Rinses

[JesusFreak88]

Ok I have been serching the forum but I couldn't find information on rinses. Why Rinse? What do you use? When do you rinse?

[pepperminttea]

I'm confused. Do you mean like apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinses? Or some people do herbal rinses, too. Or water-only (WO) washes?

I use an ACV rinse at the end of every wash, just so the hard water round here doesn't effect my hair as much as it would otherwise. I use the standard mix; one tablespoon of ACV to eight liquid ounces of water.

[Bluegrass Babe]

I use a citric acid rinse. 2 cups of distilled water with 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid powder. That is enough for 3 rinses. It flattens the cuticles on the hair shaft and takes out mineral deposits if you have hard water. After a few uses your hair will be very soft, shiny, and nearly tangle free. It also helps with itchy scalp and flakes. I can definitely feel a difference if I skip it.

I switched to the powder because my hubby didn't care for the smell of vinegar rinses. That fades after your hair is dry though so don't worry about that unless you need to leave the house with wet hair. Both the distilled water and the powder are very inexpensive. I only pay $1 each for them.

ETA: I use this after I have rinsed conditioner out, just before I leave the shower and don't let tap water touch my hair again until next shampoo.

[Tapioca]

One of the shampoos in my mix has cones, so I do a clarifying rinse every seven or so washes. It's a simple white vinegar rinse, but I put herbs in it for my scalp and to cut the vinegar smell.
When I bought the bottle of vinegar, I also bought a small bundle of fresh sage and rosemary. Both have been known to help scalp conditions (I have dermatitis) and rosemary adds shine to hair. I chopped the herbs up fine, threw them in the bottle of vinegar, and put it in the fridge. Shake daily. After about two weeks, it's ready to use.
When I'm doing a rinse, I put about a tablespoon or two into a large drinking glass (probably holds about 24 oz.) and bring that into the shower. At the end of my shower, I fill the glass the rest of the way with water and dip as much of the length as I can into the glass. As I bring it out, I squeeze the mixture out into the cup. Then, I pour the rest over my head, getting it all over my scalp. Close your eyes! Vinegar in the eyes stings!
I don't rinse it out. Adding the sage to the mix really helped with the vinegar smell. It smells herbal, not like salad dressing. I've also noticed that my shower drain seems to like the treatment. It hasn't clogged up since I started doing this.

[Laurenji]

Why rinse?

Because rinsing, depending on what you put in it, can make your hair softer and/or clarify it and get rid of hard water deposits. (I'm not entirely sure about getting rid of hard water, but my hair always feel super soft after)

What do you use?

I use about a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar in a cup of water. Sometimes a slightly stronger dilution than that, but not much.

When do you rinse?

At the very end of the washing process, after I've rinsed out all the conditioner. The AVC rinse is basically just the last step of my wash process, since I can't be bothered to wet my hair down other times.

[JesusFreak88]

What do different herbs do? I'm sorry but I have only ever done a cold water rinse and people talk about rinses a lot and I was curious.

[Bluegrass Babe]

JesusFreak88 -

The search feature takes some getting used to. I don't use the one from the FAQ section but the one on the right side that says search. Sometimes you have to try several different wordings to get a hit. Try "herbs", "herbal rinses", "final rinse" , " conditioning or thickening or lightening rinse",etc...

I tried "herbal rinse" and got a few good ones. But not all rinses are herbal. I've heard of someone using powdered sugar rinse for shine!!

Rinses are like vitamins - they all do something different (but for your hair or scalp). Some stop excessive shedding, some speed growth/encourage thickness, some help dandruff, some lighten/darken color, some add shine, or decrease tangles. Some are final rinses and some need to be rinsed out themselves.

Seems like whatever you want to do - theres a rinse or herbal treatment for it.

Look for HALO rinse - that's a good one too. It is honey, aloe, lemon juice (or substitute if your hair is dark or dry) and oil mixed with distilled water. Makes hair shiny, soft and keeps blondes & grays from looking dingy. (Your avatar looks blonde to me, and this just popped into mind.)

I haven't read that much of this thread, but it gives pictures, all the different names, and uses of some herbs used in rinses.

Good luck and hope that helps. - BB

[Tabihito]

Yeah, the search takes some getting used to. Or quite a lot.

Most people rinse because their wash routine just isn't complete without it. As Bluegrass Babe said, they're all different. You may not necessarily need one at all, it's a matter of your own hair and personal preference.

The only rinse I've used is apple cider vinegar diluted in water, mostly before I found out that my water is actually not hard at all, so I didn't have deposits so I felt there was no need. I might be switching back to using it just because it seems to bring out my curls/waves/whatever-they-are more, or at least use it when I plan on wearing my hair down.

Oh, and Bluegrass Babe, that thread is amazing. I'd never seen it before, but it looks like it's got a lot of useful information in it!

[jeanniet]

I use a citric acid rinse, but only 1/4 teaspoon in 1/2 gallon of water. I don't use a very strong rinse because my CO also has citric acid in it, and if I make the rinse stronger my hair gets too dry. I need the citric acid because I have hard well water and it keeps my hair from getting gunked up.