Washing hair

[Flipgirl24]

Silly question but for those of you who wash your hair once a week or less, do you wash all of it? Meaning the ends and the roots? And do you shampoo twice when you do wash it? For those who wash twice or three times a week do you wash all your hair every once in a while? If you wash your hair every day, do you just wash the scalp? I'm asking about shampoo washes not CO or WO. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the length needs to be washed at all and just conditioned but I am interested in your routines. As always, thank you in advance for your hair wisdom!

[ArienEllariel]

When I use shampoo 2-3 times a week, I only use it on my scalp. My fine, damage-prone hair would cry and break off in my hands if I also shampooed the length. And no, double washing is how I ruined my hair as a teenager. Straw-like barely shoulder length hair was the result. It literally wouldn't grow longer because I sapped every ounce of moisture out of it.

[spirals]

I've been working on stretching to once a week and I've been there for 3 weeks now. At first I was doing condition, wash, condition, but last week I decided not to bother because of buildup and frankly, lack of wanting to put in the effort. I just did (admittedly a lot) of 'poo on the scalp and let it rinse down the hair to clean the lengths. I then conditioned with a huge handful of conditioner (which I've done forever). It's frizzier than when I did CWC, so I'm thinking I should alternate CWC with "regular" washing.

[littlestarface]

I'm a once a weeker. I only wash my scalp with shampoo once and my hair from ears down get a cleansing conditioner and a moisturizing one every week.

[rosebridget]

I try to wash my hair only once a week but regardless of how often I do it, I only shampoo the hair closest to my scalp. The shampoo rinses out through the ends anyway, which is more than enough for me.

[Nique1202]

I wash about twice a week, every 3-4 days. I have very thick sebum, so I have to shampoo twice to get my scalp entirely clean. On the first shampoo, I just shampoo the scalp and let the rinse water run down the length. On the second shampoo, I still only shampoo the scalp but I get a decent lather, so I squeeze that down the length. I'm a heavy user of silicone products, and my hair is prone to buildup, so I need to strip the length of everything when I wash my hair, but squeezing the second-wash later down does the trick for me. I do need to clarify once every month or two for protein buildup, at which point I do apply the clarifying shampoo to the length, but that's different from what you're talking about, I think.

Really, what you do should depend on what your hair seems to need and what it responds to. You'll always be able to find someone who follows any reasonable hypothetical routine and seems to get good results, and you'll find many more who don't and also get good results because their hair is different.

[likelikepenny]

I wash everyday. I have oily scalp and dry hair so I wet it all. I use ACV as a shampoo and conventional shampoo every once in awhile.

[lizardspots]

I have managed to stretch my washes to every 3 days after nearly 2 years. I've tried on and off to stretch to 4 days with limited success. I shampoo the scalp once with a shampoo bar & rinse, letting the sudsy water run down my length. Then I use an ACV rinse over all the hair as my conditioner. My hair tends to struggle with most conventional conditioners, it's so fine and thin that it gets weighed down easily. I'll use a cone-free conditioner on the odd occasion where I feel I need it (maybe every 3-4 washes). I also use the tiniest scrape of coconut oil as a leave-in. For my hair, less is definitely more.

[Tosca]

When I still used shampoo (I use CO now) I used shampoo on my scalp/to a low ponytail level, and conditioner on the rest from the ears down. I used to shampoo twice in high school, but I stopped after a few years and just shampooed once. I have clarified/washed my whole length with shampoo a few times, but only after new products disagreed with my hair and gave me buildup. I always wash all of my hair, no 'scalp-only' washes.

[lapushka]

Silly question but for those of you who wash your hair once a week or less, do you wash all of it? Meaning the ends and the roots? And do you shampoo twice when you do wash it? For those who wash twice or three times a week do you wash all your hair every once in a while? If you wash your hair every day, do you just wash the scalp? I'm asking about shampoo washes not CO or WO. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the length needs to be washed at all and just conditioned but I am interested in your routines. As always, thank you in advance for your hair wisdom!

I wash once a week. Just one time, but it gets sudsed up, rinsed but not rinsed all out, then re-sudsed and then rinsed clear. It is "like" washing twice, it's just washing more *thoroughly*, is what I think without wasting the suds of the shampoo.

I sometimes have the lengths done and sometimes not (and just let the suds travel down while they get smooshed into the hair), it depends on how I feel, if I oil rinsed the time before, it all matters.

[Carolyn]

I wash 2-3 times a week. I usually shampoo ALL of my hair and I always condition all of my hair. Once in a while I will scalp wash if I am washing on 2 consecutive days. I find that conditioner is far more important than how I wash and how much shampoo I use.

[Fia]

I wash once a week, two sudsings. First concentrate on scalp and down to about chin length to wash out the sebum that's collected over the week. Second for a good scalp massage (as I get more lather) and the lather gently squished throughout the length. All followed up by cream rinse diluted in cool water and poured through the hair, and then gently rinsed out. With the right products this doesn't dry my hair out at all.

[sarahthegemini]

I wash my hair every other day and I apply shampoo from root to tip.

[Deborah]

I wash my hair once a week using Indian herbs diluted in a big bottle of very warm water. I pour the whole bottle over my head, gently massage the mixture onto my scalp and the hair right on my head, then rinse it all off very thoroughly. The length gets clean, I guess from the mixture running over it. I end with a final rinse of citric acid powder diluted in another big bottle of very cold water, which I do not rinse out. That's all I do - no conditioners, oils, serums, or any other products. This leave my hair clean, shiny and soft.

Back when I used shampoo I seemed to need conditioner in order to detangle, but it weighed my hair down, and I had to wash more often. I don't need it now. I guess the Indian herbs clean more gently, not stripping the hair the way shampoo did.

[truepeacenik]

Sulfate free shampoo, 2-3x a week. Diluted 3:1 water to shampoo, on average.

One application. Root focus, ends "get it" in rinse. I do allow thick suds to shoulder. I call this a scalp wash, but it's sloppy.
Once a month, or less, I'll apply enough shampoo to intentionally wash the length.

[Zebra Fish]

Once a week here (actualy atm 5-6 days as since I got of bc pills my scalp tends to get oilier fast - I could have gone easily 10 or more days before). I put oil and/or conditioner on last part of legth, then shampoo scalp with diluted shampoo. Lengths catches what gets whashed down. Wash only one time if it is "regular" shampoo, twice if it is rye flour. Then condition ears down.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I wash twice a week with diluted shampoo on roots only and allow the suds to run down the length. Once a month or thereabouts I use a clarifying shampoo and wash all the hair with it undiluted.

I always, always condition with a moisturising conditioner from the ears down, I don't put conditioner on my scalp.

[Siri]

I wash all of it every couple of days.

[Flipgirl24]

Thank you everyone for your replies! It's nice to know I can ask questions about stuff I'm not sure about!