Who washes their hair once per week or less?

[Vegan_Mama]

Hey lovelies!

I recently started to wash my hair every Sunday. I used to wash my hair every 3 to 4 days, then I pushed it to 5 and now 7. I'm finding my hair looks great for about 4 days and it is slightly oily on day 5 and then super oily on day 6 and I don't want to leave my house haha. I was wondering if this will change over time and my hair will adapt to less washes and not produce as much oil? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also did washing your hair have any impact on how quickly it grew/overall health of your hair. Thank you guys! Xo

[Deborah]

I wash mine once a week, very Saturday. I don't use conditioners or other hair treatments at all. That may be why my hair doesn't get dirty before then.

[simoneymonie]

I actually only wash my hair every two weeks or so. I do have suuuper thick hair, so it is always an ordeal for me to wash my hair. I definitely found that my hair adapted to less washing over time, but there is a transition where you have to deal with super oily hair. Luckily, it's winter right now, so you can just wear a hat to ride out the worst of your oily days if you want to continue to push your washes further apart.

[Cg]

It took me a very long time to go seven days without hair looking greasy by the end, a year maybe after daily washes. Every healthy person's scalp will adjust at some point, but it takes some folks longer than others.

Hats, scarves, wide headbands, and slicked-back buns all camouflage greasy-looking hair. BTW, it can feel greasy to you but still look fine to others as long as you don't leave it stringy and loose.

[Laurenji]

It depends - I started stretching my washes a couple of years ago (mostly out of laziness). Before, I would have to wash my hair every other day because I couldn't stand the sight of it. Now I only wash it once a week, tops. On the one hand, it does look better now after 2-3 days of not washing it than it used to, but on the other hand, I think my tolerance for the appearance of greasy hair has gone up, because it gets pretty greasy after day 5 or so, but I still can't be bothered to wash it! I just wash my bangs and do a fancy braid on the top or around the side to hide it and call it good. Even when I wasn't washing my hair for 2 weeks at a time, it still would be pretty greasy by day 5 and I would just have to live with greasy hair from that point on until I washed it again. So I haven't really been able to stretch it out further than a week without it just being horrendously greasy.

[MoonRabbit]

I've been stretching for 7 days for over a year now. My hair still gets oily around day 4. Sometimes I will wash on day 4 if I have some place to be but most of the time I just keep my dirty hair up. Not sure if it has helped in growing, but it does help my hair retain length.

[lapushka]

There is this thread, the "weekly washers club", that you might want to check out:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=141374

Then for those who need to wash more frequently, there is the "frequently washers club":
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=141446

Then there is the "weekly through monthly washers" club:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=141463

In short, the thread already existed. ;)

[FrayedFire]

There's also a thread for people who wash even less than that, but in short, yes, your hair does adapt, though it takes a while and your hair isn't going to look freshly washed for two weeks, but you'll reach a balance of oil that doesn't really get worse for the most part.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=145256

[ShahMat]

I actually only wash my hair every two weeks or so. I do have suuuper thick hair, so it is always an ordeal for me to wash my hair. I definitely found that my hair adapted to less washing over time, but there is a transition where you have to deal with super oily hair. Luckily, it's winter right now, so you can just wear a hat to ride out the worst of your oily days if you want to continue to push your washes further apart.

Totally relate to that. I slowly went from washing every 7 days to 10 days, I hope I get to two weeks in the next months. I'm half an inch shy of tailbone and even though I have layers from waist+ down, washing thick hair really takes forever. I usually use a bit of DIY dry shampoo on day 6/7 and totally get away with it.

[*Wednesday*]

If anyone does not want to leave their house based on how clean the hair looks, it is time to wash the hair. Especially if you are on day 5 or 6 and it feels unclean. You are doing a disservice to your scalp by leaving it dirty if it is over producing oil. Some people can stretch washes, some cant. The scalp should be kept clean as this is important for hair growth.

Logically, I would think washing has no bearing on “growth.” Washing is outward and growing is from beneath the scalp.

[samanthaa]

I disagree, to some extent, with *Wednesday*. While there are certainly people who can't stretch washes, for whatever reason (SD, for example), I think saying to yourself "I can't stretch washes because my hair looks unclean on day 5," is not in and of itself a reason not to stretch washes. If you're coming from frequent washings, of course your hair is going to look and feel unclean while your scalp adjust.

It took me well over a year into stretching washes to get to a point where I could comfortable stretch washes to once a week. I have thin, fine hair, so my hair doesn't look good enough to wear down on days 4-7, but I feel comfortable with it up. I never feel unclean--and if I do, I'll do a mid-week water-wash to freshen up. My scalp has adjusted remarkable well, it just took a long time.

[*Wednesday*]

I disagree, to some extent, with *Wednesday*. While there are certainly people who can't stretch washes, for whatever reason (SD, for example), I think saying to yourself "I can't stretch washes because my hair looks unclean on day 5," is not in and of itself a reason not to stretch washes. If you're coming from frequent washings, of course your hair is going to look and feel unclean while your scalp adjust.

It took me well over a year into stretching washes to get to a point where I could comfortable stretch washes to once a week. I have thin, fine hair, so my hair doesn't look good enough to wear down on days 4-7, but I feel comfortable with it up. I never feel unclean--and if I do, I'll do a mid-week water-wash to freshen up. My scalp has adjusted remarkable well, it just took a long time.

I should have said, which I meant regarding the scalp "Especially if you are on day 5 or 6 and it [the scalp] feels unclean." If the scalp is itchy/dirty, should be cleaned. I was being more cheeky with not wanting to leave the house, and wash. I've never personally felt that way not washing my hair after several days. I normally bun.