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You will need a cup Baking soda,
white vinegar, shampoo and conditioner, and Hi Shine Hot Oil if you
already have some, and access to warm water or several buckets of warm
water standing by.
This process will be much easier and more effective if you use 'hand'
hot water as you need to dissolve the
Baking soda....and
warm water does a better job at cleaning and rinsing than cold.
The
Baking soda
and white vinegar are economical and available at all supermarkets.
For all organic stains, such as a grungy urine stains, or just plain
dirty, rather than reach for the purple shampoo first up, give this a
try...and even though its aimed at white tails, I use this method on all
tails that need a good clean...particularly mares...as urine will
eventually make dark hair bleach, and the vinegar rinse will help with
this.
Dissolve the
Baking soda
in about a litre of hot water, then mix it into a bucket that has about
5 litres of warm water.
Soak the tail for a few minutes, working it through the stained tail and
swishing the tail well in the mixture....this will cause the hair
cuticle to swell and assist lifting out the build up.
Then rinse the tail with clean warm water. Because its so alkaline, it
can leave the hair feeling rather dry at this point.
Follow with a rinse of 50:50 white vinegar and water, this will
neutralize the hair again, and it will feel smoother. I have a 2 litre
plastic jug made up with the vinegar /water mix as I find it easier to
pour through the tail that way.
Then...Mix a quality shampoo such as Kelato's Amino Gloss or Kohknes
Kleen Sheen, diluted as directed, and add a generous squirt of Morning
Fresh , and work through the tail.
Rinse off with warm water, then condition really well with your favorite
product. I use my Exhibitor Labs Quic Condition and leave it on for 10
minutes, followed by 1:6 dilution Hi Shine Hot Oil poured through the
dock and skirt of the tail..... though it can be any conditioner you
prefer, except the cheap $2 store type products.....they have their
place, but not when you are trying to nourish the hair.
Air dry the tail, and place in a tail bag or 3 tube tail wrap.
At this point I wouldn't be using anything with optical
brighteners...the purple shampoos or rinses. You are working on lifting
the stains out first, so the purple type shampoos can do their job on
clean white hair.
You can repeat this process the next day or a few days later if you feel
the stain needs another treatment.
Follow up with a weekly shampoo , and condition, condition, condition.
If you are satisfied that the stain has pretty much disappeared, you can
then use the purple shampoos, and of course I would have to recommend my
all time favorite.... Exhibitor Labs Quic Silver....this product will
illuminate the white to crystal platinum .... also great on your own
foiled and blonded hair ...its a salon quality product :)
For added silkiness, I put through our product, Knots Away, as this will
keep the tail very manageable between washes....great on false tails as
well.
As you can see, with a long term stained tail, this process needs to be
done at least a few days before showing, sometimes just the one
treatment is not enough...though I have not had a stain remain in a tail
after the first treatment, and I have used this on some really dirty
tails.
I have mentioned the products I sell, as I know from experience they are
the best for my situation...but there are many good products out there,
so use what ever you have, you will still get the great results...the
key is to remove the stain before using the highlighting shampoo.
If you have a palomino that has a slightly cream or apricot look to it,
this will not change no matter what you do, they are perfectly OK and
very beautiful as they are, some palominos have dark hair through the
tail and mane which gives a silvery/grey look...this
Baking soda
/vinegar process will not change that, as it will only lift the stains.
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