to the mission. If it works, I’ll be set! Nothing like low tech solutions to save the high-tech day.

6 Comments
2 of 5 people learned something from this entry.

  1. Marcy said,

    December 17, 2009 at 9:01 am

    (Learned something new!)

    Wow, I didn’t know you were “going” to Mars! That’s so awesome!!!

    (I have actually heard about dry shampoos before, but I’ve never tried one. Looking forward to hearing your results.)

  2. wkiri said,

    December 17, 2009 at 10:42 am

    Maybe we can both do a dry shampoo test! Let me know if you conduct any experiments. :) Are you interested in going to “Mars” as well? They’re always looking for volunteers… :)

  3. A life-long scholar said,

    December 17, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    (Knew it already.)

    You need to add a third button “I knew what I think of as the important part of this already, & I also learned something new”.

    When I was a child I had a hole in my eardrum, and during the time between when they noticed it and when they did the surgery to correct it I wasn’t permitted to get my head wet (to keep water out of my ear, and so out of the ear drum), so the doc told my mother to wash my hair with baby powder, just as you describe above. Later in life I was told that the best way to clean animal fur (of the sort which is still attached to a tanned skin & made into warm clothing) is to sprinkle it with corn (maize) meal and brush it off.

    I’m surprised to hear that people have been mixing and selling dry shampoos, given how easy it would be to mix one’s own.

    However, having done the baby-powder in the hair thing when I was little, I recommend doing it outdoors, as it makes a dreadful mess. I don’t think I’d want to do it aboard a spaceship, particularly in a weightless environment, as the powder would go everywhere.

    On the other hand, using a boar bristle brush, it is possible to keep one’s hair fairly clean by simply brushing it often and then cleaning the brush in between sessions, using no powder at all. Another friend of mine recommends putting lavender oil on a clean cloth and brushing your hair with that–the dirt and oils in your hair will join the oil on the cloth, and your hair will take up the sent of the lavender.

  4. Katie said,

    December 17, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    (Knew it already.)

    What I did NOT know is about this ‘mission to Mars’! That is very cool, and I am sure it will be fun as well as supremely educational.

    P.S. Oatmeal (dry, of course) works to absorb the oils from your head, too. I have tried it, and though potentially more chunky than other such things, I have liked the results.

  5. IdahoEv said,

    December 17, 2009 at 6:02 pm

    (Knew it already.)

    Anything highly absorbent will work as a dry shampoo. Plain oatmeal, rubbed in and combed out, is extremely effective; old campers’ and hunters’ trick. And it’s hard to be much cheaper than bulk oatmeal.

  6. Laksen Sirimanne said,

    December 28, 2009 at 9:52 pm

    (Learned something new!)

    Hi Kiri,
    I will be on MDRS-88 and so will meet you on Saturday the 23rd of Jan. Not too sure about the clay/oatmeal make your own shampoo at home.. but if you have any info on the store made dry shampoo can you let me know?
    Take care,
    Laksen

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