vinegar alternative question [& natural living changes sharing :o]

Howdy brothers and sisters of the earth!!

Sorry the following is so long. I'd REALLY appreciate any feedback, advice, or tips Also, feel free to ask me questions!

So I guess maybe I should just say this quickly I chose to dread for MANY reasons but one of the biggest was to go along with a continual process of living more naturally. It's been a beautiful journey so far. I have felt myself grow out of my flesh and closer to the Spirit and identify more and more with my soul instead of my body.

I've made a bunch of life changes during this journey (started before the dreads actually, the dreads were a "step" I guess you could say along side these changes, I have done a bunch of research before/during the various life changes (such as cutting down showering to 1-3x per week, using lemon juice to absorb body odor oils when needed, removing the hanging mirrors from my house, using borax to clean.. etc). One of the most fruitful changes I have made has been to stop buying as many store bought products as possible (started with clothing. NOTHING that is not fair trade, eco friendly, 2nd hand, etc etc). I just moved to one of the greenest states in the country am even more motivated to STOP using cleaning products that can't be found in a pantry..

I have been using about a tbsp (or 2) of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (lavender scented diluted in water, about 2-3 tbsp baking soda, freshly squeezed juice from lemon (twice sifted), and kosher salt. About 2x per week. Then my scalp got RIDICULOUSLY dry once I hit my 3rd month (we're talking bleeding at times).So I started applying pine oil to my scalp. This has helped TREMENDOUSLY, but it still gets dry.

I tried doing the standard apple cider vinegar and baking soda wash, mixed in with about 10 drops of my pine oil. My scalp felt LOVELY but the smell of the vinegar.. I just can't do it again, not regularly at least. I just can't.

This all^ has to do with my question(s),

1. Do you know of any alternatives to the baking soda and apple cider wash? (I tried it, and the smell of apple cider made my stomach turn for DAYS... I really admire the people who do this super cleanse/wash, trust me, but I can't do it.. Just can't).

2.Do you know if just using baking soda & essential oils (or 'an essential oil') mixed in would do the trick to clean the dreadies?

3. I've heard mixed things about Dr. Bronners (liquid soap). Do you know (from personal experience or FOR A FACT) whether it DOES or DOES NOT contain residue? (side note:I use the bar for my face & my cleared my has cleared almost entirely. Yayay!)

I'm really really not looking to go out and buy more products (other than Dr. Bronners, because I can find his soaps conveniently AT the stores where I live). Not interested in dreadlock shampoo, knotty boy, none of that.

4. I'm thinking of going the "no hair washing" route altogether. There is SO much controversy over this, especially when you have dreads. But I've read up on it and it is a way of life that is AGE old. I've heard that your scalp and the natural oils they/the rest of your body produces adapt. Thoughts? Knowledge??

Thank you loves!!

updated by @jxhippielovinpeace: 11/12/15 10:36:54PM

1. Dr. Bronners is great in soft water. But the soaps from dreadlockshampoo.com are best. Out ofcuriosity how have you been doing the BS/ACV wash? Are you mixing the BS and ACV? How much ACV are you using? If you're using the right amount, there should be no vinegar smell at all afterwards.

2. BS is a base. It will raise your pH level and cause your hair to get fried if you use it alone. Unless your hair is naturally really oily, you need the ACV to reset your scalp and hair to a healthy pH

3. Castile soaps do not work in hard water. It will leave a residue in hard water. In soft water, it works wonderfully.

4. Dirty hair doesn't lock up well. And not washing allows your dirt, oil, residue, dust, etc... accumulate in your hair. I've heard of people not washing often, but this really doesn't work well either. For the best results locking, you need to wash 1-3 times a week.

And NEVER use lemon or lime juice. Both are citric acid. And citric acid is strong enough to seep into your hair shaft and degrade it from the inside out

1. I mentioned in my (sorry, extensive) details that I am NOT looking to BUY any products (aside from DBs..) but thanks for the suggestion. I have only used the BS/ACV wash one time. I used about 1-2 tbsp of the ACV and YES I DEFINITELY mixed them (& mixed em well).

2. The biggest problem I think is that my hair itself is kinda in the middle (not oily exactly, but definitely not dry) and my scalp is DEFINITELY dry. I don't quite understand how that is possible but it always has been.

3. Again, not sure if you read my details but I mix DB liquid soap with BS and a lil salt. Does that change anything?

4. There's no way I'm gonna wash 2-3x a week. My scalp gets so dry it started to bleed if i just gave it a LEEEETTLE (little haha) scratch, before I started adding on the pine oil afterwards (now is a lot better, still dry though). I KNOW for a fact that washing that extra 1x or 2x a week (I only wash 1x a week) dries my scalp up (even if it locks/dries my hair nicely).

Thank you. I know they're citric acid, I didn't know that it would degrade the hair shaft. Thanks for the tip though! (that's why I dilute it in my hair wash that I make from scratch, very very measured).. but would it still strip the shaft?

really appreciate your knowledge

Baba Fats said:

1. Dr. Bronners is great in soft water. But the soaps from dreadlockshampoo.com are best. Out ofcuriosity how have you been doing the BS/ACV wash? Are you mixing the BS and ACV? How much ACV are you using? If you're using the right amount, there should be no vinegar smell at all afterwards.

2. BS is a base. It will raise your pH level and cause your hair to get fried if you use it alone. Unless your hair is naturally really oily, you need the ACV to reset your scalp and hair to a healthy pH

3. Castile soaps do not work in hard water. It will leave a residue in hard water. In soft water, it works wonderfully.

4. Dirty hair doesn't lock up well. And not washing allows your dirt, oil, residue, dust, etc... accumulate in your hair. I've heard of people not washing often, but this really doesn't work well either. For the best results locking, you need to wash 1-3 times a week.

And NEVER use lemon or lime juice. Both are citric acid. And citric acid is strong enough to seep into your hair shaft and degrade it from the inside out

NEVER mix BS and ACV together. that's probably the biggest problem, and mostdefinitelywhy your scalp would bleed. BS and ACV mixed together create a lot of heat. If you ever made volcanos in middel school, you mix BS and vinegar. It foams, fizzes, and gets hot. This will completely fry your scalp. The BS should be rinsed off WELL with plain water before you do the ACV rinse.

There is a South Indian washing recipe on here somewhere. It involves besan flour (chick pea) and coconut oil etc. Just search in the little box above. Just a thought.

peace and blessings

tim

Awesome!! Thank you so much

Tim said:

There is a South Indian washing recipe on here somewhere. It involves besan flour (chick pea) and coconut oil etc. Just search in the little box above. Just a thought.

peace and blessings

tim

haha thank you I'm very grateful for the motivation that has appeared in my heart.

I will definitely give that a go, especially since that is the easiest/most convenient thing to try (and no, haven't tried just simply doing that yet!).

muchas gracias!

Noodle-Doo said:

That's great that you're happy with the positive changes to your lifestyle!

It seems like your scalp is reacting badly to something you're putting on it. Have you tried washing with just diluted Bronners, without adding anything to it? I found that to be really conditioning, it might help with the dry scalp. If you make it as simple as possible, with less ingredients, then change it 1 thing at a time you can work out what is upsetting your skin. May take a while to settle down, though.

Lol. Actually I never DID do the volcano experiment in MS I was home schooled and my experiments mostly involved observing the natural environment surrounding me/collecting twigs and leaves/growing plants! I will use ACV penultimately, before resorting to a no-wash "routine". Thanks for all your help Baba.

Baba Fats said:

NEVER mix BS and ACV together. that's probably the biggest problem, and mostdefinitelywhy your scalp would bleed. BS and ACV mixed together create a lot of heat. If you ever made volcanos in middel school, you mix BS and vinegar. It foams, fizzes, and gets hot. This will completely fry your scalp. The BS should be rinsed off WELL with plain water before you do the ACV rinse.

hi there, its so good to hear people making positive green choices!if you hate the smell of the acv you could try putting essential oil of lavender and rosemary, i fi d this combination great for soothing and makes the smell alot better.peace and blessings to you.

Stop with the salt. Salt isextremely drying. You should never ever use salt in your shampoo. It is ok to spray a very very diluted sea salt water mixture on your hair a few hours before you wash...but keep it off your scalp.

updated by @taye: 07/18/15 01:31:23AM