Heavy Duty Clarifying?

[Unnamed]

I'm not talking about preventing, but more of a treatment type thing--more of a deep clarifier--and I'm wondering what you all use when dealing specifically with hard water? I'm to where I think I just need an actual product to use periodically. I've never used one, though, so...yeah. Not sure which is best to try! :rolleyes:


I've seen Nexxus Aloe Rid mentioned, but I think also the treatment's been discontinued? Anyone find it offline? That was what I was hoping to use, kinda. :rolleyes: I know there's just a shampoo, and I also stumbled upon a GVP 'compare to nexxus aloe rid' shampoo. Those seem more on the preventive side, though?

And Aveno I noticed has a 'hair detoxifier' that's looks to be more of a treatment/deeper clarifier.


Any other recs/ideas/what's best? I'm sure there's others, but those are two I think I've seen mentioned here before.

[Ursula]

I usually start by washing with an ALS shampoo (usually TreSemme Vit C, not the Aloe Rid shampoo, which is SLS and SLES). This cleans well, and rinses very clean.

I usually then follow with the Aloe Rid shampoo, to get a bit of chelating effect. I've never been able to find the Aloe Rid treatment, although I would like to try a proper chelating at some point.

There are other chelating treatments out there, but I'm not sure what they are called. Perhaps someone else can help with that.

But starting with the ALS makes sense, so that the chelating treatment can get right to the minerals in the hair, without having to work thorugh any other buildup you may have.

[Dulci]

Do you have a Sally Beauty Supply nearby? I've never used them, but others have talked before about Ion products, they have a Crystal Clarifying Treatment (http://www.sallybeauty.com/Crystal%20Clarifying%20Treatment/SBS-302208,default,pd.html) that comes in a one use packet. They also have a shampoo and conditioner formulated for hard water, here's the shampoo (http://www.sallybeauty.com/ion-hard-water-shampoo/ION12,default,pd.html).

Robert Craig offers the No More Bad Hair days kit (http://robertcraig.com/store/product7.html), you can test the hardness of your water and use the right shampoo.

[Cinnamon Hair]

The "heavy duty" is what throws me for a loop. I use Ion Clarifying shampoo full strength applied to scalp then rinse letting suds go down the length, and then I apply it again this time to scalp and to length squeezing with my hands to build up suds. I certainly wouldn't recommend this more than once every couple months or less (I don't even do it that often). Whether that's heavy duty, I'm not sure. I do have hard water that is bad enough it will build up on the shower walls if given time.

Perhaps you should look into some of the baking soda rinses, those are supposed to be clarifying. Swimmer's shampoos (I think Giovanni makes one?) should also be good for clarifying. I haven't tried these, just offering ideas.

ETA: Do you use a shower filter? That may help for the preventative factor.

[Kirin]

As far as clarifying goes, My take is to use something that -really- works, so you have to use it less often, than a -gentler- clarifier, that you need to use more often. The more often you do a clarifying ritual, at least to me, the more long term damage is being done to your hair with harshness.

I use V05 kiwi lime squeeze clarifying shampoo about once a month. Its cheap and works really well.

[Unnamed]

Ursula -- Thanks for the tip on the ALS. Usually I just use SLES+SLS when I clarify (I don't think it had ALS in it...), but I need to get a new one, so I'll see about one with ALS for the new one. Give me a chance to test how much my skin likes it, too!

Dulci -- Yes, we have a Sally's, and yeah, I think that Ion one is the other I'd seen, but couldn't remeber what it was called or where I'd seen it! So thanks. It might actually be what I get/try first if I can't pick/find something else. The link to the water kit thing reminds me sometime I'd like to actually test the hardness, although I already know it's fairly hard...it's just dealing with it.

Cinnamon Hair -- I used 'heavy duty', because of not really looking for anything preventive...and I've yet to find any cleansing type products that dry my hair out! As is I have to clarify about every 3 weeks on average, I'd say, and lately that's been both BS+shampoo..and then citric acid+shampoo/conditioner. I also use what I think others would consider to be a strong CA rinse with most washes (seems somewhat preventive), and my shampoo has a bit more CA than most, I think (and I think it's why it even works!). So I'm kinda looking for something that might replace (or that I can alternate) with the dual BS+CA, as I just don't like the idea of using the CA like that long term, and I'm thinking a product might work even better and not be as harsh, too.

And no shower filter, but we have a whole house filter (which gets really nasty looking). Doesn't soften the water, but it does get the bigger stuff out, which does help. When we couldn't get it changed, let's just say the ends of my hair kept drying...solid from the water residue. But even with it, water glasses? Er, drink it, let it sit, come back and there's a white residue in the bottom. Other things can turn either greenish, pinkish, or sometimes rustish. :lol:

Kirin -- Yeah, that's what I'm kinda going for. I'd love to clarify every couple of months instead of sometimes every couple of weeks, although I think I need something a bit more than just a shampoo: I've tossed both Suave's Clarifying shampoo and the VO5 Kiwi Lime Clarifying conditioner due to them not rinsing clean. :oops:

[Magdalene]

Baking soda?

[Unnamed]

Magdalene -- Baking soda (mixed with shampoo into a thick paste) doesn't get rid of the hard water stuff. :( It tries, but it only works part way (and I have to do it a couple times a month, sometimes more), hence having added using citric acid similarly after the BS paste. Works better, but I've been real curious what real clarifying/chelating would do for a while, specifically if it'd let me clarify less often, and maybe help ward off the orangeness a bit better. :lol:

[Raederle]

Nexxus Aloe Rid shampoo is still for sale around here. I think it was the Aloe Rid treatment that was discontinued. I just used the shampoo a week or so ago; it's very thorough, and claims to chelate minerals, though I'm not sure of the accuracy of that claim. AFAIK, vinegar rinse will take care of the minerals from that wash only, so I'm not too concerned about whether the claim is accurate or not.

[Darkhorse1]

I use Pantene clarifying shampoo and it's strong enough to go 2 days without washing. I"m now wetting my ends down in between shampoos to just condition the ends and it's making things much nicer. I have extreemly hair water (calcium and lots of lime), so this is a godsend. I'm finding the extra conditioning helping the ends. I'm in a job where my scalp gets very dirty and I have oily scalp, so Pantene has been a godsend. I've also used Degunkifying from Herbal Essense, and that's a good one, but not as strong. I can push 3 days without washing (relative to my activity level) with Pantene, but only 2 days max with Herbal Essence. I miss the old Herbal Essence line. Their oily scalp shampoo/clarifying was AWESOME. And I miss timotei :(