pH Testing at Home

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 deal with damaged hair later!©Science-y Hair Blog 2013

ColorpHast pH test strips.

Hydrion pH 0-13 test paper on a roll.

These products should be stored in a dry place, out of direct light. Very old pH strips tend to be inaccurate or at the very least difficult to read. There are other brands out there. These are the ones I buy again.©

Science-y Hair Blog 2013

Important Note: When you test pH, test room-temperature liquids. Testing hot liquids is likely to give you the wrong reading.