Cutting down hair wash days!

[Milkchocolate]

I’ve unintentionally (from my laziness) began washing my hair only once a week instead of 2, for the past month.
But I’ve been washing my hair twice a week for 13 years!

My hair seems to be just fine though! And I’m a happy girl because I save myself more time:) so far no issues.

So I’m wondering if I should make it a permanent thing.

I’ve grown so accustomed to doing my routine for years and feel a bit odd lol.
I’m curious to see if any great hair health benefits will occur from a sudden cut down down of washing. (Or any negatives)

did you any of you gain any hair benefits from doing so? Or noticed any negative changes?

[Zesty]

Cutting down from daily to twice a week was nice because my hair feels softer and calmer after settling down from being wet. It also definitely saves time.

I can do once a week on occasion but if I do it two or three weeks in a row my scalp is itchy and I might get a burning sensation, so I try not to push it. My scalp likes to be very clean.

[littlestarface]

The only benefit I have is less wet hair more time for internet.

[Milkchocolate]

Cutting down from daily to twice a week was nice because my hair feels softer and calmer after settling down from being wet. It also definitely saves time.

I can do once a week on occasion but if I do it two or three weeks in a row my scalp is itchy and I might get a burning sensation, so I try not to push it. My scalp likes to be very clean.

Oh thanks for that input! My scalp did feel a bit itchy in the beginning, but now that you pointed it out I do notice that it has stopped

[TatsuOni]

My hair prefers to be washed as little as possible. I'm washing every other (or more every three) to five weeks. If your hair and scalp's happy, then go for it :)

[Reyn127]

I used to wash my hair 2 or maybe 3 times a week, forever, before I joined here. After that, I went solid no shampoo for 2.5 years. Now I’m back to shampoo/conditioner, but sulfate and silicone free, since my skin/scalp is really dry, and my skin is irritated by silicones.

The one major HAIR benefit I’ve found is that overall, it’s wayyyy more moisturized than when I was regularly washing with any old shampoo. My SCALP greatly benefitted from quitting using shampoo/conditioner, for a slightly different reason though - I basically need to use conditioner on my scalp because otherwise it’s so dry that it’s uncomfortable, but I never realized years ago that silicones cause my skin to itch and slightly break out.

Overall, my scalp has adjusted great to less washing. My hair itself likes the extra moisture it maintains. And although my hair does start to appear a little oily around day 5, I regularly go 7-10 days without washing. Sometimes it’s 2-3 weeks, just depending on how busy I am. So the time spent is definitely a perk as well.

[LadyAdelina]

I was washing my hair every 5 days, but I just added a bit of tea tree oil into my shampoo after not doing it for a while ( I think I just forgot about it) and now my scalp feels so awesome I’m thinking about just doing once a week!
I’m also excited to see what benefits my hair has from that. I think I might need to use more leave-ins during the week, but that’s pretty easy.

[Aeonian]

Hmm, the positive side of washing twice a week with a sulfate free shampoo is that I use less product and that my hair feels softer, and is very bouncy with defined waves. After 4 days my scalp suddenly produces lots of oil and tiny dandruff, I don't like the look of it nor the smell of sebum so I wash my hair. Do what works for you, and your hair but don't forget your scalp :)

[meteor]

I agree with a lot of what was said above - very similar experiences here... My hair doesn't really like very frequent wash-dry cycling, like any fiber, probably. My scalp needs to be washed more frequently (due to sebum and dead skin cells accumulation) than my dry lengths, so I simply throw in a few scalp-only washes (while keeping length braided and dry) in-between full washes.
The only big upsides to frequent washing of length in my case are that it helps remove lint/dust (which helps detangling later, once the hair is already dry and detangled) and that it gives me an opportunity for re-setting hair either by bringing back its natural wavier texture or by wet-setting it.


I think the best washing frequency is the one that keeps your scalp and length happy and is convenient for your lifestyle.

[Joules]

I need to wash every third day. Even that's a stretch, my third days are quite visibly oily, so that's the longest I can comfortably go between shampoos. If I try to stretch anything, I get symptoms of fungal overgrowth. I kept trying to stretch in the past, but then I read trichologists' opinions on all that, and realised that stretching washes isn't the greatest thing for anyone's scalp (unless you're in the lucky tiny minority who can go for weeks with clean-looking hair without washing). So yeah, I have a pretty firm opinion on all that. If I need to adjust my washing schedule (for example before an event), I'd rather wash more than stretch.

[Dark40]

I need to wash every other day at least. Depending on what products or oils I put in it or on it on washdays it gets greasy quick. My hair and scalp loves to be clean, and smell clean. I also love freshly washed hair myself. :) If I wait 7 days or more to wash my hair I go through hair shedding or hair loss. So, I don't gain any benefit of cutting down hair wash days.

[lapushka]

I need to wash every other day at least. Depending on what products or oils I put in it or on it on washdays it gets greasy quick. My hair and scalp loves to be clean, and smell clean. I also love freshly washed hair myself. :) If I wait 7 days or more to wash my hair I go through hair shedding or hair loss. So, I don't gain any benefit of cutting down hair wash days.

Wash day actually makes me shed even more, which is why I like to wash weekly. ;)

[Dark40]

Wash day actually makes me shed even more, which is why I like to wash weekly. ;)

Hmmm...we're the opposite. I wish that I could wash weekly. :D Sometimes I do if I'm busy with life or just laziness but other than that I like to wash every other day. :)

[milosmomma]

I usually go about 3-4 days or twice a week. I just eyeball it. When my scalp gets oily I also experience more shedding, akin to when I use actual oils on my scalp(which I avoid now). Maybe it's something that I would adjust to but I am happy to wash that frequently. I will wash if Im trying to style my hair and I'm getting alot of cleavage, or if the ends are feeling particularly dry and crunchy.

[johnnystiletto]

I used to wash every 4th day - for example, if I washed on Monday morning, I wouldn't brush my hair that day, but I'd use my softer BBB on Tuesday AM and PM. Then, on Wednesday, I would use my stiffer BBB AM and PM and then wash on Thursday morning. Lately, though, my scalp has been allowing me to go longer. My last wash was on Sunday morning and my scalp finally started looking a bit oily and 'dusty' this morning, so I will likely wash tomorrow.
'

[spidergoat]

I was washing twice a week, but for some reason my scalp has started getting oily sooner, so now I'm washing three times a week. I think it's because I have such thin hair on the top of my head that it gets oily very quick. I'd stick to twice a week anyway, but I have an obligation that involves me being out in public three days out of the week, and I prefer my hair to look clean for those days.

[The-Young-Maid]

I washed once a week for about 2 years or so. It definitely made my length softer and less damaged (i always wore it up). It was nice to not have to wash/dry more often.

Cons: My scalp just can't handle being oily and I lost a lot of hair. I don't remember my exact thickness from before but my whole braid then was pretty much the thickness of one of my twin braids now. So my roots were suffocating. My scalp was always itchy. I could never wear my hair down because it was so oily and thin. I'm still growing out more thickness which is about APL rn.

It really just depends on your scalp. If my scalp didn't mind I'd probably wash every other day. But daily washing is the best for me. I feel cleaner and I get lots of volume.

[catoala]

I am able to wash 2 times a week, having bangs, I wash them every morning or pin them + some baby powder in roots and it looks very well. ;)

[The Lizard Wife]

I'm another one who's seeing great benefits from washing once every 2 to 3 weeks. My hair is perfectly happy to be left alone (though...it would probably be happier if I used my BBB more often....which is probably why I end up oiling the ends every few days because they start getting dry and tangly), and my scalp does not want to be washed. Now it's much less itchy, much less flakey. After a week I could wash my hair if I wanted to keep it looking very clean all the time (but it tangles so badly when it's clean...). After two weeks I really should be washing it because I can tell it's dirty. But dirty hair is the closest I've ever come in my life to using styling products, and I love that I can actually put up my hair and have it stay when it's oily! Soooo I keep pushing it off to about week three.

Because I am also lazy and love saving time, I agree that if you're one who can cut down your wash days without it upsetting your hair or your scalp or you, you should try it!

[MusicalSpoons]

^Wecome to the forum, The Lizard Wife! :)


I've been too ill to work or even go out very much since October/November, and not needing to be presentable very often I have been going up to a week without washing. My ends are fine with my C-W-ROO-C routine, but my scalp starts itching after ~5-7 days. If I need to look presentable in between, I'll do a scalp wash.

I think I've actually been seeing slightly reduced shedding overall, but it can vary so some weeks I'll shed a bit more or less than others ... possibly on average it's about the same as before?

Discovering scalp washes hugely benefitted my lengths. To look presentable, my scalp still needs washing every other day, but my lengths never have needed such frequent washing. Before my current routine, with only double-conditioning my lengths were happy to be washed every other time, i.e. every 4 days or so. Now, as I said, they're happy for about a week, without any need for leave-ins or other moisturising between full washes. In terms of scalp health, washing too frequently makes it dehydrate and have dry flakes, too infrequently and it will itch and start to have greasy flakes. So full washes once a week (ish), usually with a scalp wash in between is my happy medium :)

Oh, and I do shed more during and just after washing, but if I've gone a week between any kind of wash I'll lose the combination of what I would have lost with a scalp wash then subsequent full wash anyway :shrug:

[meteor]

Discovering scalp washes hugely benefitted my lengths. To look presentable, my scalp still needs washing every other day, but my lengths never have needed such frequent washing. Before my current routine, with only double-conditioning my lengths were happy to be washed every other time, i.e. every 4 days or so. Now, as I said, they're happy for about a week, without any need for leave-ins or other moisturising between full washes. In terms of scalp health, washing too frequently makes it dehydrate and have dry flakes, too infrequently and it will itch and start to have greasy flakes. So full washes once a week (ish), usually with a scalp wash in between is my happy medium :)

Oh, and I do shed more during and just after washing, but if I've gone a week between any kind of wash I'll lose the combination of what I would have lost with a scalp wash then subsequent full wash anyway :shrug:

^ Oh yes, I have a very similar situation going on. :agree: I think it's important to keep both scalp and lengths/ends happy, and since they "thrive" on different frequencies of washing, scalp-only washes give me that option. ;)
Also, concentrating more cleansing shampoos on scalp and more conditioning products on ends is helpful, of course, since they have slightly different needs.

[Simpscone]

I currently wash with shampoo on the weekend and cowash midweek, it seems to be working for me. I’m sure if I wore my hair up more I could stretch to once a week, I’ve definitely done that in the past. But I’ve been using more product to keep my curls fresh so I feel like I just need that extra cowash to keep it from being too weighed down.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I have recently gone from washing twice a week to washing once a week, my hair doesn't seem to mind it in the slightest. I found that when I was washing it twice a week it felt like I was always washing it.

[lapushka]

I have recently gone from washing twice a week to washing once a week, my hair doesn't seem to mind it in the slightest. I found that when I was washing it twice a week it felt like I was always washing it.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I could go a week, suddenly. I was washing 2/3 times a week before that. Mostly 2 times but when I needed to go somewhere and it needed to be neat, I would wash faster.

Washing a lot is great with short hair, but with long? Not so much, especially when it's iii and it's a chore in and of itself due to its thickness.

[sallytz]

^Wecome to the forum, The Lizard Wife! :)


I've been too ill to work or even go out very much since October/November, and not needing to be presentable very often I have been going up to a week without washing. My ends are fine with my C-W-ROO-C routine, but my scalp starts itching after ~5-7 days. If I need to look presentable in between, I'll do a scalp wash.

I think I've actually been seeing slightly reduced shedding overall, but it can vary so some weeks I'll shed a bit more or less than others ... possibly on average it's about the same as before?

Discovering scalp washes hugely benefitted my lengths. To look presentable, my scalp still needs washing every other day, but my lengths never have needed such frequent washing. Before my current routine, with only double-conditioning my lengths were happy to be washed every other time, i.e. every 4 days or so. Now, as I said, they're happy for about a week, without any need for leave-ins or other moisturising between full washes. In terms of scalp health, washing too frequently makes it dehydrate and have dry flakes, too infrequently and it will itch and start to have greasy flakes. So full washes once a week (ish), usually with a scalp wash in between is my happy medium :)

Oh, and I do shed more during and just after washing, but if I've gone a week between any kind of wash I'll lose the combination of what I would have lost with a scalp wash then subsequent full wash anyway :shrug:

Can you recommend a specific routine for a scalp wash? I'm trying to stretch out (or eliminate) washings, and I notice my scalp starting to get itchy.

[lapushka]

Can you recommend a specific routine for a scalp wash? I'm trying to stretch out (or eliminate) washings, and I notice my scalp starting to get itchy.

Then don't push it! By all means, listen to your scalp. If it gets itchy, and even flaky, then stop stretching the washes, and wash *immediately*. Stretching needs to happen slowly, like a day every couple weeks, and then stick with the new routine a while before you add on another day. This way your scalp has time to adjust. Don't do it allatonce!

[meteor]

Can you recommend a specific routine for a scalp wash? I'm trying to stretch out (or eliminate) washings, and I notice my scalp starting to get itchy.

I've tried all sorts of methods (there's a pretty nice one by Haartraum, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwREj8Kadlo - from 1:00 till 2:50).

Right now, I find this personal approach the best and easiest for me:

1. - I keep hair in a one-stick braided bun at first, covering the bun with a plastic bag/shower cap. Make sure the braiding starts not too close to scalp, so you can get to scalp at the base of the bun and braid.
I apply diluted shampoo directly to front and top of head while it's still dry and massage that in for a bit (to loosen up dead skin). Then I jump in the shower and rinse that off or simply lean over bathtub and rinse that off with a handheld showerhead. Then I apply more diluted shampoo, lather it up, rinse and repeat until I'm satisfied. This completes the hairline/top of head wash.

2. - Then (if I want a complete scalp wash, and not just wash the top of head and hairline, which are the only visible areas), I remove the stick from the bun (use waterproof material), hold the braid (which is still covered in plastic) up above my head with one hand and wash the sides and back of head and at the base of the braid with diluted shampoo, again lathering up and rinsing as much as I need.
When I'm done, I wrap a towel around the head in this manner (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0686/6333/products/the-wrap-life-head-wrap-head-tie-tribal-print-african-print-swatch-full-black-orange-rays-3_1200x.jpg?v=1548149067) (I don't know what this way of wrapping is called, but it's perfect for catching drips and absorbing moisture exactly where scalp only wash needs it the most). After 5-15 minutes, I tend to take it down, pat a bit with a dry towel at the top and the base of the braid, let the braid dry for longer, just hanging down, and then I'll undo the braid and detangle, once it's pretty dry.

There's also this tool called PonyDry (like a waterproof sleeve for length) that could help (thread: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136047), but I have too much hair for that, and I use a good old plastic bag or a shower cap on bun. ;)

Here are a couple threads on scalp only washes:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=137528
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=49219

[Cate36]

I need to wash every third day. Even that's a stretch, my third days are quite visibly oily, so that's the longest I can comfortably go between shampoos. If I try to stretch anything, I get symptoms of fungal overgrowth. I kept trying to stretch in the past, but then I read trichologists' opinions on all that, and realised that stretching washes isn't the greatest thing for anyone's scalp (unless you're in the lucky tiny minority who can go for weeks with clean-looking hair without washing). So yeah, I have a pretty firm opinion on all that. If I need to adjust my washing schedule (for example before an event), I'd rather wash more than stretch.

Same.. scalp health is so important, any itchiness is a sign that things are not right and that can cause shedding.. so it's not so much the hair that is the issue, but the scalp..

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I breathed a sigh of relief when I could go a week, suddenly. I was washing 2/3 times a week before that. Mostly 2 times but when I needed to go somewhere and it needed to be neat, I would wash faster.

Washing a lot is great with short hair, but with long? Not so much, especially when it's iii and it's a chore in and of itself due to its thickness.

Very much so, yes. Washing is a chore at great lengths, well, for me it's more the drying that takes the time, and detangling.

[sallytz]

I've tried all sorts of methods (there's a pretty nice one by Haartraum, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwREj8Kadlo - from 1:00 till 2:50).

Right now, I find this personal approach the best and easiest for me:

1. - I keep hair in a one-stick braided bun at first, covering the bun with a plastic bag/shower cap. Make sure the braiding starts not too close to scalp, so you can get to scalp at the base of the bun and braid.
I apply diluted shampoo directly to front and top of head while it's still dry and massage that in for a bit (to loosen up dead skin). Then I jump in the shower and rinse that off or simply lean over bathtub and rinse that off with a handheld showerhead. Then I apply more diluted shampoo, lather it up, rinse and repeat until I'm satisfied. This completes the hairline/top of head wash.

2. - Then (if I want a complete scalp wash, and not just wash the top of head and hairline, which are the only visible areas), I remove the stick from the bun (use waterproof material), hold the braid (which is still covered in plastic) up above my head with one hand and wash the sides and back of head and at the base of the braid with diluted shampoo, again lathering up and rinsing as much as I need.
When I'm done, I wrap a towel around the head in this manner (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0686/6333/products/the-wrap-life-head-wrap-head-tie-tribal-print-african-print-swatch-full-black-orange-rays-3_1200x.jpg?v=1548149067) (I don't know what this way of wrapping is called, but it's perfect for catching drips and absorbing moisture exactly where scalp only wash needs it the most). After 5-15 minutes, I tend to take it down, pat a bit with a dry towel at the top and the base of the braid, let the braid dry for longer, just hanging down, and then I'll undo the braid and detangle, once it's pretty dry.

There's also this tool called PonyDry (like a waterproof sleeve for length) that could help (thread: https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136047), but I have too much hair for that, and I use a good old plastic bag or a shower cap on bun. ;)

Here are a couple threads on scalp only washes:
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=137528
https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=49219

Perfect, thank you!