Clairifying and Chelating

[deltadeliquent]

Hi, and apologies in advance if this has been answered ad nauseum elsewhere.

I live in a very hard water area,and have been using cone laden products for years.
Now I have been educated as to healthy hair knowledge, I realise most of my hair problems are probably due to these two factors.

So... I now have swimmers shampoo and clarifying shampoo. I am swearing off all the bad things too. My question is this:
How many shampooing sessions would most likely get it ALL off so I can start anew?
I am thinking that just one or two wont do it as my hair have been abusing my hair for years. Unwittingly.
Anybody know or have an opinion?
Thanks in advance.

[ktani]

Hi, and apologies in advance if this has been answered ad nauseum elsewhere.

I live in a very hard water area,and have been using cone laden products for years.
Now I have been educated as to healthy hair knowledge, I realise most of my hair problems are probably due to these two factors.

So... I now have swimmers shampoo and clarifying shampoo. I am swearing off all the bad things too. My question is this:
How many shampooing sessions would most likely get it ALL off so I can start anew?
I am thinking that just one or two wont do it as my hair have been abusing my hair for years. Unwittingly.
Anybody know or have an opinion?
Thanks in advance.

It should and can take as little time as using the right products.

That means almost no time at all. These may help.

1. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=224

2. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=115

ETA: For regular chelating as in having hard water, lemon juice - diluted - can do that for you easily and cheaply. Just dilute the juice well and leave the rinse on your hair for a moment or two before rinsing. If your water is really hard, rinse with distilled water. ETA:2 after the lemon juice rinse.

[deltadeliquent]

I had seen those articles before. Thanks.
So, to be clear...
After one shampoo I can assume my hair is down to hair and has no left over build up? No layers of scum or cones?
And then I clairify again once in a while to get rid of new scum?
Cheers

[ktani]

I had seen those articles before. Thanks.
So, to be clear...
After one shampoo I can assume my hair is down to hair and has no left over build up? No layers of scum or cones?
And then I clairify again once in a while to get rid of new scum?
Cheers

You are very welcome.

To be clear though, it can take more than one clarifying wash to rid the hair of all build-up, depending on how much there is of it on the hair.

[GlassWidow]

I thought this was a good thread to post my request for advice on chelating, but I realized I've already done that here:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=86833&page=2

I got interrupted and managed to post the same question twice in two different threads. Oops!!

[heidi w.]

Clarifying and chelating are two different procedures. The process is the same, but they function differently. Clarifying removes product lying on top of the hair, on top of the cuticle. Clarifying removes all of the applied moisture, whether conditioner, oil, sebum, in addition to product buildup and hard water mineral deposits.

Chelating removes the bond on the inside of hair that sometimes occurs. For example, years ago, a young lady applied a salt solution to her hair based on some advice she received (which was completely bogus), and her hair ended up behaving very differently in the wake of the application. It wasn't until she chelated did she get the salt bond removed from the hair's core, the cortex. Chelating is often performed in advance of permanents or coloring the hair, as the new stuff needs to bond to the hair for it to take.

So, I don't see what you're asking. I think you're asking if you should clarify twice.

First, a swimmer's shampoo is not a clarifying shampoo precisely. This is not the correct shampoo to use for clarifying. IF you buy a product intending to clarify the hair, the product name should have Clarify on it as part of the name somehow. I never recommend chelating until clarifying twice has produced no results.

Also, if one removes all the product off the hair, to an extent, one must replace what's been removed. That means condition well in the wake of clarifying, as part of the clarifying hair wash. One can also opt to make a homemade recipe for clarifying.

You also claim that you have super hard water where you reside. An ACV or lemon rinse can help with managing hard water minerals depositing on your hair. This typically ONLY needs clarifying to remove.

However, you can also attempt to improve your water in your residence, at least the water you wash your hair with.

If you rent, I recommend purchasing a shower head water filter that simply screws on to the shower head arm. You will have to make sure you can acquire replacement filters and replace said filter in time.

If you own your house, you can consider a water softener or installing a water purifier of sorts, such as a reverse osmosis setup. Which costs a lot more than a shower head water filter.

These both will improve water quality so that less minerals deposit on the hair and sometimes can also (in the case of a shower head filter) sometimes remove chlorine and other additives to the water.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

You are very welcome.

To be clear though, it can take more than one clarifying wash to rid the hair of all build-up, depending on how much there is of it on the hair.

Correct.

Which is why I recommend NOT advancing to chelating until two clarify hair washes have produced no improvement or results.

heidi w.