Vinegar?

[Elyseon]

When I was little my mother would always douse my hair in vinegar during my baths, she said it would make my hair shinier. I hated it, it stunk, burned my eyes, and tasted awful.

Is this really good for the hair or is it just an old wives tale?

I'd really like to know so that I can prevent the other children in my family from further traumatization.

Also is there any way to wash my hair using only condition without leaving my hair feeling all grimy.

My hair tends to get oily when I don't wash it after 2 days.

[myotislucifugus]

I think, like all things, its based on the individual... but I love it, and it makes my hair look great. I recommend mixing it with a little honey, or an herbal tea. (Dilute it first) I use it a conditioner.
I wish my mom had done that for me. My worst memories of childhood are of my mother brushing my hair. My neck aches just thinking about it...

[Elyseon]

By wash I mean shampoo.

[Elyseon]

I think, like all things, its based on the individual... but I love it, and it makes my hair look great. I recommend mixing it with a little honey, or an herbal tea. (Dilute it first) I use it a conditioner.
I wish my mom had done that for me. My worst memories of childhood are of my mother brushing my hair. My neck aches just thinking about it...


Lol, my mom just dumped it on your head without any warning. Try being five with a mouth and eyes full of vinegar lol. But I have to admit it did look shinier, I don't know about healthier though.

God, I remember how my mom used to cut my bangs *shivers* really brings back picture day nightmares.

Lol, I have elementary pictures where my hair looked like someone had taken hedge trimmers to it.

[Elphie]

Hi Elyseon!

You certainly can wash your hair with only conditioner. I prefer a silicone free conditioner (Suave Coconut) and I usually CO about once a week. I use shampoo on other days. You can read as much as you like about CO here:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2898&highlight=conditioner

I also rinse my hair with vinegar but I dilute it (1T. to one pint warm water) and I also rinse it out. Some people prefer to leave it in their hair.

[myotislucifugus]

I had better luck washing w/ baking soda...
Ooh... my mom cut my hair too... the day she cut a chunk of my eyebrow off was the last day, though...

[steph in tx]

Definitely check out the CO thread. There's a lot of good info there on different conditioners to try for washing with.

Diluted apple cider vinegar seems to be the most popular rinse, but some members are getting great results with vitamin C crystals or citric acid in distilled water. I haven't tried either yet, but I intend to. I use the ACV, but I'm not a big fan of the smell. It does make a difference in how my hair looks and feels, though, so that's why I do it. There's an article here about vinegar rinses in the hair care section of the articles. You may want to take a look at that.

[janeytilllie]

I use a vinegar rinse because I use hair soap. It does make my hair shiner. But I think it depends on the individuals hair. Some it works for and some it doesn't.

My mum use to cut my fringe too :( She would cut it wet! So when it dried it would shrink to about an inch :rollin:

[AprilElf]

My mum used to rinse my hair in diluted vinegar (malt vinegar, I think) when I was little. She'd do it for me in the hand basin after washing my hair. I don't remember what kind of wash (SC?) or products were used :p, but I do remember that I knew the vinegar did make my hair shinier.
Since joining LHC I've 'resumed' vinegar rinses --Apple Cider Vinegar this time-- and I think it makes a difference, for me. :)

[lora410]

I use white vinegar mixed with eo's. I smell no vinegar and my hair is voluminous and moisturized :D

[starla_zero]

Since joining LHC I've 'resumed' vinegar rinses --Apple Cider Vinegar this time-- and I think it makes a difference, for me. :)

Same here :) Works wonders on my scalp, too.

[jewelotn]

I use white vinegar mixed with eo's. I smell no vinegar and my hair is voluminous and moisturized :D


Hi don't mean to thread-jack but which eo's do you use and what's the "recipe"?

I use 1 TBS ACV to 1 cup of water as my "conditioner". The ACV smell does go away for me at least but I'd love to "scent" my hair a bit. (Trying to wean myself from synthetic fragrances :))

[Elyseon]

Thanks a lot guys. My mom never diluted the vinegar lol, she just dumped it on my head. I might dilute it and try it, my hair is already naturally shiny most of the time but it couldn't hurt to shine it up.

[Susana]

Your mom was right :P I use it all the time, every time I wash my hair, it leaves it so soft. I could not believe it the first time I used it, it was so soft and nice, and tangle-free. It's worth it. The smell goes away as it dries. I dilute it with water :) Sorry, can't back you up on saving the other kids in your family, they should suffer through it, ha ha. But it's really not necessary to get it in the eyes....I don't put it on my scalp, just the rest of the hair. :)

[Susana]

Apple Cider Vinegar has not worked well for me in the past, regular vinegar does....I don't know why, I'll have to try again. I use 1 tablespoon of vinegar per 1 cup of water. Honestly, I use it as my final rinse, no conditioner, no water to wash it off, and the smell disappears as it dries :)

[Missie]

Apple Cider Vinegar works for me, I don't plan to stop using it any time soon but... I think its making the skin on my forehead very dry and sort of rough. Is anyone else finding that?

[Guinevere]

Which is better, Apple Cider or the kind of vinegar you use on the food? I might have to try this!

[Snowball]

I always rinse with diluted vinegar since I have very hard water here. Too much vinegar is causing dry hair for me. ACV makes my hair shinier, but white vinegar smells much better. I also ad eo's like rosemary, lemongrass, lavender or cedar, amyris sandalwood and geranium sometimes.

[Guinevere]

I just tried using ACV on my hair just now! My hair looks so much shinier and the smell really go away after my hair is dry! I have found a new love!:love:

[Elyseon]

So do I do this every time I wash my hair or once a week, or something like that.

I used white vinegar, it did make my hair a lot glossier looking : ) I like it.

[steph in tx]

I do it as a final rinse with every wash. If it's a day that I'm using a shampoo bar I do it after the poo bar, then conditioner, then ACV rinse again. It's always the last thing I do for the shine aspect. I do rinse it out, though. The couple of times I've left it in I didn't like the way my hair felt. I may experiment a little more with that, though.

I should clarify what I said about the smell. ACV smell does disappear after my hair is dry. I just don't like the smell in general so I don't enjoy pouring it on my head. I do notice a very faint vinegar smell when I sweat if I use it on my scalp, but that may just be my weird scalp. ;)

I did experiment with citric acid in place of the ACV these past few days. While the citric acid doesn't have a scent on its own, on the days I used my shampoo bars it combined with the soap residue and made a rather funky foul smell. I think I prefer ACV over that! I still need to try the Vitamin C crystals to see how I feel about that. I also haven't tried white vinegar yet.