Is the ingredient 'acid' really necessary in conditioners?

[MissHair]

So I just jumped on the bandwagon ''shampoo-awareness'' and what contains what and what conditioner does what for your hair (I never really cared before truthfully) So today I bought a conditioner with Papaya. It says:

''Papaya Revital, nourishing Papaya conditioner with betaine and jojoba. Strenghtens and revitalizes the hair. Dry and damaged hair''.

And so Im looking at the ingredients and few of them being:

Lactic acid, Citric acid, Dehydroacetic acid, Benzoic acid.

I know what cones are and what they do.. But what do these acids really do for your hair that makes you need them in conditioners? I wanna be more aware of what Im buying.

[xoxophelia]

This may be helpful: http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/ph-adjusters.html

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient.php?ingred06=701893

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoic_Acid

Basic common uses: pH adjustment (similar reasons a dilute ACV rinse can help hair), chelation, and preservatives

[Mairéad]

I know that citric acid is used as a preservative in a lot of natural products. I know that lactic acid is great for your skin but I wonder what it does for the hair! Dehydroacetic acid is another preservative and so is benzoic acid. Acids generally keep the "critters" from growing in your products. They would probably be used to adjust the pH as well.

[krissykins]

Lactic acid and citric acid both help adjust the pH levels of your hair and scalp. Dehydroacetic acid and benzoic acid protect against fungi and bacteria, and they also act as preservatives.

[CareBear]

If you go to cosmeticsinfo.org you can type ingredients in the search funtion. They have lots of cool info. :)

[Gulbahar]

I make my own conditioner and stuff and I always have to add tons of lactic acid because the basic conditioner without has a pH of about 9 which is extremely alkaline. So: yes, you definitely need acids in a conditioner because it's best to have a neutral or even slightly acidic pH for your hair.