Vinegar rinse help

[peekyboo]

Okay, so I'm once again trying to go more natural with my hair (I wrote about how my hair was getting all dry and nasty last month with the natural hair care products.)

I ordered a natural shampoo bar that someone recommended and used it for the first time last night, and did a apple cider vinegar rinse afterwards.

I was surprised that my hair was so easy to comb through (it didn't seem like it would be while I was washing it) but this morning, my hair felt like there was a film on it, you know, like when you use too much hair product? I thought I rinsed the shampoo out well before doing the vinegar rinse and after the vinegar rinse, rinsed my hair again. Should I have not done that final rinse? Do I need to be more patient and give it a couple weeks to wash away all the gunk regular shampoos leave behind?

Otherwise, my hair seems fine. Just feels a bit dirty already. Oh, and my hair was wicked wavy this morning - a bonus in my book

[Alkenny]

I don't rinse my hair after I rinse with vinegar, and I use white distilled instead of ACV. Haven't had that problem. How was your hair beforehand? It could just take a bit to get the pH levels right, but might also depend on how oily/dirty your hair gets on its own too.

[Ann-Marita]

I've heard that apple cider vinegar has solids that tend to make oily hair oilier. You might try white vinegar.

Like Alkenny, I do not rinse out the dilute vinegar solution. It's closer to the natural pH of hair than water (since hair is slightly acidic). And my goal is to leave the hair as close to its natural pH as I can.

You might want to play around with the dilution of the vinegar rinse to find what's right for your hair. When my hair was oilier (it's become more normal with time), I used a 1:7 solution (one part vinegar and seven parts water). Now I use 1:9. My old roommate (with dry, colored hair) used 1:12.

Be careful not to get the vinegar rinse too strong. At higher strengths, it can strip the hair's oil, which can cause bounce-back oiliness. Straight vinegar can actually damage hair. So, it's not a case of more being better.

HTH