Neglect Method Newbie -- Baking Soda Wash Questions

Hi Everyone!,

My name is Marcus and I posted a couple days ago that I started my neglect journey! My hair is 4 inches and shown in my profile picture. I have a question about the baking soda wash. I've been washing my hair since October 2010 with strictly baking soda and water every 3 days in preparation for dreadlocks while I let my hair grow. I mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda with a cup of hot shower water every time I wash my hair (which has been every 3 days since October 2010.) My hair has not started dreading yet obviously since it has only been one week of neglect. Now that I started the neglect method a couple days ago I have a couple questions:

1). When do I start adding essential oils?

2). How willadding essential oilsaffect my hair since it has not begunlocking yet?

3). If Ican startadding essential oils now, which ones should I add?

4). Do I add the oils to the baking soda wash or the apple cider vinegar rinse?(Leads into question 5)

5). Should I start an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse?

6).How will the apple cider vinegar rinse affect my hair since it has not begun locking yet?

7). Should I increase the amount I wash my hair from 3x a week to every other day? Someone on this site with similar hair type told me that aided in the locking process.

I would like to apologize for the amount of questions asked here. I have been trying to find a thread with all this information provided clearly. I formatted my questions in a numbered format because I thought it would make things clearer. One issue I've had with the threads on the site is that many times the responses are filled with misspellings, incomplete sentences, or jargon that I am not used to considering I am new. I just want to make sure I'm doing things properly. Thanks for your time. -Marcus

updated by @marcus-acosta: 02/14/15 11:41:24AM

1 add essential oils when u have a condition that needs treatment they are medicinal however teatree is good all the time as it prevents lice and is anticeptic and kills bacteria

2 wont affect them at all unless u way over use it a few droops will have no effect

3 teatree always good besides the above it helps dandruff (somewhat by killing bacterial causes) rosemary (excelent for dandruff) lavender (great for smell and mold prevention) pepermint (smells good cools itches might help dandruff) theres others but woulsnt worry bout those till mature

4 baking soda..or both optionaly

5 yea u should acv restores a healthy ph ballence since bs throws oit off to the alkeline side

u want hair to be slightly acidic

6 it will soften it so thats why when you use it till theyre well established u should use it weaker and rinse it quicker (seconds instrad of 3 minutes)\

7 whatever you want to do doesnt matter all that much

ps i finally got a keybopard with letters on it so will have alot less typos

except sleep deprivation also makes the keys move around too much so dont expect perfectionj

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks for reply SE. I have one more question concerning the ACV rinse:

1). How much apple cider vinegar do I put in a cup of warm water?

one capful (of a 750ml bottle) or less... if you get unfiltered (raw) apple cider vinegar be sure to strain it with a coffee filter because it has "mother of vinegar" which is little gel chunks of live bacteria. to reach more surface area of the scalp you can just dilute it with another cup of water. with your hair so short one capful for 2-3 cups would even be sufficient. acv can be very conditioning so less is better than too much. SE already answered the part about essential oils but I started out when your hair was about your length in July (since then I let my hair grow out and it's gotten a lot longer - I'm waiting for a little bit longer). And I just gotta say you really only need 1-2 drops max each washing - too much with your length of hair will be more conditioning and if the oils aren't properly washed out they tend to build up on your scalp and/or tam.

Thanks Calipark. I think I will start using the ACV rinse after I start noticing locks forming just to be on the safe side. -Marcus

cool. the reason for the ACV and rinsing it quickly is mostly to help the PH balance because the baking soda leaves your scalp and hair alkaline which will end up irritating your scalp and leaving your hair a little rougher. using a diluted ACV at least solves the PH balance which prevents scalp irritation *cough* - itching and dandruff - *cough*. and it will condition your hair slight enough to where it will be a little easier to knot. when you use baking soda only, your hair can be kinda like hay and dry, and if the baking soda isn't dissolved by completely rinsing and/or using ACV, it sticks around and can damage your hair. of course since you're getting dreads you probably wouldn't be concerned about damaged hair - but if it's clean and dry but also a little more flexible, knots will happen quicker. do ya know what i mean?

i know this cause i experimented using baking soda only for a while. it cleaned really good but eventually the baking soda built up (the hard water didn't help, and I used a lot of baking soda anyways sometimes with not hot enough water). the baking soda caked onto my scalp which was already naturally exfoliating like a healthy head always does, and trust me it smells and gets gross. in fact it can build up so bad where you have no choice but to scrub with some non-residue shampoo - and at the length of your hair that is risky cause knots don't stick around as easily as with long hair. try this - use baking soda only on a certain part of your body instead of body wash for a couple days, say i don't know, on your groin or something lol. see if there's a difference in smell. there probably will be because the PH balance is off. then the next time use baking soda and a diluted ACV rinse, and check the results. that's how I tested it.

one more quick tip to help your baking soda wash

when you get a fresh box of baking soda (look for ones with less clumps in em actually), it's a good idea to put it in a sealed tupperwear container, because once the box is open it can absorb any scents around it in the room and make for a stinky wash. made a big difference for me.

Ok,

1) LOL @ calipark. Thanks for suggesting I baking soda my balls. Haha.

2) I just did the baking soda and sea salt wash with 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of sea salt in 12oz of hot water.

3) Then I did the ACV rinse with a 1/4 of a cap (yes, a CAP) mixed with 12oz of hot water.

4). Then I got out of the shower and some of the sections that had started to appear (not knotted, just sectioned) were gone.

I was going to wash my hair every other day to help it knot faster but I'm thinking maybe I should just continue on with my 3x a week routine to help knot. Advice on frequency of washing or any other thing you see that's problematic? My hair gets really oily so I just want to make sure I'm doing things right.

Concerning how often you should wash, like i have posted in other topics i experimented for two weeks, washing my hair five days a week with Kissmyface, a organic shampoo. At the end of that period i had actually noticeable results as far as more baby locs forming, with a couple baby congoes to boot. Not saying everyone needs to wash their hair every day, but as an experiment it worked for me.

While im no expert, my theory is that natural hair oils are one of the things that can slow the locking process, and shampooing more often with a quality shampoo helps strip those oils from the hair, which is a good thing.

Ive had dreads for a year an d half now and ive never used anyting other than BS, just plain simple BS nothing in it at all, just BS