My hair feels strange after ACV

[MoominPaige]

Hello!!!

I did my first AVC last night. Whilst my hair was damp it felt amazing and super soft.
Now its dry and my roots look amazing but my ends feel 'coated' and look slightly damp still.
Did i use to much vinegar? I did three little capfuls in a litre of water.

[Obsidian]

Sounds like you used too much for your hair. Try one capful next time and see how that is.
Do you remember if your hair felt slightly oil after the rinse? That's one way to tell you have used too much.

[school of fish]

I second that your concentration was likely too high. Years ago when I tried ACV rinses I used to find the same thing and assumed my hair hated ACV - when I tried more recently at a much weaker dilution I was shocked at how effective it was! I'm using probably the equivalent of 1/4 - 1/2 tsp to a full cup of water.

Other possibilities are that your hair would prefer a different acid, such as white vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, etc., or that your hair dislikes acidic rinses altogether. I'd start with dilution though and go from there :)

[lapushka]

I think a teaspoon in just one liter is more than enough. Might also be that the way your ends feel has nothing to do with the ACV rinse. What other products did you use?

[Annalouise]

I'm all for "natural" things but I never got any benefit from vinegars on the hair. They DRY out my hair like nobody's business.
Some people say they build up and you need a clarifier to remove what the vinegar leaves on your hair.
Imagine you have hard water buildup on your taps. You soak them overnight in rags soaked in vinegar. The next morning you can see
that the hard water is broken up in little bits. But still, you have to take a soft rag or mildly abrasive scrubber to scrub the bits of loosened hard water deposits so that you can remove them.
The acv breaks up deposits on the hair, but it doesn't remove them unless you use a good shampoo like a clarifier. That is why your ends feel hard is because the deposits are just sitting on them.
Try using a clarifier on your ends and then condition them, and see if they still feel that way. :toast:

[spidermom]

When I lived at my father's house in Ohio last summer, I would use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a pitcher of water. The water there was hard, and if I didn't use vinegar, my hair felt coated and looked dull.

[Llama]

When I lived at my father's house in Ohio last summer, I would use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a pitcher of water. The water there was hard, and if I didn't use vinegar, my hair felt coated and looked dull.

Yep sounds like Ohio, lol.
I wonder why water hardness varies from state to state. Just give everyone nice water, geez.
I have been curious to try a vinegar rinse myself but it makes me a little uncomfortable to use the same thing in my hair as I use to clean the house.

[MoominPaige]

I think a teaspoon in just one liter is more than enough. Might also be that the way your ends feel has nothing to do with the ACV rinse. What other products did you use?

I use a natural shampoo bar and then coconut and almond oil. I thought the acid rinse would help as people suggest them if your using shampoo bars.
I just find my ends seem to pick up all the lint and stuff at the moment

[kinnyuu]

I have tried multiple measurements. 1-2 teaspoons in a quart works best for ME!

[lapushka]

I use a natural shampoo bar and then coconut and almond oil. I thought the acid rinse would help as people suggest them if your using shampoo bars.
I just find my ends seem to pick up all the lint and stuff at the moment

Exactly how much oil did you use, and how did you use it. Also, coconut oil makes more than one person on this board's hair dry and crunchy, so it might be that.

[Lisa-K]

I personally prefer white vinegar instead of apple cider. Could be worth a try? But I also think the concentration might have been too high.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

Exactly how much oil did you use, and how did you use it. Also, coconut oil makes more than one person on this board's hair dry and crunchy, so it might be that.

Yep lapushka is correct.
Also lint and stuff sticking to your hair could mean you used too much oil.

[mizukitty]

I think the efficacy of ACV, citric acid, and plain ol vinegar all have a lot to do with: how coated your hair is with product, how hard your water is, and how fine your hair is. For me, I can pretty much use acid full strength (not saying I do, it just wouldn't really hurt) because my water is extremely hard, meaning my hair gets mineral build up very fast and gets dull quickly. Acid removes this, and it goes back to being shiny, without drying out my hair because it's SO coated in minerals. If you don't have this water problem, vinegar likely won't do TOO much for you, as I believe that's one of it's best benefits. It has been suggested that it closes the cuticle, but I don't know if I believe this. Ymmv as always, and dilute as much as you need. For best effects, I think it's best used on clean hair, though.

[Anje]

I use a lot, like 50-100 mL per L (not that I measure). But it varies a lot by what your water is like, and probably by what your hair's like. From your description, it sounds like it was too concentrated for you, so take it down to less vinegar.

[MoominPaige]

Exactly how much oil did you use, and how did you use it. Also, coconut oil makes more than one person on this board's hair dry and crunchy, so it might be that.

Not alot of oil. A drop or two on my ends whislt wet. I will stop the coconut and see if it helps xx

[lapushka]

Not alot of oil. A drop or two on my ends whislt wet. I will stop the coconut and see if it helps xx

Yep, do try going without the coconut oil one to see if that improves things. That isn't a lot of oil, it can't have been those few drops... but! But! Oiled hair is a lint-magnet. Just so you know. ;)