Shampoo Day (standard:other, 266 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: May 27 2012	Views/Reads: 2911/2	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Saturday is a holy day and also shampoo day for most Hindus.

Shampoo Day 

Subba Rao 

Among the days of the week, Saturday is considered holy by 

Hindus, on this day devotees attend temples to worship Gods or perform 

rituals at home. Physical cleanliness, particularly washing hair is a 

prerequisite to participate in the prayers, thus Saturday became a 

shampoo day. 

From ancient times, Soap nut trees were cultivated for the 

berries that contain saponins or natural soap. The dried Soap nuts 

either whole or crushed were sold in shops and daily markets. Handful 

of crushed dried soap nuts are soaked in hot water to extract the brown 

and frothy bitter juice to apply to the hair as a shampoo. Soap nut 

extract is very effective in removing oil from the hair since most 

Indians use coconut oil on a daily basis in grooming their hair. 

Besides Soap nuts, dried pods from Acacia tree locally known as 

Shika are also used to make a paste to apply to the hair as a shampoo. 

While the Soap nut extract irritates eyes giving red eye, paste from 

Shika pods is mild and user friendly though less effective as a shampoo.


With the advent of user friendly commercial shampoos and hair 

conditioners with choice of fragrance, the use of dried soap nuts and 

Shika pod paste became almost extinct. People can still get the dried 

soap nuts and Shika pods at local markets, though now ready made 

extracts are sold in bottle as an expensive herbal organic shampoo at 

exorbitant prices. 

Saturday is a holy day and still a shampoo day but no more red 

eye from bitter Soap nut juice. 


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