CO Vs WO (and stretching washes)

**earthnut** · July 25th, 2012, 02:57 PM

I found the most benefit from WO to come from the preening before I even turned on the water. The preening helped distribute the sebum, making my scalp feel cleaner. During the water wash itself, I didn't manipulate my hair that much.

Preening is very similar for WO and SO and for that reason, during my WO time, I actually ended up going more SO because I didn't see much point in wetting the hair when I'd already done the work without water. The water just introduced more risk of fragile wet hair.

I am incorporating preening into my CO routine now, because I like neither shampoo nor conditioner on my scalp. Right now I preen my scalp, turn on water, apply leave in, detangle, plop.

This is the kind of preening I do: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...&articleid=181

**afu** · July 25th, 2012, 02:58 PM

Thanks for the suggestion brave, however with my fine hair im not sure that it would work too well with having so much coconut weighing it down (as im sure most if it will be left in after rinsing). I might try it with sweet almond though as it seems to wash out easier

**afu** · July 25th, 2012, 02:59 PM

thanks for the link earthnut, i'll have a read now

**skeletonous** · June 26th, 2014, 09:18 PM

This is what I'm considering now, I currently use WO to stretch my washes (I shampoo twice a week with a SLS free shampoo) but I'm considering CO washing and I'm wondering if I should even wet my hair between CO washes. When I started the WO stretches it seemed to help keep my hair less greasy.

EDIT: Perhaps preening might help. I'll give it a try.

**meteor** · June 27th, 2014, 10:25 AM

Since you'd like to minimize hygral fatigue, I'd recommend dry shampoos (commercial or DIY versions: cocoa powder, cornstarch, etc) and scalp-only washes. Here's a tutorial by LauraLongLocks:

**Zebra Fish** · June 27th, 2014, 01:12 PM

Can other see the link earthnut gave? To me it's broken and i'm interested in it

**sarahthegemini** · June 28th, 2014, 01:36 AM

IMO if I was going to go through the hassle of saturating my hair, I'd just co-wash. Water can dry hair out, atleast if you're using conditioner you're kind of putting back some goodness.

**leilani** · June 28th, 2014, 01:54 AM

I think the idea behind wo is that by massaging scalp under hot water, your sebum gets rinsed down the length, released from your scalp.so you are putting a conditioner on it, thIe best kind.
I would do this except my scalp doesn't seem to produce any noticeable amount even if I don't traditional shampoo for ten weeks. Only time my hair it's greasy is from heavy handed oiling, but my roots don't get greasy. I have to every 3-4 days freshen up my scalp with something though because of the itches.