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If you mix up your own hair rinses or protein treatments or hair gel, at some point you need to have some pH test strips or paper. You can read why here  and here . ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 There are 2 brands I use. I often buy them online because I can get the brand I want at a good price. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 One is Hyrdion (also labeled as pHydrion). Make sure to look for test strips or paper with a range from pH 0-13. Don't get pH test strips made for urine and saliva testing, the range is not great enough. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 A brand that reads very clearly is ColorpHast with a range of 0-14. There are differently-colored pads on each strip that you match up to a scale on the case. This assures a better match than only one color. That's good for use with indoor lighting or in products with a slight color. While they may seem pricey up front, one package should last a long time unless you get very interested in testing pH and it is better to test pH now than to ...

This post relates to a recent post about pH and your hair . It's best to stay between pH 4.5 and 7 under most circumstances. Outside these limits of pH 4.5 and 7, hair is far more vulnerable to damage because it may swell rapidly and take the acid or base (alkali) into the hair, beneath the cuticle and this may damage proteins. It certainly removes some oils. Homemade rinses are a fun, simple way to solve hair problems or try out ideas. But acids and bases on hair can be damaging. The more resilient your hair (the lower the porosity), the less damaging a homemade rinse can be - but then again exposure to the wrong pH is one cause of hair damage. Most hair can withstand a slightly too-low or too-high pH for brief exposures. But if your hair is bleached, damaged, or otherwise especially vulnerable - even brief exposures to pH extremes can have lasting effects. The treatments: Citric acid:  Excellent rinse for helping reduce chlorine odor after swimming and to reduce hard water prob...