Do shampoo bars need a vinegar rinse?

[LynetteO]

My DD would like for me to make her shampoo. I’d really rather not dive into liquid shampoo and start off making her a simple shampoo bar. I’ve seen recipes in books that I own and would even be willing to pay for a forever used recipe.

My question. When choosing to use a shampoo bar, is a vinegar rinse afterwards necessary? Or would that be only needed if shampoo bar was NOT emulsified?

 

[DeeAnna]

What type of "shampoo bar" are you thinking about?

If you mean a bar of lye-based soap for washing one's hair, then yes, the hair should always be rinsed in an acidic solution to help the cuticle of the hair lay back down.

Bear in mind that not everyone's hair responds well to being washed with lye-based soap whether the soap is in liquid or bar form. Some people's hair does okay, but some does not due to the high pH of lye-based soap. An acidic rinse (speaking from experience) slows down the accumulation of damage, but doesn't necessarily eliminate it.

If the bar is a syndet cleanser that's formulated to have a lower pH that's more compatible with hair, then, no, an acidic rinse isn't needed at all.

The issue here is the pH of the cleanser -- it doesn't have anything to do whether the cleanser is "emulsified" or not. Can you explain why you think emulsification is important?

I have to say I'm seeing a fair number of posts lately from people who want to mix emulsifiers with lye-based soap. I'm not sure why this topic is a trending issue. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me at the moment, but I haven't researched it either. If you have a link to a source that is promoting this idea, I'd appreciate learning more.

 

[LynetteO]

I was not thinking of a lye based shampoo bar. We are particular about our hair, especially my DD and would certainly want a gentle product. A while ago I read old threads about lye based soap shampoo bars and how harsh they could be. I’ll go grab & post shampoo bar recipe from my book. I thought it had no lye & yet still recommended a post rinse.

 

[AliOop]

I was not thinking of a lye based shampoo bar. We are particular about our hair, especially my DD and would certainly want a gentle product. A while ago I read old threads about lye based soap shampoo bars and how harsh they could be. I’ll go grab & post shampoo bar recipe from my book. I thought it had no lye & yet still recommended a post rinse.

Please don't post a recipe from a book you purchased! Unless the book says that you are allowed to freely share the recipes (most say the exact opposite), then sharing would be a copyright violation, and also disrespectful of the author's hard work. I know you weren't intending anything like that, but things like this can happen despite our best intentions.

Back to your original question: a vinegar rinse may be recommended or used, regardless of what shampoo is used. It is supposed to assist with removing shampoo residue, add shine to the hair, and help with detangling. I like it for all those reasons, but I don't like smelling vinegar for the next few hours after showering. My daughter with her super-sensitive sniffer can still smell it on me the next day! That's why I switched to an occasional citric acid rinse, instead - no scent to it, and it does all the same things for me.

 

[LynetteO]

The issue here is the pH of the cleanser -- it doesn't have anything to do whether the cleanser is "emulsified" or not. Can you explain why you think emulsification is important?

In my head I was thinking about a non emulsified sugar scrub I was gifted and how crazy greasy it was vs an emulsified sugar scrub that I make that is still moisturizing but doesn’t leave a greasy mess.

I readily admit I know zip about solid shampoo bars.
Thank You @DeeAnna for the valuable information.

 

[LynetteO]

@AliOop THANK YOU, I was not thinking about copyright at all. Thank you for the citric acid rinse advice as well. We too have sensitive sniffers and dislike vinegar rinse got that very reason.

 

[LynetteO]

In same book that had the solid shampoo bar, I came across soapwort liquid shampoo recipe that’s super basic, which I like. Maybe I should start another thread about swapping soap nuts for soapwort? Or just abandon shampoo bars completely & try both soap nuts vs soapwort in basic liquid shampoo recipe.

 

[AliOop]

@LynetteO I haven't used soapwort, but have used soap nuts and also a rhassoul clay mixture. Both worked decently well to shampoo my hair.

The one thing about those recipes is that they almost never include a preservative. Without that, the recipe will grow nasty stuff within days - often long before you can see it or smell it. Even if you add a preservative, many of them are ineffective for mixtures that contain electrolytes or organic matter, or both.

So while those recipes are "natural" and often work fairly well, you pretty much have to make a fresh batch for each use. At best you can make a couple day's worth and keep it refrigerated. Both of those were way too much hassle for me!

 

[LynetteO]

So while those recipes are "natural" and often work fairly well, you pretty much have to make a fresh batch for each use. At best you can make a couple day's worth and keep it refrigerated. Both of those were way too much hassle for me!

You are correct about the no preservative in recipe and typically single use recipes.

The soapwart recipe did mention freezing a batch in ice cube trays for future use.

Soap Nuts are multi use, so I may grab a bag, give DD a , for folks with hard water, cold brew, recipe to try out herself. She’s 22 and just cum laude with a BS in Biology. Don’t think I “need” to make recipe for her, she just may prefer I do.

 

[lsg]

My advice is to try https://www.youtube.com/@HumblebeeAndMe or shampoo bar recipes. They usually have an ingredient that acts as a conditioner.

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with the consensus here -- an acidic rinse is recommended for soap, but it's optional for syndet cleansers.

When I was using lye-based soap for washing my hair, I rinsed with a citric acid solution, not vinegar. I still ended up with major problems with my hair even faithfully using an acid rinse.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hi @LynetteO - I make a solid syndet shampoo bar and am happy to share the recipe with you. In fact if you search my username and 'shampoo bar' or 'syndet' you might be able to find it.

 

[LynetteO]

Thank You @KiwiMoose. I’ve gone down a rabbit of reading and I do think a syndet shampoo bar may be the product my DD will ultimately settle on for shampoo ease of use. However, I don’t have the special extra ingredients that syndet bars call for on hand at the moment, so I’m going to hold off on making own syndet bars for now. We do have soap nuts arriving today and she is wanting to test out a cold brew shampoo method for hard water areas.