Getting rid of smoke buildup?

[Tomoyo]

Now that summer weather is already upon us (apparently :p), friends with fire pits are going to have evenings outdoors with a fire, BBQing, etc. Fire smoke seems to be the one smell that WILL NOT leave my hair with regular washing. Even double-shampooing (which I am loathe to do very often) doesn't take the smell away. Would an ACV rinse do the trick?

Summer is great, but hair that reeks for days afterwards is not very fun. :p

[Madora]

I have no idea if Apple Cider Vinegar would help remove the smell.

My initial reaction was to try clarifying with Neutrogena Anti Residue shampoo, followed by conditioning.

Maybe next time you're in a smokey situation, you could protect your hair with a pretty scarf?

Hope you're successful getting rid of the smell.

[ktani]

You should not need to clarify to get rid of the smell.

If you can, stay upwind of the smoke and cover your hair as suggested.

This is intesting, http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-get-rid-of-smoke-odors-in-clothes.

A well diluted vinegar rinse should do the same thing for your hair, also suggested by Madora. Any vinegar should do as long as it is not too high in acetic acid. Those need more diluting.

[mzBANGBANG]

I'm a smoker experimenting with WO methods and the first thing I thought of was how I would get the smoke smell out of my hair. I'm a light smoker but any night I go out to a bar I'm bound to have a head full of smoke.

The best thing I've used is diluted vinegar misting and rinsing. Since I'm trying not to use any product, this was about all I could do. It literally pulls ALL of the smell out of my hair! After it dries it smells like nothing. Oddly since I've had more sebum coating my hair, it doesn't seem to hold any smell at all even with daily wear.

[barely.there]

The vinegar rinses sound fantastic. After you do those, try a little hair/body spritz to the scent of your choice :D Using perfume to cover up a smell - folks have been doing that for thousands of years ;)

[Vanilla]

I really don't know if this is hair safe or not, but I used it all the time on my waist length hair in college and it worked well to get rid of the cigarette smoke smell.

I sprayed my dry hair with Febreze (yes the fabric odor eliminator) and used the cool shot on my hair dryer to dry my hair quickly. This was often between wash days, and the smell of smoke would make me nauseous if it lingered.

I still washed my hair twice on my normal wash day (could have been a few days later), and I never had any lingering smell after using the Febreze prior to washing. If I didn't use the Febreze, I would often still have a smoke residue on my hair that would survive washing and conditioning.

Hope this helps!