Better make that some other kind of box, because soap is sort of the problem here.

I've gone 'no-poo'.

No, it's not a group of radicalised constipation sufferers.

It's not even an aggrieved bunch of Winnie the Pooh haters. (Does anyone hate Winnie the Pooh? Shame on them if they do.)

It's an international movement (oh, okay, a few fringe weirdos) who are swearing off shampoo (and conditioner) and letting their hair just do its own thing.

Which means hot water alone running over it in the shower, and the occasional apple cider vinegar rinse, if you are going peak-hippy.

I'm on day 11 and - while I would dearly love to turn back - I feel like I've come so far down the road that I just have keep plodding on.

I'm closer to the end of the ordeal than the beginning. (I mean, I am right? I'd better be.)

It's meant to take two or three weeks for the oil-producing engines in your hair to realise that they don't have to go gangbusters anymore, at which point they slow down production and your hair turns into a soft and silky dream. But right now, it's a gross and greasy scene.

For almost my whole life I washed my hair every day. I was blessed with fine hair and oily skin, a combination that didn't really work for me from about the age of 11.

The only way to ensure I didn't look like a street waif was to wash my hair every damn day, and even then, it looked a bit flat half way through.

Of course (and especially if you have long hair), daily washing strips your hair of the oils that also stop you looking like a straw-topped scarecrow, so you have to condition every day as well.

Several thousand dollars and plastic bottles later, I now realise I've been had.

Someone has made a lot of money out of me first removing then putting back the things that were supposed to be in my hair.

And it was me messing around with it that made it seem necessary, not an intrinsic problem with the hair itself.

The only thing to do was to bite the bullet and push through to the place of perfect hair, just out of reach on the other side.

I've got to say I didn't give it a lot of thought. You'd call this idea a whim rather than a well thought-out course of action.

But I'd toyed with the notion for some time. Every now and then a celebrity (by which I mean, the ABC's Richard Glover, famously no-poo and a celebrity in my opinion) would mention it and I'd think, "Hmmm. Maybe one day."

Then, with no plan at all, I just did it.

It's possible I'll undo it just as recklessly. But not just yet.

The other day (day seven of the shampoo strike to be precise), I met a woman with lovely curls.

I looked longingly at her hair, thinking, "I bet she just washed that - look how nice and clean it is."

Shortly into the conversation, she mentioned in passing that she hadn't used shampoo or conditioner for more than 10 years.

Goals, right there.

Modern-style shampoo was only invented in 1927, when a Mr Schwartzkopf of Berlin invented a liquid soap, and went on to found a hair product brand that is still going strong.

Before that, people used actual soap, of course, but also herbal extracts, ash from the fire, the water from cooking rice or rinsing quinoa, soapberries (Sapindus Mukorossi) or - yes - plain water to get out the gunk.

There were obviously a lot of really yucky heads going around wanting a clean, but then, most people did more physical labour, enjoyed no air conditioning and didn't have much in the way of running hot water, which would have compounded the problem.

Now that I can jump in the shower every day, I think ditching the 'poo is worth a shot.

I'll give it another two weeks and, if I'm not happy, I'll go back to being a slave to the hair care companies. Whatever else, I've saved a few bucks and a bit of recycling this month.