Massive shed on wash days?

[Kaya]

Hullo lovely LHCers! :) I Know I've been a bit sporadic here on the forum, but I return to you now seeking answers and advice.

We recently moved from the USA to England (military move). While I'm greatly enjoying the culture shock, one thing that I'm not terribly excited about is the hard water. It's the first time I've dealt with hard water and while I can tackle the lime scale buildup on my faucets, my hair is a different story.

I've been tweaking my routine to see what will work best. I was able to get a bottle of Redken's Cleansing Cream shampoo, which has chelating properties. So I figure I can use that every so often when my hair starts feeling weird. But I'm trying to take a stab at stretching my washes to cut down on exposing my hair to the hard water. I know there are filter options, but since we are just settling in, those aren't high on the priorities list.

Now to the nitty-gritty of the whole post. I might go 4 days/3 nights without washing my hair before my scalp starts to get a bit funky. That's big since I've long been a dedicate daily CO-washer. I will typically use my TT to get my daily shed out in between washes. But even so, the amount of hair shed in the shower on wash day is a bit scary. Is that normal, to get a larger-than-normal shed when stretching washes? Should I be worried? Thanks in advance for any input! :flowers:

[Nique1202]

I definitely find more sheds on wash day than any other day, because washing means manipulating the hair a lot more and loosening those already- or ready-to-shed hairs. The problem got a lot better when I started brushing through my hair more often, especially brushing around my scalp.

I find that my hair is just too thick for any of the TT knockoffs that I've seen here, the bristles are WAY too soft to catch on my hair to detangle it, let alone pull out shed hairs. They slide right out of and off past the tangles, and they don't get anywhere near my scalp. Nowhere near where I live carries actual TTs so I don't know if they have the same bristles, but I wonder if it's just that the TT isn't strong enough to get all those sheds out in between? I know when I started using a paddle brush with stiff bristles and not a lot of squish to it, the sheds came out a lot more evenly throughout the week. (I'm using a Goody Jewel Shine Paddle Brush, and it's wonderful.)

My hair is pretty slippery, though, and not everyone can or wants to use a brush every day. If that's the case, you may just have to see more sheds in the shower. It's not a problem, as far as I can tell, just the result of the sheds not having been worked loose from the mass of hair between washes.

[lapushka]

Wash day is always the day I shed the most. Two sinks full. One pre-wash, one post-wash. I mean: a lot comes out. My hair is only washed weekly though, and is not detangled throughout the week. So, it's about what I can expect, I guess. Not complaining. :)

[cathair]

I often shed a ball of hair the size of a kitten on wash day. It is noticeably bigger if I keep my hair up 24/7, since it doesn't have much more opportunity to fall to the floor.

Shower filters can be picked up for about £10 on Amazon, but I still haven't got round to trying it yet either.

[schnibbles]

I shed a lot on wash days also. I wash 2x a week. I have hard water but I don't know that that has anything to do with it. I dilute my 'poo in a squeeze bottle and add in about 1/16 of a teaspoon of citric acid to the dilution.
Remember as your hair gets longer and longer your hairballs will grow considerably too...
I don't shed a ton on non-wash days so I figure it evens out. (at least I hope so)

[Mimha]

Hello Kaya.

I also have rather hard water here, but I don't think it has an influence on my shedding. I just put a little vinegar in the last rinse and my hair instantly becomes magically soft.

Concerning the shed, since some weeks now I have started to count my fallen hairs every day. In order to miss as little hair as possible in my count, I keep it attached all the day and I gather the morning detangling lot of shed hair with the evening one. So roughly, I shed between 40 to 70 hairs in normal days, with a slight increase when my hair is getting oily, and about 150 to sometimes more than 200 when washing (each 4-5 days). This week, I have shed an average of about 50 hairs a day without taking wash day into account. The worst days are when my hair is very oily and I wait too long to wash it. I have a huge shed then (about 70 when detangling before washing, and then about 200 more when detangling when damp and then when almost dry, despite the very gentle combing).

It's the first time that I count my fallen hairs. I am in my seasonal heavy loss now, so I suppose it's going to be less in the next coming months.

[lapushka]

Wash day is always the day I shed the most. Two sinks full. One pre-wash, one post-wash. I mean: a lot comes out. My hair is only washed weekly though, and is not detangled throughout the week. So, it's about what I can expect, I guess. Not complaining. :)

Oh yes, hard water here too! :)

[cat11]

I lose more hair on wash day too, and then the day after when I detangle my newly washed hair. It happens a lot first when I detangle my hair before the shower, although its not balls like more people are talking about. Just I notice more on my comb or tangle teaser. I lose a little in the shower, but not very much at all because I don't crunch ,y hair up to wash it I just massage the shampoo down in a downward motion with some water. Then I shed an about equal amount to the detangling before when i detangle it again after it dries. I dont mess with my hair alot though and I wear it up do it doesn't really become so tangled in between and I don't lose that many hairs. A lot probably loosen or are ready to shed but haven't had the opportunity to fall out...

[ZeppHead]

I don't shampoo wash but days I co wash I always lose more hair than the non wash days.

[jacqueline101]

My hair has cycles sometimes on wash days I shed a lot but other times not as much. I don't comb any differently or anything. I've come to think the extra hairs are shed hairs.

[AmyBeth]

I always shed much more on wash days, too. I've always had hard water, and about a month ago I finally decided to try a shower filter. It seems to leave my hair a little silkier but I have not seen any decrease in shedding. As Nique says, I think it's more to do with the manipulation than the minerals in the water.

[betterhairday]

Welcome to the UK.
I think the first thing you need to do is install filters. Take yourself down to the nearest plumbing outlet and ask their advice. Second thing I would suggest is that you use a hair repair system - mine can be purchased in the UK online, take a look, Pro-Naturals.com/uk. I live in Wales in a very soft water area but after radiotherapy my hair was brittle, breaking and falling out. Pro Naturals was recommended by my hairdresser and now I use it religiously. Hope this helps you a little.