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Hi All,
The question has been asked about the purpose of the baking soda bath for hair units. Here is some information:
Hard water: If you are on city or well water, you are probably very familiar with the damage hard water can do to your clothes, plumbing fixtures, etc. This is because soaps, shampoos, etc. are not formulated to work well in hard water. Those who live in California are very aware of hard water and the damage it can do. HW can turn growing hair into straw practically overnight. This is because the shampoo does not rinse out completely. I could go into a whole dissertation just on the damage of hard water to skin and hair, but there isn't enough space here. Suffice to say that the chlorine, calcium, iron and lime in water create havoc with your clothes, skin and hair.
I first learned about the advantages of soft water when I was living in California in the mid-1980s and I've never looked back since. I would never live anywhere without a water softener. In a very short time, I couldn't believe how much better my skin felt and how much better my hair looked after using soft water. How is water softened? The basic answer is that the water is filtered through crystals that absorb the calcium, iron, lime, etc., but those absorbed minerals have to go somewhere, right? Well, guess what is used to flush the accumulated minerals out of the softener tank - SALT. What is baking soda - bicarbonate of soda. The baking soda softens the water and helps to loosen the built up hair products from the unit. Combine the baking soda bath with soft water and you can keep the hair in your unit factory soft for nearly TWO YEARS because the hair products don't have a chance to build up in the hair and soft water doesn't damage the hair with mineral build-up.
This does not solve the problem of hair color, though. The same chlorine that is used to pruify your water (even though the amount is minute), is still present in the water when you turn on the spigot. That's why your clothes fade and that's part of the reason why your hair color will fade and "brass out" to some extent with everyday wear (even if you use hair products with UV protectants). Four years of college chemistry turned me into something of a "mad scientist" and I kept trying to figure out how in the heck to safely neutralize the chlorine in my drinking water. That's when I stumbled on shower filters. These actually take out the chlorine in the water so that you aren't breathing in the chlorine vapors in the steam from your shower. What I didn't count on was what benefits it would have on my hair and skin, never mind how much longer the color in my clothes stays "like new".
Rather than post a whole bunch of links here, use the search engines "soft water", "shower filters", etc. and take a look at the info for yourself. If you have a subscription to Consumer Digest and Consumer Reports magazines, you will find a wealth of information about water conditioning.
Now, all of that said, what has this got to do with the baking soda bath? The baking soda bath is water softening in a container. The recipe is below. If you can't put a water softener in your home, then absolutely see about installing a shower filter (I use Aquasana). If you have ever compared tap water to the filtered water in a Brita water filter pitcher, you know exactly what I mean. Anyway, if you do the baking soda bath on your unit about every three weeks or so, your hair will stay soft, bouncy, and shinier a lot longer than it normally would. The baking soda bath also helps loosen any tape residue on the poly edges of units as well. You will actually be able to see the hair products residua float to the top of the baking soda bath if you are able to soak your unit overnight. This is why it is important to rinse the unit prior to shampooing. So, if you want to try this method, here is the recipe:
1. Get a large (at least 3 quart if you wear a full cap unit or 1.5 to 2.0 quart) Rubbermaid container and pour in 1/2 to 3/4 cup of baking soda.
2. Fill the container with water as warm to the touch as you can stand it.
3. Add the baking soda and swish it around until it is COMPLETELY DISSOLVED.
4. After brushing out your unit, place it in the mixture and make sure it is immersed completely.
5. Cover the container so that pets and children can't get into it and leave the unit to soak for a minimum of 4 hours but better if you can soak overnight.
After you have soaked your unit, remove it, rinse it and then wash with a clairfying shampoo. Rinse thoroughly and then use an intensifying conditioner (Pantene, L'Oreal and Kerasilk give me the best results). IMPORTANT: There will be residual baking soda in your hair and you will find that you do not have to use much shampoo at all, so be careful to use probably one-third of the amount of shampoo you would normally use.
You can also use baking soda in your tub bath and you'll see great results on your skin after a nice long soak (with a good glass of wine and some good music to relax you).
Hairlady™Beauty is not about what's ON your head, but what's IN it.Semper hair
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