Can't get oil treatments out of my hair

[SecretMermaid]

I've tried using oil treatments on my hair a few times and I can never get it out of my hair - only time can! I usually wash my hair with 2 - 3 whole eggs and an apple cider vinegar rinse once a week which does an excellent job, but it doesn't remove oil treatments from my hair. I tried using coconut oil last weekend and I tried to wash it out using conditioner but that didn't do anymore than the eggs/ACV. I've used castor oil once and coconut oil twice. I've also tried using argan oil in my hair as a leave in conditioner but it makes my hair look oily and limp, like after I've attempted to wash oil treatments out, even though I only used 1 - 2 drops at most. Where am I going wrong?! Does my hair just really not like oils? Thanks :)

[Marika]

I always wash oil treatments out with shampoo and even then, I'm sometimes struggling if I've done a heavier oil application. Coconut oil washes out quite easily with shampoo but I can't use castor oil at all because I feel like it never goes away. Maybe you're using too much/often oils..? They do build up eventually. I seem to benefit the most, if I do an oil treatment only once a month. Pure oils as a leave-in are too much for my fine hair but I do use Nightblooming's Panacea a couple of times a week which is an oil/butter blend.

[SecretMermaid]

The treatments have been spaced about a month apart each but were probably reasonably heavy. I have fine hair also so that may be why the argan oil is showing up so much... Oh well, I'm thinking oils just aren't for me as I've seen no benefit so far. I don't dye my hair or use heat on it and it's in pretty good condition so I probably don't really need oils anyway. The more low maintinence the better ;) :)

[StellaKatherine]

I always use shampoo after oil treatment, it is a must for me.

[Nellon]

I do CO and I noticed that coconut oil was possible to wash out using CO, but olive oil wasn't! To get olive oil out I have to schampoo twice.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I find that I do need to use shampoo to remove oils, even a small amount of oil won't move unless I use shampoo. If you have a lot of oil on your hair you may need to apply shampoo several times.

[SecretMermaid]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I think I'll probably skip the oils from now on given I'm not sure how much help they will be to me but if I do use them again I'll try using shampoo to wash them out. Again thanks :)

[neko_kawaii]

The easiest way to remove oil is 20 minutes of conditioner. Think of it as a deep treatment like a SMT (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=128&highlight=snowymoon). But, it doesn't have to be fancy either. I have a squeeze bottle that I add condish and water to (and sometimes aloe, honey, etc) and apply that before I plan to wash. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes. I don't add so much water that it drips and needs to be wrapped in plastic, I don't bother trying to make my head hot by wrapping etc. Apply the diluted condish, do chores for 20 minutes or whatever needs doing, and then rinse it out. I use it as the first C in a CWC, so after the rinse I shampoo my scalp, and condish again with a very small amount. And I'm done.

It takes only a couple minutes to apply the condish, it only takes a little bit of forethought to use the twenty minutes constructively (or relaxingly).

[Firefox7275]

You need a decent amount of emulsifiers (mix oil and water) to shift oil, eggs have a little but you may need to use way more egg than usual. Vinegar is not an emulsifier, that plus oil plus egg = mayonnaise!

Shampoo and lightweight conditioners contain plenty and either works if you use enough product.

[meteor]

If your hair is very oily, you can't wash hair as effectively with things like ACV or conditioner as you can with a clarifying shampoo.

Here's a photo of co-washed hair under a microscope (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5n6NyPlQAk/UwjOaOMA0sI/AAAAAAAABTs/Cvw_8Y1XMUY/s1600/cowashed_hair.jpg).
Here's a photo of shampooed hair under a microscope (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rp4eWCowy9o/UwjPFk6lk8I/AAAAAAAABT4/FhFzWwmWZxg/s1600/shampooed_hair.jpg).
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2014/02/does-co-washing-really-clean-your-hair.html

Here's a photo of hair washed with ACV rinse (10 minutes) under a microscope (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D5fvSPLHVEU/U7Quo9WjlGI/AAAAAAAABd4/IwZ9Yrj_zGg/s1600/acv_natural_hair_2.jpg).
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2014/07/can-you-wash-your-hair-with-baking-soda.html

[Marika]

meteor, thanks for the links! The ACV pic looks a bit... icky! :D

neko_kawaii, that's a great tip! :) I'm having a hard time doing SMTs/deep treatments after shampoo (I feel like it takes too long before I'm finished) but if I did them before shampoo, it might feel like less effort.

[prettyinpink]

Conditioner washing with vo5 removes oil very well

[lilin]

I would say because your cleansing method is gentle, that may be why it's not coming out -- especially since what you use to wash your hair is already quite moisturizing.

I use soap nuts, which are a fair bit stronger, but even that won't get out a heavy oil application for me. Neither will a shampoo bar. I need to use a strong shampoo TWICE in order to make that happen.

I also didn't see much benefit of oiling before washing. And in retrospect, it doesn't make a ton of sense to me -- putting oil on completely dry hair that doesn't have any extra moisture in it to lock in anyway, and then having to wash it harshly to get it off.

What I do these days is wash, then when my hair is about 80% dry, put about 2 drops of apricot oil on the last 2 or 3 inches.

But my last 2 or 3 inches have a fair bit of mechanical damage. I should really cut them off -- I just can't quite do it yet. Oiling does make them less dry and tangle-prone, and it doesn't look or feel greasy on me because those ends are so incredibly thirsty.

But when I do finally cut them off, I reckon oiling will be over-kill. If I get it above those damaged ends, it just doesn't feel that great.

You might just not need oil, or at least not regularly, especially with such a conditioning washing routine.

[SecretMermaid]

Thank you for the responses, I apologise for my delayed reply, I actually couldn't find this thread again until now lol! I'm too young to be this bad with computers :P I don't have particularly oily hair, I can easily go the week and a little more without washing however that was a very interesting post. I have gotten the oil out now (time!) but didn't notice any benefit, my hair is in really good condition just as it is which I am lucky for. The ends are the only area there's any issue with and on the advice of those on the FB group of LHC I have found braiding it at night and putting olive oil on the braid ends to be work really well, I'm no longer getting knots in the ends no matter what I do (I was before). So for now I'm just going to stick to that :) Once again thank you so much for all of your replies, I don't post much on here but I am always lurking and I have learnt just about everything I know about hair from this forum :)