Washing Hair with Baking Soda: helpful or disastrous?

Overview

Sodium bicarbonate is a chemical compound that is very useful for everyday use inside the house. It is white in color and is in crystalline form, but it often looks like a fine powder. It is quite salty and alkaline in taste copying the washing soda or sodium carbonate. It has a mineral called isnahcolite. It is a component of a mineral, which is commonly found in mineral springs. During the ancient Egyptian era, they use natural deposits of natron, which is a mixture of sodium bicarbonate. Nitron was used as a purifying instrument for soaps and shampoos.

With hundreds of videos in YouTube these days showing off how they mixed natural products for the hair. Lots of people are very much into searching YouTube for natural remedies to their hair and scalp problems or for simple answers to their questions. Well, you need to have proofs that the process you would like to try in the video is truly helpful and will not cause damages to your hair and scalp. Some people are very much excited about it when they have seen in YouTube to make their hair soft and smooth.

But some people repent the day they have tried using baking soda for their hair. Most of them were unsuccessful in trying out the extensive research before putting on something they are not familiar with into their hair. They failed to understand the needs of their mane & in what way it will react to an agent like this. To fully understand why washing hair with baking soda is not helpful; you need to go back to basic natural science 101 to understand why the hair reacts that way. Regardless if the component is usual, organic or not it is still your responsibility to become familiar with the agent you plan to try.

Washing hair with baking soda: good or not? Is it good for the hair? Why and why not? A lot of naturalists are now promoting this substance, since it can cleanse the hair just like a regular shampoo and it can also soften the hair just like a regular conditioner. Some are even promoting it as an agent to release the curls.

Knowing the pH balance of baking soda

A lot of naturalists have endorsed the substance as a component that washes the mane like a regular shampoo & relaxes it just like a regular conditioner. Some are even promoting it as roughly that can help in loosening the curls. It is a chemical, for you to fully comprehend its effect in your hair; you need to know its pH level. If you will recall back when you were in school, its pH will range from zero to fourteen, acid base alkaline. If something is acidic, it has more hydrogen ions. If something is alkaline, it has more hydroxide ions. The standard pH level is 7.0, which is the pH level of purified H2O.

A seamless illustration of an acid is the lemon juice; it has 2-3 pH level. Sodium hydroxide is the substance used in lye relaxers for the hair is awfully alkaline with a pH of fourteen. As soon as you wet your hair, it will have a pH level of 4.5 to 5.5. If you will take a look at it, the human hair is quite acidic when it is in the natural stage. When you put on products on your hair, the basic is the BALANCE. For the hair to become natural & very vigorous, the pH level must go on the same. This is the reason why mane products are in their right pH balance. The company considers the pH level into consideration whenever they are making a product.

The effects of baking soda to the hair

This substance, the product you put on your hair has massive 9.0pH level. It will raise the pH level of your hair. The truth is that something acidic or alkaline is more than just the label. It can affect your hair strands somehow. What you can do is to view every strand of your hair as a tube of layers. The outermost layer is known as the cuticle. The acid will close the cuticle layers, while the base will be the one to open them. This is not bad at all, but then again, balance is still the key. As soon as the cuticle is raised, the moisture will penetrate deep into the hair, but it is also allowed to go. If something is not closely done to back up the cuticle, any type of moisture that was applied will be lost. There re factors such as the temperature even affect the hair cuticle, while the cold water shuts it off.

This is the reason why a lot of people use natural shampoo in their hair with lukewarm water, but rinsing the conditioner using cold water is a must. With this, you can say that alkaline is responsible in opening the cuticle, while the acid is the one closing it. The baking soda mixtures just as the rinse and the conditioner will make the hair absorb a lot of water. It has nothing to lower the pH level of the hair and bring it back to its normal level, which is 4.5 to 5.5 and close these layers, the moisture will not be kept. It will result in layers with raised pointed, thus making the hair feel very coarse and hard to manage.

Finding the right balance

If you ever tried the mixture, you will notice the preparation of the mixture. On a molecular level, the baking soda is really harsh. People are used to scrub the dirt off your pots, right? If you will us a heavy cleaner and do the cleaning roughly, you are also taking advantage of the absorbency. The truth is that those with straight hair can actually use dry shampoo for it. When it is applied to the roots, it will soak up the oil that noticeably travels down the strands of your straight hair.  This must answer the question, if it is fond of soaking up oily hair, how is it probable to benefit from it if you have a dry hair?

Though, washing hair with baking soda is also good, since this is a very good cleanser it’s pH level is not ideal for daily use. Washing hair with baking soda is done by mixing half a cup of baking soda with a cup of lukewarm water. All you need to do is to dissolve it and then apply it on your scalp and hair. The conditioner is done by mixing half a cup of baking soda along with a cup of your chosen conditioner. All you need to do is to mix it thoroughly onto your hair. Let it sit there with a shower cap and leave it for 20 minutes, before you rinse it.

What’s with baking soda and hair growth?

When you wash your hair with baking soda and then conditioning it using an olive oil, it can make your looks more radiant, but the treatments are not alternative to hair extensions. The hair will grow at a certain rate and that may be around .35mm. daily without any treatments, but olive oil and baking soda only.  While waiting for your hair to grow on its own, a baking soda wash with an olive oil conditioning treatment can make the most of your hair. You can use the baking soda to eradicate excessive buildup from the shampoo and products that makes the hair dull. Treating your hair with an olive oil can help in moisturizing it and lessens dry flakes on the scalp. The hair will surely feel soft and it will be easier to manage as well.

Washing hair with baking soda will result in thickening of the hair

Men and women nowadays are so conscious about their hair. Most of you would like to have your hair thicken, but you do not know how to do that naturally. Well, you can use a baking soda for it. The results will be visible after few months only. But if you want your hair to have more volume and thicker in an instant, there are ways to do that without spending a lot of money.  Instead of just washing your hair with a shampoo and conditioner, you need to use a baking soda instead.

Regular shampoos leave residues behind and it causes build ups on the hair shaft and can leave your hair flatter, dull and thin looking. To wash your hair with a baking soda, you need to take around 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda and then add around ¾ cup of water. When you mix them together, you will be able to come up with a fluid mixture and this can be used to replace a regular shampoo. The baking soda will then remove the residue and will leave the hair thicker looking. If you will do this continuously, it can boost the hair follicles and the exfoliation process as well. Your hair will grow thicker after sometime.

Men and women look for a better alternative to shampoos and conditioners if they are not so effective in handling their hair and scalp needs. The use of baking soda has its own pros and cons and you need to weigh them. The pros should outweigh the cons for you to be able to continue using it. But if the cons will outweigh the pros, then it’s about time you go back to your regular shampoo and conditioner.