ACV rinse

[tweetylonghair]

What exactly is the purpose of ACV? I am still new and current find under search what im looking for. I wanted to know why to do and what main purpose is? My hair seems a dull in appearance and a little dry to me but not to others that feel it. Im not trying to be confusing just would like hair to look better.

[Keller1128]

The purpose of an ACV rinse is to seal the hair cuticle to make the hair shinier. I hope that helps :)

[Sundial]

It also helps to regulate the pH since a slightly acidic pH is healthy.

You should dilute the ACV with water. I usually dilute mine 1 tablespoon vinegar to 2 cups but you can vary it accordingly to your preference. I tend to do a final rinse with water after the vinegar rinse because I cannot stand the smell but some people like keeping the vinegar rinse as the final rinse. Again, it's entirely up to you. You can feel free to experiment to see which your hair likes :o but it's best to do it on a day when you're staying in because you won't want to be smelling like pickles if things don't work out

[gypsymoth]

I suppose it goes with the shine, but some people (including me) find that it makes it a lot softer and have more "slip". I like to use a couple capfuls mixed with almost 2 litres of water.

[Crysta]

I'm with sundail here - it's for control the PH balance of the hair - you can use it after bleach to stop the process. White vinegar works too.

I'm sure there's a section on it in the 'new start here' and one of the stickies there, you'll find lots of answers to common questions in stickies in those parts.

[Cainwen]

ACV rinses are also really good if you have hard water and dont want to deal with/want to get rid of mineral buildup. I don't know what kind of water you have, but what you describe your hair being like is what mine was like before I tried vinegar rinses. And its one of the less expensive things to try (white vinegar, which I use, can usually be found for less than a dollar here in the US.)

[SoulOfTheSea]

I myself have never done an ACV rinse... perhaps I should with my dad's ACV in the cabinets that he uses for grilling meats....

[Intransigentia]

Another thing is that skin pH is mildly acidic, and the ACV helps the skin stay that way, which in turn I find helps my scalp not itch.

[Jimothea]

Yes to all of the above, basically!

If you have hard water, especially, diluted ACV (or citrus, or whatever) rinses can come in particularly handy, because of two main reasons; 1.) helps restore the natural balance of the acid mantle on your scalp, so it definitely helps with the itchies, and may help some scalp problems, and 2.) helps gently close the layers of the cuticle, which helps with slip and shine.

Of course, too much of a good thing can become bad thing, so if you have soft water and a perflectly healthy scalp, it may not do any good, or even throw off the balance. Also, if you take steaming, steaming hot showers, the cuticle will remain open no matter how much vinegar you dump on your hair. It can become drying, too--I believe this is just acid doing its thing.

I use a big water bottle (the size that hooks onto bikes) with about 1/2 inch-ish vinegar and filled the rest of the way with water, and do this every shower (extremely hard water AND scalp problems; this may be too frequent for others). I make sure my hair still has some condish in it though, because my hair gets mad at me if I do it too often on "unprotected" hair, and becomes very dry, and picks up the reddish tones quickly w/o condish. I've read both that ACV is supposed to be the best, and that any vinegar would do; who knows?

HTH! I'm a big fan of ACV rinses, now that I've gotten my issues ironed out (the dryness and ruddy color uptake).

[Intransigentia]

I use white vinegar, and it seems to work just as well as fancy vinegars. I have a couple vanilla bean pods in my bathroom vinegar bottle, and it leaves behind a nicer smell than plain.