Baking soda and ACV

[Bambi]

Hello everybody! Hope you are all doing well!

I have been doing CO( with ACV) for 2 months now and like it but my hair can get too oily at occasions( I wash 1 a week). So I did some reading and found out about the use of baking soda in hair, and that it was good to combine with ACV. Today I tried it and I must say that I am impressed, it worked well with my hair:). My question is if you can use it w/o the ACV or is it a necessity considering the fact that you have to close the cuticles and balance PH? I am not really sure how my hair like ACV as I don't notice a difference(from Poo and conditioner) after 2 month of use, maybe I am just being impatience...:cool:

Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate your advice highly!

[Turtle]

I've used just baking soda before, with and without ACV. When I first started using it, I had switched directly from using Suave shampoo and conditioner to using baking soda only. My hair went through a LONG transition period. For around a month, it was really greasy and coarse feeling most of the time and difficult to style. I would also get gooey white build-up on my comb and hairbrush. I only used baking soda with apple cider vinegar for a little, but it did seem to balance out my hair a bit more. ACV does a very good job of normalizing my hair, no matter what other treatments I'm using.

Just my personal experiences. Hope it helps. (:

[jeanniet]

You need to follow baking soda with something acidic. If you don't like the vinegar, you could try a citric acid rinse.

[Bambi]

Thank you so much for your replies!
Can I use a lemon juice and water mixture, would that work? My hair feels very soft and falls very niecely today:)

[Sundial]

Yes you can use a mixture of lemon juice and water as an alternative :)

[Turtle]

Lemon juice also has a tendency to lighten hair (The results are less dramatic the more you dilute it), especially if you are out in direct sunlight as your hair dries.

[Bambi]

Thank you both! I will probably try it on sunday:)

[Zenity]

I watched this video long time ago and talks about the ph balance and the hair. Is very well done and informative and since watching it I would avoid extreme changes on ph of hair because they can lead to open anc close the cuticle of your hair and end up in damage.;
They test the ph of baking soda and vinegar

Here is the video (part of a series of videos very interesting to watch) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT9axA0A6_Q&feature=relmfu

Each one is different but I wouldn't do that to my hair.

[Bambi]

^ Thank you so much! Well I think that I will go back to CO....I do not want to destroy my hair..The reason I decided to try baking soda in the first place is my oily scalp, do you have any suggestions?
Once again thank you for sharing this informative video!

[Thumper]

I watched this video long time ago and talks about the ph balance and the hair. Is very well done and informative and since watching it I would avoid extreme changes on ph of hair because they can lead to open anc close the cuticle of your hair and end up in damage.;
They test the ph of baking soda and vinegar

Here is the video (part of a series of videos very interesting to watch) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT9axA0A6_Q&feature=relmfu

Each one is different but I wouldn't do that to my hair.

Thank you for posting that; I've often wondered why we would recommend putting such strong things in our hair like ACV rinses. Although I can understand that there might be build up in the hair that we want to wash away, at the same time I feel that you probably are doing some damage along the way. Mind you I also understood that the ratio of water to Vinegar, reduced the Vinegar to a more ph balance close to the hairs.

[QueenJoey]

BS/ACV makes my hair feel better than anything else I've tried. And I've done S/C, CWC, CO, and WO, all of which weren't as great as this. But without the ACV, the BS seems to dry my hair out way too much.

[MissAlida]

I have been BS/white vinegar for more than a month now...Since I started it, I got more than 1 inches of growth, tough I haven't had growth in the past 2 years. My hair feels nice and soft, I don't get more splits than before. I also used to get dandruff on the third day from washing...since I abandoned head& shoulders, It's totally gone. My scalp gets less oily also. I can go 3-4 days without a wash, and still be able to wear my hair down. BS/white vinegar is the best thing so far. I'll see how it goes, but I highly doubt that my hair will get more damage from this than from all the chemical crap in the shampoo.

[Bambi]

It is nice to hear that it works for you:) Guess I am a bit of a chicken, but who knows maybe I will be a convert after all..:)

[MissAlida]

It is nice to hear that it works for you:) Guess I am a bit of a chicken, but who knows maybe I will be a convert after all..:)
If you'd like, I could open a thread on BS/ACV to see if anyone who has used it for a longer period of time than me has gotten any damage from it. I've watched the youtube video, and I know it's true, since I majored in science in high school, but still, I won't stop my routine. My philosophy is: "don't try to fix something that isn't broken". My hair likes it so far, and so do I. If I'll start to see any damage, I'll stop. If you are unsure, but you'd like to try, you can PM me in a month or so, and I can tell you if something bad happened to my hair from it... I'm sure it's just like any other washing method: it doesn't suit everyone. But it's worth a try.:)

[Bambi]

Oh yes I would love to hear about your experiences, so kind of you! Yes the video is right but I agree with you when you say don't try to fix something that isn't broken:)
Take care!

[Kelikea]

I used BS/ACV for 2 mos until my hair got dry. Now I co/wash/co then ACV rinse. Use the BS as a clarifying wash when you get too oily or buildup, use ACV as a rinse (or other acidic rinse like lemon or white vinegar and water.) Just make sure to dilute everything:)

[Zenity]

As stated, each hair is different and we respond different to the same things. I agree about watching what works for each following our common sense and experiences. But again, if something doesn't feel or seem right, then we should stay away from it.