Daily water washing

[GingerBoy'sMom]

I have been reading a few threads about how long people stretch their shampoos out. It is interesting to me that some people don't wet their hair at all on no shampoo days.
When I first went no poo, the transition was awful so, I decided that gently massaging my scalp under warm (not super hot) helped move the sebum from my scalp down the hair shafts and I felt less greasy.
My scalp loves this as I have not experienced ''itchies'' and because my hair is about 17.5 to 18 inches, it did not take long for me to get my hair coated with sebum. Now, I am a sparkley lady!:)
As I have neglected my health and nutrition since having my son (and chopping my BSL hair into a graduated bob....argh! hormones, I tell you,) and then six months ago starting my hair revolution I have also developed a ''lovely'' furby-esque halo of new growth.
I promptly purchased som aloe vera gel as suggested by some lovely ladies of this community and it has helped quite a bit.
Anyway, for those ladies that do not wet their hair everyday or water wash, would you tell me why that is. I am just curious:D

[Tornerose]

Note: I've recently changed hair-routine, and not really happy about it, so talking about my normal SLS Routine here.

I never wet my hair between washes, simply because it doesn't need it. My hair and scalp is on the dry side, so it takes alot of time to produce enough sebum to make it look greasy. I don't mind that it doesn't look freshly washed every day, as long as it's not greasy. It even gets a tad fluffier and more volume-looky on 3rd/4th day after washing, wich I really like :D

[pelicano]

I water wash daily (mostly), but only because I suffer with my scalp, so it's less about my hair's needs than my scalp's.

[Vijikanth]

I dont know since when I started it as a routine, but as long as I remember, I have been taking a head bath daily. I dont feel like having bathed if its not head bath. And after growing my hair, again no stop. But I oil a bit after the wash and towel drying to avoid tangles and splits.

[Monsterkitti]

I dont get my hair wet generally between shampoos.

I wash weekly and have for a good few years now. My hair / scalp are pretty used to weekly washing and dont get greasy till maybe day 6 or 7 so I dont see any need to wet my hair down.

Also as I damp bun it takes maybe 24hrs to dry completely, i'd have permantly damp hair if I washed every day :)

My hair is also more delicate and prone to break when its wet as well so I minimise the time its wet and getting handled.

[Sara Smile]

For years I have washed my hair on the weekend, and a scalp wash in the middle of the week. Other than that, I don't get my hair wet, and put it up when I shower the other days. Since one of the reasons I don't wash my hair often is the drying-time, WO washing makes no sense to me. If I'm going to get my hair wet, and then wait for it to dry, I might as well wash it.

My hair is probably best on day 2 or 3, and starts to get a bit oily just before the scalp or full wash. It was getting dry on the ends by the end of the week, until I discovered oiling. Now the ends are nice and moist, and the top usually is in some intermediate state between fresh-clean and oily.

[Madame J]

I've heard that being wet can make hair fragile and more prone to breaking, but I have to admit that I don't wet my hair every day because I'm lazy. I simply don't shower every day. Occasionally, when I shower on a non-shampoo day, I'll keep my hair up in a bun and avoid getting it wet as best I can, and if I feel like I have to rinse it out, I put a bit of oil on the ends after to protect it as it dries.

[spidermom]

I avoid getting mine wet because then I've got three feet of wet hair dripping all over my dry clothes. Or I have to spend an hour blow-drying on warm.

[bumblebums]

Reasons:

1. I don't have the time to wait for my hair to dry every day.
2. Wetting hair weakens it.
3. Clean hair is harder to put up and braid. After a few days of no wetting, it's easier to deal with.
4. It saves water and keeps my shower cleaner!

[ETA on that last one--it's true even though I shower the rest of me me every day.]

[Celebrian]

:confused:
I have been reading a few threads about how long people stretch their shampoos out. It is interesting to me that some people don't wet their hair at all on no shampoo days.
When I first went no poo, the transition was awful so, I decided that gently massaging my scalp under warm (not super hot) helped move the sebum from my scalp down the hair shafts and I felt less greasy.
My scalp loves this as I have not experienced ''itchies'' and because my hair is about 17.5 to 18 inches, it did not take long for me to get my hair coated with sebum. Now, I am a sparkley lady!:)
As I have neglected my health and nutrition since having my son (and chopping my BSL hair into a graduated bob....argh! hormones, I tell you,) and then six months ago starting my hair revolution I have also developed a ''lovely'' furby-esque halo of new growth.
I promptly purchased som aloe vera gel as suggested by some lovely ladies of this community and it has helped quite a bit.
Anyway, for those ladies that do not wet their hair everyday or water wash, would you tell me why that is. I am just curious:D

Hi, how long have you been 'no-poo' - and, please, what do you mean by 'sparkley'! :D

[sweetestday]

Mine is so long, and since I shower in the evening and air dry it, I don't really look forward to washing. I try to stay up long enough to fluff it enough to braid it before bed because I really don't like going to bed with a wet head.

[GingerBoy'sMom]

Celebrian, I have been no-poo for about 4 months or so.
So far, so good.
I had a sneaking suspicion that someone would say that wetting hair everyday is a no no as hair is weaker when wet......I was thinking that too which is why I asked. You see, I am trying so hard to be good to my hair, I am paranoid about doing anything that would counteract my efforts. I am sort of forced to rinse with water everyday as I use water soluble hair products (specifically DevaCurl Set It Free and Angell) to tame my wavy/wurly hair and I don't want too much build up. Plus, I feel a little better and more fresh if I wet it...I know, it's crazy.
I am always very, very careful with my hair when it is wet (I use the CG method) and my hair never sees a brush or comb unless I am in the shower distributing conditioner.
Is there anything else I can do to minimize the risk of damaging my hair seeing as though I wet it everyday?

[spidermom]

It sounds like you're doing the right things while your hair is wet. A lot of people wash or rinse their hair every day, and I don't think being wet in and of itself causes a lot of damage.

[Roseate]

Anyway, for those ladies that do not wet their hair everyday or water wash, would you tell me why that is. I am just curious:D

A) Six. Hour. Drying time! Even blowdrying takes an hour. I'm not willing to look like a drowned rat for the better part of every day, and I'm far too lazy to blowdry every day.

B) My hair and scalp are just happier when washed less often. I went to a once-a-week schedule long before finding LHC; trial and error told me it was a good idea for my head.

Some folks have to, or like to wash/wet every day; I'm not one of them. My hair likes to be left alone!

[pepperminttea]

I only wet my hair on hair-wash days, every 5-7 days. When I go in for my daily shower, I just put it up and take the shower down to its lowest height setting. I should buy a shower cap really, but there we go. I have tried the water washing it every morning thing, though for me it's a giant hassle. 4-5 hour air-drying time, to start with. The weight of the hair is so much more when it's wet. And since I have to have it down to air-dry, if I had to detangle post-air-drying every day, my mechanical damage would be horrendous. Apart from that, nothing dries out my length more than being washed, even with CWC washes; if I water-washed every day my frizz would be on insanity-inspiring levels. Really, it's because I'm all for low maintenance hair; it's why I keep it long. :)

[julliams]

I wash Sunday's and Wednesday's. I will wash on Saturday if I'm going out. Other than that my hair does not receive any water. I might just give it a light coating of oil if it's feeling dry.

I find that my hair is a little fluffy on the wash day (after washing). I usually damp bun to get my canopy to sit nicely. Then on day 1 - 2 after washing my hair is at it's best. Soft, shiney, managable and does just what I need it to. By day 3 after washing I start to notice that I get the itchies so it's time to wash again. I do an SMT once a week which I incorporate with the wash (I wash and then apply SMT as my conditioner, leave for an hour and then rinse) and now I am going a coconut soak with lite coconut milk because I am loving the results.

I have washed my hair everyday but it's just too drying for me, plus since my hair takes hours to dry, it's really just not practical. You will find that your scalp will adapt to less washing. Start by skipping a day and once that becomes routine, stretch it out to another day and so fourth. I used to be able to go about 4 days without needing to wash but I actually enjoy washing my hair so I wash a little more often now.

Juliette

[Katze]

We have similar hair and I also have the lovely halo of new growth (my baby will be nine months old tomorrow) and messy wurly hair.

I tried no-poo back when my hair was a bit longer than yours, and liked the first few months but after a while craved clean hair and a clean scalp! Like you, I use products (I have to, and aloe doesn't cut it) so I need to clean them out regularly. At the moment I use sulfate shampoo 2-4x a month depending on if I go swimming or not - on swim days I start with dirty hair, oil more before leaving for the pool, then wash out with a sulfate shampoo and condition the length. Sometimes I precede a swim with an SMT.

However, I never washed my hair every day. To me, getting it wet - even 'distributing the sebum' - is washing - the way you describe doing it is a lot like how I WO wash. e

My hair is not as thick as yours but I still find it too thick to get wet all the time. Although I shower nights, I keep it up most times, and just oil the parts that get damp.

Personally I think there is no reason to wash hair every day or get it wet every day, and my sensitive, eczema-prone scalp is happier if I don't.

I also find my hair and scalp both need sulfate washing. But everyone is different.

hope this helps!

[enfys]

I've heard that being wet can make hair fragile and more prone to breaking, but I have to admit that I don't wet my hair every day because I'm lazy. I simply don't shower every day. Occasionally, when I shower on a non-shampoo day, I'll keep my hair up in a bun and avoid getting it wet as best I can, and if I feel like I have to rinse it out, I put a bit of oil on the ends after to protect it as it dries.

This. The first part and the second part haha.

When your hair is wet it's more likely to stretch and snap and whatnot. It's also more effort than I feel it's wort to wet even my scalp hair. It doesn't need the added friction of a towel or the pain of either going out in the cold with wet hair or sleeping on it. I don't see a benfit to it.

[Anje]

One of the first revelations I had upon joining LHC (proving, perhaps, that I'm a little slow sometimes) is that I don't have to wash my hair every time I step into the shower. Honestly, I used to try to space showers out to 36-48 hours because I didn't feel like dealing with wet hair. It's like it never occurred to me that I could shower without washing my hair or even getting it wet.

So why do I not wet my hair down whenever I shower now? Honestly, a lot of it is simply that I don't feel like dealing with wet hair. My hair takes at least an hour or so to dry loose. That's either going to happen in the morning when I'm hoping to get out the door, or it's going to happen in the evening when I tend to get chilled before bed. Add to that the fact that hair is more fragile when wet, and that I haven't been able to train myself not to detangle it before letting it dry (I feel a need to get the hairs all hanging in the same direction).

I hate to say it, but my hygiene may have improved slightly just for realizing I didn't need to wash my hair constantly. :D

I tend to CO wash my hair when one of several conditions are met:
(1) I'm getting too oily at the roots.
(2) The length is over-oiled, coated in a leave-in I've decided I'm not happy with, or picking up too much cat hair/lint (risking massive tangles!)
(3) Ends are dry, could use conditioner.
(4) Gotta get something out of my hair. (Henna, deep treatment, lake or pool water, etc)

[RocketDog]

My hair takes a long time to dry, so wetting it every day would mean I'd either walk around with a wet updo or get out the blow-drier to hasten the process. Neither sounds particularly appealing, especially when it's freezing outside! And besides that, my hair is very fine and getting it wet without washing it just seems to make it look oilier faster, where my dry hair looks fine on day 2/3.