FINALLY found a way to stretch washes

**HintOfMint** · July 31st, 2011, 02:53 PM

Hey all, sorry I haven't been on in quite some time. Work has taken over my life, but now I have some room to breathe.

Anyhow, sorry if this is a bit gross, but I should explain. My sebum has always been thick and a bit gunky, like the kind that sticks under your fingernails if you scratch your scalp. Also there was a sebum smell that would happen every other day if I didn't wash. So of course, I washed every other day, which dried out my hair pretty badly.

At the beginning of summer, I started to get serious flakes in addition to the gunk. I tried oiling before hand and washing with a clarifying shampoo, changed back to a cone-free and protein free conditioner in case it was product buildup, and even used my acne face wash to dissolve the dead skin. I did all sorts of ridiculous things before I tried the most obvious solution.

I tried Head and Shoulders shampoo, and my scalp cleared up immediately. No flakes, and no thick gunky sebum! Moreover, my scalp doesn't get greasy until my fourth day without washing and even then the sebum smell hasn't returned and my scalp doesn't have the thick sebum anymore. I'll still wash on the fifth day because it looks greasy, but there's no smell at all! I've even asked my mother to smell it (she's such a sport) and she said there's no smell at all except for maybe a bit of perfume from my conditioner.

I don't know if I had dandruff or whatever all this time, but my scalp is finally happy, and I can stretch washes so my ends don't dry out as much (even CWC didn't help).

Anyhow, thought I'd share something that worked for me!

**AnnaJamila** · July 31st, 2011, 03:12 PM

Yay! Congratulations! I figured out that I have to use shampoo or my hair gets crazy stringy. I still CO every other wash, but I feel so accomplished to have found what my head wanted!

**SoulOfTheSea** · July 31st, 2011, 03:14 PM

I am so happy for you! It took me forever to find out how to stretch washes as well =) And I love using H&S occasionally for when my dandruff is acting up, it soothes my scalp and makes it feel tingly and lovely. =)

**Mairéad** · July 31st, 2011, 03:20 PM

Come to think of it. I can't even remember how I got successful at stretching washes. It was like one day I woke up and my hair wasn't dirty. And then the next day I woke up, and it still wasn't dirty.

I think it was benign neglect. I think there was a period of time when my hair was still long that I just threw it up in a bun day after day without washing and it adjusted.

**Yame** · July 31st, 2011, 04:03 PM

I'm glad you found something that worked for you! Stretching washes has been one of my best hair discoveries yet. It saves me so much time and hassle, not to mention the wonders it does for my hair

I am always happy when other people are able to get these benefits.

**Macaroni** · July 31st, 2011, 04:58 PM

That sounds like a perfect solution for you, hooray!

My hair is very dry with level 3 (permanent) haircolor so to stretch washes I rinse it in the shower with warm water and apply conditioner. I wait a few minutes and rinse out the conditioner. Works for me

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**SwordWomanRiona** · July 31st, 2011, 05:13 PM

That sounds great

My roots get pretty greasy too soon, so generally I can only stay two days without washing (three with difficulty). Not long ago I finally found a dry shampoo, and that is helping me to stretch washes when necessary. It's easy to apply and my roots come out much cleaner, so I'm happy for now (even if the ingredients include cones...). I hope dry shampoos aren't actually bad for hair, because they are very handy.

**Lostsoule77** · July 31st, 2011, 07:20 PM

My wash stretching happened over a very long (years) time period. The final stretch to once a week happened when I found this site.

It's always better for our hair and easier for us when we can stretch washes. I'm glad you found something that works for you and even better, got rid of the smell!