How much damage does excessive washing cause?

[Spinder]

I spent eight days in Cuba and CWC'd at least once, occasionally twice a day, because I was perpetually an icky fountain of sweat and grease and my scalp felt so yucky that I could not bear it. I was born in the far north, so yes I am a weakling when it comes to intense heat. Extreme winters I have endured all my life and know quite well how to deal with, but extreme summers? These are alien to me. I am completely lost on that one!

My question is, does frequent washing really cause considerable damage to your hair? Or does the answer to that question totally depend on how harsh your shampoo is, how you handle your wet hair, how long you do this for, etc? Would such stress/damage be on par with bleaching or heat styling for example? Would just over a week of an intense sweating and washing cycle cause significant damage? I implore you to share your wisdom, longhair gurus. :(

[Arctic]

Even if regular washing would be damaging over time, a week is very short period and I doubt you got any damage from it. Better to avoid irritated scalp, IMO, and if your hair got dry it will sort out with few deep treatments.

I personally wash almost daily and don't consider it "excessive", it's the norm for me and my hair handles it just fine. It also is something my scalp requires, and I consider that to be higher importance than what my ends would ideally require.

I hope you ejoyed your holiday, and I hear you on not coping in heat. It's all about how we are used to.

[Hairkay]

I'm another frequent washer, water rinses for me using hard water. That seems to work best for me. On the hottest days this summer I've been having two showers complete with hair rinsing, I even went up to 3 showers one day. I don't think a few days in a holiday is going to make any difference to your hair.

[Simsy]

Short answer would probably be, it depends on the hair and scalp in question. My hair gets dry and full of yucky gunk if I wash too much (more than once or twice a week). Other people can't go more than a couple of days without problems.

[lapushka]

I spent eight days in Cuba and CWC'd at least once, occasionally twice a day, because I was perpetually an icky fountain of sweat and grease and my scalp felt so yucky that I could not bear it. I was born in the far north, so yes I am a weakling when it comes to intense heat. Extreme winters I have endured all my life and know quite well how to deal with, but extreme summers? These are alien to me. I am completely lost on that one!

My question is, does frequent washing really cause considerable damage to your hair? Or does the answer to that question totally depend on how harsh your shampoo is, how you handle your wet hair, how long you do this for, etc? Would such stress/damage be on par with bleaching or heat styling for example? Would just over a week of an intense sweating and washing cycle cause significant damage? I implore you to share your wisdom, longhair gurus. :(

I wouldn't worry, because it's such a short period. I think more "damage" comes from handling the hair, detangling and the amount of tangles that you have. That's why I tend to stress good conditioning practices to avoid as much tangles as you can, and if you have to use silicones in that case, please please please do so!

I wouldn't go as far as compare this to bleach damage (far worse).

I wouldn't worry!!!

[pailin]

I think it depends on whether your hair is getting enough moisture for the washing and how careful you are handling it when wet. I live in a hot place and spend a lot of time not in the ac, and I sweat a LOT. Also my scalp gets itchy if I try to stretch washes even in a cooler climate. So I wash daily, with a fairly harsh shampoo even. And my ends are in pretty good shape given that I haven't trimmed in a couple years. I figure if I hit a point where I have to stretch washes to grow longer, then that's probably where I'll stop growing and start maintaining.
At any rate, I don't think it's an issue as long as you're careful. And especially not for only 8 days.

ETA If you still feel bad about it, it's a good excuse for a deep treatment :)

[lilin]

Very little, I'd imagine. Not enough to affect the longevity of your hair.

Everything damages hair, since it can't repair itself, and every force imparted upon it leaves a teenie, tiny bit of damage. The wind, brushing on your clothes, being touched -- everything. Damage to inanimate things isn't avoidable. The goal is simply to minimize it.

When people talk about minimizing damage by washing less, they're doing so with the fact in mind that most people here are hoping to keep their hair on the head for many years, so considering how to reduce the damage of the routine things we must do to our hair is worth considering, even if they are very low damage.

The amount of damage done by washing is very low (minor hair swelling while wet, mostly, unless you're tangling it when you wash). But if you do that twice a day for, say, 5 years, it might add up over time.

It isn't like bleach, where a single instance of contact does significant damage on its own. It's a cumulative thing. But probably even less damaging than repetitively tying a ponytail in the same spot every single day.

And yes, it does also depend on how you wash it. Does your wash increase hair swelling, or reduce it (various surfactants produce various amounts of swelling)? How long is your hair staying wet? Etc, etc, etc.

How much difference does it make in the long run? Well, depends on your hair. For some people frequent washing can be extremely drying. For others, it doesn't seem to be make a huge difference -- not enough that they can't still have nice, long hair as long as they're otherwise gentle with it or give it some extra moisturising. I'd imagine this might have something to do with your natural hair porosity.

Doing it twice a day for a week?

Nah, I wouldn't worry about that, no matter what your hair type or routine. Hair is not so fragile that it can't tolerate little diversions in our usual routines. The routines are about trying to get the best results in the long haul, and those benefits won't be destroyed by little disruptions in your normal activities.

Give it a little extra oil or conditioner or whatever you use for moisture if you're concerned, and forget about it. :)