Funny blog about baking soda washing

[mellie]

Read the whole text here:
http://evany.com/diary/2008/08


...I’m talking about that fresh, comforting, elemental smell of an exhausting childhood day spent sunning and diving into non-chlorinated waters. That smell. And all the people I’ve forced to “smell my head” this past month seem to agree...


It's a very funny blog! :-)

[detritus]

That is a funny blog! And it actually tempts me to try the BS/ACV wash thing. Do you scrub? Or just pour through your hair?

[lawyermom]

That was a funny read! Did you read the site she linked to? Babyslime? Very informative!

[mellie]

Yes! That Babyslime site was very informative! I actually pored all through that site and have bookmarked both!

Re: how to do it; in the linked article, she says the ratio of BS to water, which you "lather" through your hair, and then follow up with an ACV rinse.

[lawyermom]

Did you read the part about the garlic remedy? I snorted coffee out of my nose when I read that.

I've read around here that the baking soda is very drying and should only be used for clarifying so now I'm confused. The Babyslime post suggests that if you're getting that kind of result, you're using too much? I need to research a little more. And maybe I'll give it a shot tomorrow. If baking soda is as good a replacement as ACV has been for conditioner for me, I'm going to have very happy hair.

[mellie]

Did you read the part about the garlic remedy? I snorted coffee out of my nose when I read that.

Haha, yes that was really funny. Her whole blog is hilarious!

I am interested as well. I love simplicity! If you try it, please post!

[lawyermom]

I'll try it in the a.m. and post about how it goes :)

[Pursuer]

Babyslime is where I really first learned about it, actually! (A friend referred me to the journal entry.)

I tried the garlic about a year ago - it did work (though I tasted garlic in my mouth.... weird, weird, weird!) but only for about a week - not worth sticking it up there for only a week of effectiveness. I live for my tea tree oil (Going 5 months strong.)

[nostalgic]

Haha, I learned about this method on babyslime too! It was actually before I joined LHC...
Personally, it works really well for me as long as I stretch out the bs washings... Whenever I'm feeling greasy, an acv rinse works just fine. I dilute my acv: about 1tbsp to 1 1/2 cups of water. As for the bs, I have short hair so I followed her advice and make a paste in my hands and scrub through. I really think this is a trial and error thing to find the right balance. HTH!

[lawyermom]

As promised, I tried it this morning.

It worked REALLY well. I put 1 TBL BS in a squirt bottle with 1 cup of hot water. In the shower, I just squired it all through my hair and massaged it in a little, rinsed and did an ACV rinse.

My hair is very cooperative today, very soft, smooth, shiny - in fact, today for the first time in like, 20 years OR MORE, I walked out of the house without any hairspray on. Not even spritzing it on my hands and running it through my hair like I've been doing for the past 3 weeks or so. Nothing. As I walked out, my husband said "wow, your hair looks really great."

I'm counting this as a big success.

[mellie]

Wow!! That is so cool! I love the compliment, too! Thanks so much for posting back!

I will have to try it now! What was the ratio of your ACV rinse?

[lawyermom]

I use 1 1/2 TBL in 3 cups of water. By the time I'm finished pouring it on my head, it's more diluted than that though.
What I do is put the ACV in a 3 cup measuring cup and take that into the shower. When I"m done washing (I've been using CV bars), I fill the cup up with water, and pour about half of it on my head. Swish it around a little then rinse, then fill the cup up again and pour the whole thing over my head, let that sit for a tiny bit (maybe a minute or so), rinse that all out, then rinse with cold and I'm done.

I'm hoping that with using the BS that I'm able to stretch my washings out. So far I haven't been able to break my "wash every day" routine.

[Martha]

I tried it last night and thought my hair didn't seem all that clean and bouncy. In fact, I put it on my hair and the hair felt pretty awful! Sort of dry and tangly. So I put on some conditioner (no cones all natural stuff), but not too much, and then rinsed with ACV/water mixture.

Not such great results.

[mellie]

Thanks for reporting back Martha! Sorry that it didn't work very well!

If you want to try it again, here's what the site says to do if it comes out dry:

If your hair is very dry, you may have used too much baking soda and should lesson the amount. You may also need to use more ACV in your rinse. Also, try smoothing a tiny bit of oil into your hair either after you shower, or in the morning. A tiny bit is all you need. Coconut oil works well, and smells great!

[lawyermom]

Mellie, did you try it?

[mellie]

No, I haven't tried it yet! I will soon though! I have been busy experimenting with Soapnuts (which was a failure..) So next wash I'll try it!

[wintersun99]

Why a failure?

I really want to find an alternative way to wash/condition my hair, more natural. I am having great pangs of guiltiness for all of the plastic bottles I'm going through, not to mention potential health benefits.

The few times I've tried baking soda, my hair was a mess - but I've not tried it as a mix with water, only mixed into shampoo...

[JessTheMess]

her blog is hilarious!!!!!! thanks mellie

[serabelle]

I've only tried a B/S wash once, followed by an ACV rinse - but I have to say - it REALLY lightened my hendigoed hair! My sister saw me the next week and was convinced that I had brightened my color, she said it looked "redder."

Dunno if that was the reason why - but I certainly noticed a difference.

[mellie]

Why [were the soapnuts] a failure?

They made my hair greasier than it was before I washed, unfortunately. You can see photos in my blog or photo album if you want. I've tried a bunch of different ratios too for the soapnuts/water, and got the same greasy roots every time....so I'm hoping maybe baking soda will be much better!

If that doesn't work, then heck, there's nothing wrong with my plain old shampoo (except for the plastic, of course!).

[mellie]

Serabelle, that lightening sounds pretty good! Now I'm even more excited to try it! :-)

[curly girl fla]

I've done BS washes similar to what she described. Sometimes I soak it in the sink, then massage rinse, then do acv in the shower...works really well for me, but I haven't done it often. It's nice to have an alternative way that is safe to cleanse your hair and scalp.

[serabelle]

Serabelle, that lightening sounds pretty good! Now I'm even more excited to try it! :-)

Give it a whirl! It certainly worked for me. I used 1tsp b/s in warm water - and squooshed it around for a minute. I bet the longer you try it, the better results you'd get. I was only doing it until it started to feel slippery, just enough to get the hair clean. I have to say - it made my hair feel *gorgeous* and bouncy.

[mellie]

Cool! Sounds great! Next shampoo will be a B/S!!

[mellie]

Well, I tried it last night and it didn't work for me, I'm so sad! :-(

I did the ACV rinse afterward and everything, but it left my hair super-duper greasy. I couldn't even take a photo, it looked so bad. I looked like the scary girl in the movie "The Ring": :run:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/thering-girl.jpg

Oh well...back to plain old shampoo!

[FlipHunny]

Awww! That's too bad it didn't work for you Mellie! Maybe give it another try with different proportions?

I've been excited to try the baking soda since I read this thread yesterday. I'm washing my hair later so I'll see how it goes. I don't think I'll be cutting my cone-free conditioners out of my routine though... I really like the scents from them, and my boyfriend likes to smell my hair. I already use ACV in my final rinses, but they're very diluted so it doesn't get rid of the scent of my conditioner.

I'll try the tablespoon of ACV to 1 cup of water, but if I don't smell my conditioner anymore after it dries, I guess I'll go back to extra diluted.

[MusingFrog]

I've been washing my hair exclusively with baking soda for probably a year now. I only wash once a week. My hair looks good for the first three days or so then it goes downhill from their; because my hair is always up in a bun this doesn't matter so much.

I personally wouldn't be able to use baking soda every day (I don't do the ACV rinse BTW). My hair has to be pretty "dirty" (lots of sebum) for it to work. It seems to react with the sebum which creates the soap. The less that is there the less there is for it to react to and the hair doesn't seem to get clean. In fact, it looks downright bad if I do it on cleanish hair. This is my experience, but I wouldn't use it everyday simple because there isn't enough stuff on your hair for it to clean off.

[mellie]

In fact, it looks downright bad if I do it on cleanish hair.

Ah, I wonder if that was my problem!

[serabelle]

Ah, I wonder if that was my problem!

That's quite possible - I know when I tried it, my hair was three days dirty. Sorry it didn't work out for you!

[wintersun99]

I've only tried a B/S wash once, followed by an ACV rinse - but I have to say - it REALLY lightened my hendigoed hair! My sister saw me the next week and was convinced that I had brightened my color, she said it looked "redder."Dunno if that was the reason why - but I certainly noticed a difference.

I tried this last night and very definitely noticed my water running dull green! I wonder if I washed out remaining Buxus rather than Indigo though? I haven't used Indigo in some time. Hmm...

[BlueMeezer]

Well, I tried it last night and it didn't work for me, I'm so sad! :-(

I did the ACV rinse afterward and everything, but it left my hair super-duper greasy. I couldn't even take a photo, it looked so bad. I looked like the scary girl in the movie "The Ring": :run:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/thering-girl.jpg

Oh well...back to plain old shampoo!

You might try using distilled water. If I use tap water with BS my hair gets nasty, but if I use distilled it's fantastic. I've been using this for over a year, along with Earth Science conditioner on the length, and my hair is in the best shape it has been in for years.

[mellie]

Interesting! That is good to know! :-)

[nostalgic]

Mellie, how much did you dilute your acv? I think that might be more of a problem than the actual bs wash.... when I'd used a lower dilution my hair felt very waxy and icky.... :flower:

[heidi w.]

That is a funny blog! And it actually tempts me to try the BS/ACV wash thing. Do you scrub? Or just pour through your hair?

BS is baking soda; when using any baking soda in any quantity, you are clarifying. So condition well. This would be the shampoo.

ACV is Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. This is poured on the hair between shampoo/conditioning, or my preference after conditioning is rinsed out. This is a rinse. It is removed immediately with clean water rinsing it out.

Make sure you understand all before going for it.

Do NOT blend the two together!!

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I can't read the blog yet. I'll have to wait til I get home.

heidi w.

[mellie]

Mellie, how much did you dilute your acv? I think that might be more of a problem than the actual bs wash.... when I'd used a lower dilution my hair felt very waxy and icky.... :flower:

That could be part of it, perhaps. I didn't measure very carefully, probably about a teaspoon ACV to one cup of water?

[thankyousir74]

That was a cool blog, and the link she provided was the one I used, and after 5 months of BS/ACV I was convinced that that regimen was not suitable for my hair :/

ETA: I'll be more specific, My hair constantly felt bad, I guess it might've been the inaccuracies in measuring and stuff, but when ever it felt bad I'd just put more ACV and I'd use it undiluted (silly me) leaving it smelling horrible. I also felt that BS was just leaving my hair really nasty to the touch I think it was because like someone mentioned earlier, maybe it wasn't dirty enough or something but yeah. With this experiment though I gained an appreciation for what natural oils feel like in my hair, so all was not lost. Eventually I started using an organic lemon conditioner, and that felt sooooo much better. The citrus in it cleaned up my hair pretty well, and I haven't used BS or ACV since. I just got scared away I think I'll have to be driven to necessity before trying that again. My CO routine is fairly cheap, with short hair it takes me a while before finishing a bottle, but maybe when it's longer I'll get the pangs of guilt like winter sun :/.