Combat Dandruff with Household Staples

If your noggin is perpetually snowed in, you don't have to look further than your kitchen cabinet to find nontoxic relief for your weather woes, according to the authors of Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things (2007, Reader's Digest). Think lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, for starters, and avoid most conventional anti-dandruff shampoos, which are packed with toxic chemicals such as coal tar, a black liquid distilled from coal and a cancer-causing agent first described in chimney sweeps.

Another trick this writer's husband swears by is to add a few drops of organic tea-tree oil to your shampoo, and then shaking the bottle well to disperse the oil before use. Massaging a few tablespoons of olive oil into your scalp can also help loosen and soften dandruff scales. Wet your hair, rub in the oil, and then leave it in for half an hour-using a shower cap helps-before shampooing as usual.

Difficulty level: Easy