Problems with baking soda wash?

[Deleted]

I live in a humid, hot part of the US. Add regular exercise into that and you end up with lots of sweat, oil, and irritation.

About a year before I decided to begin dreadlocks I used baking soda wash and ACV rinse as my only hairwash. I did it daily for a long time, and i was happy with it. I was using about a cup of b/s in a gallon of water, then rinsing with ACV at about the same ratio.

Then about a month before I backcombed I started washing every other day, then every three days. Then i switched to residue free shampoo, to prep for dreads. After I backcombed it all went crazy and my scalp got super itchy. Now my scalp is dry. I have flakes as well.

I kinda want to return to using the baking soda that worked so well for me before, but I'm a bit nervous due to the amount of buzz about it damaging hair in the long run. Currently I'm using Trader Joe's Tea Tree, and I like it, but my scalp is so dry.

Anyone here use a baking soda wash regularly for a long time and like it? I don't hate the shampoo, and I'm still very new to the process, so I expect a certain amount of irritation. I've even thought about washing every other day, alternating between using shampoo and just water, especially for the summer. Just trying to get a good routine down and stick with it.

Thanks!

[james]

What I do is just grab an empty bottle, something that holds a litre, add about a guess of two tablespoons of bi-carbonate of soda, then the extras if you want of pinch of sea salt, essential oil drops etc. Fill the bottle with water, shake it up and gradually tip that on your head. Just make sure you rinse it all out well in the shower. Never caused me a problem and my hair takes over a week to even start to be a bit oily. I do use other shampoos on and off but mainly done that for years for the most part. Your scalp will find a balance and chill from being oily.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I loved using it before. I would mix a gallon, then use an old water bottle to apply it. Do you use vinegar as a rinse?

[james]

I've never done that but I know folk do.
To be honest in the first few years I would wash my hair 2-3 times a week, now I probably barely need to as far as oily head goes. It's mainly just because of environmental smells like cooking, bars, traffic and I like having clean dreads. But If I lived in some Eden I'd probably get away with just dipping in the ocean. But I don't.
So yeah probably took a year for my scalp to just chill out and not be horrible. Once you get long dreads you really don't want to have to wash them more than once a week anyway, it's annoying to battle the head octopuses too often.

[Deleted]

Haha. Thanks, dude.

[willowbranches]

I used baking soda and vinegar respectively as wash and rinse for years before I started my dreads. I continued to use them three times a week for about the first six months with t&r dreads installed, and for some reason, presumably with the sulfurous nature of my hard city water as a factor, it completely restricted my dreadlings from making any progress. I was getting frustrated with it and figured it needed to be loosened so one day while pulling the t&r apart I discovered that the strands were basically glued together and the disturbance released a dramatic sulfur smell. Holy crap. So didn't pull them apart but switched to a mostly natural shampoo and they just took off. As much as I loved the bs wash, my dreads apparently were not fans. Might also have been my bs to water dilution, which was heavy on the bs and might have required more rinsing than even the rather excessive rinsing I did.

Obviously this is my personal experience, based on hair type and water characteristics. I know other folks here have had no problems maintaining a bs and vinegar regimen, so just thought I'd throw it out as a perspective

[Deleted]

Wow! Bet that was weird to have that inside the dread. So even your vinegar rinses weren't getting rid of it?

We have pretty hard water here, so you definitely got my attention. I use to use about a half cup bicarb to a gallon of water, so about two tablespoons for a medium sized water bottle. About what were your ratios?

I like my shampoo, and may just keep using it. There's just something about the simplicity of bs/acv that I like. Plus I was thinking the saltiness might help in the knotting process.

I am also thinking that one reason my scalp may have been extra itchy is due to the seasalt spray I'm using occasionally. It's so hard to keep it off the scalp.

[willowbranches]

Yeah it spooked me a bit, but I knew that water ran sulfurous so at least I wasn't confused ^_^

My dilution was probably 4 tablespoons bs in 16 ounces of water in a squeeze bottle--my hair was a good 5 inches past my butt when I started my dreads and I have a scalp prone to oiliness, so I needed a fair amount of soda, and that amount always worked fine on my loose hair. Three feet of dreadlings, not so much.

I used my vinegar rinse in a 1:3 with water as a leave in. I would notice at times a spot behind my ears that would fizzle when I sprayed it in, so I knew I hadn't rinsed well in that area, but otherwise I never got the impression I hadn't rinsed all the bs out. I'm also a smidge OCD, and being very O about my hair makes me very C about rinsing. I suspect that what was coating my hair was more like some form of scum produced by the interaction of my water and the baking soda... damned contaminated city swill.

I really wasn't happy about having to go back to shampoo, I can relate to preferring the simplicity of the bs and vinegar for sure. Different chemical and mineral constituents in water definitely play a role in how it interacts with other substances, your hard water might be totally fine with the soda.

Speaking of salt spray, I had to stop using mine entirely--not only is it incredibly difficult to keep off the scalp, but my skin is exceedingly sensitive and after a few months I had terribly aggravated patches on my face from where post-spritz still-drying dreads tended to rub. Took me a while to figure out it was the spray, but once I stopped using it my skin gradually recovered. Honestly I didn't see any decline in progress once I quit it, just for the record.

[james]

I used baking soda mix as mentioned above more watered down than that and lived in a hard water area. It's mainly soap you don't want to solidify when it combines with hard water deposits, that's why detergents work better than 'soaps', liquid or bar, if you have hard water.
I cut a bunch of dreadlocks off for an undercut and inside the dreadlocks was just clean hair on inspection. You'll usually find what works for you with trial and error over time. I used Dr Bronners when I started and that just stuck my hair together and felt 'sticky', due to the hard water. It didn't do me any favours, but most health food type shops have a few decent shampoos that are natural detergent based rather than soap.

[Deleted]

I've heard that over and over about Dr bronners, too bad since the labels are so fun to read.

willowbranches -- wondering if the ACV was the culprit in your 'arrested dread-velopment,' since you said you used it as a leave-in. Thinking it acts as a conditioner to a degree, right? Maybe it was detangling your tangles? Not sure, just guessing, you prolly know better than I would. And yeah, thinking I'm gonna cut out the seasalt, after using it the other day my scalp was so dry, almost stinging. Yesterday it was better, and today -- even after sweating after running -- no issues, and since tomorrow is my washday, today would normally have been a day with more scalp irritation than what I have. So I'm blaming the seasalt!

I tend towards the OCD too, which is why I'm trying to choose the opposite approach with dreadlocks.

james -- to clarify, you're saying the bicarb is more detergent based, right? I'm learning more about hair than I ever thought I would, and Google is being confusing on the issue! Thanks again.

[james]

Well chemically it's neither. Detergents are most things like dish soap, shampoo etc, you'll see it breaks the surface tension of oil,soap scum etc floating on water.
But yeah the bicarbonate is great, hey a thick paste of it perfectly cleans burnt on pans and cooker tops and deodorises the fridge, what's not to love? ....more household tips later when I'll be showing how to clean a hobos mattress with our trusty baking soda...

[Deleted]

Ha!

[lipstic]

I do both baking soda and shampoo (not at the same time). We have extremely hard water here, it's so bad that for the first 6 months I could not take a bath without putting baking soda in the water or I would get out and have rashes everywhere.

I alternate which one I am using and I don't dilute my baking soda, I put it on dry hair and massage it to the scalp; let it sit for a while and then rinse/scrub it out. Follow up with pouring vinegar all over my scalp.

When I did have problems with the itchies, I found lavender oil, lemon oil and hair mists helped.

[willowbranches]

Jun 17, 2016 17:35:45 GMT @kevin said:

willowbranches -- wondering if the ACV was the culprit in your 'arrested dread-velopment,' since you said you used it as a leave-in. Thinking it acts as a conditioner to a degree, right? Maybe it was detangling your tangles? Not sure, just guessing, you prolly know better than I would. And yeah, thinking I'm gonna cut out the seasalt, after using it the other day my scalp was so dry, almost stinging. Yesterday it was better, and today -- even after sweating after running -- no issues, and since tomorrow is my washday, today would normally have been a day with more scalp irritation than what I have. So I'm blaming the seasalt!

I tend towards the OCD too, which is why I'm trying to choose the opposite approach with dreadlocks.    

Now that you suggest it, it very well could have been the vinegar. I didn't always leave it in, and sometimes I didn't use it at all, but I never considered that possibility and I should have.

I've also mostly kept my hands off my hair as a challenge to my secret inner control freak. Separating and minimal palm-rolling clubs, and just finished brushing out my tips (which I've been waiting and waiting to do), but otherwise I've left them completely alone. Two years in and I couldn't be happier with the experience ^_^