How to wash my hair without a shower or bathtub?

[Nadine <3]

Our bathroom is being ripped apart. It's a good thing, a few months ago we where getting zapped by all the metal fixtures in the tub. Landlord did nothing. A few days ago we had water running from upstairs in our neighbor's bathroom, through the wall (and out the electrical sockets!) and into the basement. Finally, they sent someone to fix a broken pipe, and now we have someone finally fixing our shower. Long story short, they started digging into and found that all the drywall is soggy, crumbling, and moldy. So everything is being ripped out and replace. In the meantime...How do I wash my hair?! Without tangling it really badly? I've never been able to wash upside down without massive tangling and now that I'm BSL my hair is long enough to go down the drain in the kitchen sink.

Today is wash day as well, I might be able to stretch one more day, but I have SD so it needs washing or my scalp gets mad and I shed.

[Arctic]

I've seen a product called a shampoo cap. It's developed for people who can't easily wash their hair, like someone bed bound. Maybe you could use those.

And if you have a swimming hall near you, you could shower there.

[Anje]

Sink with a hand sprayer is the easy home method. I think I'd see about one of those really cheap gym memberships, though (I think Planet Fitness is $10 a month) and take proper showers there, though. :)

[Wildcat Diva]

One day pass to your rec center. Ours is $4.

[TrapperCreekD]

No help here, but hope you find something. And congrats on your new bathroom!

[Christine_O]

I've done this before: Plug the drain in your kitchen sink, and use a cup or pitcher to wet/rinse your hair (do let the water drain after each portion, or it gets nasty.) We have the same problem (exactly!) coming up on October. The drywall around my tub, and probably beneath my tub is soaked and covered in mildew. When we try showers the water runs onto the living room floor.

[neko_kawaii]

If you don't have easy access to a community gym or pool (brilliant ideas BTW, our city pools are something like $2 at open swim times), you can put a large mixing bowl in the kitchen sink to keep your hair from going in the drain. Keep you hair over that bowl and pour water over your hair with a cup if you don't have a sprayer hose thing. Grew up washing my hair that way, it isn't too hard once you get used to staging the supplies you will need. Might be a bit messy the first time!

You will need:
Two large bowls or one large bowl and one large pot. Cup or other vessel that you can hold with slippery hands
Fill one vessel with water at the temperature you like to wash with.
Place washing supplies and towel near at hand.
Pour water over head so that hair and water lands in empty bowl. Focus on getting scalp/roots wet and then dunk length in the water that catches in the bowl.
Shampoo (if you do), pour from cup to rinse scalp and roots, empty second bowl as needed. Finally hold ends that land in second bowl up to rinse them.
Repeat for Condish (if you do).

I don't have any advice on the tangles. I often wash my hair upside down standing over the tub, and while I do sometimes comb with condish, it always tangles in the transfer from hanging forward to hanging back. I patiently comb it later when it is dry and I have time.

[natt i nord]

If you don't need to wash your lengths, just do a scalp wash in the sink.

It works even for me with hiplength hair - do a low, loose english braid starting from your neck and keepit tugged under your shirt. This way it shouldn't fall into your face. Then just wet the scalp with the tap (or a cup if you cannot fit your head under the tap) and wash it.
The braid will prevent tangles in your lengths.

[ladycaladium]

It's already been said - public pool or kitchen sink! Or, if there is a washing machine, is there one of those big sinks next to it? Both houses I lived in as a child had those. I've also done the hose outside, but that depends on weather!

[lapushka]

What if you brush it upside-down and then wash it in a bucket of warm water. Have a jug nearby to rinse.

[Wavelength]

You could just use dry shampoo for the time being. That's what I'd be tempted to do, but I don't know how your scalp would react.

[Laurenji]

If you brush your hair upside down before you wash it, will it tangle less?

I use a 5-gallon bucket, lean over and dunk my head in. Then I re-fill it for rinsing. It does require you to be upside down, though.

[Carolyn]

Detangle your hair first. Then flip it over in front of your face and detangle again. Then when you are done washing your hair, finger detangle again before putting it up in a towel. This helped me immensely when I was washing in the kitchen sink. You can buy those little metal things with small holes in them for the sink drain.

[lapushka]

Detangle your hair first. Then flip it over in front of your face and detangle again. Then when you are done washing your hair, finger detangle again before putting it up in a towel. This helped me immensely when I was washing in the kitchen sink. You can buy those little metal things with small holes in them for the sink drain.

My hair is washed (at classic) in the bathroom sink and I have a metal thingy in there as well. It prevents your hair from slipping through the drain! Quite important. :lol:

[cat11]

I second the gym idea some gyms even have free trials...

[Nadine <3]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I couldn't take it anymore so I washed in the sink, using a mixing bowl to keep my hair from going down. That part is never bad, but once my heas is wet and upside down, flipping it back around is tangle city. I still have a turbie on...I'm a little scared to take it off and try combing my hair back. Hope my shower is fixed soon..dipping my butt into a mixing bowl to wash it is going to get old real fast.

[Theobroma]

Don't flip it -- stand upright, part it vertically and pass the two sections over each shoulder to your back. Then gently comb it smooth. Hardly any tangles that way.

ETA: I'm at classic and I never wash my hair any other way except upside down in the sink. It can be done. :)

(I don' t do the thing with the bowl, though. I plug the sink, run it about halfway full, dunk my head in to wet it, lather, dunk back in for a rough rinse, change the water, rinse again. Repeat a few times. Dead easy -- actually I find it easier to get the back of my head well rinsed this way.)

[Nini]

Or you could just go over to a friend, friendly neighbour, whatever and borrow their bathroom. That's what we had to do during summers when the well ran dry at the farm. If we wanted a proper shower that is, otherwise we stuck with washcloths and buckets.

[lapushka]

Don't flip it -- stand upright, part it vertically and pass the two sections over each shoulder to your back. Then gently comb it smooth. Hardly any tangles that way.

ETA: I'm at classic and I never wash my hair any other way except upside down in the sink. It can be done. :)

(I don' t do the thing with the bowl, though. I plug the sink, run it about halfway full, dunk my head in to wet it, lather, dunk back in for a rough rinse, change the water, rinse again. Repeat a few times. Dead easy -- actually I find it easier to get the back of my head well rinsed this way.)

Same here, with parting hair in two, tilting head back and letting the sides gently fall back. No tangles that way!

[Nadine <3]

Thanks guys! I will try letting it gently fall back instead of whipping it behind me. Unfortunately, the amount of work the bathroom needs just keeps growing and growing. There is mold all the way around the room so now the sink is in the middle of our kitchen and all the drywall has been ripped out. I think I'll check out the gym and see how much they run...it's going to be awhile.

[AZDesertRose]

Nadine <3, if you have friends or family who live within reasonable distance, can you arrange to borrow their shower? That was what we did when I was a teenager and a hurricane had knocked out power and water service. The water got turned back on in a few days, but it was several weeks we went without power (with an electric water heater, so no warm water for a shower). My uncle has a gas water heater and so he had hot water; we traded him bags of ice for hot showers. :)

Failing that, the gym membership is probably the way to go.

[Nadine <3]

Well, our upstairs neighbor has been kind enough to allow us to use her shower, so that's been nice but OH MY GOSH I'm getting ready to shoot our landlord. The construction guy drywalled right over the heating vent, and then he never showed up this morning. Called landlord, he never came to work. They didn't think to check and see because they assumed it was fixed. Called the guy who was here working on it, he says "oh I'm at work I should be there soon" Okay, who's lying?? Someone just fix it, I'm really tired of out bathroom counter being in the middle of the kitchen and hopping over piled of moldy drywall to use the toilet!!!