Shampoo twice or shampoo more often?

[Vanilla]

I have a little bit of a question about shampoo methods. Generally, I'll shampoo only once, but I can only stretch washes every 3 days or so. If I shampoo twice, I can stretch one extra day. Which is less damaging in your opinion?

Shampoo once or twice?

[Seeshami]

Shampoo once. The extra day isn't really worth it, if it was two days or another three days I would say that they are the same.

[Vanilla]

Thanks for the advice and response. :).

[HintOfMint]

They're close, but I'd shampoo twice. I think the damaging part of hair washing comes from the soaking and drying cycles. Hair gets soaked, shaft fills with water, lifts the cuticle, hair dries, cuticle goes down, but may be a little ruffled. Repeat too much and the cuticle never really returns to its original position. My hair is noticeably more damaged and dry looking when I wash too often, but is perfectly fine with a thorough scalp scrubdown that involves shampooing twice.

[Simone_Fatale]

Personally I shampoo only once cause doing it twice dries my hair out terribly and then I have to oil it heavily which eliminates the benefit of stretching washes. My hair is naturally on the dry side, though, but if your hair can handle it without damage, I say go for it.

[Sillage]

They're close, but I'd shampoo twice. I think the damaging part of hair washing comes from the soaking and drying cycles. Hair gets soaked, shaft fills with water, lifts the cuticle, hair dries, cuticle goes down, but may be a little ruffled. Repeat too much and the cuticle never really returns to its original position.

I came here to say exactly this!

[melusine963]

I would shampoo twice and stretch my washes, absolutely. Most of the damage happens when I detangle my hair post-wash, so minimising the number of times I have to do this is good.

[lapushka]

If I were you I'd shampoo twice as well - that extra day is priceless.

[Vanilla]

Thank you all for your responses. They both make sense to me. I'll try both methods over the next week.

[Olafwa]

I shampoo twice, but I don't wash my hair often. (Once a month) So if I only shampoo once my head doesn't feel clean. - Obviously I would take no damage over a single day, but if you shampoo twice and it doesn't damage, why not? :D When I switched from once to twice, the only difference I found was a cleaner head. Here's hoping you get that extra day!

[torrilin]

I don't really worry about it. I am at the point where I wash every 7 days or so, give or take (I'm at the point where I no longer remember for sure when my last wash was). My hair gets wet more often, and I'll toss conditioner on it a lot more often... but actual shampoo is a pretty rare thing. And it's a pretty deep philosophical question whether it counts as one round of shampoo or two when I'm using 1-2 dimes worth of shampoo for my scalp washes, and I used to use a palmful for one wash.

I'm generally judging routine changes by the total amount of fiddling I do with my hair. So I don't worry about using lots of conditioner, since it means I spend less time detangling. (even so, my lots these days is scads less than I used to use - I've got better techniques for working it in) Less shampoo is good, but shampoo that causes less tangles to begin with is also good. If in doubt between the two, I'd go for the one that produced less tangles.

[Vanilla]

Generally one wash produces less tangles than 2 washes. You guys have given me so much to think about.

[Rosethorn]

I shampoo twice, but I don't wash my hair often. (Once a month) So if I only shampoo once my head doesn't feel clean. - Obviously I would take no damage over a single day, but if you shampoo twice and it doesn't damage, why not? :D When I switched from once to twice, the only difference I found was a cleaner head. Here's hoping you get that extra day!

Once a month? You're my hero. :toast: I'm happy if I can stretch it to 7 days.

[PetuniaBlossom]

They're close, but I'd shampoo twice. I think the damaging part of hair washing comes from the soaking and drying cycles. Hair gets soaked, shaft fills with water, lifts the cuticle, hair dries, cuticle goes down, but may be a little ruffled. Repeat too much and the cuticle never really returns to its original position. My hair is noticeably more damaged and dry looking when I wash too often, but is perfectly fine with a thorough scalp scrubdown that involves shampooing twice.

Completely agree. I'd just add that, although I shampoo twice, I very much dilute my shampoo, so I'm only using the same amount as if I'd shampoo'ed only once with no dilution. Seems to do a better job of cleaning, and less stripping of the natural sebum.