How can you wash oil out without ruining the conditioning effect

[Lova]

Whenever I oil my hair I usually end up with either a still slightly oily head after my shower or just.. the usual bleh hair.
So how can you get as much out of hair-oiling as possible without 'ruining' it by trying to egt it out with shampoo?

Thanks~

[Kuchen]

Million dollar question. COing and leaving the conditioner on for a while has got the best results for me, but as I plan to use oil more often I need to take notes of the answers you get here.

I suppose the thing with oil is that you can always put more on, but it's harder to take an excess off. So oil very very lightly before washing, and see what happens. If your hair feels dry afterwards you can add a smidge more oil (rice-grain size) when it's still damp, or spritz and add the oil. Then you can add a little more to the pre-wash routine next time and keep on adjusting the see what works.

[burns_erin]

Well, I do use shampoo and shampoo bars, but only very diluted. However, even with that if I heavily oil, it still does not all come out the first wash. i can not give you good advice on how to get it out. But, what i do is side part my hair then english braid so the oiliness is not noticeable. By the second or third wash it is back to a better normal.

[spidermom]

Maybe it's because my hair is so long now, but I appreciate having a bit of oil left in. I pretty much only use oil on the bottom 1/3 to 1/2 of my hair, and most of it is absorbed to the point that it isn't obviously oily. When I wash my hair, I use diluted shampoo to my scalp area only. The oiled ends only get shampoo rinse water running through them, but they always look and feel clean when they dry. I can feel a difference from when I do a full scalp-to-ends shampoo because of buildup, and I much prefer the feel of my ends with a little oil. They will feel much more smooth, far less fly-away and "grabby".

[chrissy-b]

CO washing generally gets the oil out for me. Lately, I've been stretching washes and doing a fairly heavy oiling on wash days and by the next day my hair has absorbed all the oil.

[LadyLongLocks]

Wash with very warm to hot water and shampoo one time to help remove oil. Maybe mix your oil with conditioner and apply it to wet hair and mostly to the ends only.This should be easier to rinse out.

[serenitygal]

I CO, and, quite honestly, I don't worry about getting all the oil out. When I wash, my hair will generally be oiled. I get my hair soaking wet, pour on conditioner, and clip it up while I do other shower stuff. Just before I get out, I rinse it REALLY thoroughly, add just a small amount more condish, and then rinse thoroughly again. After that, I can usually tell that there's a little oil left on the last six inches or so, but since I put it up wet, my hair generally absorbs this by the time it dries.
I also find that diluting my conditioner about 50% with water makes it more effective in removing excess oil. My hair in general seems to prefer my diluted conditioner, too.
In order to get that conditioner, I take slightly less than half a bottle of conditioner, pour in a TB or two of jojoba oil, 10 drops of EO (usually tea tree or rosemary), and then almost (but not quite) fill the bottle with filtered water. Microwave for 15 seconds to help with mixing, close the cap of the bottle, and then shake it several times.
This seems to remove oil from my hair better than regular-strength conditioner; I think that it has to do with oil dissolving oil. At the same time, it leaves a little oil in my hair and that makes my hair shiny and happy without the greasies.

[sipnsun]

I use a cone-free very diluted shampoo and it seems to get the greasies out but leaves my hair shinier than when I don't oil. When I use full strength shampoo, it washes all of the oil out and I want to leave a little in for shine.

[Honey39]

Conditioner only wash removes every bit of a heavy oiling for me! I've been taking to doing this more and more - I absolutely soak my hair in olive oil/coconut oil, then plait it. The next morning I just wash it with conditioner, and that gets it cleaner than shampoo. Honestly, conditioner gets it out like you wouldn't believe, much much better than shampoo. I used tonnes, wash it like shampoo, and rinse it totally out, and my hair is FABULOUS!

In fact, I think I've kind of got addicted to heavy oilings - my hair just looks so lovely the next day, it really seems to make a massive difference! But yeah, I avoid shampoo and conditioner gets all oil out amazingly well. Try it - I would not believe it until I tried it, because it doesn't sound like it SHOULD be like that!

[ruby_tuesday]

It never washes out completely in my case, but just enough so the hair doesn't look greasy, only well moisturized and smooth.

[MsBubbles]

This is a great question and one I am currently challenged by. I had resigned myself to just leave it washed but still oily another day and it washes out again in the next wash with better results than if I put too much shampoo on to get a heavy oiling out in the first wash. That doesn't sound clear at all. In other words, I just resigned to wearing my hair up an extra day.

I might take the suggestion of the person who said don't put as much oil in, next time.

In my very humble opinion, I think the extra oil shows up horribly on straight, thin hair, and makes it look downright dirty, and might look better on thicker, curly hair. So what works for the thick, curly haired folk mightn't work for us thin/straighties.

[eccentricquirks]

I know that with me, a CO works well, especially on my WO oil/sebum buildup.

Maybe an alternative wash like BS/ACV? I don't know.....any BS/ACV washers out there who are in the know and willing to lend a bit of advice?

Also a thought......Shampoo dilution. There's a lot to be said for diluting your shampoo, shaking up the bottle, and only using suds to clean with.

[jivete]

CO gets out my oil fine as well. I just use coconut oil though, no olive. For washing condish, I use Suave natural coconut.

[Darkhorse1]

From what I've read, coconut oil soaks into the shaft of the hair. So, in theory, if you leave it on your hair for a period of time, you should be able to shampoo the excess out, but still have the oil IN the shaft to help strengthen/moisturize. Hope that helps?

[heidi w.]

Are you applying the oil to scalp hair, that is, hair close to the scalp/head? If yes, don't. It's not necessary.

My oiling instructions suggest to oil beginning from the earlobes on down, and allow one's natural sebum to do the job up top. This way you overcome the typical problem for hair length of oily top and dry on the ends.

Typically, a regular shampoo hair wash will remove the oil, UNLESS you're applying waaaay toooo much OR you've been oiling for months and other stuff (product, dirt/grime, sebum) and you have a bit of buildup. Buildup is a different matter. I think you're trying to forego clarifying.

EDITED FOR A DISTINCTION: um, that is if using the oil somewhat like a leave-in, and the hair won't be washed too soon again...such as a day or two is the next intended hair wash.

heidi w.

[Delila]

I just load up my oiled hair with tons of whichever CO conditioner I have on hand, no added water, put it in a plastic cap and let it sit there for about a half an hour, then rinse, rinse, rinse.

Getting the oiled hair wet first makes it harder to get out, IMO.

[Shanarana]

I don't seem to have a problem getting the oil out. When I oil I do a heavy oil (coconut) the day before a wash, than shower using gentle shampoo and condish. (no cones) and that seems to do it for me. Afterwards I always still put some oil on my hair. My hair is never without oil on it, even if it's just a tiny bit.

[jel]

CO doesn't work for me (my scalp needs diluted shampoo), but I found that light conditioner removes the oil from my length. That's why I CWC (or C-COW-C).

As Heidi W. mentioned, I also oil heavily (with EVOO) just the length, not the roots. However, I sometimes use a scalp oil (jojoba + EOs) to get rid of occasional flakies, but that is a light oil (and I use a little) so I have no problem washing it out with my regular CWC. Actually, it's usually almost completely soaked in the next morning, before the wash, anyway,

[Lova]

Wow, so many useful replies!
I got most of it out with conditioner so taht's great. There's still one obvious greasy spot on my hair but I wore my hair up so that wasn't bothersome at all.

Who would've thought lots of condtioner and a tiny bit of diluted shampoo would do the trick.
My hair hasn't felt this wonderful in ages!

Lova~

[heidi w.]

As Heidi W. mentioned, I also oil heavily (with EVOO) just the length, not the roots. However, I sometimes use a scalp oil (jojoba + EOs) to get rid of occasional flakies, but that is a light oil (and I use a little) so I have no problem washing it out with my regular CWC. Actually, it's usually almost completely soaked in the next morning, before the wash, anyway,

Right there have been times I heavily oiled, including scalp, BUT with the intention of washing this by the following morning.

I don't oil scalp hair when I'm using the oil as my leave-in.

heidi w.

[jojo]

I found that applying shampoo straight on to dry hair, ie just the scalp area and massaging on, leave for a minute or so. Then I add conditioner in the same way and leave for a further minute or so and then rinse with warm water until all the suds have gone, then a final cold rinse.

This gets all the oil out for me, remember oil and water do not mix, so you need to emulsify the oil with shampoo to break the molecules up.

Try getting a jar with a lid, add some cooking oil and then some water and shake it up, no matter how hard you try the oil will always sit on top of the water, now try it with oil and just washing up liquid see how it breaks the oil up? same principle for your hair!

[Absinthegelatin]

I found that applying shampoo straight on to dry hair, ie just the scalp area and massaging on, leave for a minute or so. Then I add conditioner in the same way and leave for a further minute or so and then rinse with warm water until all the suds have gone, then a final cold rinse.

This gets all the oil out for me, remember oil and water do not mix, so you need to emulsify the oil with shampoo to break the molecules up.

Try getting a jar with a lid, add some cooking oil and then some water and shake it up, no matter how hard you try the oil will always sit on top of the water, now try it with oil and just washing up liquid see how it breaks the oil up? same principle for your hair!


Mystery solved (with the help of the not-so-mysterious use of the shampoo as a solvent!)

I like the jar metaphor. c:

[Yozhik]

I'm off to implement some of your advice right now! Can't seem to get a good balance between well hydrated length with clean roots :(

[ccmuffingirl]

Double Post

[ccmuffingirl]

According to Lorrainne Massey in the Curly Girl Handbook, one can use either a combination of conditioner and lemon juice or a mixture of baking soda and water (1 tblspn baking soda to one cup of water).

[AmericanWoman]

I think a lot of people who have trouble removing oil are using too much. A heavy oiling should be just enough oil to look a bit greasy. Like others, I can get it out with CO. Leaving it overnight gives it a chance to absorb a bit, also. Another thing is after CO, your hair still feels "oily" while still wet because it's not stripped like after shampooing.
If you feel better shampooing, try diluting the shampoo. with water and don't expect that "My hair feels like a brillo pad" stripped within an inch of it's life" clean" you get without the oil" effect, if this makes sense. Olive and coconut oil are going to pretty much absorbin a day or so anyway.

[Syaoransbear]

I very heavily oil my hair. Like, to the point where it's dripping with oil. What I do is get in the shower, wet my hair, then apply conditioner all over my roots and length. Then I put shampoo only on my roots, lather, rinse, apply MORE conditioner, rinse that, and then my hair is nice and soft. The oil is still there because I can definitely tell when my hair has been oiled vs when it hasn't, but it's still perfectly clean at the same time. But if I don't feel like using shampoo, I just oil from my ears down and CO.