What are the pH values of common (Western) herbal rinses?

**Fimu** · June 18th, 2020, 11:33 PM

I see here and there Western herbal rinses passing by, such as rooibos, catnip, honey or fenugreek, but can anyone here measure the pH of those herbal recipes, preferably in distilled water? I want to avoid any extreme pHs after having overdone it with too-acidic rinses last year, such as shikakai.

**Jane99** · June 19th, 2020, 09:49 PM

I actually just ordered some ph strips off ebay and they are being shipped.

**Fimu** · June 20th, 2020, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by Jane99

I actually just ordered some ph strips off ebay and they are being shipped.

Great! Keep us posted when you have the time to measure pH values of your own herbal/tea rinses. Do you usually use tap or distilled water for herbal rinses?

**Jane99** · June 20th, 2020, 09:36 PM

I usually use just tap water, but for the sake of science, will compare to the filtered water I have which filters down to 0 ppm particulates so it would be close to distilled, I would think.

**lapushka** · June 21st, 2020, 04:53 AM

Originally Posted by Fimu

Great! Keep us posted when you have the time to measure pH values of your own herbal/tea rinses. Do you usually use tap or distilled water for herbal rinses?

I think for that reason it can vary, depending on where you are in the world, unless you use distilled. Maybe it's better to just get some strips and measure for yourself?

**Fimu** · June 21st, 2020, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by lapushka

I think for that reason it can vary, depending on where you are in the world, unless you use distilled. Maybe it's better to just get some strips and measure for yourself?

I want to use distilled water if I'm ever going to do herbal/tea rinses. I have pH strips, but I don't have all the herbs in house atm.

**Jane99** · June 23rd, 2020, 07:15 PM

Well the cheap pH strips I ordered off ebay offer “something to be desired” so I’m not sure how accurate they’ll be. They did read vinegar as acidic though so maybe I’m just being biased. I tested my coffee and couldn’t really read the pH. Maybe because there was cream in it. I’ll post any meaningful results on here that I find but there might not be any.

**Fimu** · July 11th, 2020, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by Jane99

Well the cheap pH strips I ordered off ebay offer “something to be desired” so I’m not sure how accurate they’ll be. They did read vinegar as acidic though so maybe I’m just being biased. I tested my coffee and couldn’t really read the pH. Maybe because there was cream in it. I’ll post any meaningful results on here that I find but there might not be any.

Did it work out eventually with measuring pH values? Can you show me a picture of the pH strips you have ordered?

**Jane99** · July 11th, 2020, 07:34 AM

I tested catnip tea made with filtered water yesterday or the day before. The color strip didn’t change color so it was between 5-6. I also tested the amla/reetha/shikakai shampoo I use and it tested between a 3-4. There wasn’t a picture of the strips on ebay but they came in a pack of 80, paper strips, yellow, and the paper will change color, but it’s difficult to discern between two values, as 5 and 6 both look similar and so do 3 and 4.