My pigs get washed a lot. In the summer, they get a lot of baths to not only clean them up but to also cool them down. A nice cool bath on a hot summer day makes my piggers quite popcorny. Sometimes as often as once a week, and I have zero problems with their coat or skin. HOWEVER: I'm very careful in my shampoo choice. To wash guinea pigs, you can use any shampoo/soap that is approved for kittens or cats, because cats also groom themselves like a guinea pig does. If you only do it once in a blue moon, you can use a mild human shampoo, just don't add any conditioner. Many dog shampoo's are approved for cats as well, but watch closely what the label says, guinea pigs clean themselves so any shampoo with flea-treatments or medicines in it is not appropriate!!!
I use "Baby Bebe" for my dog and my pigs both. It makes the hair super soft and silky, but I like it because it smells like cucumbers. Once in awhile I do put a little vinegar in the rinse water. To brighten their coat color, especially white pigs, I add few drops of of Mrs. Stewarts Bluing to the sinkful of rinse water and let them sit for a few minutes. It gets the yellow stains out especially after a couple of shampoos.
With the bluing, I KNOW that it's safe, non-toxic and I can control how much I want. Using a "whitening" shampoo opens me up to unknown chemicals and stuff, besides whitening shampoos ARE just shampoo with bluing in them anyway.
Just ask your local hairdresser. I just started adding bluing to the shampoo I use on the pigs, cover them with shampoo and let it soak for a bit. I did get one GREEN pig for a few days :shhh: :eye-poppi..but I'd used an awful lot of bluing on him.
Any kind of vinegar in the rinse water is good for your clothes wash,
your hair
or your pets hair. It simply cuts through any detergent or grease that is residual and rinses it out. It makes the clothes and hair very soft, and I've done it for years. It's amazing for cutting the odor and detergent build-up from old sheets and pig bedding as well.
I actually soak my sheets in vinegar water for several hours before rinsing to cut up all the detergent and softener buildup they get over a year of use. In fact, I quit using softener altogether now. I use distilled vinegar for washing because it's cheap to get in gallons. I can get it for about $3 a gallon at a local restaurant supply. I use Apple Cider Vinegar as well, but it costs more, so I am more careful with when I use it.
Straight Apple Cider Vinegar or Distilled vinegar is safe to clean with and will cut odors, but you seriously don't need to use it full strength. Just a tablespoon poured onto an already wet wash cloth is enough to wipe down a piece of coroplast.
It is NOT a treatment for Lice or Mites that is a myth
Some claim that fleas avoid your dog if you feed your dog vinegar, but it won't kill fleas. It MAY help SOME animals with skin conditions related to their acid levels etc but be wary of such claims.
IMHO: I can't find anything on the web that clearly defines any difference between any of the types of vinegar. I've spent a lot time digging through the web over the last year or so trying to figure out why you see so many sites touting Apple Cider Vinegar specifically. Your question put me onto researching the differences between all the vinegars. It's something I've always wanted to know. Here's decent link
Apple Cider Vinegar
It started when I found out that vinegar added to the diet is a wonderful treatment for 'weepy eyed' dogs by balancing their acid levels out and allowing the tear ducts to drain more efficiently. It worked with my dog so I started researching it more. It seems to apply to any kind of vinegar, although ACV does have more nutrients as far as that goes.
If anyone knows of a reliable source that can describe the differences, I would really appreciate it. I made a visit to the "Vinegar Institute" which looks to be ran by the food industry folks (makes sense I guess) and they don't define differences between them either other than for taste and smell . I do know that Balsamic Vinegar gets sticky when it dries, I'm assuming because it has so much sugar. But I've used both ACV and Distilled vinegars interchangeably over the years. Wine/Rice/Balsamic or other flavored vinegars are a little too expensive to be cleaning with anyway
The only thing I can think of is that maybe the Bragg Vinegar folks are using the web to promote their product, because you see a great deal of people touting that it should be 'unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic' etc. yet I can't find a single reference to back those statements up. The Heinz folks do not differentiate much between their vinegars, other than to say they taste different.
[/quote]Any kind of vinegar RINSE is safe and a great idea, add a little to the rinse water when your washing you or your dogs or pigs. Washing hair with it sounds weird but I suppose it would cut any grease buildup.
