Do you rinse between washes?

[Mellifluous]

Hey guys, I was just doing some research on the period of time you should leave in between hair washes and I saw that some people actually will rinse their hair daily in between washes to keep it fresh. The idea is that washing your hair (with shampoo) strips the hair of your natural oils, whereas rinsing your hair with only water simply washes away the excess dirt/dandruff/dry shampoo etc and not the oils, as they are water resistant. Is this true and is this something that you guys do?
I've got super greasy hair which has definitely gotten better with washing it less but I have to use dry shampoo a lot in order to hide the grease during my non-wash days. I only use powder dry shampoos (DIY) as they seem to help the most but the buildup is pretty gross, so if rinsing is something you guys recommend I would definitely give it a shot. Also, allowing my hair to air dry means it stays perfectly straight so I wouldn't have to keep dealing with awkward kinks in my hair!

[Feral_]

In answer to your question, no I don’t rinse, but I do WO anyway. Some on here do rinse in between. A lot depends on length of hair though, the very long haired I believe are less likely to.. mainly as it’s such a faff gathering all that hair up! Some do scalp only washing, so it might be worth looking at that thread. Also the stretching washes thread. I use a BBB in between washes, which helps with sebum distribution and scalp health. In summer if the underneath my hair has got very sweaty with exercise I’ll bun it and rinse that part in cool water in the shower, but not a whole head rinse.

[MusicalSpoons]

Nope, I don't, it just makes my hair look even worse than before I rinsed. If you have hard water it seems less likely to be a technique that works than if you have soft (and good quality) water.

I ... well, I don't know how often I wash right now, because I've just gone 12 days between washes and my scalp was fine with it - greasy, always, it looks oily by day 2 but it *felt* fine - but that was a weird occurrence. Before that it was around a week between washes, ideally with a scalp wash in between when my scalp needed it.

If your scalp can tolerate it then co-washing might be something worth trying as well (washing, but only with conditioner). You'll probably need to try a few different things before settling on what works best for you and your hair :)

[knobbly]

No, I only wet my hair when it’s time to wash. For showers in between I just bun it, no shower cap. The hairline gets wet but no harm comes from that I can see.

For manual cleaning between washes I use a boar bristle brush on dry hair.

[Dark40]

Yep, I rinse or wet my hair in between washes all of the time. I have to because I also have an oily scalp, and I get product buildup from all of the creams, lotions, oils, and leave-ins I apply to my hair after every wash. So, it is very refreshing for both my hair and scalp. So, I would definitely recommend it appose to washing(shampooing) on a daily basis. I don't ever use shampoo on a daily basis. I mostly do CO-Washes 3-5 times a week, and on Saturday is my shampooing day to get rid of product buildup, and since I use a shampoo with sulfates in it....it really does an excellent job of clarifying and cleansing away all of the buildup and dirt. Or, I'll use a clarifying shampoo, and I only use a clarifying shampoo once a month.

[lapushka]

I think men with short hair do this regularly. My dad always has done. He washes his hair every Friday when he soaks in the tub for the end of the week (yes, the rest of the week he washes too), but this is just to end the week with a good soak. Anyway, every weekday or day after that, he wets down his hair with his comb every morning. Does that count as a rinse?

It does nothing to make it less oily by the end of the week. But it makes a difference in how his hair lays (does not stick out) on his head. LOL!

[MusicalSpoons]

I think men with short hair do this regularly. My dad always has done. He washes his hair every Friday when he soaks in the tub for the end of the week (yes, the rest of the week he washes too), but this is just to end the week with a good soak. Anyway, every weekday or day after that, he wets down his hair with his comb every morning. Does that count as a rinse?

It does nothing to make it less oily by the end of the week. But it makes a difference in how his hair lays (does not stick out) on his head. LOL!

No, I think that counts as styling :wink: Rinsing would be wetting it thoroughly and probably giving it a bit of a rub too - most likely under running water or in a large bowl. Rinsing is usually to wash something away, not simply applying water and leaving it on to dry.

[Saldana]

I sometimes do in the summer, if my scalp feels sticky or greasy. In the winter, never....I live in the Pacific Northwest, on the west side of the Cascades. If I rinsed my hair on non-wash days, my hair would literally never be dry in the winter. :) But in the summer....sure! It can be refreshing, and my hair doesn't seem to mind!

[Jane99]

I started rinsing my scalp in between washes. I try to keep my hair dry. It’s been working for me or else I’d probably never have been able to stop washing daily.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I do not rinse between washes. It just makes everything look and feel worse than if I had just let it be.

[fiords]

I don't rinse between washes because my hair takes too long to dry. When its long it doesn't seem beneficial to do so.

I do have an exception to this rule - when I go swimming. I rinse my hair with water from the shower at the beach or pool before and after swimming. This prevents lots of salt or chlorine from being absorbed by my hair, and rinses it out afterwards. The next day will be wash day usually.

[apollosdrawer]

I have very fine hair and soft water, normally wash once a week, and I occasionally rinse my hair with just water during the summer to refresh from sweat. I find doing so in the first 4 days post wash really helps keep my hair feeling freshly washed, which can be nice. But after the 4 day mark, I know what others must be talking about in this thread--it just messes up my hair. It makes it feel oilier.

Here's something interesting though; when I was just getting into makeup someone told me I'd have an easier time removing makeup if I kept in mind "like dissolves like". So, use an oil to wipe off oil based makeup. It works extremely well for me, instantly lifting the makeup so that it wipes off easy. I've wondered if maybe this is true of our hairs natural oils as well; once it's built up quite a bit from not washing, maybe water alone doesn't do a good job of removing it, and these attempts at a rinse just end up spreading sebum from root to tip? Oil and water repel each other, right?

Sorry if my phrasing is confusing lol, our natural oils seem to behave very differently to what we normally think of as oils, being unpredictable sometimes, so its possible I'm just way off base with my speculation.

[illicitlizard]

Yep, much like others here I find rinsing between washes doesn't work. It makes my hair look greasy as soon as I do it. I have soft water, fine and straight hair so YMMV.

I just do a proper wash if my hair needs it rather than let my scalp get angry for the sake of stretching washes. That was all the rage a few years ago, the pivot from "wash everyday" to "wash once a week max, you can train your hair :)))" and I fell for it for a little. Turns out some people (me) need to wash a little more frequently.
I've had luck with water only, but it took a long time of scrubbing with my fingers to be ok, I'd much rather just wash as normal...

[0xalis]

:tmi: it's a no-go for me!!!! Rinsing and/or water-only washes have just never worked for me, always makes me a greaseball :(

[Lady Stardust]

I tried rinsing in between washes when I had a reaction to a particular shampoo. I spoke to a pharmacist who told me that it is recommended (by the NHS in England) to wash no more than twice a week, and to just rinse with water if necessary in the meantime.

It made sense for me to try it because my scalp was so sore, I didn’t want to aggravate it. I usually wash my hair every other day, and I can only stretch it to one more day by rinsing. I don’t like how it looks or feels though, it’s obvious that it’s greasy.

I think I would need to use oil or leave in conditioner in between washes if I washed less frequently, because the ends get dry. My hair is susceptible to build up, so overall washing every other day seems to work best for me.

[Belgrade Beauty]

I think men with short hair do this regularly. My dad always has done. He washes his hair every Friday when he soaks in the tub for the end of the week (yes, the rest of the week he washes too), but this is just to end the week with a good soak. Anyway, every weekday or day after that, he wets down his hair with his comb every morning. Does that count as a rinse?

It does nothing to make it less oily by the end of the week. But it makes a difference in how his hair lays (does not stick out) on his head. LOL!

Hahaha my husband does the same thing :D Wets it with his fingers so his haircut looks right..Most days he has a flower on his head because of the way he sleeps..:D I don't do that, I wash it every other day anyway so no need to wet it :D
Edit:
I might try that, in the order to stretch washes...I'll see how my scalp will react.. I don't mind that it's oily, but I do mind when it starts itching which is day 3 so than I have to wash it. I don't know why it itches, is it the oils or something else irritates it..

[Dung Beetle]

I do rinse my hair every day, and then use conditioner as normal. Shampoo/conditioner only twice a week.

For me it's more of a psychological thing...it would be very hard for me to feel clean if I never even wet my hair. And I have no sense of smell so I can't reassure myself by giving it a whiff!

[lapushka]

No, I think that counts as styling :wink: Rinsing would be wetting it thoroughly and probably giving it a bit of a rub too - most likely under running water or in a large bowl. Rinsing is usually to wash something away, not simply applying water and leaving it on to dry.

Makes sense to classify it as styling. But it is use of water (even on the roots), and so it has to mess with the pH at least, and with whatever is on the scalp. So... I'm not that sure.

[Mellifluous]

Thanks for all the replies! Some interesting stuff here, seems to work really well or really bad for certain people. I gave it a go yesterday, but not really properly because I didn't do the whole water only method of preening and stuff, I just conditioned my ends and rinsed in the shower.

[cat11]

I don't rinse between washes because my hair takes too long to dry. When its long it doesn't seem beneficial to do so.

I do have an exception to this rule - when I go swimming. I rinse my hair with water from the shower at the beach or pool before and after swimming. This prevents lots of salt or chlorine from being absorbed by my hair, and rinses it out afterwards. The next day will be wash day usually.

Yes I agree with all of this.

I wonder if anyone ever tried doing an ACV in between washes. I have no experience with ACV or tea rinses.

My SO rinses between washes regularly since he showers daily but doesn't wash his hair daily.

[mary_whitney]

I will rinse in between washes in the summer, but that's more if I need to cool off than for my hair. Otherwise, no. It just takes too long to dry, especially when it's cold out.

When it was shorter, I did rinse because my shorter hair showed dirt and oil quickly and it was also impractical to keep it totally dry before I could bun it.

[SelenVinland]

I rinse between washes and sort of gently massage my scalp with my fingers; it seems like it doesn't make much of a difference in grease levels and keeps my scalp from getting itchy between washes. However I have fine, fairly straight hair that is still quite short and I don't have to wait forever for it to dry like some folks here (takes maybe an hour or two). Also I just like the feeling of the showerhead on my head :lol:

[Finda]

I don't. I tried it at the gym when my hair was super sweaty, but we have super hard water here and it repeatedly just made my hair feel very coated.

[Bri-Chan]

No, I don't see the point in my case. Plus, my hair takes a lot to dry so it wouldn't be realistic.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

No, it's not something I've done, and with hair my length it would be a nuisance. if I feel like any refreshing between weekly washes i will do a two minute scalp only wash with diluted shampoo.

[spidermom]

If my hair is relatively clean other than sweat, then yes - I will rinse it without washing.

[fallenrevenge]

Every shower my hair gets rinsed

[TatsuOni]

No I never do that.

[tähkäpää]

I don't do it either and also feel like it makes it look and feel more gross. Just tried it again last summer when I was (unsuccessfully) trying to extend the time between washes, and I had gone on a run in the forest so I wanted to rinse the sweat and possible bugs (I'm sure there were none, but I wanted to be sure) out of my already greasy hair. Ew. Should've just washed it.

Some people do it though and it works for them, so it's worth a shot! Not too much to lose. :)