by Texas Homesteader ~
It’s a well-known fact that diluted vinegar is a natural hair conditioner. It’s said that with occasional use vinegar helps restore the natural PH of your hair. It also helps clean buildup from your hair. Plus it not only restores that healthy shine but it detangles too.
However RancherMan hates, hates, HATES the smell of vinegar. Although no vinegar aroma at all remains in your hair when it’s dry, there is a subtle hint of vinegar as your hair is drying.
To please that man in my life I’ve scented my vinegar with my favorite herb – rosemary! (a double benefit since it’s also said that Rosemary is a good herb to use in your vinegar rinse for healthy hair)
Making Vinegar Hair Rinse
I’ve tried both regular vinegar and apple cider vinegar for my vinegar hair rinse. But to be honest I’ve never really noticed a difference between the two.
Today I’m using regular vinegar and the power of the sun to infuse that glorious rosemary scent and benefits into my homemade hair rinse. I lop off a large sprig of the beautiful rosemary plant I have growing right outside my door.
Then I wash it off and place it in a quart canning jar and fill the jar with vinegar. After screwing on the lid I place the canning jar outside in that blazing Texas sun. The infusion takes place without further action by me.
Yeah, I’m just lazy errr… environmental that way!
After about 2 days in the sun the bright green fades from my rosemary sprig. That’s when I know it’s done. So I bring in the jar and strain the vinegar into another labeled jar.
Now to make my hair rinse I take a repurposed plastic squirt bottle. (I’m a klutz in the shower sometimes so plastic is necessary) I add about 3 tablespoons of my infused vinegar with about two cups of water, shake it up & place it in the shower.
I’ve never known my mixture to go ‘off’ and this has worked well for me.
My observations:
- My hair tends to be naturally dry & I worry that using a vinegar rinse every day may be a little too drying. So I personally use it about 2-3 times a week. Can anyone weigh in here?
- Vinegar will burn if it gets in your eyes so avoid the eyes when squirting the mixture on your hair.
- After shampooing I squirt some rosemary-infused vinegar onto my hair, work it in and let it soak in for about 2 minutes before rinsing out.
- Although some people leave the vinegar in their hair or only partially rinse it out, I prefer to do a more thorough rinse. That’s just my preference. Try it both ways & see what you like.
So there ya go – a more natural hair rinse. It’s inexpensive, it’s natural and it’s homemade.
And there’s no new plastic bottle going to the landfill. I love it!
Zero-Waste Health & Beauty
- Zero-Waste Shaving Using A Safety Razor
- Low-Waste Snap Toothbrushes
- Homemade Minty Mouthwash
- Quick & Easy Homemade Deodorant
- MYO Light & Sheer Face Powder
- 3-Ingredient Beeswax Lip Balm
- Homemade Vanilla-Scented Shampoo Bar Soap
- 3-Ingredient DRY SHAMPOO Mix
- Homemade Hairspray
- MYO Naturally-Scented Hair Conditioner
- Morning Motivation Mint Soap
- Homemade Soap: Lavender/Rosemary
- Soap Grows On TREES! Soapberry Shampoo
- How A Bidet Can Be An Eco Win
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Can I use dry Rosemary instead of fresh Rosemary?
Hummm… I’ve never tried it with dried rosemary, always fresh. I’d think as long as the vinegar will draw the scent you’d be good to go. Give it a try, you really don’t have much to lose since vinegar is so cheap. ~TxH~
Mmm, Rosemary would make a wonderful scent for a conditioner! Thanks for your homeacre blog hop submission 🙂 Feel free to stop by this week and submit another!
What an excellent idea to infuse the vinegar with a scent. I would go for lavender since it is my all time favorite scent and I like the idea of setting it in the sun and heat for an easy infusion method. I am going to give this a try because I always have hairspray buildup and I have used baking soda which does the trick but I don’t really enjoy using it. Thanks for sharing on the Four Seasons Blog Hop.
We received 3 wonderful inches of rain Thursday but then also had some wind damage to go along with; things blown over, roof damage, etc but nothing that can’t be fixed or replaced or sit back up again.
I have used vinegar as my conditioner for quite sometime now.
Only difference for me is that I mix lemon juice with my vinegar in spray bottle and good to go and I use it each and every time I shower; more than once a day if I’m working outside on a hot summer day.
I mix no water with mine; just straight vinegar and lemon juice.
My hair always feels so soft after it dries which doesn’t take long cause I have very short hair….(think of it as a Jamie Lee Curtis cut) :} Yes, it’s that short. :}
Vinegar has so many wonderful uses. Works wonders on a sunburn as well.
Enjoy your day and have a wonderful weekend and wishing all the mother’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day.
Vinegar & lemon juice in a spray bottle? Hummm…. I love the Jamie Lee Curtis cut – RancherMan likes my hair long & I keep it long-ish to please him, but I often dream about how much less maintenance it would take if my hair was shorter. Oh, and no wind-blown hair in my face! ~TxH~