Apple Cider Vinegar
What is an ACV rinse?
- final rinse that is made from diluted water and Apple Cider Vinegar
- can remove buildup
- provides sheen (or shine) to hair
- increases manageability
- smooths the hair
I have experienced all of the above when doing an ACV rinse and do it about once a month at least. Your hair won’t be a different head of hair, but you will notice a difference in the way it looks and feels. I feel it’s especially helpful to people who choose not to use (or rarely use) shampoo.
Please make sure you dilute the ACV before using it, if not your hair will be hurtin for certain 
. I dilute about 1/4 cup of ACV in 2 cups of water and use during my final rinse. You may have to play around with your dilution ratio. Do not rinse it out. The smell does linger until my hair is almost dry, but it’s not overwhelming.
Here are some interesting articles on ACV:
CurlChemist: The Scoop on Vinegar (NaturallyCurly.com)
Apple Cider Vinegar is a Versatile Natural Hair Care Product (apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com)
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I just have a question. When you do the rinse do you condition your hair beforehand? And if so, won’t strip your hair of the conditioner?
Trinity, I do condition before hand. My hair never feels stripped as long as it’s a very small amount of ACV diluted in a lot of water. Hope that helps!
Thanks! I tried it last night and it made my hair so smooth, soft, and easy to detangle. It didn’t feel stripped. Some people actually leave it in so I think I will try that next week. Who would have thought something so simple could be so great? I was shocked!
You know I also noticed my curls looked looser so there wasn’t as much shrinkage. I did a curly fro and it came out so soft and perfect the next day! The bottle of ACV I bough will probably last a long time and at $6.50 thats cheaper than the conditioners I used to use!
Trinity, I’m glad you liked it! I never wash mine out when I do mine, definitly try it next time!
How often can you do an ACV rinse? I noticed you said you do it at least once a month. Would a weekly ACV rinse be too much? Thanks!
Help!! A few days ago, I deep conditioned with Ojon, did an ACV rinse, my leave-in is Cantu Shea Butter and I twisted with IC gel. The next morning I did a twist out and my hair was frizzy, and I had a lot of shrinkage. Any suggestions- I don’t know what happened.
JBH, I don’t see anything wrong with doing it once a week if your hair likes it. I’ve seen some ladies say that they do it once a week and their hair loves it.
Naturalhair58- for the shrinkage, a good thing to do is air dry your hair after you’ve done washing/detangling. Then do your twists on dry hair. This allows your length to be seen more, though you do need to be careful when handling your hair dry.
As for the frizz, have you tried a butter or cream after your leave in one each section before you twist? Also, was your hair completely dry when you took the twists out or did you go to bed on wet twists? I find both these things can create frizziness.
I haven’t tried this in a long time… thanks for the reminder
It does a great job in adding sheen and the hair cuticles appear to lay smoother. I’ll need to restock on this stuff, hope to try it soon.
Hi! This is my second attempt at going natural. First time I didn’t know how to properly care for my hair. Now, I’m learing how to do that. I’m in the transistion phase and my sister was telling me about the acv rinse. I have a question..do I shampoo first and then do the rinse and what do I use for shampoo that doesn’t have sulfate in it? What do I do 1st, 2nd, 3rd…Thanks!
Angela, you don’t need to shampoo before the ACV rinse. It needs to be the last thing you rinse your hair with. If you want a sulfate gentle cleanser, try castile soap. Do a search on my blog for it. I’m not big into shampoo, but I have a few reviews on here of gentle shampoos. I hope that helps.
well my hair was growing very well drinking 8 cups of green tea a day oil it down daily THEN I GOT TO HAPPY I MESSED AROUND WITH SOME ESSENTIAL OILS AND BURNED SOME OF MY HAIR OUT, IT WEAKEND MY HAIR. SO NOW IM TRYING TO REBUILD MY HAIR, HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!