Baking Soda and Hair

[likelikepenny]

Hey guys, I know by now we all know that baking soda and hair don't mix well, but I found an interesting link I wanted to share about it.

http://www.frobunni.com/2015/12/baking-soda-shampoo-natural-hair.html

[lapushka]

Yeah, just goes to show what it can do. Why people always want to harp on shampoo is beyond me. It has evolved plenty for someone to be able to find a mild cleanser should that do, or should they want it. I still need my sulfate shampoo and hope they never move past that formula. There are people who need strong cleansers. And I find even the strongest cleanser (Pantene, Herbal Essences) never damaged my hair! On the contrary. And BTW, shampoo is meant to cleanse, conditioners are made to soften. ;)

[likelikepenny]

Yeah, just goes to show what it can do. Why people always want to harp on shampoo is beyond me. It has evolved plenty for someone to be able to find a mild cleanser should that do, or should they want it. I still need my sulfate shampoo and hope they never move past that formula. There are people who need strong cleansers. And I find even the strongest cleanser (Pantene, Herbal Essences) never damaged my hair! On the contrary. And BTW, shampoo is meant to cleanse, conditioners are made to soften. ;)

I'm currently sulfate and cone free, but I do agree that sulfates and cones aren't the devil. They work for some and not for others. Like everything else, YMMV.

[pailin]

She also makes a point about listening to your hair :)

[lapushka]

She also makes a point about listening to your hair :)

Yes, I bet if you use products that are too alkaline and you don't use a rinse (ACV, vinegar, citric acid, lemon), you'll for sure *feel* it. Unless you have some hardy hair.

Like with it all, YMMV.

[mizukitty]

Something interesting that science-y hair blog points out is that after rinsing out the baking soda, the alkaline nature makes your hair FEEL very, very, very soft. It's doing a crap load of damage, but it does in fact "feel" nice. Slippy and smooth. It's not until repeated use and obvious breakage can you really tell it's really harsh, by then it's too late though.

[likelikepenny]

Something interesting that science-y hair blog points out is that after rinsing out the baking soda, the alkaline nature makes your hair FEEL very, very, very soft. It's doing a crap load of damage, but it does in fact "feel" nice. Slippy and smooth. It's not until repeated use and obvious breakage can you really tell it's really harsh, by then it's too late though.

It's like flat ironing course and curly hair. Whenever I flat iron mine, it feels smooth, shiny and moisturized but once a re-wash it takes me a couple of weeks to nurse my hair back to health.

[Arctic]

This always makes me wonder about those of us who have very alkaline water. On some years my water has had an avarage pH of the same as baking soda. Alkaline tap water is not a rare thing either, to my understanding, the pH is often artificially raised by adding for example calcium, this is to save the water pipes from corrosion.

[likelikepenny]

This always makes me wonder about those of us who have very alkaline water. On some years my water has had an avarage pH of the same as baking soda. Alkaline tap water is not a rare thing either, to my understanding, the pH is often artificially raised by adding for example calcium, this is to save the water pipes from corrosion.

I live in a rural area where we use well water that's moderately soft, probably a ph of 5 or 6. It's amazing how different my hair reacts when I visit family in the city where I can feel how much chlorine is in the water, I don't know how they do it. It completely wrecks my hair and skin.

[Annalouise]

We have high chlorine in our water and I have a chlorine filter on the shower and I don't drink or cook with tap water. It's pretty gross I must say.

[RavenRose]

Something interesting that science-y hair blog points out is that after rinsing out the baking soda, the alkaline nature makes your hair FEEL very, very, very soft. It's doing a crap load of damage, but it does in fact "feel" nice. Slippy and smooth. It's not until repeated use and obvious breakage can you really tell it's really harsh, by then it's too late though.

This was my exact experience with using baking soda- I tried to make it work for several months because I am very sensitive to sulfates, and at the time sulfate free shampoos were limited and/or expensive.

[LadyCelestina]

Something interesting that science-y hair blog points out is that after rinsing out the baking soda, the alkaline nature makes your hair FEEL very, very, very soft. It's doing a crap load of damage, but it does in fact "feel" nice. Slippy and smooth. It's not until repeated use and obvious breakage can you really tell it's really harsh, by then it's too late though.

Yes. I wish more people would realise that just because it feels or looks nice doesn't mean it's good for hair.

[Arctic]

Thankfully we don't have chlorinated water and it's very clean and good quality, just high pH.

[spidermom]

Something interesting that science-y hair blog points out is that after rinsing out the baking soda, the alkaline nature makes your hair FEEL very, very, very soft. It's doing a crap load of damage, but it does in fact "feel" nice. Slippy and smooth. It's not until repeated use and obvious breakage can you really tell it's really harsh, by then it's too late though.

Not for me - my hair matted up and felt the exact opposite of "soft". It felt like carded wool.

[JillRenee]

I use it to brush my teeth when I run out of toothpaste. I also found baking soda is good to scrub my sinks, tiles, etc. It is cheaper and less toxic than most household cleaners, but to me it seems a bit too abrasive to use on hair. But, if it works well for someone else, that's great.

[likelikepenny]

I use it to brush my teeth when I run out of toothpaste. I also found baking soda is good to scrub my sinks, tiles, etc. It is cheaper and less toxic than most household cleaners, but to me it seems a bit too abrasive to use on hair. But, if it works well for someone else, that's great.

I mix a little with coconut oil. I find baking soda a little too abrasive for my teeth.

[JillRenee]

Great idea, likelikepenny! Someone told me that coconut oil is good for our teeth, I will have to give this a try.

[MoonRabbit]

When I was getting dreadlocks a few years ago. I was told to wash my hair with baking soda the day before my appointment to help with the matting process. And boy did it help lol my hair felt like an SOS pad.

[lilin]

Yeah, just goes to show what it can do. Why people always want to harp on shampoo is beyond me. It has evolved plenty for someone to be able to find a mild cleanser should that do, or should they want it. I still need my sulfate shampoo and hope they never move past that formula. There are people who need strong cleansers. And I find even the strongest cleanser (Pantene, Herbal Essences) never damaged my hair! On the contrary. And BTW, shampoo is meant to cleanse, conditioners are made to soften. ;)

I think a lot of us with more sensitive hair just feel sort of resentful we went through years of near-daily, very strong shampoo use when we didn't need it. A lot of money down the drain! How much each of us need to wash our hair is very individual, but most people don't need to do it as often as the hair care industry has led us to believe, and don't need the level of product use they say we do.

Personally, I also really want them to find some sort of replacement for SLS that isn't such a huge instigator of skin irritation. It's in EVERYTHING. Not just many shampoos, but most bath soaks, most body washes, even Aqueous cream which is supposed to be for sensitive skin! It is a semi-regular occurrence for me to figure out something that frankly has no reason to have SLS in it does, when I suddenly develop a rash in the bath.

[likelikepenny]

I think a lot of us with more sensitive hair just feel sort of resentful we went through years of near-daily, very strong shampoo use when we didn't need it. A lot of money down the drain! How much each of us need to wash our hair is very individual, but most people don't need to do it as often as the hair care industry has led us to believe, and don't need the level of product use they say we do.

Personally, I also really want them to find some sort of replacement for SLS that isn't such a huge instigator of skin irritation. It's in EVERYTHING. Not just many shampoos, but most bath soaks, most body washes, even Aqueous cream which is supposed to be for sensitive skin! It is a semi-regular occurrence for me to figure out something that frankly has no reason to have SLS in it does, when I suddenly develop a rash in the bath.

I use ACV to cleanse my scalp and black soap for my body. ACV is ph balanced so it won't disturb your scalp at all, just keep it at it's optimum levels.

[turtlelover]

Not for me - my hair matted up and felt the exact opposite of "soft". It felt like carded wool.

Ditto! NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, screwed up my hair as much as washing it only one time w/ baking soda. That is the worst thing I've ever done to my hair!

[lapushka]

I think a lot of us with more sensitive hair just feel sort of resentful we went through years of near-daily, very strong shampoo use when we didn't need it. A lot of money down the drain! How much each of us need to wash our hair is very individual, but most people don't need to do it as often as the hair care industry has led us to believe, and don't need the level of product use they say we do.

Personally, I also really want them to find some sort of replacement for SLS that isn't such a huge instigator of skin irritation. It's in EVERYTHING. Not just many shampoos, but most bath soaks, most body washes, even Aqueous cream which is supposed to be for sensitive skin! It is a semi-regular occurrence for me to figure out something that frankly has no reason to have SLS in it does, when I suddenly develop a rash in the bath.

I stretch myself, but I still need a sulfate shampoo. I am careful about my toothpaste, though, because I have sensitive teeth. I get a special formula that does not contain SL(E)S and is very mild on my teeth (Zendium sensitive plus).