Forum Activity for @baker-street

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

http://english.fossiel.net/system/geolkaart/ireland.jpg
Baba Fats said:

Thanks. What are all the other colours?

Good to know about the "bread soda" thing. I wouldn't have thought about that

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

http://english.fossiel.net/system/geolkaart/ireland.jpg Geology of Ireland

Baba Fats said:

Thanks. What are all the other colours?

Good to know about the "bread soda" thing. I wouldn't have thought about that

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

If you boil your hard water for a few minuites let it cool, this will let the lime particles settle to the bottom. Draw off the water carefully into another container, but leave an inch or so of water behind so that the lime doesn't get into your softened water. Now mix a batch of baking soda wash and your good to go. no more extra fizz!!

christina popejoy said:

hey guys! So im about to do another BS wash! Cant wait but I have to as to get over the hard water here. I've boiled it to mix the bs in now I gotta wait for the solution to cool down alot. It really works using boiling water to mix. Is this is bad idea tho? As the BS fizzes loads when i do it??

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Yeah Baking soda is good for when ever you want to wash!! Ireland woo hoo! They sometimes call it bread soda, but you should be able to find it under baking soda as well it comes in a red tin. Here is a map of water hardness in Ireland where they have a lot of karst limestone that makes it so. http://www.galwaywater.ie/lime-map Have fun and have a pint for me!

updated by @baker-street: 07/09/15 09:45:06PM

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Baba,

Hmmm This might be splitting dreads!! 84 grams is not too much if your adding 1000 mls of water to it, and the ph would be more around 8, if I'm not mistaken. At that concentration it would be safe enough to inject into the human body, lets say if the alkalinity of the blood was more acidic such as in a shock situation when there is more waste in the blood than oxygen. None the less it should be enough solution to start, and safe enough to use in your hair. The Ka of the vinegar, I'd have to get a chemistry book out to find its weight, and then of course its ph is altered by the amount of water added to it, which is then further aggravated by the rinsing of the baking soda solution from your hair, before the vinegar rinse. All in all the two separate solutions would work well together one after the other to do the job of cleaning and correcting the ph of the hair. But Baba, rather than argue about chemistry we should hang out at the drum circle in Fairmount, much more fun!

Baba Fats said:

Baker street, not to sound insubordinate, but 84 grams seems like a lot. You'll understand this, but that means you're using 84 molars of Baking soda. That concentration gives a pH of roughly 10. The Vinegar is Acetic acid. That concentration would give a pH of about 4.5. I don't really know how to do an equilibrium constant of a weak acid and weak base, but know that the Ka of the vinegar is stronger than that of the baking soda, would this bring the pH of the solution close enough to 7?

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Hey Rohan,

Hopefully I can help you. And hopefully I'm not the only one on here that can help you too Sooo its never to late or too early to start. According to the guides, straight and thick hair may take some time cause your going to go natural/neglect and you have short hair, but no worries cause your short hair will grow long and dread up when everything aligns and that's the beauty of natural neglect. Don't force your hair to do anything, you may end up frustrated, but if you realise its a process at the start and that there are stages and even micro stages of development you begin to notice them along the way and that also teaches patience and courage, and part of being a person in the world.

Now for the heart breaking body image stuff....let go. Take a deep breath, and expire. Oily hair will be no problem, sweat from a workout no problem. First baking soda is very strong stuff, after using it for a couple of weeks, in your case twice weekly you will notice that your hair will not be oily, in fact it will be so clean that your scalp will stop producing excess oils that make it oily, even after a workout you can just rinse with warm water, blot with a towel and go. The purpose of the baking soda solution is to bring your hair and scalp into harmony. It will take a few weeks, but for the first weeks do not use anything in your hair except the baking soda solution. No products, no conditioner, no shampoo! Not even the apple cider vinegar for a time. The baking soda will gently cleanse all of the years from your hair, and scalp. As the baking soda works on your scalp, unclogging it basicly, you may find it itchy for a time, this is your scalp waking up. To relieve this some people add drops of tea tree oil and rosemary essential oils to the solution, others simply rinse their hair with warm water, the scalp just needs some moisture to make it happy. Anyway use your scalp as an indicator as to when to wash with the solution. Then after some time you can space out your washings, because you'll just notice one day that yes my hair is really clean, and it only itches when I need to wash it. Time will do the rest. This will be your summer though!!

Rohan Manro said:

hey i was wondering if you could help me out

kay basically, im looking to start dreads (and have been for a while). im currently growing out my hair and it is about 2inches long at the moment anyway i have a big problem with greasy and oily hair. unless i wash my hair everyday it gets greasy ( i have straight, indian hair) and i was also wondering what would be the best method to start dreads? im attracted to the twist and rip method and the back combing method but am unsure about which would be best for my hair type (straight and thick)

also i like keeping fit and healthy so i tend to sweat alot would this affect my whole dreading process ?

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Just want to send a message of thanks for everyone who finds this discussion helpful. Also a shout to those who are contributing to the post with advise, info and fine tuning. Thanks guys!

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Sea salt to the bs solution sounds good and your concentrations cant be argued with, although they are a tad lower, do you compensate with more time?

Heather said:

this is awesome!! i just did a bs wash today. i used 3/4 cup bs to 2 quarts water. might have been too much:/ what are your opinions on adding sea salt to the bs wash? i added 2 Tbs to mine. since getting a water filter i'm really enjoying being able to do bs washes and not having a bunch of residue left on my scalp.

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

Hey Practicality and intuition is a gift! Remember though that acids (lemon juice) and bases (baking soda) mixed together cancel each other out, keep them separated. I think it would be neat to try the juice of a whole lemon in 5 cups of water as a rinse, but I'm thinking because you have straight and oily hair you need to stick to just the baking soda solution for a time. The baking soda solution will balance your oily hair, and help it dread in good time. Do it as freely as you like at the start, but remember that the BS solution is very strong so you will find that three times a week is plenty. Once or twice is even more practical, especially with your tikes on hand.

kendra hutchinson said:

Hey thank you SO MUCH for posting that!! As a matter of fact, I have baby dreads and super fine, weirdly oily hair so I cant really stand to go without washing.. I use BS and did an ACV rinse a few days ago but I sort of ust guessed at the mixture and figured I'd keep on trying til I found the right mixture for me.. According to you, I had it pretty close I threw in a tiny bit of lemon juice though, like 1/2tsp or so. My babies will be a week old on Thursday!!

Oh and the salt water thing - I just spray a couple hours before I plan to shower/wash my hair.. Then its not like I'm really adding anything to my routine and I don't have to sit around while it soaks, I can continue on with my day (I have two toddlers...lol so pretty busy days!) play with kids, take a walk to the park, fix meals, etc rather than be watching the clock while waiting or the salt water to kick in so I can just go wash/rinse it out! I live in eastern NC, pretty near to the beach actually.. I don't trust going in the water though, too many things that can take a bite of me!!!!!! so sea salt water in a spray bottle it is!!

Baking Soda and Sea Salt ratios

Dread Maintenance

No its not a must, but if your hair is feeling dry and crispy one day then ACV will correct that.

James Turk said:

So ACV is optional? I thought it was a must. If I don't need it I probably won't use it. Thanks for posting this!