Women - how many times a week should you wash your hair?

[jenocyde]

Baking soda is good for everything. I want to marry it.

 

[Usehername]

INFP friend hasn't shampooed in a few years. Sometimes I pet his (curly, shortish blond) hair just to check--it's not silky smooth, but it is impressive considering all he does is use water on his hair.

I would never do it because with naturally wavy hair, it's quick for me to both straighten it with an iron, or put moose or gel in to make it curly, and you simply can't be doing anything extra to your hair that way. It also limits the ways in which one can style their hair in general.

 

[Gloriana]

This thread is good! I'm crap at hair related things!

I've got long, naturally curly hair. I can't afford to buy anything but the cheap, caustic shampoos like V05 or Suave. I'll wash it from root-to-tip once a week, then every 1-2 days I'll wash just the root area and concentrate conditioner on the tips (I have a rather oily scalp). I don't let it air dry anymore because even though it's shinier, it looks limp. I blow dry but try to keep the heat a good distance away from my head and move the dryer around a lot. I'll use product if I'm going out somewhere but not regularly. It seems to work out pretty well, but I'm just a naturally frizzy little person.

I only recently started dying my hair, I never did it before in my life but I started getting wiry gray hairs when I turned 30, so I just said 'hell with it'. Thing is, that stuff seems to have burned the hell out of my scalp. I only left it on for the recommended time, not sure if I have an allergy to it or not. It's been 2 weeks and my scalp still 'hurts' from it. I used Garnier Nutrisse, any gentler dyes out there?

 

[Thalassa]

in the winter time I tend to wash mine every other day, but in the summer sometimes my hair gets oily and sweaty (my hair is very straight) so I'd rather just avoid that with a daily hair washing

when I dyed my hair I had to use a lot more conditioner, but as the dye has grown out, not so much. in fact, since my hair has been above my shoulders I don't use conditioner very often because it just weighs my hair down...of course I'm also using this foo foo olive oil shampoo from europe right now, so that's part of why I don't need extra conditioning...when my hair gets past my shoulders again, or if I just have to switch back to cheaper shampoo, I'll probably increase the conditioner

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Two tops. Fuck you. Dry shampoo.

 

[The Cat]

daily conditioning, wash every two days, unless I'm doing something that makes me need to wash it more often.

 

[Luminous]

Yeah, depends on what I'm doing. I condition only if I don't feel it's dirty.

 

[Frosty]

Whenever I feel it needs it

 

[Maou]

Depends on how oily your hair is, as well as how humid where you live is. The more humid, the more you generally need to wash it due to your body sweating and releasing oils more. If you live in arid climates, it depends more on how oily your hair is.

I have naturally oily hair, and I wash my hair 1 or 2 times a week. I double wash, then conditioner.

If you are trying to get rid of oily hair, just do not wash it for a while (not saying don't shower). Generally hair freaks out if you keep washing it. It needs those oils to make your hair sleek and shiny, so it produces more oils after you wash it.. Natural shampoo is much better for some people.

 

[ceecee]

Depends on what I'm doing. Every other day usually and dry shampoo in between. Great stuff.

 

[Zhaylin]

I despise dry shampoo (tried it once- it was miserable lol).
I used to only wash my hair once a week. More than that just dried it out too much. Nowadays, though, I have to wash my hair every other friggin day. And I have to mix it up- some days I just use T-gel or Treseme (sp). Other days, I prewash with some stuff that cuts oil. Then there are times I prewash with Chloroxenlol (surgical scrub).

I wish I could go back to my buzz cut. The older I get the drier my hair yet greasier my scalp. I get cysts on my scalp from the excessive oil
I keep hoping my hair will just start falling out (a rare "side effect" from mixed hair). If I start getting patchy and gross looking, perhaps hubby wont object to the buzz cut

 

[Yuurei]

I wash mine twice a week. if I wash it more the blue tint fades too quickly. Also I have so much of it that it takes ssooo long to wash...and de-tangling is pretty much an all day thing. I know that doesn't sound like enough but by the time I wash it again it's still partially wet.

 

[Hermit of the Forest]

Every other day... or so. Depends on how busy I am. Dry shampoo is a life saver.

 

[Abcdenfp]

Hmmm once a week . My hair gets to depleted of essential oils, if more than that.

 

[cascadeco]

I consider it a blessing that I can now go every 2 days. It definitely starts to get oily by day 2 but usually it looks ok (though not great).

I would love it if I could go longer, as I know hair-washing isn't great for hair, but my hair is so incredibly thin that even a hint of oil shows, and by day 3 I'll start looking like a potential homeless person. (I exaggerate but you get the idea) People with thicker hair are so lucky in this respect -- things like day 2, 3, 4+ level of oils aren't nearly as visible as with really thin hair.

I *think* I can go 2 days now vs every day like I historically did because I've figured out a shampoo/conditioner regimen and mixup that works. I have a defoliating shampoo (very expensive but necessary) that I use once a week, to keep the scalp healthy, as well as a scalp-based conditioner, and then I lather the heck out of my hair with conditioner the other days. I think historically I did not moisturize enough or attend to the scalp enough, so an oil surplus happened as my body's way to try to compensate. / armchair theorizing . I also think as I continue to grow older I'll be able to stretch it out to 3 days eventually - as long as I keep up with scalp/hair health.

 

[Norrsken]

1-3 times a week with a low natural sulfate shampoo, and other times with a cleansing conditioner or cowash. I try to stretch the days of the shampoo as much as my hair and scalp allows it.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Which hair?

 

[Firebird 8118]

Which hair?

Why, do you wear a wig?

 

[EJCC]

I wash my hair every other day. Wish I could get away with less (I have curly hair), but my scalp gets dry. Twice a week seems optimal.

 

[Chad of the OttomanEmpire]

I've gone everywhere from washing my hair every single day to waiting horrifying amounts of time to wash it, in misguided attempts to see if the rumors are true that it starts cleaning itself after a few weeks...it doesn't. At least for me. It just sits there in a filthy greaseball and possibly smells bad.

I'll say this, though. You can build up "tolerance" for how often it needs it.


Currently I do every few days--it goes from being "fluffy and unmanageable" to being "flowing and manageable" and then it starts getting stringy and my scalp gets gross, and that's when it's time to wash it.