Starting to attempt not washing every day

[MsBubbles]

I have a double celebration today: I got my new (small) ficcare to stay *in* my hair and not just slide right on out again :).

In addition, I guess I have finally decided to try in earnest not to wash my hair every day. If I leave it down it's unbearably greasy and itchy. It feels like I have egg yolk all over my scalp. However, I have noticed progress in the past 5 months since I found LHC and discovered the evils of splotching neat shampoo all over one's scalp every day. I have noticed since diluting the shampoo that I can buy myself a half-a-day extra of not washing/itching/oil-slicking, as it doesn't get as greasy as it used to the next day. So that's a little bit of progress!

So I am a bit severe-looking today because my hair is up, but I am excited and happier to think I'm doing my long-hair journey a favor by not washing every day. So maybe my happier expression makes up for the unbecoming hairdo :).

I have no idea what I did behind my head but it sorta looks like an unintentional infinity bun with bits sticking out at random. Who cares, though. The ficcare is IN!!

[chrissy-b]

My hair too gets incredibly greasy on day two, but it's the itchiness that I can't stand.

It does get easier, though. It took me a couple of months but my hair is finally starting to balance out and it only needs to be washed 1-2x a week and misted or WO one other day.

[happymommy]

I would looooove to be able to stretch washes! I wish you joy and patience on your journey :)

[MsBubbles]

Thanks for the encouragement! I must say now I'm nearing the end of the second day it feels like I have maggots crawling all over my scalp.

I know this is obviously no big deal to most people on here, judging by the lack of interest in this thread, but it's a huge deal for me. It's like quitting highlights or chocolate or something. I've washed my hair every day (except during the flu) for the past 27 years!

Is there anybody else out there currently trying to quit washing every day? How is it going? Did anybody give up?

[Arctic]

My scalp seems to like being washed often. I used to wash everyday but have been washing around every other day for some years now, it seems to be ideal to my scalp. But then again my scalp often confuses me and I don't understand it most of the time :(

Good luck to you, I hope your scalp will be more co-operative!

[Ohio Sky]

Thanks for the encouragement! I must say now I'm nearing the end of the second day it feels like I have maggots crawling all over my scalp.

I know this is obviously no big deal to most people on here, judging by the lack of interest in this thread, but it's a huge deal for me. It's like quitting highlights or chocolate or something. I've washed my hair every day (except during the flu) for the past 27 years!

Is there anybody else out there currently trying to quit washing every day? How is it going? Did anybody give up?

Well, I have somewhat recently successfully given up washing every day, does that count?? :D

Diluting the shampoo is the first huge step. It makes washes MUCH less harsh, and keeps it from stripping all of the oil, which can cause your scalp to overproduce. It does take a little bit of time for your hair and scalp to adjust, so don't rush. Dilute the shampoo, but keep washing every day if you feel you need to for a few weeks, and then try stretching washes to every other day. At this point your scalp should have adjusted to producing less oil.

And now that you've got your hair up successfully, you have the second weapon to combat the daily washes- put it up and forget about it. Even greasy hair can look good up.

I was an every day washer (not because I got really greasy, just because- well, that's what you do) Until around march of this year. I had very little trouble extending my washes using the diluted poo method, and now I only wash once or twice a week.

[wintersun99]

Good luck. I am having difficulty not washing everyday too - in my case, I've been trying very hard to fade henna/indigo so I always have a honey treatment on :)

Some day, I will go back to every 3-4 days or so...

[spidermom]

I tried to cut washing my hair to once a week, but that didn't go very well. My hair was so greasy that it felt like it needed to be washed every day for the next week.

My motto is "wash your hair whenever it needs it." I've gotten up in the morning and washed my hair because it was greasy. Then I've washed it again in the evening because I spent the day crawling around in my flower beds, and my hair got dirt in it. Of course when that happens the first wash involves shampoo and the second would be conditioner only.

Have you tried CWC? (apply conditioner to ends, wash scalp, rinse, condition again) For a person who has to wash often, CWC with diluted shampoo and/or CO are the best options, I think.

[Arctic]

Oh yes, I use CWC method too, I forgot to add it :)

[Slug Yoga]

Updos are great for hiding greasy hair :D Good luck with the not-washing!

[kunibob]

It's fitting for me to find this -- you posted this thread right as I was about to start doing the same thing! I haven't decided yet if Thursday or Friday will be my first no-wash day (I was going to start tomorrow, but I have a rather important work meeting to attend, so we'll see how greasy I am tomorrow morning.)

I just bought a couple of cute, thick headbands from etsy so that I can hide the greasy front & double-plait the back. The way I see it, we have to pamper ourselves a bit to motivate ourselves through the tough part! ;)

Good luck to you! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's just starting out on this! :D

[MsBubbles]

Oh good! This is all useful info, thanks Arctic, Ohio Sky, Wintersun99. Spidermom - I have actually been doing cwc since I found online long hair communities back in April. That does work well and I think it has saved my ends.

Yes Kunibob, work is a big deal, although luckily I don't really feel like I need to look as perfect at my present office as I felt like I had to at my previous job, so 2 or 3 days of grease a week shouldn't bother anybody there. Slug yoga - I just wish I could find some pretty updos for my type of hair and ineptitude. It would make the put it up and forget about it day a lot easier! Your suggestions sound great, though.

I guess I'll try this for a month and see if there's any improvement before caving in to having a fresh scalp every day (and possibly damaged ends sooner!).

Thanks for all the posts!

[NurseMama]

I have another option for you than CWC or CO.

Have you tried the scrunchi bun wash? You put your hair loosely into a scrunchi bun, cover the bun with a shower cap (like the cap is a scrunchi) and just wet/ wash the roots. It protects the ends from the poo.

[sosspenc]

I've gone from washing twice a day (I can feel the shudders) to just washing twice a week. This was a very gradual process. I did it over this past winter. Hopefully with the cooler weather coming you won't feel as greasy. By the time summer came around my hair had never felt better!!! Hang in there it does get better.

[annielauri]

I have a had a tough time not washing every day too! I started off in the end of may going kind of cold turkey into "no poo". I was still WO or baking soda washing every day. I stuck it out for 2 months and couldn't take it anymore. I bought some shampoo bars and have been trying to stretch to every 3rd day washes, but am having a tough go of it. My hair really doesn't get greasy except for my bangs, but I just feel better with a freshly washed, or even WO scalp.

My next step is to try to grow out my bangs that I have had since 7th grade, whether my hair has been short or long, (BTW, I am 46 now) tee hee.

[Jemoiselle]

I tried to stop cold turkey too and started doing WO, needless to say I lasted about two weeks hehe. It was hard! I had no idea how oily my hair could get! I tried using BBB to bring the scalp oils to the ends instead of them just pooling up, man was it hard!

It took three washes to bring the level back to bearable! My hair felt soo soft though, wow. I'll chalk the whole ordeal up to one incredible hot oil treatment! :p

To those of you that grit your pearly whites and make it through that bear of an adjustment period, my hats off to you! I would love to not need to wash my hair so much, but I found that CWC works great for my hair, and being that I only need to do that every couple of days or so due to how much I wear my hair up (and me not liking to sleep on wet hair, no matter even if it is in a bun! Ick!) it seems to be doing just fine and I think I've found a nice compromise.

Best of luck and keep us updated!
Jemoiselle

[ChloeDharma]

I'm fine with the oily hair thing....i actually add it then go 3 days heavily oiled before a wash most of the time. Buns are my best friend in this.
The scalp itchy thing would drive me mad though! What about misting the scalp with some essential oils added like peppermint, rosemary, lavender, tea tree.....those tend to feel zingy and refreshing. Boar bristle brushing i used to use to spread the sebum down which helped alot too.
Funny though, i'm actually wanting to increase my wash frequency, if i don't oil i can go a week without washing my hair and not look ridiculously oily, although, i am comparing that to my hair heavily oiled which usually is almost constant with me, so it's easy for me to not bother.

[MsBubbles]

These are very interesting findings to me! Not sure what others think but I would be inclined to agree on annielauri's bangs issue. I think my hair is easier to manage, greasewise, with grown-out bangs, possibly partly due to them being swept off my forehead instead of clinging to it!

I had a mini-breakthrough this evening. When I finally took my ficcare out tonight, the ends of my hair were so soft and healthy-feeling I got a rush of excitement, like I suddenly had different hair altogether! Even though it's itchy and dirty-looking up top, this might be what gets me through the tough transition period. If I can pull this off, I might need less oil treatments on the ends.

If I crack I'll try nursemama's scrunchi bun wash suggestion.

This whole issue may be worse for those with straight, fine thin hair but then again I may just have a case of the 'grass is greener'.

[Indigo Girl]

I already have quit washing every day, but that was the hardest change for me to make. My hair gets incredibly greasy, so I have always been used to washing it daily. For the past year, I have been washing it every other day, or even every two days.

My best advice (and what I used for myself) would be to just change your perspective. ;)

Instead of bemoaning my insane greasiness, I embraced my hair having a "day off". I have searched for updos to wear on my "off" days to hide the greasiness.

So far, it's working pretty well. :)

[Kirin]

I've tried several methods for not washing hair daily, and have returned to shampoo, every day. To me , at least, the horribly oily, smelly, bad hair days of lank hair, lackluster and itchy sappyness of my scalp and hair was just not worth it.

What is the point of long hair, if it makes you feel dirty, gross, itchy, and unkempt? (this is from my own personal experience and opinion).

I lost more hair, had duller hair, limper hair, and all out stinky hair without washing, CWC and CO. Water only lasted three days when my children told me I stank to high heck. (and I did).

So for me its lather, rinse, condition, works fine, hairs in great shape, no splits, no aggrivations LOL.

[mrs carol]

I have tried to go longer than every other day washing my hair. My hair gets so oily I just can't go any longer. I have been conditioning first then washing once then using a light apple cider vinegar rinse. That seems to make my hair real happy.

[lynnala]

I spent almost my entire life washing my hair every day. I wouldn't go out in public unless I had washed my hair. My hair would get greasy by the second day (my hair is thin) and would separate into clumps. Since I joined LHC, I started stretching out the washes, I just pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail and pretended that the slick look was what I intended. ;) Now that my hair has gotten used to not being washed every day, it doesn't get greasy at all! I can go 5 or 6 days and my hair is just fine. I even like my hair better on the 2nd or 3rd day after washing. Sometimes I add a light oil at night and the next day I can still go without washing. So I think it's just a matter of adjusting and dealing with an awkward phase.

[Odile]

I've tried not washing every day. Sometimes I can skip a day, but my scalp gets so itchy, and I feel icky. Like my hair is a slimy, oily, greasy mess. I do have oily hair, but I have to wonder how much of that ickyness is mental. I've just gotten into this "Must wash daily" mindset, and I can't break out of it.

My hair seems to not mind daily washings, but if I try to style it without washing, the hairpins and such just slide right out of the bun!

Good luck with your attempt, and keep us informed.

[CurlyOne]

I am just now trying to cut down on washings. So far I am at 1 week doing every other day washes and I think my hair is a fast adjuster. Day two has the greasies still but already it is much better!

[*BelievingAgain]

Yay for the ficcare staying in, wohooo! That's truly such a great feeling. My hair copes fine with clasps and clips etc now (well, when it's at a length to go up in them), but when I was a girl my hair was so slippery and soft, nothing would stay in it. There was a particular set of unicorn clips that I cried over a lot. I loved them, but they never loved staying on my head, lol.
Baby steps with the washing thing, it will get better, I PROMISE. :flower:

[Shanarana]

I used to wash every day before finding LHC but I was also brutal to my hair as well. I don't wash everyday anymore. Sometimes I'll go several days without a wash, it depends if I have product in my hair (when I wear it down) otherwise I just wash when I feel it needs it.

[pinkprincess]

I'm trying to go from every other day to every 3 days and I manage by using a lot of dry shampoo. It is really hard, but like everyone else says just bun it or something and try to ignore it, it should only take afew weeks. Good luck!

[ClareDee]

Congrats on the ficcare :) Hope you'll get lots of use out of it!

I know what you mean re stretching washes. It's tough! I have a very oily scalp and I'm hoping it'll start producing less oil if I hold off on the daily washing.
It does suck at times... I have a visitor coming over this evening and my hair is very greasy (day 3 of no washing). It looks wet and horrible. They're definitely going to notice it... But I'm still not going to wash until tomorrow. After all, if I keep waiting for a week where I see no-one and go nowhere, I'll be waiting a long time. I'm a stubborn greaseball!

Stick with it :)

[Nes]

I switched from washing every 2 days to washing every 4 days a few months ago. The things that helped me the most were

1) diluting shampoo
2) cutting down the amount of shampoo I used

I know you are diluting, but how much shampoo are you using? I used to use a whole palm-full, and now I use literally a pea-sized amount and it has really helped.

Good luck with the transition, I know it feels yukky right now, but try and concentrate on how great it will be once your hair has acclimatised to it.

I bought some silky bandana/alice band things to cover my greasy roots - maybe this would help you cope with the in between days?

Also, congratulations on the ficcare!

Nes x

[Merkaba]

I used to wash everyday, now I wash 3 times a week. At first it was really greasy, but it seems to have calmed down now. Day 1 and 2 after wash it still looks good, day 3 looks a bit greasy so I generally wear it up that day. The itches will stop too, just give it time

[jivete]

I used to be a daily washer and quit cold turkey with no poo. My head used to itch like crazy on day two if I tried to wash every other day. That stopped once I quit using shampoo. I think the daily use of shampoo was just drying/iritating my scalp. My head rarely ever itches any more.

Currently I use a combination of methods: CO, WO and Indian herbs to wash. I do wash 4x per week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and then Sat afternoon. My hair will generally look a little oilier on day two, but nothing that is unmanageable and it's much, much better than it was before.

[Honey39]

I condition only almost every day - my hair seems to get really clean without being stripped, and I love the feeling of my hair drying into curls. It seems gentler on my hair, ironically, because I slather on conditioner, rinse it out, add some oil, and then that's me - no brushing/combing issues, no fiddling with it, it just seems to like being washed with conditioner and left alone. Shoudl I want to stretch out the times it gets wet???? Am confused now, lol.

[MsBubbles]

I condition only almost every day - my hair seems to get really clean without being stripped, and I love the feeling of my hair drying into curls. It seems gentler on my hair, ironically, because I slather on conditioner, rinse it out, add some oil, and then that's me - no brushing/combing issues, no fiddling with it, it just seems to like being washed with conditioner and left alone. Shoudl I want to stretch out the times it gets wet???? Am confused now, lol.

I'm not sure why you would want to stretch it out. You have curls. You don't need to comb/brush after getting it wet. Like spidermom always says, do what is working for you. Washing every day makes mine look like old, dead-straight straw. I have zero curl. You are lucky :). If I washed my hair or even wet and conditioned it only, and didn't comb it, I'd look like a haystack.

[kunibob]

I had a mini-breakthrough this evening. When I finally took my ficcare out tonight, the ends of my hair were so soft and healthy-feeling I got a rush of excitement, like I suddenly had different hair altogether! Even though it's itchy and dirty-looking up top, this might be what gets me through the tough transition period. If I can pull this off, I might need less oil treatments on the ends.

That's great to hear! I am going to keep this quote accessible all day so that I can look at it when I'm getting itchy -- this is my first no-wash day and I'm feeling a little uncomfortable (both physically and mentally). Gotta soldier through!!

[Honey39]

I'm not sure why you would want to stretch it out. You have curls. You don't need to comb/brush after getting it wet. Like spidermom always says, do what is working for you. Washing every day makes mine look like old, dead-straight straw. I have zero curl. You are lucky :). If I washed my hair or even wet and conditioned it only, and didn't comb it, I'd look like a haystack.

Ok, that makes a lot of sense, thanks! :) I've started to (finally!) come to terms with my hair, and for me, the easiest way to manage my hair is to wet it every day and let it dry into shape. Because trying to detangle it when it's dry the next morning is just agony and so damaging - much easier to hop into the shower and condition it!

[sipnsun]

I'm feeling your pain Ms. Bubbles, since joining LHC I've started washing every other day and I have to say it's pure torture. My scalp itches so bad even now, a year later. I've found that if I brush my scalp on the off day, it feels a little better. I was using a bbb for this, but I've switched to a Denman nylon brush because it feels better and I loose less hair. Good luck and I hope your scalp does a better job of balancing out than mine has.

[annielauri]

I don't get the itchies at all. Maybe because I use a white vinegar rinse? About 2 Tbsps vinegar in 4 cups water. I also do a final cool rinse. My scalp feels better than ever, I just have a mental block about not washing.

[annielauri]

Oh, and I have super hard water.

[MsBubbles]

That's great to hear! I am going to keep this quote accessible all day so that I can look at it when I'm getting itchy -- this is my first no-wash day and I'm feeling a little uncomfortable (both physically and mentally). Gotta soldier through!!

Hey Kunibob! I just wanted to say I'm wishing you the best in all this. I know it's only hair but this is an issue that has frustrated me for many years. So I'm glad to know somebody else is out there feeling greasy every other day too :)

[MsBubbles]

My scalp itches so bad even now, a year later.

Wow! You have some determination! Not sure I could last a whole year but I guess you never know when it might all just settle down.

[carolineb]

i used to wash my hair everyday or other day, especially as i was working out a lot and therefore sweating a lot. and once, i went on holidays in Scotland. My husband and myself hired a car and we drove around Scotland, sleeping in our tent and washing in the rivers we were finding, and this for one week or so. well, i can tell you the waters in rivers in Scotland are REALLY cold, and there was no way i would have washed my hair with that cold water. so i left it greasy for a week. back home, shampoo, well... i found then that the day after, my hair was not greasy, nor was it the day after the day after... and i found i could push my shampoo up to five days. now, i only wash it on Fridays, and i feel very good about it, so does my hair.

[kunibob]

Hey Kunibob! I just wanted to say I'm wishing you the best in all this. I know it's only hair but this is an issue that has frustrated me for many years. So I'm glad to know somebody else is out there feeling greasy every other day too :)

Haha, I agree! Today is an no-wash day for you, right? Hope it's tolerable! You were right about the ends -- couldn't believe how soft mine were at the end of the day yesterday. I wouldn't have thought to look for that if not for this thread. :) Hooray!

[Tressie]

I think if you are able to wear your hair up more often, you'll find that it doesn't seem to need washing quite as much....I hope! I know how you feel about the updo. I wore my hair down most of the time, or in a high ponytail until I came to LHC, and it was a little difficult to adjust to wearing my hair up. I think my hair has been like a shield to me, or something? I am getting more used/resigned? to updos which keep the hair safe and out of the way! It's rather liberating! I agree with Spidermom about CWC! Good luck!!

[Kimberly]

Tressie, I agree with you about needing to wash less often when hair's kept in an updo. I've also noticed that I have to wash less often as my hair gets longer . . . more length to soak up the oils, I guess. I only need to wash about once a week now, though usually I wash a bit more often just because I like the smell of my CV bar!

[MsBubbles]

i used to wash my hair everyday or other day, especially as i was working out a lot and therefore sweating a lot. and once, i went on holidays in Scotland.. .

That is a great story! I may try that approach if this doesn't work.

I suppose it's been almost 2 weeks now. I can't say my hair looks any less greasy on the 2nd day but I am getting used to the itching and am not scratching, no matter what. I do have to wear it up though, otherwise it just looks wet. People ask me "Oh it's still raining outside, eh?".

And on the day I wash it and wear it down, the ends are not miraculously perfect - some of them are still frayed :), but I need to remember that washing less is something that's going to help over the course of years not days. I do love how totally different my hair feels on the 2nd day (silky, soft, like hair again!).

So every 2nd day I'm gonna have to look like a hair-scraped-back meanie (it really is an ugly look on me).

So how's other folks' less-washing-project going?

[ladyshannonanne]

I'm trying to cut back on my shampooing, also. Right now, I wash everyday with a low-sulfate shampoo. I've really cut back on the amount of the product I use, though. I think I'm going to try CO tomorrow and see how that goes. I've been slowly working my way toward using less and less shampoo, so it seems like the natural progression to skip a day in between washings. But it's really hard when you've been washing every day your whole life.

Good luck!

[Elphie]

I seem to be able to wash every other day without having too much of a problem with oily hair. What I find myself doing is putting it in a french braid the night before day 2 so that I wind up with braid waves for the next day. I guess it helps convince me not to wash them out because I like braid waves.

[MsBubbles]

I'm trying to cut back on my shampooing, also.... it's really hard when you've been washing every day your whole life.



It's good to know others are braving dirty-hair for a day a few days a week also. Keep me posted on your progress! I'm about 2-3 weeks into it and it has taken me that long to notice less itching and less oil on day 2. It still looks yucky though.

A large part of me wanting to wash every day is because the grease on the non-wash day keeps my hair glued to my scalp and it just doesn't move like healthy-looking hair does. I am hoping that will change and that my scalp will produce less oil.

[kunibob]

I'm glad you're starting to adjust, MsBubbles!

It turns out that my hair really likes being washed less often -- I think it was dreadfully thirsty before and is welcoming all the oil. It's now quite nice on the 2nd day as well as the 1st.

I'm trying for every third day right now. The problem I'm having is that my hair really smells bad on the third day. I'm not sure why. :( I've been WOing on the third day to try to knock back the smell a bit, but it still seems really strong. :(

[xrosiex]

I like my hair best freshly washed. I CWC daily. I do use oils. But I'm sure the day is coming. I'll try streching out my washes.:shrug:

[eaglefeather71]

Over the past 11 months I have gone from Shampoo, to BS/ACV No Poo Method, to Homemade Shampoo, to Egg wash, to CV Bars, to CO, to CV Bar (diluted) one week and CO the next, and now I am mostly WO. I only wash 1x a week, but its with Aubrey Organix hair rinse (water, witch hazel, henna extract, B vitamins and Peppermint EO). The rest of the week I just brush with a BBB each night before bed, and its in an updo after the 2nd or 3rd day just because it gets kind of flat and dull but not oily any more. Sometimes I put a tiny bit of a dilluted homemade shampoo or a little CV Bar on my fingers on my crown if I have flakes to help loosen them. Each of these steps moved me closer to being product free. Some caused me to lose large amounts of hair, but it has all grown back, I've had great length growth this past year. Once I get to where I can post pictures, I cant wait to show my progress since I am still technically a "shortie".

[Oberon88]

I do a lot of CO and wash 1- 2 times a week depending on what I do during the day and how itchy my head feels. I used to wash every day though and I know how hard it is to stop.
Good luck with the experiment!