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Jerry G

Here's my take on passing a hair test. My advice is oriented towards the current and former heavy user. I am a former chronic user of high end herbs. 24 hrs a day for 30 years.

First of all, if you are smoking now, stop until you pass your test.

Some hair test companies do great marketing. They want you to believe that they can tell when you have treated your hair and that their test is better than others. I think that is complete BS. In all my research here, only one person has reported an inconclusive result, and he is not really sure that is what happened.

After much research and a failed(personally, as well as many other documented heavy users) test using the Mac method, I decided that I was going to treat my hair with basics(baking soda, peroxide bleach, ammonia) which open the cuticle as opposed to acids(vinegar etc...) which close the cuticle.

The cutoff levels were lowered several years ago, this may be why fewer people seem to pass using the Mac method(circa 2003) than in the past.

I'm a hispanic with black hair. The Mac method seems to work best for those with light colored, fine hair.

I knew my test would sample from slow growing arm pit hair, so even though I was between 30 and 45 days clean, I was very concerned.

I bleached and redyed my hair 3 times. I washed the bleach and the dye out with a very strong clarifying shampoo(Toxin Wash). I used a 40 volume developer(the bleach, the strongest a layman can buy), and a dye with ammonia that has to be mixed with a 10 or 20 volume developer. I think it is best to go to a pro, but it has been done many times at home. These product are available at any beauty supply store.

In between treatments I mixed a baking soda paste and massaged it into my hair. Then I washed with Toxin Wash. A bottle of TW goes a long way used only on your pits.

The day of the test I did the baking soda paste, then a full TW treatment and then a full Zydot treatment. According to Zydot customer service, the effectiveness of their product is enhanced by being preceded by a strong clarifying shampoo. I think these two products compliment each other.

I know of no one who has failed when they followed this program exactly. Many heavy users with little to no clean time have passed. I know of two who failed only bleaching and dying twice, with no other treatments.

If you have some clean time, spread the treatments out a little. Do the last one about a week before your test. If you have less than 10-14 days clean, do the last treatment as close to the test as you can.

I personally think that the Mac method with it's acids is contra to this program. Sec thinks a little differently. Each person will have to figure that out for themselves.

Relaxers have had very good success lately. Users report that these are very harsh products that are very hard on your hair. Find one with propylene glycol as a primary ingredient(like 2nd) and that also contains ammonia. I have no personal experience, but there are several recent reports in the results thread.

There are a couple of guys that have posted home brews recently, I like the look of some aspects better than the Mac, but they are unproven at this point(4/25/08).

For the last time, Aloe Rid Shampoo does nothing, it is the discontinued Aloe Rid Treatment that contained a large percentage of propylene glycol that was effective in reducing thc metabolites in the hair. There are swimmers shampoos and treatments that are high in propylene glycol available at the beauty supply store. These shampoos could substitute for TW.

I hope this helps.

 

dirtdevil

Quote is from results thread

I dont know the whole story here, but it would appear maybe some can test for the shampoos. I dont see why not. I know they wash the hair first, but, I mean if the stuff gets inside your cortex, where the metabs are, and you get those out with the shampoo chems, unless you get the residue of the chemicals that removed them out then couldnt they find those too? Im sure its more expensive and time consuming, maybe some do and some dont. My job is extreamly safety sensative, got to pass an important one. this bothers me.

Sec

For one thing, washing your hair with anything isn't illegal. If a person is denied a job due to a perfectly legal activity (such as washing your hair), then the employer is opening themselves up to a helluva a lot of discrimination lawsuits.

For another, there is no lab that tests for shampoo. They are looking for illegal drugs. When people fail a drug test for an employer, they are only notified that they have failed, either by the MRO reviewing the test or by the employer. No one will ever tell you that you failed because you have a certain type of shampoo in your hair.

Why would the laboratory test for shampoo. Psychemedics claims that there is no way that a person can "wash out" THC from their hair. IF that is true, why would they bother wasting time and money on testing for shampoo. They would just test for THC instead.

There is a lot of misinformation posted here by different people trying to justify why their technique or treatment didn't work. Some you can believe, some you can't.

I know that Jerry G spent a lot of time about a year ago researching what works and what doesn't work. He had polls going, he got quite extensive in his documentation of the results reported here. IF you have noticed, people still post here claiming that the test can detect THC from 10 years ago in your hair. You and I know that this is impossible, but people still post it here. Most of our time here is spent dispelling misinformation and inuendo.

I am of the ideal that the more damage you do to your hair, the better the results. Jerry G gets into the open/closed cuticle debate. I just know that those who bleach, dye, straighten, perm or relax their hair, have the best results over washing with harsh shampoos.

It all depends on your use history and the type of hair you have. Obviously, if your hair is very strong and thick, it will take more effort and treatments to crack the shaft and damage the hair itself to get inside. IF a person has very fine, thin hair, (not the quantity, but the quality of hair), it is easier to damage.

People are constantly asking whether they should do one more bleach, or one more washing, or if they should use baking soda, etc... I believe - Why not? IF your scalp can take the harsh treatments, then the more you do, the better off you are. If you bleach and dye once and you don't pass the drug test, would you feel later "If only I had done it again, I might have passed"

If you can do it, and want the job, then do it. No one ever says, "I didn't need that last bleaching, I believe I could have passed without it".

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Jerry G

Would you please critique my stickied thread above for accuracy as to maximum bleaching and redying effectiveness...

Dingleberry

Ok, I think your method is generally very helpful. You are correct in saying acid-based products will close the cuticle of the hair(not good when trying to clean out deep with he hair shaft). This part of the mac-method doesn't make much sense to me. A strong base, however can do some real damage.

As far as hair types, there are 3 general types of cellular structures that hair has. There are round, oval and flat cells. Round cells are straight, fine hair. Oval cells are wavier thicker hair. Flat cells are essentially African-American or SUPER curly hair types. In general it is easiest to pry apart the round cells from each other than it is to pull apart flat cells(that are structured very jagged and close together). This is where I see a lot of the results coming from.

This is good, I just will expand on a couple things and make some suggestions. 40 Volume is perfect to bleach to a very VERY light blond(you could call it white). I strongly suggest using a powder bleach, as it does the most damage(there are no moisturizers in it). My favorite brand is Wellite and you can get it at Sallys. For the re-dye I also suggest a low volume developer. If a 10 Volume is used the color should sit for around 40-45 minutes and if a 20 Volume is used it should sit for 25-30. I use Wella Color Charm for re-dye(at Sallys). I use gel color and cream developer. When mixing bleach, it should feel sort of like yogurt when the cream developer and the powder are stirred together. When you apply bleach to your hair it will heat and get close to your scalp, so if you are sensitive from mac treatments or something, try to get it as close as you can and let it do the rest. you will be able to tell quickly what the bleach isn't touching and you can put bleach closer to the scalp if necessary. *Color resistant hair should use a 10 volume developer!*

An easy test to see if the bleach or the color is finished processing: Use a damp paper towel to rub the bleach or dye off a small piece of hair. If the hair is close to white, the bleach is done. If the hair doesn't appear chalky, the color is finished.

Water stops the bleach process! bleaching wet hair wont work and wetting bleached hair is like pushing a big red stop button. It is best to bleach hair that is a little dirty because scalp buildup protects you from chemical burns. In the case of chemical burns (it seems like people that choose to bleach after a mac treatment are having this problem) Use a good conditioner after your test (my favorite is Redkin All soft which can be left on for ten minutes as a treatment) and wait it out, you'll live and your hair will not fall out, you just might lose a few large chunks of scalp.

When re-dying bleached hair it will pull a shade darker than you are expecting so plan ahead. Sometimes bleached hair will end up much darker than expected if you aren't careful. A neutral based color is best for achieving a natural color when you re-dye.

Zydot treatments seem to be affective. They are very strong clarifyers. I think when I used the conditioner on Dingleberry's pits (this is his lady the hair professional) it smelled an awful lot like cholesterol - which coats the hair strand and closes the cuticle but doesn't really deposit in the hair strand.

It doesn't surprise me that relaxers are a great help, they are extremely damaging and I strongly encourage those considering this to go to a professional. A wrong rinse can mat hair into a huge nest that will be extremely difficult to comb out.

Did I miss anything?

 

Dingleberry

Ok, so I think I will mention one more thing. For those that feel doing a bleach and redye is out of the question by themselves, going to a cosmetology school for this service is very affordable.

Jerry G

Thanks, I'll have Sec edit my post to include the powder bleach detail. My gal does that as well and I failed to mention it, thanks.