There seems to be some truth in the statement that frequent washing is not good for hair health. That said, some of us can't go long between washes. I personally like to wash my hair every day, for cleanliness and moisturizing as well. I probably should feel guilty about it, but I don't. I guess even when my hair is long enough to do scalp-washes only, I will do those daily.
So, those who wash daily/every other day: what are your reasons for not stretching time between washes?

I sometimes go 3 or 4 days between washes, but a lot of times I have to wash every other day. Its not because my scalp is oily or anything, my hair just seems to be happier that way. After 2 or 3 days, my hair is just flat, tangly, lifeless and looks like crap, even if I oil it and use leave-ins.
Once I get hair my used to poo bars (if that ever happens) I may be able to figure out a better routine or maybe CO in between poo bars, but for right now my routine seems to be like this: Wash with poo bar. Hate hair for a day or two and wear updos until I give up and use GR S&C. Love hair for 2 or 3 days until I decide its time to experiment with a poo bar again.
My hair loves the GR S&C, but even when Im just using that I have to wash evert 2-3 days or my hair just doesnt look good.

I wash nearly every day (CO 5 days a week, shampoo 1, no wash 1). I can't stretch it. I really, really want to. But, due to scalp and oil issues... I can't seem to do it.

I tried to wash every other day for over a month... And the oil drove me bananas. I tried to stretch to every 3 days and my scalp revolted. It itched so bad that I scratched it bloody in my sleep... There are still stains on my pillow case...

Really hard to skip a day. Just so oily, especially if I brush.

I usually wash ever 3 days now, I used to do it every other day. I love having soft, fresh smelling hair though and so does my hubby! So I voted the Cleanliness option!

iIwash my hair daily because I have a very oily scalp. I have tried leaving everything over the years (stretching washes, CO wash, water only, less shampoo, a dusting of oil absorbing powder, cold water rinse, vinegar etc) yet nothing ever works for me. I can actually feel the oil on my scalp by dinner time. Its always been like this for me and Im in perfect health. It seems my scalp just will not co-operate. If only I could have some of those natural oils for the rest of my body.....nature can be a bit unfair sometimes, LOL :)

Every other day, due to scalp issues, seems to be about right for me.

I didn't vote but I'll say I like having freshly washed hair. I used to wash every day so going to every other day is cutting the number of washes in half. Once in a while I'll go a third day if I'm not going anywhere.

I wash every second day. CWC once a week and scalp washes in between. Sometimes if I think the ends need conditioning mid-week, I'll smear a small amount of conditioner mixed with aloe vera gel onto the end of my braid and then rinse it out after 5-10 minutes. This keeps my ends happy and washing every second day keeps my scalp happy.

Several months ago I had a cyst removed from my head and wasn't allowed to wash until the stitches came out. I thought it would be a good opportunity to stretch washings out, but it didn't work. The oil and accompanying lankness drove me crazy!

I admire those that only wash once a week but I think everyone has to find what suits them.

I wash every day. My hair isn't dried out, falling out, having fits, breakage, frizz, tangles (keep going) because of it. Its just fine and happy dandy.

My hair got messed up trying alternatives to washing, but not from washing, go figure!

I shampoo every second day because i love the clean fresh feeling. I am very lean cut and sharp. I could never leave the house with uncombed greasy hair, thats just not me. I always look sophisticated and clean

I wash daily or every other day just because my hair and scalp seem to like it. My scalp doesn't seem to get extremely oily or anything, just 'weird'. I mainly do a scalp wash, then smooth the suds through the remainder of it.

I tried CO-washing only (attempting CG routine), and my hair was just SO limp. It didn't seem to matter what kind of CO I used either. It's just happier with a little bit of a wash frequently.

I couldn't really find an option for me....but, i'd like to wash daily because of this experiment i'm meant to be doing but i'm used to washing weekly or longer. The thing is i just can't be bothered to do it so the closest i get is every other day.

I get it wet just about every day and condition it. I only CO wash, but I only do that and scrub like that every 2-3 days. Any longer and I start to get scalp grossness.

My hair seems to demand water because it is dry/curly

Yep! It never gets tired of water and more conditioner.

I don't always wash everyday or every other day but simply because I cannot tolerate wet hair. Sometimes I just want to have happy and moisturized hair and I wash and CO everyday and I'm having one of those days now. My hair loves to get washed and conditioned because it's very dry and wurly:D

I like the feeling of freshly cleaned hair. I wet my hair daily then condition it. I try to shampoo only as needed (when hair has build up or is oily). Right now, I am shampooing every 3 days but I am trying to go to every 7 days.

Since puberty I was an everyday washer - unless I wasn't going anywhere, then I might skip a day. Since joining LHC I've stretched my washes out to every second day, though I sometimes need to wash my bangs in between.

Sometimes, I may: 1st day CWC; 2nd day bang wash only or nothing; 3rd day scalp wash; 4th day CWC. It depends on time allowances on wash days.

Usually I wash at night, because I have quite thick hair and it takes ages to dry.

I have an oily scalp, and dry ends.

I don't feel guilty about it. I'm slightly envious of people who don't need to wash their hair as frequently as I do, but there is no point having long hair unless I think it looks nice, and what works for me works for me. Also, when I had a pixie I had to wash and style *that* everyday, so I'm getting a bit of a break now :D

-- Natalie

I wash every other day, sometimes every 4th morning because my hair gets dry (causing tangles, splits, then damage) if I go too long w/out washing/soaking it.

My hair gets greasy if I don't wash it frequently. I can just about manage two days (don't look at my head in the evening) but if I wait a third day I don't feel like I want to be seen in public. My hair is very fine and goes greasy and lank and dark if it's not clean. I'm also not in a situation, career wise, where I want to be seen with dirty hair all the time. It's just better all around if I wash every day or two.

I can go 3-4 days max without a wash, then the smell of my scalp and the itchiness of my scalp drive me crazy. Then I have to wash.

My hair gets really tangly and gunky if I don't. I don't care what every one else says, my hair likes it.

I like the softer look it has when freshly washed. Lately I've been just using conditioner and just a bit of leave-ins.

lately i've been having dandruff and a thick chalky buildup on my scalp - So even if i'm not shampooing I am under the shower scrubbing my scalp w/ my nails.

I basicaly wash each time I have a shower, usually daily. Mostly because I dislike wearing a shower cap, and because I feel it is easier for me.
I usually shower late at night, right before I go to bed, and sleep with a towel wrapped around my hair. This works well for me, because i find updo's hold better if my hair is still damp (and cause I am lazy and cant be bothered getting up ages before work, just to get my hair dry)

I have oily/thin hair.

I have tried everything....CO, WO, stretching out washes etc...... and my hair is happiest when I CWC it daily. I only skip days during the weekend when I am not going anywhere.

I wash my hair every other day or two days and rinse it every day. I like my hair to be fresh but the mail reason is my pollen allergy. In the spring and summer I just have to rinse the pollen out of my hair before going to sleep or else I won't get any sleep sneezing whole night. I winter I was my hair every other two or three days

I'm washing every 3 days now, but when I was washing every 2 days, it was because of scalp issues. My scalp became horriby itchy if I didn't wash it often enough. (Then it become gunky and start to flake.) Due to increasing age, I'm now producing less oil than I was a couple years ago, so I am finally able to go longer between washes.

every day out of habit, trying to cut back to every second.

Usually wash every day, sometimes every other day. I love wearing my hair down and really hate the way my hair looks when it hasn't been washed. After sleeping on it, no matter what I do with it it, it is flat, lank and greasy and all over the place. If I do go without washing for a second day I usually wear it up and pin my fringe back. I've tried cornstarch and just washing my fringe but still not as good as just washing it! I do CWC though so hopefully that combats some of the drying effects on my length.

I have been washing my hair every other day because I use MN every other night. If i am not leaving the house and no one is going to be seeing me I may go a day longer and sometimes I put on a hat to go longer.

I wash every day,or every other day. But I am sure to condition the length of my hair with a cone free conditioner before-hand. I try to wash only my scalp,but when rinsing the shampoo it slides down the rest of my hair...I need to wash every day because of scalp issues. :(

I wash every other day because my hair feels really dirty on the third day. I'm really trying to stretch the time between washes. I used to have to wash my hair every day, and eventually I'd like to go to only 1-2 times a week.

I vary my washing with my schedule a lot, but I find my hair starts to feel dry if it isn't wet down fairly regularly. Wet down and conditioned is better.

If I don't wash daily my scalp goes crazy. But I also have to admit that I like washing my hair everyday because it makes me feel clean. With all the sweating that I do from my daily exercise I feel gross if I don't. And then there is the smell issue! If my hair picks up the smell of smoke, or food, or whatever, I have to wash it. I just can't stand having hair that doesn't smell good.

My option is not on there.

I wash daily, because I have become addicted to it and havent been able to break myself out of the habit. I keep trying though. Right now my head feels greasy and itchy when i dont wash, which i know is just something that would happen when i break the habit . But so far I havent been able to.

I checked two options because I couldn't put one above the other: I just like to have very clean hair, and I have scalp issues that require more frequent washing.

I can't get used to dirty hair. If I've gone 4-5 days without washing, it just disgusts me when I put my hands into it to fix my updo or when it's down and touching my skin. The oil comes off onto my fingers and I have to wash my hands immediately. I have blonde hair, so it's very noticeable if there's even a small amount of oil on the roots. I just don't feel good about myself with hair that's super greasy and dirty. As far as the scalp issues are concerned: I get scalp acne if my scalp isn't washed every 2 days or so. My scalp gets unbearably itchy, as well. For me, a clean scalp is a healthy scalp.

My hair is very oily and looks pretty bad if I go more than a day between washings. Also, I am trying to wear my hair down more often, so I play with it more.

My scalp gets reaaallly oily reaaallly quickly, and I hate how it looks when it gets like that. Makes me look vagrant.

I wash my hair everyday. But I want to start washing it every 2 to 3 days instead.

There seems to be some truth in the statement that frequent washing is not good for hair health. That said, some of us can't go long between washes. I personally like to wash my hair every day, for cleanliness and moisturizing as well. I probably should feel guilty about it, but I don't. I guess even when my hair is long enough to do scalp-washes only, I will do those daily.
So, those who wash daily/every other day: what are your reasons for not stretching time between washes?
I have wavy/curly dry hair and it looks best after being washed. I alternate WO/CO and it works for me ; )

I voted cheese. My hair isnt, apparently, particularly oily, but it looks it very quickly. I am trying to stretch out my washes more often, and to adjust to not using harsh sulphates.

So even though I dont have very oily hair, I feel like I do.

Oh and also, I could quite happily wash every day. I just love how my hair feels minutes after it's air dried. :)

I have to wash my hair daily, otherwise it's flat, greasy, stringy and frizzy. When it's clean it's a lot shinier. If I'm using a harsher shampoo I can wash everyother day, but I've found it is better for my hair to wash it daily with a mild shampoo.

When I was younger and my hair was even oilier I tried to wash my hair less often but it didn't even get used to it after one year. I'm thinking of trying again when my hair gets longer. Maybe if I could put my hair up it would be easier to stand the greasiness.

So, so oily. I wash my hair in the morning and wear it up all day. The length will still be wet when I go to bed, but my scalp will already be somewhat greasy. It makes me cry a little bit.

I wash every other day because of oily scalp. I hate hair that looks dirty.

I generally CO it 3-6 times a week and shampoo it the rest of the time with a gentle shampoo. I’ve tried to go longer between washes but my scalp gets oily and itchy and my hair just hangs. It looks MUCH better when it’s washed every day.

I have fine, on the thinner side of things hair; two days is the max I can stretch it. I think that having straight hair is another factor in needing to wash more often.

Oil slick, here. Everyday washer.

One of the advantages of thin, fine hair and living in a dry place is that it only takes about half an hour to dry--less in the summertime.

Skipping a day does not change the amount of hair shedding in the shower. I'm very gentle, using finger tips only. I blot hair dry and use a wide-tooth comb. My virgin-growth hair, which is now a bit longer than chin-length, has no splits--so this routine seems to be working just fine.

I'm thinking that stretching days between washes may be more possible for those who have thicker sebum.

I wash mine every other day. I just like it because it feels cleaner to me.

I wash too often - I'm trying to remember to CO most of the week. I shower every morning, because postpartum hormones have me sweating at night like you wouldn't believe.
Having just changed my hair color, the damage is less noticeable if I CO than if I wash, even if I CWC. I have sort-of wurly hair that's really quite dry (due to the damage from coloring). If I were a more dedicated person, I'd let it go back to it's grey-streaked mouse brown, but I hate my natural hair color. I'm still tinkering around with my routine to find what works best for my hair.

i wash twice a week but i have started wetting daily as I think my hair looks better when i do

I didn't vote because there wasn't an option for me: while I don't have particularly oily hair, I exercise daily and it gets really sweaty. Being blonde means it looks dirty and oily very easily.

Well..I am just now strarting to like my hair and when daily washing makes them feel pretty, why not? I do have oily hair, but not extremely, if I need to I can wash every second day...but why? Why to deny my self the feeling of freshly washed, silky hair?? + the possibilities every evening on with what to wash...

My hair needs the daily conditioner more than the washing, but it seems to do better if I wash AND condition rather than just conditioning. (Of course, I use a shampoo so rich that it gives me more moisture than most normal conditioners...) Then once it dries it's all soft and shiny and sleek and smells good and really, who doesn't want that?

My hair looks much better when I wash it every day. However, I am new with cv shampoo bars, and my hair seems to stay cleaner (really just less greasy) longer. I am still experimenting.

I'm a bit of a clean freak, and it drives me nuts every time I've tried stretching my washings to every other day. My roots get dull and stick together in chunks and feel greasy to the touch. I've just never been able to stick with it long enough to see if my scalp will actually adjust to less frequent washings.

My hair seems fine with daily washing. I use just a tiny bit of 'moisturizing' shampoo on the roots only followed by a generous saturation of -cone conditioner over everything. Bun it up for the morning bus commute, take it down to dry in class, and clip/scrunchie/braid/whatever it for the rest of the day. :D

Every other day and it's oily on the days off- I cover the greasy roots with a wide fabric headband. Less frequent washing for me leads to an oily helmet, dry, puffy ends and an itchy scalp. Ick!

I wash every other day because my scalp (and therefore hair) get too oily otherwise. I was in an accident on a Saturday back in February; I had washed on Thursday and Saturday was my next day to wash, but I had the accident prior to washing. :p I was in the trauma center for most of Saturday and then inpatient in the hospital until Tuesday evening. So I got to "try out" going 5 days between washings. It was not a pretty site. My hair was so greasy and gross and matted to my head. I wish I could stretch my washes out more, but it just doesn't work for me.

I was every 2-3 days (though I'm trying to stretch itout) as my scalp is greasy and gets itchy if I don't wash it for too long.

My hair isn't thin, but it's very straight and any oiliness shows up so fast. And my scalp produces a lot of oil. There are upsides and downsides to everything, that's how I look at it. Upside- I have yet to ever find a split end on my head. And my hair is incredibly soft. Downside- I have to wash it every day or every other day or it starts to look dirty. At least with water. I could go without shampoo itself for a few days, but it has to be rinsed well at the roots.

I wash daily or every other day for 2 reasons:
Currently I'm using cones and they need to be removed regularly (with shampoo) to prevend the drying effect of the cones (I use cones because of the smoothing and protecting effects).
But even if I'm not using cones, I like to wash my hair several times a week because it will get dry, tangly and staticy if I wait too long.

I can stretch to 1-2 times a week but my scalp needs to ajust and will be oily for a while if I do stretch washing.

I wash every 2 days because my scalp feels yucky and itchy if I don't. I don't have dandruff or anything, but my scalp does get a TAD itchy...

Too thin, if I get greasy the hair sticks together and you can see my scalp all over the place.

My scalp gets itchy and sometimes smells a bit if I go too long without washing - I usually go 2-3 days between washings.

I really like the smell of freshly washed hair and my hair gets really greasy, so I can't wait too long to wash it.

It's not good for the hair shaft to be washed often. I am working in a dusty, dirty environment right now so having to wash more frequently than I'd like. Finding it surprisingly pleasant to have a super-clean scalp! Can see how people can get quite addicted to the feeling.

I try to go as long as I can without washing, but my hair seems to get oily pretty quickly. With the sulfate & cone poo I have now, I can go 3 days tops or 4 if I plan on wearing a cap or not going out. I also have a sulfate-free/cone-free poo, but I'm lucky to go 2 days without washing when I use that. Often by the next day my hair starts looking oily anyway and I just do my best to keep it up in a style that it isn't too noticeable.

I'd love to go longer without a wash though!

I work in new construction so it is sorta necessary. The S&C I use ( Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship) does not seem to cause any harm with daily use.

I have been a daily shampooer since I can remember. I just like the way my hair looks and smells when it is clean! I do deep condition weekly and dryness has never been a issue for me! I guess I have been lucky in that respect!
Jim

I have oily scalp and i should wash it twice a week

Hi Lamb!

I wash most days, a combination of having rather fine hair and living in a major city that is quite dirty. I find that if my hair ever feels dry, it is actually just dirty (yuck).

Though, when I go home or to cities with better air than where I currently live, I wash every few days instead.

My hair is fine and my scalp tends to be oily. Its blonde and therefore it shows the oil when its dirty. I force myself to wash every other day, but there are times during the work week that I wash every 2 days (as an ex., Mon. Thurs.), and my hair is up in a headband on days 1 and 2 following wash day!

This past week I washed on Mon. and Thurs. and because I'm still recovering from the flu and didn't leave the house this weekend, I did not wash my hair at all, so its been 3 full days between washings and is quite oily. I would need a wide fabric headband to cover it, or better yet, a hat!

Oh, and uhm, I selected the cheese option as well, so who do I see about collecting my slice? :)

There seems to be some truth in the statement that frequent washing is not good for hair health. That said, some of us can't go long between washes. I personally like to wash my hair every day, for cleanliness and moisturizing as well. I probably should feel guilty about it, but I don't. I guess even when my hair is long enough to do scalp-washes only, I will do those daily.
So, those who wash daily/every other day: what are your reasons for not stretching time between washes?

I used to wash daily until end of last year, I then stretched it to every other day and now mostly do every 3days but sometimes still every 2days..
My hair never seemed to take damage from daily washes..if anything detangling is easier the first wash day.
However I decided to stretch because of:
-laziness (early get up)
-hope to avoid mechanical damage
-want to leave my oil in longer (my hair 'drinks' oil :lol:)
-I didnt feel happy about my scalp producing so much oil :(
-I hate being the only one that washes her hair daily on medieval fairs (in the public bathroom sink since there mostly was no showers etc.)...well that does not really apply any more..im not in germany :shrug: but still..I "could" go a weekend without washing ^^.

Hi Lamb!

I wash most days, a combination of having rather fine hair and living in a major city that is quite dirty. I find that if my hair ever feels dry, it is actually just dirty (yuck).

Though, when I go home or to cities with better air than where I currently live, I wash every few days instead.

I hear you. A single ride on the Toronto subway makes me smell like yesterday's porridge in the dustbin. :?