Cleansing Scalp Buildup

[LiraelQ]

What's your favorite method when your scalp gets buildup? I'm finding it's easy to figure out what my hair likes, but it's a giant mystery so far as to what to do with my scalp. I've gotten buildup (either product or hard sebum) with almost every product I've ever used (shampoo, soap, conditioner, herbs), and I've been experimenting with ways to clear it up. A healthy scalp means healthy hair, in my opinion!

I voted for oil soak and absently scratching (:o), because those are the two methods working best for me at the moment. Obviously scratching is a bad habit and I'm trying to quit...and the Indian herbs I use after the oil soak just get stuck in my hair so I might as well have buildup anyway!

What do you guys do?

[windinherhair]

Before I wash my hair (which I am doing about once a week) I take a comb and rub my scalp really well to loosen any sebum buildup. I also massage my scalp well. I use a mild herbal shampoo/conditioner. I rinse with cool water which helps any extra sebum coming out get rinsed away.

Then I use a ACV rinse. I feel like the ACV rinse is what helps me the most.

[Torrin Paige]

I make a paste out of table salt and coconut oil and exfoliate my scalp with it. It works pretty well, for me at least. :) I believe I learned that from Eresh.

[JamieRose]

I use sulphate shampoo about once a month... but know that I think about it, I also do scalp massages almost every day. I rarely notice build up. I suppose it could be do to either of these things.

[HappyHair87]

Sometimes i spray my scalp with my water/peppermint oil mix.....i do this either when i don't feel like washing or if my hair is braided up. It stops the itching and smells nice too.

[Ndnlady]

I scritch with my wooden bristle brush, and I find my rhassoul clay washes are very good for removing the remaining buildup I just leave the mix on my scalp for a good while in the shower.

[starla_zero]

Combination of shampoo and scratching works for me.

[andrea1982]

I voted detergent shampoo, because that's what seems to be working for me now that I have hard water. However, when I lived somewhere with soft water, I really loved the way shampoo bars made my scalp feel-super clean and not stripped.

[cobblersmaid]

I use regular sulfate 'poo, or baking soda.

[Moonstruck]

Could you tell me more about this oil soak thing? I've never heard of it, I think... and it sounds like it'd be interesting. I haven't figured out a good way to avoid my buildup yet, so I didnt respond to your poll.

[Peter]

For sebum buildup, would a ball-tipped brush be any good? I've only heard negative things about them here but I tried it a couple of times and it felt better than using a comb.

[mira-chan]

Oiling then a herb wash is my favorite method. When lacking time, sulfate-free shampoo replaces the herbs.

[LiraelQ]

Lots of great ideas here, folks! It never occured to me to use a salt scrub rather than sugar...sugar melts so fast that it's not very effective...maybe salt would hold out longer?

I'm definitely looking into the rhassoul clay thing, too.

I use a Tangle Teezer as my main brush, and run it over my scalp pretty frequently. Combs are all I use for detangling, but they do nothing for my scalp. The TT feels amazing!


Could you tell me more about this oil soak thing? I've never heard of it, I think... and it sounds like it'd be interesting. I haven't figured out a good way to avoid my buildup yet, so I didnt respond to your poll.

Well, I honestly can't remember if I read someone's idea here or if I was inspired on my own to try an oil soak. Mainly it's because I read the thread here on the Oil Cleansing Method (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=811), where you use oils to clean your face, and that's it. It has worked wonders for my face, and now I'm very intrigued by the cleansing power of oils. So I decided to try modifications of the process for my scalp.

What I've been doing is using fairly generous amounts of Dabur Vatika Oil (coconut oil with amla added--my hair loves it) to give myself a scalp massage, then leaving the oil in overnight. The oil should theoretically loosen gunk and maybe dissolve some hard sebum.

The problem is, I can't tell if it's working or not, because the only two methods that work to remove all that oil in the morning, CO and shikaki/amla mud, put buildup right back on my scalp. CO is the worst, leaving a soft gunk all over my scalp, and the Indian mud I have trouble rinsing out completely. My hair itself loves the oil, but my scalp...who knows?

I plan to keep experimenting with it...I'm hoping to try the tea form of my Indian mud, but I'm worried it won't be as cleansing. I also might try a combo of olive/castor oil for the actual oil soak, and leave it on for only a few hours...it's a little more close to the OCM that way.

[Torrin Paige]

Salt doesn't dissolve nearly as quickly as the sugar. Table salt works best because the kosher/sea salt is just a bit too big and sharp and sometimes causes sore scalp.

[thankyousir74]

I almost always have buildup, and I scratch a lot, but then I do get odd looks from people in school, haha :blush: I also sometimes have so much buildup (after stretching out until my next wash) that I wonder what the difference between dandruff and buildup is...appearance wise, that is.

I haven't come up with a fool proof system. Scritching with my horn brush works, I guess but I usually feel my scalp being just as grimy and my hair just looks odder with sebum flakes all over the roots >_< I guess that's why people wash after scritching?

[Nanni]

I have the habit of scratching when the hair is getting greasy. When I do that I get buildup under my fingernails. I know it's a bad habit.
I've also tried to scrub it off with some oil with brown sugar and a scalp massage. I guess it's better for the scalp than my bad habit.

[itsMEowKat]

Salt doesn't dissolve nearly as quickly as the sugar. Table salt works best because the kosher/sea salt is just a bit too big and sharp and sometimes causes sore scalp.

Stupid question here Torrin: Do you wet your hair first?

[itsMEowKat]

Okay... second stupid question for anyone: What's "Scritching"?

[Torrin Paige]

Stupid question here Torrin: Do you wet your hair first?

There is no such thing as a stupid question. Yes, I wet my hair first. Then I try to separate it into parts, starting by my left ear..I rub some in, then part it again about a half an inch to the right of that and repeat until I've done my whole scalp. I only find the need to do it once a month or so, so that fact that it is a bit time consuming is okay. I refer to it as a spa day and just spend the time exfoliating, moisturizing, and generally pampering myself.

As far as scritching goes, I'm thinking it's akin to what moms do to their babies' scalps when they get cradle cap, just working the skin cells up off the scalp with a fine toothed comb. If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me, that's just my understanding of scritching.

[LittleOrca]

I tend to pick it off with my fingers if the cleansing shampoos don't get it. But you didn't hear that lil gross secret from me.

[TessieAnn]

Frankly, I never heard of "scalp build-up" or white gunk or really any other scalp issues except for dandruff until coming here. My hair is extremely oily so I wash it almost every day. I've tried going longer between washes and it doesn't affect the rate of oil production. It's going to gush no matter what I do.

So I wonder if the lack of scalp issues are due to the more "liquid" state of the oil in my scalp or because of the nearly daily cleansing?

There seems to be an LHC trend to go as long as possible between washings to protect hair. I can't help but wonder if stretching out the time but then using an abrasive product to remove debris doesn't cause damage, too?

It's very interesting how different we all are in something so nearly-universal as hair.

[Moonstruck]

TessieAnn - my mom has hair like that - washes every day, sometimes even twice a day, to keep from looking greasy.
The funny thing is that she DOES have to clarify to prevent buildup every so often, even though she's using fairly strong/harsh detergents on her scalp. Then again, because she washes every day and not much stays on, she has to clarify/switch up her product usage maybe once a year, or a little more for fun. I think it's simply that if you stick with the same product for an extensive amount of time, you really are depositing the same things over and over on your hair... and that, no matter what it is, can build up. Same way you should eat stuff in moderation, in my mind. Too many carrots will turn ya orange =P

I do skip a few days or at least 1 day before cleansings, and do what I think of as "clarify" every so often, say 2 weeks or so. I normally use shampoo bars, and my clarification is using a normal sulfate shampoo. In this case, I have used that sulfate shampoo for YEARS with no ill effects. I don't think that you can argue that that type of clarification is any more damaging than my old trend of only using it, so... just my thoughts.

[itsMEowKat]

There is no such thing as a stupid question. Yes, I wet my hair first. Then I try to separate it into parts, starting by my left ear..I rub some in, then part it again about a half an inch to the right of that and repeat until I've done my whole scalp. I only find the need to do it once a month or so, so that fact that it is a bit time consuming is okay. I refer to it as a spa day and just spend the time exfoliating, moisturizing, and generally pampering myself.


Thanks. Spa Day ... sounds like a winner! :D

[JamieLeigh]

I probably absent-mindedly scratch more than I should. :o But my method of choice is currently using Suave Clarifying shampoo. I use it once a month, the rest of the time I CO. :)

[zen_oven]

I don't really get a lot of buildup that I've noticed, but now and then I get a case of the itchies/flakes. When that happens I scritch and/or give myself a scalp massage with jojoba and a bit of tea tree oil. That does wonders for my scalp.

[chrissy-b]

I always comb my hair before I wash with a sulfate-free shampoo.

[WillOTree]

I'm a habitual absent minded scratcher, but I remove buildup with good ol' shampoo and condish.

[Groovy Granny]

I don't get build up; my hair/scalp loves sulfates anyway....so it all works out :shrug:

[hanne jensen]

I voted sulphate poo and other. I use a clarifying poo with cardamom (sp?) blended in. Cardamom doesn't have sharp edges so it won't scratch my scalp but will give my scalp a good scrub.

[lapushka]

I hardly get "build-up" as I weekly wash, and use a harsh sulfate shampoo weekly. My scalp is massaged well during shampooing so it probably removes any "gunk" that is on there, as by the end of the week I can get oily.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

I soak my scalp with a mixture of oils and wash it with water only the next morning and then do an ACV rinse. This is my regular wash

ETA
I don't get scalp build up . Except if I try to stretch my wash

[inpatient]

Does the brown sugar scrub really work?

[jessic6]

I use a bamboo brush to scratch at my scalp immediately before washing my hair, then wash my hair with a clarifying shampoo or (usually) a dandruff shampoo.

[EbonyCurls]

Giovanni tea tree triple treat sulfate free shampoo. Scritching and brushing. And doing a pre shampoo coconut oil scalp soak.

[TatsuOni]

I don't get buildup. Not in the scalp nor the hair.

[Begemot]

I get buildup from time to time, especially during winter. I like to massage my scalp pretty frequently and scratch it with nails sometimes. Sometimes I use scalp moisturizing lotion, ACV rinses and now I have started using Monistat.