Troubles getting hair clean

[Star_23]

I'm having a persistent issue with not being able to get all of the grease out of my hair. That is, unless I use a palm size amount of shampoo. I can get my scalp and a couple inches from there oil free but the length of my hair remains gross unless I deliberately shampoo it (which I know is a hair taboo). Sulfates are too stripping to my scalp but gentler shampoos don't get my hair clean enough without me using half the bottle! I've taken to doing two washes. One in the shower, letting my hair dry, and then if it's still oily I wash the length in the sink.

What do I do?? :(

[Obsidian]

Try mixing a little sulfate shampoo with your sulfate free for now.

What brand of sulfate free do you use? Some are very mild and don't clean well, others are better at cleaning. I've found the live clean brand to be a better cleanser among sulfate free.

[nycelle]

Not enough info.

Why are you lengths greasy? Are you oiling them, or is your hair just oily? What are you using now and what have you tried?

There's a ton of sulfate free shampoos that will clean your length without stripping it. I have no idea why you're having a problem?

[spidermom]

You may have buildup. Get a clarifying shampoo and lather your hair from scalp to tips, allow to marinate for about 5 minutes, then rinse well. If your hair still doesn't seem clean, do the same thing the next time you wash.

[Lady Stardust]

Have you checked that none of your products have silicone in them? Silicones need sulphates to get them out - that might not apply to all silicones and some sulphate free shampoos are more stripping than others, but it’s not a bad rule of thumb.

[lapushka]

I'm having a persistent issue with not being able to get all of the grease out of my hair. That is, unless I use a palm size amount of shampoo. I can get my scalp and a couple inches from there oil free but the length of my hair remains gross unless I deliberately shampoo it (which I know is a hair taboo). Sulfates are too stripping to my scalp but gentler shampoos don't get my hair clean enough without me using half the bottle! I've taken to doing two washes. One in the shower, letting my hair dry, and then if it's still oily I wash the length in the sink.

What do I do?? :(

First of all, welcome to the forum. :)

I would venture a sulfate wash.

I use a sulfate shampoo, and put a glob (palm full) on the back of my head, one on the top of my head, and one divided into two for the two sides.

It is a myth that you only need a dime size!!! Do not believe it for a second.

Use however much you need.

[Ylva]

It is a myth that you only need a dime size!!! Do not believe it for a second.

Use however much you need.

I was going to yell this out as well! If you need several palmfuls of shampoo, use several palmfuls!

I could recommend Natura Siberica Oblepikha Intensive Hydration Shampoo. My hair is prone to dryness, but that particular sulfate shampoo I find cleansing but not at all harsh. It has sodium coco-sulfate.

[JennGalt]

If you need to shampoo your length, then shampoo your length. It may be inadvisable for some people or even most people; but every head of hair is unique, and you need to do what works best for YOU. Even if that means doing things that don’t generally work for others.

Don’t be afraid to use more than the recommended amount if a dime sized amount doesn’t work. And if you feel like you’re going through your shampoo too quickly, perhaps try switching to a different shampoo.

What shampoo are you currently using? I oil my hair root to tip most days and am able to remove buildup with a sulfate free shampoo that has decyl glucoside as its main cleansing ingredient if I feel the buildup is too much for CO. But I need more than a dime sized amount!

[Ligeia Noire]

What people have been saying is good advice. Maybe you just need to clarify. Anyway, I do shampoo my length every time I wash. I use a palm for the scalp and a palm for the length. I wouldn't wash my lenght or use that amount of shamooo if I washed regularly but i only wash once a week so it works for me.
There are no taboos when it comes to hair care. Not for me at least.
The rule is try a routine and if it works for you stick with it. It does not matter if it is different from what you read here or somewhere else. Every head of hair is different. Maybe after clarifying you won't even need to shampoo your lenght and you may just be able to stick to your usual routine or you might just need to switch to another shampoo.
Good luck.

[lapushka]

What people have been saying is good advice. Maybe you just need to clarify. Anyway, I do shampoo my length every time I wash. I use a palm for the scalp and a palm for the length. I wouldn't wash my lenght or use that amount of shamooo if I washed regularly but i only wash once a week so it works for me.
There are no taboos when it comes to hair care. Not for me at least.
The rule is try a routine and if it works for you stick with it. It does not matter if it is different from what you read here or somewhere else. Every head of hair is different. Maybe after clarifying you won't even need to shampoo your lenght and you may just be able to stick to your usual routine or you might just need to switch to another shampoo.
Good luck.

I also use that much to get the "gunk" of a week's worth of wear 'n tear out. It gets pretty packed with lint and gunk by the end of the week, and there is no way a dime size amount is getting rid of that.

If you wash more often, *maybe* you can use less, but I think about the only person in this household who can use a dime size amount is my dad and he has less than an inch to about an inch worth of hair over his head.

[lithostoic]

Washing your hair in sections helps A LOT. I first spread a glob of shampoo over the top of my head down to my nape, then I section it into two halves horizontally at my ears and tip my head forward/down, using another glob of shampoo for each half. Then I flip the bottom section over with the rest and use another glob of shampoo.

I wash the same way when I cowash too, just using conditioner of course :P I only shampoo once a month (dry hair normal scalp).

[MusicalSpoons]

I dilute my shampoo to help it spread better - not more than 1:1 and it doesn't mean I use a small amount of shampoo. I was fed up of having to use huge amounts just to get it to spread thoroughly, then it foaming *so excessively* that it clearly wasn't all needed for cleaning! I probably use about a palmful of shampoo in total, possibly a little more if my hair's not had thorough scalp washes every couple of days between the ~weekly full wash.

Not that this probably helps with getting length clean, though the principle of spreading no more product than necessary could still apply. There's nothing wrong with using lots of shampoo if you need to, I just couldn't reconcile using at least double when I'd found a method that meant I didn't have to use so much :)

(Looking up the size of a dime, I imagine that's really only for daily washers tbh.)

[sophia_]

Your water might be limey- I live in the Ozarks (limestone parent material) and I noticed at first that my hair seemed to always be oily, even when freshly washed. I chelate my hair once a month, which has helped. It might help if your water is too alkaline, there are a bunch of tutorials on the internet about how to do it properly.

[Corvana]

I get a similar problem when I need to clarify, and I've been able to stretch needing to clarify by doing my final cold rinse (I don't rinse product out at this time, that's done with my regular warm shower water) with a little bit of apple cider vinegar diluted in the water. If I forget, I regret it so quickly because I always have kind of "gunky" bits that only a good clarify wash or ACV rinse would stop (and even still it can happen if I forget the ACV after I clarify!).

I've got really hard water, my kettle gets limescaled so quickly!