Poo-less locs?

Good morning!

I have been sitting with my newborn all night thinking about the best way to go poo-less with fairly young locs.  (dreadlocks).  I'm thinking of a mix of vinegar and baking soda as a rinse, regularly, on top of the 4-6 wk soak.  The only problem is, my skin is super sensitive to vinegar!  The last two times I have used a vinegar rinse (both ACV and white distilled) the skin on my neck and collarbone get super red and inflamed.  The hair soak doesn't do this as its mostly just touching my hair - and I don't think my scalp is as irritated afterward.    

The other thing I have tried is just plain castille soap.  Does this constitute as poo-less? If so, then I can definitely make my own which is kind of the whole point.  fewer chemicals and less consumerism.  

Do any other permies with caucasian  straight hair locs, go poo-less?  Tell me your secrets!

Since you are sensitive to vinegar have you tried using just a mix of baking soda and water?  This is what I use.

When I read about folks mixing baking soda and vinegar together I cringe at the thought.

This explains how that mixture makes sodium acetate and carbon dioxide:

https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/233555

Could you perhaps use a salt water rinse or spray instead of vinegar and baking soda? That would probably keep the scalp happy and locs smelling nice. I know for me, baking soda wreaked havoc on my hair as it was just too alkaline. Castille soap seems like it could work. I know when I tried it on my hair, which is quite straight and fine, it almost made it start to move towards dreading up. So maybe it would help? Seems like it could be hard to rinse all the way out and could get funky, but I don't know as I've never had dreadlocks.

Is reducing the frequency of washing an option? Possibly wearing a hat or other covering over the hair to keep it clean? Maybe then you could get away with something like a salt rinse/spray for just the scalp when it felt needed. Or perhaps a nice herbal tea with something soothing to the skin like plantain, calendula or lavender? I'm not super familiar with caring for dreadlocks, but hopefully there's something helpful in there.

Anne Miller wrote:Since you are sensitive to vinegar have you tried using just a mix of baking soda and water?  This is what I use.

When I read about folks mixing baking soda and vinegar together I cringe at the thought.

This explains how that mixture makes sodium acetate and carbon dioxide:

https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/233555

Whoa, I didn't even think of that (even with my chemistry background...o.O)- just doing what most people with locs do.  

Just wanted to check back in, in case some folks need a similar solution.

I started using a baking soda rinse, followed by a weak vinegar solution.  treating the vinegar like conditioner and the baking soda like a shampoo that you have to leave in your hair for a few minutes.

It seemed to work pretty well.  No nasties built up in my locs and my hair was fairly clean (I have loose bangs that didn't seem to be dirty after)

I did start using a salt spray to get me through to my next wash.  I never wash my hair more than once/wk.  

No dreads, here, but my hubby hates the vinegar smell, so if I need the acid rinse, I use lemon juice. Maybe switching your acid would help?

I do baking soda in hot water as my shampoo. I rinse it out well then follow with a lemon juice rinse (diluted quite a lot) and find that my hair is softer than with vinegar. And it smells better. If any residual acid is still irritating to your skin, try diluting it more.

If you add the acid to the baking soda still in your hair, the acid and base will react and leave a salt residue. The type of salt will depend on the type of acid used.