What's your favorite clarifying routine?

[Arctic_Mama]

Okay ladies and gents. I am starting several new products and want an accurate picture of how they're working on my hair, so I want to clarify to remove any possible build up.

What is your favorite clarifying recipe? I'd rather not go out and buy a clarifying shampoo, so I am looking for something I can do at home.

Thanks much :D

[healingsolitude]

I rinse my hair with 2 tablespoons of baking soda to 1 - 1 1/2 parts water. Massage it in and then rinse. Rinse again with 1 tablespoonful of Apple Cider Vinegar to 1 - 1 1/2 parts water. Massage again and rinse with cold water.

I use the 2 tablespoons of baking soda because my scalp is oily. Dry scalp would be at about 1 tablespoon. The vinegar rinse varies as far as what suits you. Some use white vinegar and others use lemon or lime juice rinses or citric acid rinses. I've never noticed a lingering vinegar scent with the ACV, though.

Anyway, that is my simple clarifying at-home treatment. I do that about once every two weeks. Hopefully this helps you! :)

[GlassEyes]

I used to use baking soda and ACV.

I've gone back to shampoo every few weeks. I'm lazy. xD

[aisling]

I warmly recommend using a clarifying shampoo or at least one with good, harsh sulphates. I did not like what baking soda did to my hair and it's not coming near my hair again :) I prefer using baking soda for drain opening any day.

With a shampoo my routine is usually diluting a good blob of shampoo a little as my shampoo is quite thick, diluting it makes it easier to spread. Then I wash with that, root to tip, sometimes twice and after that I do a deep treatment to help my ends regain some moisture. This isn't done more than once a month, once every six weeks.

[ChloeDharma]

I never clarify other than vinegar rinses which i think probably aren't that clarifying anyway. I should though, the baking soda method i'm far too chicken to try but i do keep meaning to try the citric acid rinse.

[FrannyG]

I tried the baking soda mixed with shampoo recipe one time. I am not a fan of this method. Even with balancing the ph with a good ACV rinse, and then conditioning, my hair ended up with the cuticle being very roughed up. It took far to long for my hair to return to normal.

I recommend a simple, inexpensive clarifying shampoo. It does the job without the stress to my hair. I rarely have to clarify, but when I do, this is the method I use.

Good luck with it. :blossom:

[xrosiex]

I use suave clarifying shampoo. It's very inexpensive I paid $1.00 for a 15 0z bottle. I use it full strength about every week. Then I condition with Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose. It works great.

[Carolyn]

The Suave clarifying shampoo that xrosiex recommended is great and it's only a buck and available at WM and lots of drug and grocery stores. I tried adding baking soda to regular shampoo and was not impressed with the results. I thought the baking soda was very harsh and drying. I wouldn't use it again. I think a real clarifying shampoo is worth the money. After shampooing, I use a heavy moisturizing conditioner. The heavier and more moisturizing the better. An SMT treatment following clarifying is also a way to add more moisture. Clarifying takes out the moisture and you need to find a way to put it back in.

[chrissy-b]

I've clarified with baking soda in the past and had similar negative results. My hair felt coarse and dry, tangly and awful -- not the smooth and clean feeling I get from using clarifying shampoos. I use Nutrogena about once a month and am pleased with the results.

[lora410]

I love aveda hair detoxified sooo much $9 a bottle. The guys said it is wicked strong so use only once in a blue moon when needed. It removes chlorine and other buildup. I also love 1tsp BS in some shampoo.

[Tami86]

I tried using an ACV rinse and it dried my hair.. probably cause ididnt condition after rinsing with the vinegar .. ill go buy a good clarifying shampoo soon ..

[kunibob]

Count me in as someone who loves baking soda for clarifying. My hair & scalp love baking soda so much that I use it instead of shampoo for every second wash (ie: every six days). I oil very heavily the night before. I always finish with a white vinegar & honey rinse (sometimes with chamomile) with a drop or two of essential oils for scent.

That said, by the looks of it, it's not for everyone.

[melikai]

I've only tried baking soda once, but it really worked well! I mixed a fair amount with my undiluted shampoo (which has sulphate but is fairly gentle), washed my scalp AND my length with this and then rinsed extremely well. I think being sure to rinse way more than you feel is necessary is integral with baking soda.

I followed with a splash of white vinegar in a large amount of water, poured that over my head, and then conditioned my length only with cone free conditioner.

My hair feels great!

[Tami86]

Silly question.. is baking soda the same a baking powder? :/ maybe stupid, but i really dont know .... *embarassed*

[wintersun99]

I just use a daily clarifying shampoo, Suave works well for me (I don't use it daily though) I have tried the baking soda method (both 50/50 with shampoo and dissolved in water) and I feel that it strips too much. Regular shampoo is just fine.

[lora410]

Silly question.. is baking soda the same a baking powder? :/ maybe stupid, but i really dont know .... *embarassed*

baking soda (arm and hammer) is the kind you stick in your fridge for deodorizing. Bakin powder is something else entirely

[Patrycja]

Yeah...I've been the mistake of using Baking Powder instead of soda when baking.Not a good thing to do...

My favorite clarifying treatment has been mentioned plenty of times already.I mix 1 tsp of baking soda with enough shampoo to make a paste.I CWC with VO5 Lime Kiwi Squeeze,using my baking soda for the poo.The final condish has to be thick and heavy in cones or else my treatment will eat up my hair.Not literally but I'm a former chemical dye user so clarifying can go really bad if its done wrong with my hair.

[Elphie]

I use Suave's clarifying conditioner rather than the shampoo. Every two or three weeks I'll use it CO style and follow up with a lighter conditioner after rinsing it.

[Deborah]

You can also use baking soda mixed into your conditioner while doing conditioner only washing. This is less harsh than using it with shampoo, and gives nicer results.

[healingsolitude]

Count me in as someone who loves baking soda for clarifying. My hair & scalp love baking soda so much that I use it instead of shampoo for every second wash (ie: every six days). I oil very heavily the night before. I always finish with a white vinegar & honey rinse (sometimes with chamomile) with a drop or two of essential oils for scent.

That said, by the looks of it, it's not for everyone.

I've been thinking about adding honey to my rinse since I've heard such good results with that. I also want to try different herbs and essential oils. Playing around with different combinations sounds like fun.

I'm wondering what sort of hair those have who haven't responded well to any baking soda method. I used it as a rinse every day for a week on my oily scalp and normal hair without any drying at all. My only follow-up routine was the plain ACV water. Maybe it helped that I have virgin hair? From what I've read, it can be very bad to use baking soda on dry hair. Maybe not impossible, though. I've heard good results from those who used the suggested method of combining the baking soda with their conditioner in place of shampoo.

However, when I started using the baking soda rinse I had thought only those with normal hair had bad reactions to the plain baking soda rinse. If I'd known what I know now I probably would have started with some baking soda mixed in with shampoo first. Then I would have switched to the plain baking soda rinse if that wasn't clarifying enough. I don't respond well to conditioner, though. It would be safer to start with a conditioner and baking soda wash if you have never used baking soda on your hair before. Then go to the shampoo and baking soda combo if that one isn't clarifying enough. Finally try the baking soda rinse if none of the others work and your hair is not dried out.

[Arctic_Mama]

Thanks for your help everyone! I use an ACV rinse anyway, but I have had bad luck with baking soda for body use in things like deodorant and have a finicky scalp as I have eczema and my hair and scalp are both quite dry. I was a bit nervous about baking soda, especially the quantities, so I do think I'll just grab some cheap clarifying shampoo on the next grocery trip. Was Suave really clarifying enough for old buildup? I know surfactants are cheap so I could totally see that stripping very well :grin:

ETA: My hair, by the way, has been color treated three times at the very, very bottom and twice over most of the rest of the length. I have almost three inches of virgin growth at the top now and will continue to leave it virgin and gradually trim away the color, but my hair is naturally wavy and a bit porous so I know the damaged parts are REALLY porous... that was why baking soda made me twitch, I have the feeling my scalp would love it and the ends would be kiln-dried straw!

[Arctic]

I use Suave's clarifying conditioner rather than the shampoo. Every two or three weeks I'll use it CO style and follow up with a lighter conditioner after rinsing it.


Elphie: The conditioner actually is NOT clarifying in itself, it is just named that way because it's "partner product" of the clarifying shampoo. You are not getting rid of buildup with it, but I have heared it's good for COing.


I have tried both clarifying with BS (2 times) and clarifying shampoo (Finnish brand Herbina) and my experience is that clarifying shampoo does 100% better job than BS, my hair feels amazing with it and it doesn't dry my hair or scalp. It also removes metals and salts which I think BS doesn't do. With BS my hair was so dry, airy, fluffy, flyaway and took long time to get back to normal. Also my scalp didn't like it. I never go back to BS.

I regularly use vinegar rinses and I personally don't consider them clarifying. I use it to the health of my scalp.

[healingsolitude]

Thanks for your help everyone! I use an ACV rinse anyway, but I have had bad luck with baking soda for body use in things like deodorant and have a finicky scalp as I have eczema and my hair and scalp are both quite dry. I was a bit nervous about baking soda, especially the quantities, so I do think I'll just grab some cheap clarifying shampoo on the next grocery trip. Was Suave really clarifying enough for old buildup? I know surfactants are cheap so I could totally see that stripping very well :grin:

ETA: My hair, by the way, has been color treated three times at the very, very bottom and twice over most of the rest of the length. I have almost three inches of virgin growth at the top now and will continue to leave it virgin and gradually trim away the color, but my hair is naturally wavy and a bit porous so I know the damaged parts are REALLY porous... that was why baking soda made me twitch, I have the feeling my scalp would love it and the ends would be kiln-dried straw!

I've heard that any of the Suave shampoos listed as being clarifying are good. Most seem to have great things to say about any of them. I'm just not sure which ones are still available since it's been quite awhile since I've been in the shampoo aisle anywhere.

It seems like everyone reacts differently to baking soda. I'm not sure what all causes the bad reactions. It sounds like the ones who have the most problems either have dry hair and scalp or they have chemically treated hair. My hair doesn't get clarified with any of the shampoos I've tried and only responds well to the baking soda rinse. Perhaps your dry, color treated hair will responded much better to a clarifying shampoo. It would be worth a try. I don't know if you'd want to try a conditioner with a tiny bit of baking soda if that doesn't work. The clarifying shampoo should work on your dry hair, though.

Another thing that shows how differently everyone reacts to different methods is how one poster commented here that ACV dries her hair out. For me, I've found that ACV actually weighs my hair down a bit and adds more moisture. I've noticed that my hair doesn't have as much volume when I wash with my volumizing shampoo bar and follow with an ACV rinse.