Rosemary Hair Wash, 1857

 ROSEMARY HAIR WASH Rosemary water, 1 gallon; spirit, 10 oz; pearlash, 1 oz. 

---The Handbook of Practical Receipts (1857)

 

Rosemary water, spirits, pearlash

This one got scaled down, as I only had 6 oz of rosemary water left from my last adventure distilling herbs (and also because I don't think I actually need a whole gallon of it). Proportionately, those 6 oz of rosemary water requires 0.94 oz spirit, and .09 drams pearlash; for ease of measurement I rounded these to 1 oz alcohol and 3/8 tsp pearlash (potassium carbonate).  

I only have so many large bottles,
so the hair-wash went back into the rosemary water one.

The three ingredients mixed together easily. To use, I just poured a little over my scalp while showering--taking care not to get any of the hair-wash in my eyes--worked it in, and then rinsed thoroughly, and towel-dried. 

I suspected that the alkaline pearlash would do something towards removing any built-up grease from the hair, and was pleasantly surprised by this being true. The hair-wash imparted a short-lived rosemary scent, but otherwise seems to have cleaned my hair just like the shampoo I usually use. I am curious about how it would work over an extended period, and hope to continue the experiment in the future.

Addition: I managed to get four uses out of this batch of ~7 oz of hair wash. It removed pomatum with perfect ease, and generally has proven quite satisfactory. I did notice my hair feeling greasy again a day or two sooner than with modern shampoos, but that's not necessarily a problem with the hair wash. Sometimes my hair just does that with a new product.