ACV does not clarify hair!

[mali]

''Kimmay, I just read an interesting post on Naturally Curly from a chemist who said that she didn't understand the use of acv to clarify the hair. She said that it simply closes the cuticles on the hair but does not remove dirt and build up. So according to her theory, you are closing your hair's cuticles before your shampoo. I was just wondering your thoughts on this because obviouslt it works for you.''
A comment from a yt user to Kimmay-kimmaytube( a user which posts her routine/hair journey LHC stuff on youtube, altough she ain't from LHC).
If you watch the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrsBfmxh630&feature=channel),at around 1:23 she even say so herself.SO what do you think?

[aenflex]

From what I understood, ACV served 2 main purposes in hair care, to close the cuticle more or less, and to re-balance the Ph of the scalp skin.
As far as clarifying, I really don't know about that. I mean vinegar has long been used for cleaning surfaces, and it is acid, so perhaps it does dissolve dirt and oil particles.

[spidermom]

Anybody who doesn't believe that ACV can remove buildup should try pouring it over old soap scum.

[Aeltt]

I think it removes mostly mineral build-up (not 'cones or oils build-up..)
Correct me if i'm wrong :)

[Cailie]

Anybody who doesn't believe that ACV can remove buildup should try pouring it over old soap scum.

I agree.

I use vinegar or baking soda for a lot of cleaning and it's quite stricking.

If you have an old kettle that is full of hard mineral / calcium deposit, you can clean it with vinegar.

Coffee machines often say to do a "vinegar run" once in a while to get rid of any deposits inside the tubes and mechanisms...

guetting rid of stains (ex. coffee)

etc etc


http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

3 examples in the link above : vinegar to ...

"Remove soap buildup and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle. Do monthly." (Soap)


"Wipe grease off exhaust fan grids, the inside of your oven, or anywhere grease gathers with a sponge soaked in white distilled vinegar." (oil)

"Get rid of calcium deposits on faucets by soaking a cloth or paper towel in white distilled vinegar and wrapping the area tightly. Let this sit for a couple of hours or overnight." (mineral)

[spidermom]

Exactly! It loosens nits (from lice), too.

[Wind Dragon]

http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

3 examples in the link above : vinegar to ...

<snip>

"Get rid of calcium deposits on faucets by soaking a cloth or paper towel in white distilled vinegar and wrapping the area tightly. Let this sit for a couple of hours or overnight." (mineral)

Extra emphasis above is mine. This, I think, is the issue. Clarifying one's hair usually means removing silicone or mineral buildup, which can require a fairly long period of soaking for vinegar to be effective. Long enough, I would think, that it might be damaging to the hair itself.

The weak vinegar solutions that we use for rinses are effective for keeping fresh deposits of soap and minerals from adhering to hair (no idea what kind of effect it has on silicones,) but can't possibly do much, if anything, to remove buildup in the short time that we leave it there. :twocents:

[Cailie]

Perhaps... but I don't think a hair strand can be compared to an old kettle or faucet, as far as mineral accumulation. Do I make sense ?

we have microscopic amounts of deposits on very small and slippery hair strands ... not 1 cm accumulated depostis in the bottom of an old kettle (ok, it's an exageration) :p

I think ACV rinces has some clarifying power for sure and at the level of a hair strand, a little might go a long way - even if it might, perhaps, be insufficient in some circumstances.


btw, I sometimes leave a dilluted ACV rince IN my hair, after a wash because my hair looks really good when it dries with this (shine, soft, moisturized, etc.) ... (so maybe this - on the next wash - is even more clarifying ?)

[ktani]

I clean with vinegar to remove soap scum. Vinegar has been used "forever" for that (mostly mineral build-up - calcium).

However, it cannot to my knowledge, remove: the waxes, polymers, oils, quaternium compounds and other coatings found in conventional and natural hair products that can and do build-up on hair.

[Cailie]

I haven't heard that it can remove waxes either... and I can't picture it working very well ! :D

But oils, I think it could. no ?

[Naphthylamine]

Vinegar neutralizes any basic residue on your hair or scalp due to its acidic content. Other than that, I too, don't think it would clean any other build up effectively.

[ktani]

I haven't heard that it can remove waxes either... and I can't picture it working very well ! :D

But oils, I think it could. no ?

They do not mix in salad dressing, so I think not.

[luluj]

They do not mix in salad dressing, so I think not.

Good Point!;)

[pepperminttea]

Anybody who doesn't believe that ACV can remove buildup should try pouring it over old soap scum.

This. I have very hard water, and my hair was a different creature entirely after I starting using it.

[jesis]

I want to say, first and foremost, that I am an AVID NaturallyCurly.com user. I love some of the advice that they give on there, and they always have good giveaways. Let me repeat: I love SOME of the advice that they give on there.

Some of the things that they say on that site are questionable. I've learned to take some of their advice and "expertise" with a grain of salt. :)

[Roseate]

The weak vinegar solutions that we use for rinses are effective for keeping fresh deposits of soap and minerals from adhering to hair (no idea what kind of effect it has on silicones,) but can't possibly do much, if anything, to remove buildup in the short time that we leave it there. :twocents:

This has been my experience, too. Doing regular vinegar rinses keeps my hair fresh and shiny, but if I do end up with a build-up situation, ACV rinses are not enough to remove it. Maybe it could work at a higher concentration, or left on longer, but that doesn't sound appealing to me, so I haven't tried.

I don't use silicones, but AFAIK the only thing that really cuts those is sulfates.

[ddiana1979]

Anybody who doesn't believe that ACV can remove buildup should try pouring it over old soap scum.

^What Spidermom said. . . Admittedly most of us do ACV rinses with diluted vinegar (the solution you buy in the store is typically 5%), but straight vinegar is an extremely effective cleanser. I have asthma, so I try to use mostly natural cleansers in my home, and vinegar does an excellent job of getting soap scum off of the tub, cleaning greasy smears from doggy nose prints off of windows, etc.

I personally use it to make my hair shiny and smooth down the cuticle, but I'm certain it has at least some clarifying qualities, particularly if you don't dilute it.

[ktani]

^What Spidermom said. . . Admittedly most of us do ACV rinses with diluted vinegar (the solution you buy in the store is typically 5&#37;), but straight vinegar is an extremely effective cleanser. I have asthma, so I try to use mostly natural cleansers in my home, and vinegar does an excellent job of getting soap scum off of the tub, cleaning greasy smears from doggy nose prints off of windows, etc.

I personally use it to make my hair shiny and smooth down the cuticle, but I'm certain it has at least some clarifying qualities, particularly if you don't dilute it.

I still do not believe that it will remove waxs, polymers and oils, which are far different than calcium build-up and soap scum.

Straight vinegar has a pH of about 2.3 and that can damage hair used over time in large amounts. Acetic acid is corrosive. Most vinegar is 5% acetic acid in water.

Easy read, makes sense, not too technical, http://www.household-management-101.com/uses-for-vinegar.html
"Have you ever heard that one of the uses for vinegar is to cut grease? I know I have. However, vinegar is polar, while oils are nonpolar, so they don't interact well together. (You have seen how oil and vinegar in salad dressing separate from each other -- this is because of their opposite polarity.) In addition, vinegar does not contain surfactants, so it cannot carry oil and grease away in the same way that soaps and detergents can. Therefore, the science of cleaning says that vinegar is not good at cutting grease like some have claimed."

[ecologystudent]

I don't know why/how it works, but for me, it does.

When I do WO my hair gets really oily, really quickly. When I do vinegar rinses, my hair stays nice (and very shiny).

Perhaps it's because I don't have any waxes, polymers or heavy oil build up? Maybe I'm just rinsing away the dust and dirt from the day, and the friction from the scalp massage helps to remove more of the oils?

[ktani]

I don't know why/how it works, but for me, it does.

When I do WO my hair gets really oily, really quickly. When I do vinegar rinses, my hair stays nice (and very shiny).

Perhaps it's because I don't have any waxes, polymers or heavy oil build up? Maybe I'm just rinsing away the dust and dirt from the day, and the friction from the scalp massage helps to remove more of the oils?

Sebum is not a vegetable oil. It no doubt breaks down more easily.

Washing herbs remove sebum readily. They do not do very well with vegetable oils, which is why they are used in pre-wash oilings traditionally. Some of the vegetable oil is left behind to offset the dryness washing herbs can produce.

[Ash]

Back when I used chemical products and cones I would use straight ACV on my hair to get rid of buildup. I only left it in for a few minutes and then washed/conditioned as normal and it worked very well. In fact it worked better than clarifying shampoos which left my hair too dry. It doesn't work as well now that I dilute it but it still removes some buildup. I would say that it does clarify but it may not work for everyone.

[supermanok03]

Vinegar works like magic in my kettle, but my hair doesn't seem to like it! I don't notice it to be very clean feeling at all after an ACV rinse! I think I have to experiment with diluting it more; I try not to rinse it all out, but my hair often ends up stringy, and not clarified-feeling at all. I've never tried letting it sit on my scalp though...

[Beets]

I'm a recent convert. My hair felt like a gross wax helmet on day 13 or so of WO. One ACV rinse for two or three minutes, and it was much, much better. Two later, better still. I do not know, nor could I easily find on the Interwebs, a reason for this being so other than it being an acid that "dissolves" grease and wax (which isn't nearly specific enough for me). But I can tell you that what was once a chunk on my scalp was, after one ACV rinse, back to feeling like individual hairs. There was something broken up or washed away or otherwise changed.

[ktani]

Back when I used chemical products and cones I would use straight ACV on my hair to get rid of buildup. I only left it in for a few minutes and then washed/conditioned as normal and it worked very well. In fact it worked better than clarifying shampoos which left my hair too dry. It doesn't work as well now that I dilute it but it still removes some buildup. I would say that it does clarify but it may not work for everyone.

Acetic acid is corrosive, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetic_acid. I can see that stripping off some build-up. However, straight vinegar is not hair friendly used in large amounts, over time. Even though vinegar is itself diluted, its pH is as I said, about 2.3 and that can damage hair.

From experiments done here to lighten henna, straight lemon juice was used. It did strip the hair as well (the pH is very close to that of straight vinegar, 5&#37; acetic acid vinegar). Some hair damage was reported. Lemon juice contains citric acid, which is an alpha hydroxy acid and it can be corrosive as well, http://www.nicnas.gov.au/publications/information_sheets/safety_information_sheets/sis_12_glycolic_acid_pdf.pdf.

[dropinthebucket]

Oooh, great link, Caillie! Will have to try some of these.

[ktani]

On vinegar removing vegetable oil, http://www.amien.org/forums/showthread.php?474-white-wine-vinegar-to-clean-oil-amp-acrylic-paint-off-brushes

Recommendation? Very soapy water first!

http://www.amien.org/index.php/about.html
"AMIEN is dedicated to providing, without regard to aesthetics, the most comprehensive, up-to-date, accurate, and unbiased factual information about artists’ materials. The information is based on the most current scientific knowledge from peer-reviewed sources regarding quality, durability, and health hazards, and on original research conducted at AMIEN."

Even honey residue, which I now believe is beeswax particles has been reported here on the boards to be best removed with shampoo, although a diluted vinegar rinse can help.