I use baking soda for EVERYTHING.
I first learned about the -poo- diet a year ago. I've kept up with it ever since.
Just remember, if your going to switch to baking soda, make sure you follow up with the apple cider vinegar, at least once a week.
Baking soda has a pH of about ten, making it an alkali. But our hair is naturally slightly acidic. So if you don't use any apple cider vinegar, your hair will become dry and easily tangled. The acv will help relax the scales on the hair shaft, making your hair smooth and luxuriant.
*** EDIT ***
A few months after leaving this comment, I enrolled in hair school. I can now tell you that while Sodium Bicarbonate is wonderful for short term cleansing, it does not serve well as a primary shampoo alternative.
Our scalp constantly secretes an oil called sebum. This oil lubricates our hair and serves to protect us, however, over time this oil can build up mixing with dirt and debris and that's why shampoo is necessary.
Baking soda will cleanse the hairshaft, but it will not exfoliate your scalp (which is more important because a dirty scalp can cause a whole bunch of dangerous diseases and afflictions.).
The soap in shampoo separates oil and dirt allowing water to wash away any nastiness.
So, yes, you can use baking soda as a temporary cleansing agent, but it's absolutely necessary to shampoo at least once a week. It doesn't matter how cheap the shampoo is, you can honestly use plain old hand-soap (the leading ingredient in both hand soap and most shampoo's Sodium Laurel Sulfate, so it works pretty much the same)
You can do this with a small cup in a convenience store restroom or outside with a bottle of water (if you have long hair, you'll probably want to fill up a gallon jug or a 2 ltr bottle).. Try to lather, rinse and repeat that process (the first time cleans your hair, the second time your cleanses your scalp).
