Conditioner on dry hair?

[DarleneH]

I know we CO with conditioner all mushed into the roots of your hair while your scalp is dry, but what does conditioner on the length of your locks when dry do? Does it accomplish anything? Or do any harm?

[nekosan]

I have a spray bottle of conditioner and water which I occasionally use on my ends when they're all flyaway. (I mixed it up for using on staticky wool while combing it in preparation for spinning, and only started using in my hair later.)

I don't put conditioner on my scalp ever; I'm too much of a greaseball.

[littlestarface]

It cleans my hair much better when I apply it to dry oiled hair, I never have oily stringy hair after.

[lithostoic]

I've never cowashed starting with dry hair. I didn't know that was a thing.

[neko_kawaii]

I apply watered down conditioner to dry oiled hair, leave it for 20 min and rinse out. You can add things like you would to a SMT or just use the condish (I think it applies more evenly watered down and uses less condish) and it is a deep treatment while removing the oil.

[Laccaria]

I've used SMTs and other deep treatments on dirty, dry hair and conditioner mixed with deposit only dyes on clean, dry hair. Both leave my hair nice and clean and soft, but it uses A LOT of product compared to applying to wet hair. I personally don't notice enough difference to justify the extra product, so I just apply to wet hair unless I'm trying to get an extra long lasting or intense dye job.

[polarnatt]

Well, most conditioners have positive charges, so the more conditioner you put on your hair, the more positively charged your hair is. Since shampoos usually have negative charges, if you don't rinse your hair thoroughly before shampooing, the shampoo could attach to the condish and cause build-up.

I can't think of any other issues, and this isn't a problem if you don't use shampoo. I don't think using conditioner on dry hair is that useful, since conditioner is just hanging there outside of your hair smoothing it and possibly keeping the moisture in - if there's no extra water inside the hair to begin with, there's really not much of a point in using conditioner. I mean, it can smooth your hair and help in detangling and the sort, but I would rather use a spray or oil or a leave-in condish for those purposes.

[lapushka]

It's great as a DT pre-washing, but it's been a *long* time since I did that. It's just no longer part of my routine. And I'm not changing my routine. Never mess with a good thing. My routine has been good to me for years.

[Carolyn]

I've done CO washes for years by putting conditioner on dry hair. It's especially good when washing out a heavy overnight oil treatment. I slather it on roots to tips and never have had a problem. I've never experienced any harm from it.

[DarleneH]

OK, so at least it does no harm. But does it actually do anything helpful? Or does your hair need to be wet first and then conditioner acts to seal in that moisture? If it doesn't do anything useful when hair is dry, then I'm just wasting conditioner when I don't need it for cleaning.

When I've done a CO wash, I've been pouring it on just at the roots and letting that sit a while before rinsing out, and then putting a different more moisturizing conditioner on the length after it's wet, then rinsing that out after a few minutes.

[Anje]

Echoing Laccaria, I've tried it with damp and dry hair, and the biggest difference I noticed is that it requires a TON more product. I don't think it made enough difference for me to justify that. Maybe if I were using it specifically to get oil out, it would be worth it, but when I COed I always got sufficient cleansing with wet hair.

[Nadine <3]

Conditioner on dry hair makes my hair feel sticky. I'm confused as to what the purpose of doing this would be. Is this for people who co wash or is it used as a DT or leave in of sorts?

[spidermom]

CO only worked for me if I started with dry hair. Even with that, it didn't work well enough for me to continue it.

I can't imagine using conditioner on dry hair between washes.

I'm not sure what you're asking.

[neko_kawaii]

Echoing Laccaria, I've tried it with damp and dry hair, and the biggest difference I noticed is that it requires a TON more product. I don't think it made enough difference for me to justify that. Maybe if I were using it specifically to get oil out, it would be worth it, but when I COed I always got sufficient cleansing with wet hair.

Hence watering it down in a separate container to reduce product usage.

The only reason I can think to apply condish on dry hair is as a deep treatment/to remove applied oil. It isn't drippy the way a DT applied to wet hair is, doesn't require a plastic bag or plastic wrap during the waiting period (I clip my hair up [and then often forget about it for hours] with nothing covering it), and functions as the first step in a CO wash or CWC (which is what I do since I don't apply condish above the ears).

[littlestarface]

Conditioner on dry hair makes my hair feel sticky. I'm confused as to what the purpose of doing this would be. Is this for people who co wash or is it used as a DT or leave in of sorts?

It's to remove alot of oil before actually washing the hair.