ACV rinse

[Arfed]

I'm thinking of experimenting with ACV or even just normal vinegar rinses - is there a good introduction on doing these somewhere?

Also - what can I expect from it? At the moment, when I wash my hair, the water can be quite warm-to-hot, and I find it dries out my scalp, causing some flakiness - I'm hoping the ACV rinse will clear that up.

Additionally, I want to avoid any lingering smell from these rinses - is there a good way of making sure of that?

[AZDesertRose]

The base ratio for ACV rinses is 1 tablespoon (15 mL) ACV to 1 cup (approximately 237 mL) water. I personally find that a little too strong for my hair, so I use 1 tablespoon ACV to 2 cups water, but it's something you'll have to tinker with to get the ratio right for your hair. If the rinse is too strong for your hair, it will make your hair feel weird. (Too strong a rinse makes mine get an oily feeling without actually being oily. It's hard to explain.)

If your hair likes it, it will make your hair shiny and it helps clarify build-up off your hair.

The vinegar smell dissipates fairly quickly, but I add a few drops of rosemary essential oil to my rinses. Note of caution: Rosemary tends to darken the hair, so don't use rosemary if you don't have dark hair. You can use chamomile for blonde and light red shades, or lavender just for making it smell nice.

I also find I get better results with minimally processed (organic, unfiltered) ACV. It's more expensive, but I use so little at a time that it takes me forever to go through a bottle of ACV.

You also might want to cool the water off when you wash your hair. Too much heat on the hair can cause scalp dryness and tends to make the hair weaker and more apt to break. I usually shower my body with fairly warm water (because I find a warm shower relaxing), but I'll cool the water off when it's time to wash my hair, and I tend to rinse out the ACV with cool water (not cold, just cool).

I hope this helps! Best wishes. :)

[MeAndTheMaz]

I do ACV rinses. Couldn't tell you what the formula is. t probably varies from time to time. I just put a splash in a squeeze mustard jar, and then fill with water.

I don't rinse out the rinse, and the smell doesn't linger, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Also, I tend to take showers--shall we say--on the warm side (especially in winter), and the ACV mix is generally cold, so it acts as an ACV and cold rinse.

[Arfed]

Thanks for the replies :) Will give this a shot sometime soon.

[DweamGoiL]

If you have dry scalp, I would not recommend ACV rinses. The vinegar is going to dry your skin even more.

[Arfed]

Finally getting around to this :) Is all ACV the same, or are some makes more 'pure' than others? Just looking at the ingredients, and it uses Sulpher Dioxide as a preservative.

Are there more people with experience using it with a dry scalp? It was my impression, that it was meant to help with that by adjusting the PH balance.

Also, I'm a bit worried about the potential smell - how likely is this to be a problem, and what are some good ways of minimizing it as a potential issue?

[Arctic]

Just try it once :)

[Arctic]

I think you can use any type of vinegar. You can add essential oils for nice smell.

Dilute the vinegar with water very well, you can make it stronger once you know your skin doesn't mind it. Rinse it too, especially in the beginning. You can even leave it on when you know how your skin likes it.

No-one can say whether it suit YOUR skin or not. You need to try it to see. Also, the after smell. On many people the smell vanishes as hair dries. But not on everyone. You need to test this on your skin. On me the smell seems to vanish, but if I sweat, or get caught in a rain, I can re-smell the vingegar very faintly. It's not a bad smell, and having used essential oils helps a lot.


ETA: Some people are very particular about what type of vinegar they use. The smells vary a bit from type to type, and the darker ones can slightly and temporarily colour your hair. Some people only use organic apple cider vinegar (ACV) with the Mother. I have used almost all types I have been gotten my hands on over the years, and on me, the end results do not differ. I usually use white vinegar these days, because that's what I always have at home.

[Arfed]

Cheers :) I'll give it a try, but I'm anticipating the smell still hanging around, so will only do it very dilute (and when I'm not going anywhere ;)) - don't really have any essential oils to try with it.

An ACV rinse is only a thing that should be done 'once in a while', due to effectively clarifying your hair, ya? Or can it be done after each wash?
I have very fine hair (to the point that it's pretty much always unmanageable flyaway), so aught to avoid overdoing it if I can.

[Arctic]

Well the vinegar rinses don't really clarify your hair. They do help products, especially soap based product and also hard water minerals to not to attach to the hair, and they close the cuticles making hair shiny and smooth.

I personally can use (and have used) them with every wash (and I'm daily/almost daily washer) with no ill effects. If you like what they do to your scalp and hair, then why not. But I'm sure there are many members who would never use them with every wash. :) I guess it's again something that you need to find yourself.

Good luck with experimenting, give us an update afterwards, it might help new members in the future if they have similar questions!


ETA. The smell thing is really interesting! When wet, your hair smells very strongly, but it just vanishes on most people by the time hair dries.

[Akville]

I personally cant use ACV it makes my coarse hair even more coarser and it makes it feel like hay.. I did give it a chance and every time I forgot to do ACV rinse my hair feel so much better :D .. So I've stopped doing it.. I have coarse, thick and very straight hair..
So it doesn't suits everyone..