How to keep hair clean through sweaty workouts?

[CaityBear]

So I like to workout everyday (like cardio that makes me sweat like crazy!) and when I'm done my roots always feel like I just showered and it's so gross!

I'm trying not to wash my hair everyday so I'm wondering how I can keep my hair from getting really gross afterwards working out.

[amiaow]

You might just have to give it a rinse with water, to get the sweat/salt out. I think that's what most of the gym goers do! I'm currently a daily washer so I just wash the next day- sweat on clean hair isn't usually too bad. However, if you're trying to spread your washes, then water is the way to go I think. I don't know how else you could get it out without water!

[longhairedfairy]

Personally, I always wash my hair after a workout because I sweat a lot and it has never done me any harm. I wash my hair about every day anyway, but if you don't want to do that you could just do a scalp wash and then condition the length.

[Islandgrrl]

Depending on how gross and sweaty, I'll either just rinse or CO. Examples:

I took a step class today and got pretty sweaty. I rinsed my hair after and it's fine.

I go on a 100 mile bike ride. I'll CO after that one. Too gross for words.

[trolleypup]

Rinsing it with water will take all the sweat out. I find rinsing when my scalp is still hot and sweaty works pretty well.

[goldenwaves]

You could try a dry shampoo, if you're not opposed to products!!

[BeatlesFanGirl]

I have the same dilema, since I love sports too. I was my hair every 5th day, but I dont do anything between them. I dont think your natural sweating is bad for your hair, but if you feel uncomfortable with it, try to rinse it without shampooing.

[Magenta]

I had the same problem as you, I would normally leave it till dry (sounds a bit gross) but then it would normally be ok, or if it needed washing I'd just do a CO. I find CO's so gentle I wasn't too bothered about doing them often! :)

[Samikha]

I had the same thing yesterday! I just rinsed, and it worked well enough, but like goldenwaves said, maybe a dry shampoo would work? It's worth a try, anyway - you can always rinse after if it doesn't work.

[camara]

I´m rinsing thoroughly, this takes care of the sweat.

[Eryka]

This is something I've been wondering about as well. My workouts have me sweating heavily at least 6 days a week. Let me actually mention that I just recently switched to CO and I'm in the process of repairing a severely dry scalp.

Generally, sweating isn't a huge deal as long as I brush my hair through after working out or after the shower. (I keep it up in a chopstick knot). Brushing it through distributes a lot of the heaviness and damp so it doesn't all collect on the scalp. Between that and the water mist that I get in the shower, my hair dries essentially the same for 2 or so days. (It could actually be more once I get my scalp back in order.)

Right now I'm COing every second day and that works well for my workouts and getting moisture back into my scalp.

[chotee]

sweat is not bad for hair, but seems gross. I try not to wash or rinse my hair but if its really smelly or something i give a rinse in water with a few drops of rosemary eo or something. The smell is gone and i don't need to use any cleanser. Most long haired people wash their scalps alone holding the ends over their heads. My hair is not that long to try this technique though.

[Magdalene]

Since my hair is so light it really shows when I get oily/sweaty. I just wash it everyday, as long as I use a gentle shampoo I've had no issues with it.

[spidermom]

If you put your hair in a high ponytail while working out, less hair will have sweat running through it. Then you can just hit the wet areas with the dryer for a few minutes if you don't want to run around with sweaty hair, although I never did that. I used to work out during my lunch hour at a job I had. There was no time to wash/dry my hair; I had about 1-3 minutes to do a quick shower. My hair would dry pretty fast, and I never noticed any bad smell from it. I washed about every other day back then.

[eadwine]

I bike every day and get sweaty, I just leave it to dry, it doesn't harm my hair at all.

[Mebo]

I wish I knew the answer, because I have the same problem. All I can come up with is to wash everyday.

I'll be watching this thread, because I've tried all the suggestions above, and they didn't work for me, except everyday washing.

[Anje]

I think your options are pretty much that you can rinse it, or you can leave the sweat in. If you leave it, you might want to let your hair down for a bit to let it dry and generally air out a bit so it doesn't smell sweaty. Once it's dry, you might want to go after it with a BBB, natural comb, or fingers to move the oils down a bit, if your hair gets oily when you sweat.

Maybe the sebum-only crowd would have ideas.

[BittSweetCherry]

I am going to face this problem very soon - my hair has grown a foot or two since I last hit the gym.

Most of the time appearances aren't an issue for me, so I plan to just stick my head under a cold shower and massage a little with my fingers - not even bothering to undo the braid. In the past when I've gone for a run or come home from MA without changing, I threw a few drops of EO into a bucket of lukewarm water and chucked that over my head, and patted most of the water off the surface of my hairdo. Nice smell, no crunchy salt feeling.

I must emphasise that as a student I only have to look presentable twice a week (for work), and a drowned'n'dried gym braid really is quite messy.

[karenpetal]

Usually have a shower after workouts as I sweat crazy - but rinsing the scalp immediately after workout helps

[maluszek]

I sweat very much from workout and I don't have time for a shower after (gym during lunch break). I just leave my hair to dry, let it down and comb for better drying.