Is this normal?

[herdaughter77]

Hello all!
I've been having doubts about my hair washing routine since I discovered that it coats my hairbrush and combs with a gray-ish residue.
I wash my scalp with a baking soda solution: 1 tbsp bkng soda in 1 cup water. I rinse the rest of my hair up to the base of my neck with cider vinegar. (both solutions are thoroughly rinsed out with water.)
I don't oil or grease my hair in any way and never have.

I used to always use shampoo of any sorts, sudsing two times, which worked fine up until about two or three years ago when a black-ish residue began building up on my brush and combs. I was naturally disgusted and switched to the baking-soda-&-vinegar method. After the initial shampoo withdrawl, the new rinse seemed to work wonderfully. I haven't had issues until about a month ago. That's when I noticed the gunk build-up on my brush. (again!)

IS THIS NORMAL??????? I don't know what to do! :confused:

If anyone has advice or tips I'd be SO grateful.

Thanks,

K

[florenonite]

I think it's just sebum.

[Madora]

I'd clarify first, then find a gentle shampoo and conditioner. Baking soda is not really kind to your hair.

[earthnut]

The gray is sebum, your body's natural oil. Your body is trying to compensate for the shampoo or baking soda stripping the sebum from your scalp. If you reduce the amount of shampoo/baking soda you use, and massage your scalp, the sebum will get distributed and your body will stop producing so much sebum. Massaging your scalp and hair will help move the sebum off your scalp and onto your hair where it will do the most good: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=181

The more I have reduced my product usage, the less sebum my body has made. I used to think I had an oily scalp. Now I now that my scalp was overproducing sebum because I was drying it out with too much shampoo.

I agree that baking soda is not the best option for frequent washing. It tends to be harsher and drier than shampoo. Not immediately, but over time your hair will start to get damaged. Baking soda is best used as an occasional clarifying treatment. If you continue, be sure you're using a very dilute solution of baking soda to minimize damage. I'd use less than a tsp of BS in a cup of water. And always rinse with a vinegar solution afterwards. (again, 1 tsp per cup water) You could also try a milder shampoo. Sulfate-free shampoos are less harsh than other shampoos: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=2100233&postcount=51

[florenonite]

The gray is sebum, your body's natural oil. Your body is trying to compensate for the shampoo or baking soda stripping the sebum from your scalp. If you reduce the amount of shampoo/baking soda you use, and massage your scalp, the sebum will get distributed and your body will stop producing so much sebum. Massaging your scalp and hair will help move the sebum off your scalp and onto your hair where it will do the most good: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=181


Not necessarily. Some people, like myself, just have greasy hair. Even after months of using shampoo bars, I had a lot more sebum on my brush than I do with sulfates and preening does nothing but make my scalp hair greasy.

[manderly]

Typically that is just sebum and completely natural. You may have a bit of baking soda residue mixed in there as well.

I agree with the others that baking soda as a regular wash is very harsh and drying.

[manderly]

Dammit, double post. Sorry.

[herdaughter77]

Wow, okay. Thanks guys! I'll be looking for an alternative hair wash. So happy that it isn't a mystery anymore!
:D

[Roscata]

First of all your hair is gorgeous, herdaughter77.

Secondly it is normal to sometimes get scalp build-up. This can happen from your natural sebum or styling, beauty products, although by what you said of your routine it's probably sebum.

You can try to remove the scalp build-up with a scalp scrub (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=87690&highlight=scalp+scrub) (sugar+oil, ex: brown sugar + Extra Virgin Olive Oil) or scritching (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2185&highlight=scritching) (use a comb by holding it ~parallel to the scalp and moving it back and forth to remove the build-up, be gentle though you don't want to harm your scalp).

Good luck! :)

[swearnsue]

When you ACV rinse I would suggest you rinse your scalp with it also and not just the length. But a gentle shampoo and conditioner would be better overall and wash your brush and comb every week or so.

[hototogisu]

I always get dark gunk on my brush after I've been around heavy traffic. All kinds of atmospheric dirt and detritus sticks to my porous hair, so I'm just glad my brush gets it out!

Also, you have INCREDIBLE hair. I wouldn't worry about gunk in your brush. You wouldn't believe what comes out in my bright pink plastic Tangle Teezer.

[heidi w.]

I'd clarify first, then find a gentle shampoo and conditioner. Baking soda is not really kind to your hair.

I do NOT recommend Baking Soda for washing the hair with every time one would otherwise shampoo. Baking Soda is not a good replacement agent. Baking Soda literally strips the hair, and is ONLY useful for clarifying the hair, and that's it. Do you condition? If you don't I also recommend starting to use conditioner.

Shampoo and whatnot shouldn't really come off of hair in a brush/comb. But it can be that sebum can do so. The fact that it's grayish indicates that you're not rinsing something out very well. I wish I could be there and watch what you do because this is fixable.

Clean your comb and brushes that you use to detangle. And if you do brush your hair, I recommend you switch to using a wide toothed comb. It's a whole lot easier to clean a comb than a brush. I wash my detangling comb every time I wash my hair so I don't put back in the hair any of the sebum that adhered to the comb or any possible bacteria that may be on the comb.

heidi w.

[herdaughter77]

Okay, thanks everyone! Hopefully I can figure something out. Tried the massage and replaced the bkng soda with Natures Gate (sulfate-free) conditioner.
I'm still wary of washing with just shampoo.