Salt of the..... Hair?

Okay - in the last two days, so much information and excitement has sprung up around this, I just HAD to post about it, to spread the love (and the science, as we figure it out).

I started a thread yesterday, with this post:

A while ago, I was being lazy, and in a rush, so I figured I would clarify (with baking soda) and seal my cuticles (with citric acid) all at the same time. I mixed them both with conditioner, noticed the odd fact that there was some sort of reaction going on (because the conditioner foamed up and turned almost 'mousse' like), but my hair felt like butter afterwards. Ends were sleek and smooth, hair was strong and shiny and moist.

I ran it past some of the ladies on tLHC, and they pointed out that the combination of a base (baking soda) and an acid (citric acid) causes a chemical reaction that has salt, carbon dioxide, and water as the results.

I stopped doing it, because - well, salt is BAD for your hair, right? But, I always kept it in the back of my mind, because how my hair felt afterwards was nothing short of amazing.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and there was a thread on tLHC that got kinda heated, about another lady using a salt & bentonite clay mix on her hair, that left her hair SUPER soft and SUPER moist - and once again, the debate about the wisdom/safety of using salt on your hair came up - it was working, and working well - but - it just didn't seem to have any explanation as to why.

At the same point in time, my ends were ROUGH. Tore up from the floor up, hard, crunchy, frizzy, just generally being pissed off. I clarified - nothing. I used acidic washes - nothing. I triple DC'd just the ends - nothing. I was seriously almost to the point where I was going to have to pull out the scissors and trim, because my ends just felt NASTY.

So - I tried it again - the baking soda and citric acid mix - plus just a TINY bit of salt. It foamed. I put it in my hair. It tingled. I rinsed it out - and AS I was rinsing it out, I could feel the difference. My ends, before, as I pulled my fingers down, I could feel how the ends got 'rough' about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch from the end - now, nothing. My ends were just as smooth and as sleek as the rest of my hair - and it was SO moist. SUPER moist. I'm talking, I almost considered skipping my normal mid-week DC, because my hair felt luscious.

I DC'd last night - my usual mix (about 8-10oz, yeah, I use a LOT of conditioner), plus 1.5 teaspoons of salt. My hair didn't feel bad again - I was just curious to see how it would work on 'good' feeling hair (esp. since there was a thread yesterday where several ladies said they were going to try it) The conditioner - thickened - a little bit, but no foaming. I left it in my hair for about two hours, and it tingled a little, but nothing else. I rinsed it out last night - and.... okay ya'll. My hair, it's generally healthy. It feels good, but it rarely feels SILKY - that's just not how my hair rolls. Soft, yes. Silky, no.

My hair was silky. *strokes head* My hair is STILL silky, and the only thing I did after I rinsed the DC out was use a TINY bit of castor oil on my head, tie it up, and went to sleep.

I don't know HOW it works. I don't know WHY it works. I honestly don't know if it's a good idea to continue using it over the long term - but, it might be an experimental option for those of us with ends that seem to be crying out to be cut off for feeling rough, tangly, and generally difficult.

So far, there have been several 'variations' on the recipe.

Sea salt + conditioner, Iodized salt + conditioner, Baking soda + lemon juice + conditioner, and Baking soda + lemon juice + salt + conditioner - and all of them have worked, almost the same, to leave ladies with silky soft, root to end, easy to detangle, deeply moisturized hair.

Basically, using straight salt is a short cut, since according to my friend, wiki:

Reaction of sodium bicarbonate and an acid to give a salt and carbonic acid, which readily decomposes to carbon dioxide and water:

NaHCO₃ + HCl → NaCl + H₂CO₃

H₂CO₃ → H₂O + CO₂ (gas)

and I doubt that the carbon dioxide is doing anything special to the hair, and well - water is water. *lol*

I don't think that anyone has tried baking soda + vinegar + conditioner just yet - but I'm sure that one is coming, too.

I also think that the kind of conditioner you mix it with has to make some sort of difference, as well....

Now, for the little bit of science we've been able to dig up.

1) This patent, which seems to imply that the salt of a weak acid (ie, acid + base and using the resulting salt) when followed by an alkaline treatment, can straighten your hair!

2) This product, which seems to be using a similar process as the patent - also, all about straightening the hair.

Now, I think we all know how I feel about, and love my naps - I'm really not interested in anything that will STRAIGHTEN them. *faint*

But, I love, love, love how this stuff makes my hair feel, and I'm really hoping that using a weak solution will not 'straighten' the kinks I have. I can tell you though, I've been giving my head the semi-paranoid sideeye since I read that patent, esp since my flyaways have been REALLY flighty all week.

I know it would make a LOT of sisters happy, though, if it did work to 'loosen' your curls. *headshake* I would never be able to show my face on NP again. *lol*

The only other comments/science that has been bandied around worth noting is that:

1) In order to rehydrate cells in a lab, you have to used saline water, as regular water won't work.

2) Soaking meat in a salt water before cooking makes it softer and moister.

3) Salt can break down protein bonds, and is used in sprays to add 'wave' and 'brightness' to hair - but I get the impression that you spray that on, and leave it on, but there is evidence of that being a really bad idea. But, there are also commercial salt water sprays, so - I don't know.....

4) Salt is used as a volumizer in the manufacturing of commerical shampoos, and it's an ingredient in a LOT of intensely moisturizing conditioners. Of course, proportions are crucial here!

So far, the only even remotely negative reaction (out of about 8/10 women who have tried it) was from one lady who followed up the salt + conditioner with a white vinegar rinse - her hair still FELT fabulous, but it was a wee bit more tangled than usual. She also used a little more salt than just a teaspoon, but I'm not sure if that, or the vinegar, was what contributed to the tangles.

So. That's something new. I think I'll do it - I don't know. I did it twice this week, once on the weekend with BS & CA, and again on Wednesday, with just plain salt to see how it worked. I think I might only do it once a month now, though - just to keep my hair happier - and because I want to see what, if any, long term results there might be..........