Dandruff

Recently, I was asked about remedies for dandruff.

There are a number of reasons for dandruff

My sister-in-law is a hair dresser. She says that many times men (more often than women) do not rinse all the soap off of their scalp and soap scum builds up. The dried soap flakes off like snow flakes. Do you remember a commercial for dandruff shampoo which spoke of snow flakes?

Wonderhubs used to have dandruff really bad, and it turned out it was a yeast issue (in which case, the baking soda solution discussed below would be perfect). Yeast can be a systemic condition, so there is no easy answer to a complete resolution to the problem. It often involves some dramatic changes to a  person's diet. Yeast craves an acidic environment, so these people must eat more alkaline producing foods.

Sometimes, it has to do with the liver being overwhelmed (like many other skin issues) and a liver cleanse helps.

The baking soda hair treatment, is actually in 2 parts:

Mix 1 Tablespoon baking soda in a cup of water and put it in an old (well rinsed) shampoo container. You can multiply the recipe as many times as you need it to fill the bottle

In a separate bottle, mix 1 Tablespoon of either apple cider vinegar or white vinegar (again multiply to fill your container, if need be). Most people prefer the white vinegar because it has a less distinctive odor, and the smell dissipates more quickly.


Squirt the baking soda mixture all over your scalp and massage it in (a scalp massage always feels great). Leave it on for a few minutes (perhaps clean the rest of the body while it 'sets'). Many people apply the baking soda mixture to dry hair. Others just use it in the shower, so the hair is already wet.

Rinse it out thoroughly (again a scalp massage -- it feels SO good).

Next, apply the vinegar solution in the same way and rinse (no need to wait on this one).

If there are other hair related issues, or just for added scent, add some essential oils like cedar or lavender to one or the other of the mixtures.

Many people don't use the vinegar all the time, just occasionally. It may be necessary at first until the hair gets used to the change.

Many people love this from the start, but others find that there is an adjustment period while the scalp and hair let loose of some of the oils and chemicals that have built up over the years.