yellowy sheen on white hair

[Tangerine]

Now that my family is starting to cotton on to my hair being a bit of a hobby of mine, I am starting to get asked for advice ....... :)

One of them is my dad. I was really hoping some of you might be able to help out with this.:D

My dad has short, coarse, white hair (used to be raven black). Thick (if it were long I'm sure he'd measure at iii easily).
He's been white-haired for a long time. Over the past few years, he's been getting a yellowish sheen over his white, which seems to come and go. He can't pinpoint what it is that brings it on.
He's asked various hairdressers. Some said it is a nicotine stain, but my dad doesn't smoke and because of asthmatic bronchitis he tries to stay away from smoke in general. He did try some kind of smoker's shampoo for a while but wasn't happy with it.
Another tip he got was to rinse with lemon juice. He hasn't tried that, and I said it would probably be too drying anyway (that's right, isn't it?). It does fade eventually but then it returns again. Strange, isn't it :confused:

Some other things to take into consideration:
- He washes every other day with Head & Shoulders shampoo. Nothing else.
- He wets his hair every day before combing it into shape otherwise he looks like a toilet brush ...
- Mum and him swim three mornings a week in an indoor pool. The yellow sheen thing pre-dates this though.

I can't imagine he has product build-up, since apart from shampoo he doesn't use any.

I haven't asked whether I can put up a picture of his hair, but I am quite sure he wouldn't really be too happy about that ....

I was hoping this might sound familiar to someone or whether anybody has any thoughts as to what it is or how to treat it?

Thanks so much!! :blossom: :flowers:

[GlassEyes]

I'd suspect the chlorine isn't helping any, but it sounds like possible hard-water mineral build-up.

I believe that citric acid can help this. Also, a 'blueing' or silver shampoo would probably help as well. Angelthadiva and Justgreen know more on both subjects than I do, though, so you might want to PM them.

Another option might be a silver toner--they look purple, but they really just take the yellow out of bleached hair. Mixed with shampoo or condition, I think it would act like the blueing solution or silver shampoo, or her could just use it straight and it might help. That's just a theory, however--I'd check with the tried and true methods first.

[Tangerine]

Thanks!

The hard-water mineral build-up is a good suggestion. I didn't realise that that could happen. He did mention that they have really hard water at home and that that is why he needs to wet his hair every day for it to not stand upright.
When they're holidaying in the family cabin in Sweden and wash in the lake he can skip a few days and not look like a hedgehog :laugh:

Strange though, since they've lived in the same house with the same water for the last 31 years. Maybe he reached a certain level of whiteness that gets affected by the build-up ..

So the lemon juice rinse might be something to try before buying special shampoos I suppose?

[GlassEyes]

I don't think that would help anything, honestly. You're probably better off trying citric acid first.

There's a limit, I think, to how much buildup hair can take, so if he's been living in the house for 31 years, it'd probably have slowly yellowed, then hit a point where it wouldn't get any worse. :shrug: So it makes sense.

[Tabitha]

I think Schwartzkopf Touch Of Silver (http://www.auravita.com/products/aura/SCHW10020.asp?RefId=220&adid=SCHW10020) shampoo might help - it's been around for donkey's years, I used it the summer I was platinum blonde in the 80s.

[Anje]

I think white hair yellowing is a really common problem. That's why there are all those products for silver hair that have a blue or purple tone to them, and lots of jokes about blue-haired old ladies who go a bit overboard in combating the yellow.

I agree with GlassEyes: rinsing with citric acid to chelate off the minerals might help. He shuold also look into haircare products for gray hair, and possibly consider a rinse with a drop or two of Mrs. Stewart's laundry bluing in it. He might also do well using Manic Panic -- specifically a color called "Virgin Snow" which is used to get yellowy bleached hair to look white. (Though on all white hair, I imagine other manic panic colors would be fun, too.... )

[Tangerine]

Thanks so much for all your responses.:)

I will recommend the citric acid to him, although I am not too sure on how to use it .. It comes in powder form doesn't it? Just dissolve some and rinse hair after washing? Do you leave it in or wash it out? Sorry for all the questions .. :o

The Schwartzkopf is a good idea too, thanks. I am quite sure he'll be able to get that in Holland (sorry, forgot to mention that!).

I love the idea of suggesting funky Manic Panic colours to him ... and have him end up sugar candy pink :cheese: If you knew my dad .... :rollin:
I think dad would be very wary of trying anything that involves colouring, even though it would be colouring it to his own colour. But I will keep it up my sleeve in case the other suggestions don't work! :)

I suppose they should really think about putting a filter in to soften their water.

:blossom:

[heatherdazy]

I second the hard water idea. I wouldn't have him use a purple shampoo, though, because I'm willing to bet his whole head of hair isn't yellow, plus it just masks the problem.

If he can get his hands on Malibu's Crystal Gel, a treatment of that should remove any mineral deposits and show his true color again.

[JKRBeloved]

I have had good success with removing some yellow in my hair by using a detoxifying shampoo. The one I have been using is "Aveda Hair Detoxifier Shampoo," but I imagine many brands would work well. I only use it once in a great while.

[longhairedfairy]

I've heard people here complain that Head & Shoulders shampoo causes their hair to feel coated, so it could be causing buildup. He might try adding a teensy bit of baking soda to his shampoo once a week or so, but using too much could make it look fried. Some people wash with baking soda completely dissolved in water instead of shampoo. Some have good results and some terrible. It's best to follow with an acidic rinse such as diluted vinegar, but you have to make sure the baking soda is completely rinsed out first. You don't want them to mix in the hair.

[Elenna]

I've been washing my silver hair with Neutrogena Anti-residue Shampoo (once a week). Baking soda is used for getting rid of residues too. Citric acid or white vinegar are good rinses for silver/white hair.

[Arctic]

I have recently experimented with ascorbic acid rinse to remove mineral build up and it seems to help very very well! I made a strong dilution in warm water, rinsed my hair after shampoo, let it sit under shower cap for rest of the shower, rinsed and made a SMT. More details in my blog.

He might be interested in Miracle Water, recipe is in the archived forums. (a weak ascorbic acid and citric acid dilution rinse)

If he want's to take the shampoo route, I think it might be best to start with a clarifying shampoo, and if that doesn't help, a chelating shampoo (mineral removing shampoo).

The Head and Shoulders has zinc in it, right? I wonder if that might contribute to the mineral buildup?