Baking Soda may well work for some as a shampoo-type agent, but overall, I personally would not recommend this as a hair wash agent for each and every hair wash. Those interested in going shampoo-free have plenty of other alternative cleansing agents than Baking Soda to consider. There exist on the market a few SLS-free shampoos, shampoo bars, methods for using conditioner or water only.
Much of the decision to opt out of using Shampoo that most of us are familiar with is VERY connected to the particulars of your scalp skin health AND hair health. Scalp skin may need different things than hair, especially in instances of psoriasis, exzema, dandruff, seborrheic dermatitus and more. Those prone to quick production of sebum may need to wash more no matter the method. Others may need to include scritching to loosen dead skin cells and dandruff type flakes.
Bottom line, BAKING SODA CLARIFIES THE HAIR. This means specifically and absolutely that hair is then stripped of all gunk that's dried on: product; minerals from hard water that's there; sebum; dirt. It is stripped of all things that make it moisturized and supple. In short, it's drying, very much so, especially without a good conditioning session to follow. It strips it off the SURFACE, the TOP OF the cuticle. CLARIFYING does NOT handle any problems with the cortex. That process would be known as CHELATING.
The main reason I do NOT recommend Baking Soda as a hair wash agent for each and every hair wash is that it is so stripping, and can be drying if hair is not well conditioned as part of this type of hair wash process. ACV is not a good enough conditioner for this situation, as you will note later.
QUOTE FROM WITHIN THIS THREAD: THe idea is that the BS being a base opens your cuticle and gently washes away the sebum and the ACV being acidic closes the cuticle and smooths the hair. At least thats how I understand it to work.
The underscored part could be interpreted to mean that Baking Soda removes sebum that is inside the hair shaft. Just to be clear, in case someone interprets the writing this way, Sebum doesn't necessarily penetrate the hair shaft: it overwhelmingly is really a topical occurrence, that is, on top of the hair, on top of the scalp skin, on top of the cuticle actually. Sebum's main reason for existence is to help with balancing the acid mantle, that is, the SCALP SKIN. It so happens that hair is nearby, so it shows up looking kinda, well, what we term oily or greasy, but indeed, Sebum is ACTUALLY a waxy ester, so think of it more like a wax that provides a protective barrier to keep dirt out of hair follicles, keeps skin supple (not cracked and dry), and hair shiny (nearby, such as hair nearest the scalp, not the tippy ends of a long length, for example), to a degree (small).
SO, yes, Baking Soda strips off sebum too. But Baking Soda doesn’t manage any problems or concerns or issues or needs inside the hair shaft, at the cortex level. Most products we apply will be topical – on TOP of the cuticle forming a kind of shield. When this shield becomes too much, that is buildup.
The hot or warm water of a shower OPENS the cuticle all on its own. Being a base or alkali (on the pH balance spectrum), Baking Soda may well contribute to opening the cuticle as well, but hot/warm water will achieve this just as well. (I honestly wish so many times that I had a testing lab to test stuff in a reliable manner.)
Regarding buildup:
I personally think that buildup is not that bad. For example, one of the premises behind not washing daily is to actually allow sebum to build a little bit, and then use a mechanism to get that down the length, or all over apply some oil, for example, which is a mimicry (of sebum) type of coating. The steps to acquiring buildup are not necessarily harmful to hair, really. It’s more likely that some of these things can be problematic to the skin, however. For most natural hair care enthusiasts, buildup doesn’t peak usually more than 4-2 times a year, depending on the hair wash method, and general hair care. CO washers may need to clarify a bit more often. Those using a lot of product on top of the hair such as styling agents, serums and the like will experience this much more frequently over the duration of a year, of course.
Nevertheless, for natural hair care interests, I would argue that there is no need to PREVENT buildup since it’s relatively infrequent in this hair care methodology. The only thing that occurs with buildup is that hair appears unclean or filmy after a fresh hair wash and conditioner can suddenly seem not to work. Then one clarifies, and conditions, and is back to beautiful, bouncy (I mean this more broadly than for curly hair types—straight hair when unclean and with too much on it becomes lank) hair. Thus, clarifying on any kind of schedule is typically unnecessary.
I prefer to just wait til it’s just time and my hair actually needs this treatment. Baking soda, or any clarify hair wash, is a bit drying, and thus harsh to hair, especially if one does NOT condition well (again Condition Well as part of any clarify hair wash).
For the person who said they have been washing with Baking Soda and water and reporting that their hair is dry and frizzy lately, I would suggest that very likely the hair is so precisely because of using Baking Soda and possibly either not conditioning or not conditioning well enough. (If a curly hair type, some form of leave-in is needed, such as oil, too.) I would suggest doing a much better job at conditioning for the curly hair type after clarifying. IF you like oiling (as a curly girl!), do so while hair is wet – don’t wait til it’s fully air dried. I would suggest considering CO washing according to the Curly Girl method (this is a book) for the level of curl your hair possesses.
ACV as a conditioner. I understand completely the acidic properties of ACV. First, ACV’s primary benefit is NOT conditioning. It’s primary benefit is to re-set the acid mantle (scalp skin) to a more acidic state since most average hair shampoo systems leave the skin in a more alkali state and human skin prefers a bit more nudging towards the acid range. In this way, ACV Rinse helps to effect a “balanced” pH, that measurement being somewhere between 5.5-7.0 (5.5 is in the acidic range; 6.0-6.5 or so is more or less neutral approximately, the middle of the range of measurement) Secondly, it can “clarify” in a limited way: that is product that was left un-rinsed out well enough will be removed in that hair wash only; thus, even using the term "clarify" in this context CAN BE misleading (and has been so misunderstood at times by readers of this forum LHC); however, it does not remove dried on anything (once the hair has dried with whatever on it, ACV Rinse won’t remove that.) Uh, to add it can remove hard water minerals in that specific hair wash only.
It’s final benefit, and this is where folks get the idea of “conditioning” from: vinegar (whether Apple Cider vinegar or white vinegar, or indeed, even lemon juice) “binds” the cuticle. Binds means to help the cuticle scales to lie closer and tighter, WITHIN the context of one’s hair type. In this way, a small degree of shine improvement may be noticed. While there’s always exceptions to everything somehow, I would state that ACV Rinse, or lemon or any vinegar rinse is not “conditioning” in the way we think of it – to help with detangling, to coat the hair with a protective layer; to apply “conditioner” that works by bonding with the cuticle imparting that softness and sheen and tangle-less (as in less tangles than more, meaning a comparative term v. no tangles at all) or tangle–free result.
The application, as an important precaution of Baking Soda Clarify Hair Wash AND Vinegar of some kind combined SHOULD NEVER BE DONE. Period. These are separate activities with PLENTY OF RINSING with water in between.
All vinegar and lemon (or other acidic rinses) SHOULD BE HIGHLY diluted. For example, no more than 3 Tablespoons in one 8 oz. cup. Or more, if you find this then performs better.
All such rinses are precisely that: rinses, and should be rinsed out, not left on the hair to remain on even through drying and then only removed the next hair wash cycle. The hair will be tacky, a weird touch and tangly, perhaps even a kind of crispy feeling if the acidic rinse is left in the hair and not rinsed out. You do not need to leave this rinse on a long time, either. It works quickly.
I hope this <ahem> clarifies things a bit about judicious use of Baking Soda. There are those who did NOT condition after using this type of clarify hair wash and came away thinking that the hair wash was unsuccessful: they came away with a kind of odd brittley texture yet the hair does not break; and definitely the feeling is not very soft hair, either, and tangles more. My point is that actually, in the scenario of not performing conditioning, or ooops, forgotten altogether (some people don’t have a habit of conditioning hair), that actually this clarify hair wash DID ABSOLUTELY WORK. This is what clarified hair without conditioning comes out as, and why I so vehemently pursue ensuring that folks KNOW to condition well as part of ANY CLARIFY HAIR WASH, whether it be Baking Soda mixed with water or shampoo of choice or conditioner; or a store purchased clarify shampoo product.
I hope this helps!
heidi w.