2. Ayurvedic Tea Bags
Ayurvedic Tea Bags are a great natural way to clean your locs. Ayurvedic tea bags aren’t necessarily something that you can buy from the store. This was a diy cleanser that I made at home to use up the ayurvedic powders that I brought from the local Indian market.
I knew that I could not use ayurvedic powders in their loose form, so I improvised. I brought some tea bags from Vitamin Shoppe and made my own cleansing bags. Here was my recipe per teabag:
3/4 of Shikakai* – Shikakai* is a plant in India that is used to cleanse the hair. It is normally used in powdered form mixed with water. Shikakai has also been said to increase hair growth as well.
1/4 of various Ayurvedic powders– So the other 1/4 of the teabag was filled with a mixture of hibiscus* powder (for a little moisture and extra cleansing, thali (Indian basil), and henna* with indigo* (for extra strengthening and to add a dash of color)
I would then steep the bag in hot water for about 5 minutes and then let the water cool down. After the water cooled down, I would then pour the mixture over my locs and let it sit for around 5 minutes (10 minutes if I needed a really nice cleansing). Then I would rinse.
Sidenote: The powders listed above provide benefits without the buildup. If you want to use other powders such as fenugreek, be aware that fenugreek can cause buildup to due to the mucus and its slippery properties. Also the only con to these powders is that they can be a little messy and a bit harder to acquire especially if you do not live near an Indian market, but they are super cheap so it is totally worth it!
If you need other examples of cleansers Youtube can be a great resource for example Chescalocs deep cleans her locs using a mixture of baking soda, lemon juice, sea salt and apple cider vinegar*. Her exact recipe is below:
1/4 cup of baking soda
2tsp of lemon juice
1tsp of sea salt
3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar*
Stir until all is well dissolved
With every cleanser you have to make sure that your locs are washed thoroughly and conditioned. Hoped this post was helpful, here’s to super clean locs!
Fefe Fanta Fonzerelli says
Holy moley she’s gorgeous!!
k. hill says
I used Jason’s Tea Tree Clarifying Shampoo (bought at the local health food store) for the first time a few weeks ago and was very happy with the results. Immediately my locs felt lighter and more flexible. I could tell that it had removed a lot of unnecessary buildup that was making them stiff and lifeless. Don’t recall what forum I read the suggestion in but so glad I cam across it….can’t wait to see the transformation as I use it on a regular basis jf this first wash is any indicator.