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The easiest alternative shampoo is mud! (how inexpensive is that?).

Don't laugh, it takes the grease out. (Notice how silty water lathers into foam in a flood?). Package mud up in flowered plastic bottles and the supermarkets would be full of it.
Actually urine is supposed to be excellent too - a couple of days old and ammoniacal. It does take the grease out of sheep's wool wonderfully, but we have never tried it. I am sure it would give my hair all the blonde lights of an advertiser's dream. But with so many alternatives to try....Shampoo can be made from mixtures of water and herbs, vinegar, lemon juice (as conditioner and lightener), egg yolks (for dry hair) or beer (for body). Organic egg yolks are best as a conditioner - rub in after shampooing, leave for a few minutes and wash off (cool water or you will have scrambled eggs) - but they clean hair as well.Or try an infusion of soapwort. Pick a handful of leaves, bung them in the blender or a moulie, cover with water, shake, strain and use the liquid in your hair. Ivy leaves are great too, or blackwood leaves.

Dry Shampoo

Take orris root, ground rosemary or arrowroot or a combination of any of them. Dry thoroughly in the oven, grind to a powder and brush though hair. The powder should take both grease and dirt with it.

Chamomile Shampoo

Make a cup of hot chamomile tea by pouring boiling water over a dessertspoon of dried flowers and leaving it to steep for five minutes. Drain the tea off the flowers, add a teaspoon of grated soap (castille or vegetable soap) and an optional teaspoon of borax. Mix well. Use the whole cupful to wash your hair. Chamomile tea is a brightening rinse for fair hair.

Egg + Other Shampoos

Take the yolks of two organic eggs, add the juice of two lemons, mix, and use instead of shampoo.

Hair Rinse for Shining Hair

Add a teacupful of rosemary tea to hair rinse for shiny, fragrant hair. It is also supposed to prevent early baldness.

Hair Conditioners

Oily Hair

Use any astringent herb like rosemary, lavender or mint. An astringent herb will increase the tone of your hair.

Dry hair

Use a demulcent herb like comfrey, slippery elm sage, and parsley. Demulcent herbs are rich in mucilage, which puts up a protective barrier and coats the hair.

Dandruff

Combined with vinegar, herbs like rosemary, parsley, chamomile or sage will reportedly help control dandruff. Good general conditioners and dandruff preventers are elderberry, southernwood, nettles, lime or quince peel.

Body and Shine

In addition to helping hair types, many herbs also provide body and shine to serve double duty on your locks. Some of the easiest to grow are rosemary, parsley and nasturtiums. Remember, if you have dry hair, stick with ones that would help you, like parsley, sage or comfrey. Oily hair requires herbs like rosemary or mint.

A simple recipe to make rinses will work for any of the above hair issues....

Take 1 cup of coarsely chopped, fresh herbs and 1 quart of distilled water. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let infuse (soak) for 1 hour. Strain, then add 1 quart of cider vinegar to the liquid. Store in plastic containers and keep in a cool, dark place. (You may be worried about adding the vinegar, but it acts as a preservative. You can make your rinses without it, but then they must be stored in the refrigerator and used within two days.)

Use about 1 cup after shampooing, pouring it over your hair several times. (You can catch the rinse water in a basin to use repeatedly). Do the final rinse with cool water to make the outer cells of your strands lie flat, providing a smooth finish.

If you want a little extra hair care, consider concocting an herbal conditioner for greater control of your tresses. Herbs make gentle conditioners. To prepare one, be sure to mince the herbs first – it’s important that they be a fine texture because they won’t be strained out.

To make conditioner, add 1 cup of minced herbs to 2 cups of distilled water and simmer for 15-20 minutes. (If using roots or bark, double the cooking time.) Remove from heat and let infuse for an hour. Then add 1 tablespoon of vegetable glycerin – just 1 drop at a time – and stir vigorously. Store in a tightly sealed, plastic container and keep in a cool, dark place. Add a small amount to wet hair, finger-comb, then style as usual.

Hair Conditioner Treatment for Dry hair

Fill a glass jar half full of fennel, camomile, rosemary or nettles. Top with sunflower oil, let it steep in the sunlight for at least a week, and shake regularly. Rub through hair ten minutes before washing.

For dry and brittle hair, any of the vegetable oils can act as a marvellous conditioner. Slowly heat the oil in a double saucepan - when warm, massage into the scalp and hair. Cover the head with plastic then wrap in warmed towels. When towel cools repeat once; then shampoo, making sure you remove all excess oil. Follow with a herbal rinse. Make an infusion and either use as rinse or mix with the final rinsing water to leave hair sweet smelling and shiny.

To enhance color and add shine, use sage and horsetail. To promote growth and add shine, parsley and catmint. Rosemary and lemon verbena make a lovely rinse for dark hair and camomile and yarrow for fair. Columbine for the sweet smell of hay.

To promote growth, rub into the scalp several times a week either an infusion of yarrow or a mixture of two tablespoons of extract of nasturtium mixed with a few drops of rosemay oil; brush hair thoroughly afterwards.

Now you are all shiny and conditioned. If there are a few more hours to spare try a little color.

Henna would be one of the oldest and best known coloring agents, and is readily available from health shops, complete with instructions.

For those with fair har, it can be lightened quite considerably with special lightening pastes.

To Lighten Hair

Take a ¼ cup of lemon juice (fresh lemons are best) and mix with your conditioner. Apply to hair and leave your hat off when gardening in the sun. Soon thereafter you will see a beautiful summer shimmer in your hair. For more summer highlights ... Try rosemary for brunettes and camomile for blondes. Steep a cup of camomile flowers in three cups of boiling water. Use the liquid as a final rinse. This will add bright golden lights, and gradually lighten hair with continued use. Camomile Paste; make a strong infusion of flowers and mix in enough kaolin powder to make a thick paste. Apply to hair along the full length of the strands and leave for approximately one hour.Rinse well with warm water. Your initial application may not produce highly noticeably results but persevere as successive applications will produce noticeable lightening.

Rhubarb can be applied also as a lightener. To make the paste; stew two sticks of rhubarb in two cups of white wine for about twenty minutes. Steep for a further couple of hours, then mix to a thick paste with kaolin powder. repeat process as for camomile.

Dyeing Hair

To make a blue rinse, take a cup of elerberries, add a pinch of salt and alum (these add brighteness but aren't absolutely necessary) and cover with boiling water. Leave this until it is cool and use as a final rinse. If the color is not deep enough rub a more concentrated solution into hair and leave for ten minutes before rinsing off.

Henna Hair Dye

Henna 200 gm
1 teaspoon organic coffee powder
1 organic egg yolk
1 teapoon Rum/Brandy

Mix coffee powder in water and make a paste of henna with the water. Beat the egg yolk and mix this into henna. Also add brandy to it. Apply the paste and leave on for 3-4 hours before washing with lukewarm water.

Saffron Hair Dye

Saffron 1 pinch
Boiling water 500 ml

Soak saffron in water for 10 minutes. Strain and use it on the hair. Grey hair will acquire a rich golden tint.

Walnut Hair Dye

Walnut husk 500 gm
Water 500 ml

Boil husk (dry outer covering) in the water for 15 minutes. Then strain and use this liquid to dye your hair. It will colour brown hair to a darker rich shade.

Brunette Rinses

Rinse your hair with the cooled water left after boiling unpeeled potatoes.

Rinse with teas made from Rosemary, Sage, Raspberry leaves, Parsley, or Catnip

Rinse with black Coffee or black Tea.

Rinse with an infusion of Tea, Walnuts and Coffee.

Rinse with and infustion of Apple Cider Vinegar, Rosemary and Coffee.

A paste for brown hair can be made by mixing six tablespoons of green walnut skins with two tablespoons of alum powder and half a cup of orange flower paste. Chop the walnut skins finely and mix into a paste with the other ingredients, then apply as above.

To Lighten Hair

Steep a cup of chamomile flowers in three cups of boiling water. Use the liquid as a final rinse. This will add bright golden lights to brown hair, and gradually lighten hair with continued use. Lemon juice added to rinsing water is good for fair hair.

To Add Golden Lights to Brown Hair

Dig up some rhubarb root, scrub it clean of grit, dry in the oven then pulverize in a blender.
Add just enough hot water to make a pulp and rub into hair.
Leave for half an hour then rinse off thoroughly.
This preparation may leave your hair dry, so use a conditioner afterwards.

Steep an organic chamomile tea bag in 7 oz. of warm filtered water with a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar. Apply tea mixture to hair and let sit for 3 minutes. Chamomile renders a golden tone to hair, whilst the vinegar gives hair a shine.
Rinse hair again with water.

Blonde Rinses

Rinse with infusions or teas made from Saffron, Turmeric, Calendula (marigold), Mullein.

Rinse with an infusion of Avena Sativa (oat straw), Licorice Root and Saffron.

Rinse with Chamomile tea.

Take a cup of marigold petals, pour over a cup of boiling water, leave until cool and use as a final rinse for your hair. Better results come with repeated applications.

Boil chopped rhubarb in water then cool, strain and rinse hair with water.

Red Hair Rinses

Rinse hair with cool, strong black organic Coffee.

Rinse with teas made from Rosehips, Red Hibiscus, Calendula or Saffron.

To Mask Grey Hair

Make a strong sage tea by pouring a cup of boiling water onto a cup of chopped sage leaves. Leave it until it is cool, and use as a final rinse. This will have to be repeated for several weeks. Make a paste with kaolin powder. Sage can assist in restoring original color.

Grey Hair Rinse

Use a Hollyhock infusion or Betony rinse to remove the yellow from grey hair.

To Colour Grey Hair Brown

Soak a handful of walnut leaves or husks in water overnight. Use this as a final rinse when washing your hair

Enjoy!