Why do you wash your hair as often/unoften as you do?

[Capybara]

I've been thinking, for the past little while, about stretching washes. I've always only washed when I had to, which used to be once a week, then increased to once every day, and now I wash about every 3 to 5 days, depending on the weather and my hair's greasiness.

Now, my question: Why do you wash as often/unoften as you do? For me, it was purely a convenience thing. I thought, why should I do something that I don't have to do, if I can do without doing it for now and do it later when I need to :p (confusing, but I hope you get the picture!)

I also like that I'm giving my (ridiculously sensitive) scalp a break, to balance itself.

And, I don't have to go around with wet hair every day.

And, I really like how my hair lays on days 2, 3, and 4, more than I like it on the day of the wash. To each his own :shrug:

Anyways, back to my point - are there other benefits to not washing often? I mean, my hair will be washed hundreds of times anyways, will it make a difference if I stretch it an extra day or two between washes in the long run? Just a thought.

Now, your turn - Why do you wash as often/unoften as you do? Is it because you can't stand greasy hair, or for convenience' sake, or something entirely different? :drama:

[chopandchange]

Exercise.

I do cardio once every two days and can't stand to leave the sweat in my hair.

[ButterCup02]

I wash mine twice/week. Convenience, and because it doesn't need it any more often than that. I just kind of go with the flow, if it feels greasy or looks like it needs a wash I wash. I do like my hair a lot better on days 2 and 3 between washings than I do on day 1.

[Harriet]

My hair takes at least 3 days to get visibly greasy, and knowing that over washing is bad for the hair I've always washed every 3 days or more if possible. I could never see the point in washing more often that it needed to be washed, and my hair has always been healthy and shiny.
If I didn't work i'd probably try and stretch it longer, but I don't think it would be professional for me to let it get really oily.

I'm a strong believer that the hair is meant to look after itself so I'm trying not to mess around wiht my scalps natural processes as much as possible.

[Qwackie]

The heat, it's really, really hot where I live in the summer, and I sweat a lot, so I wash once a week or more in the summer. In cooler months, every two weeks.

[spidermom]

No reason really. I wash my hair when I feel that it needs washing, unless I'm too busy or otherwise not inclined. Then I wash it as soon as I feel like it.

[Synthemesc]

Red hair dye, it does NOT like to stay put. Can go a few days before it starts looking a bit stringy.

[Peregrine]

Recently I wash it every four days when I go running every other day. I'm okay with letting one running day go by without washing but two and I get uncomfortable. Not that my hair looks oily or gets itchy or anything, I just feel like I should wash it.

When I was lazy (from last September to about two weeks ago) I usually went a week or more between washes because I wasn't sweating and my hair didn't need it. Over washing would dry out my scalp and then I had to deal with flakes.

[Quixii]

I wash my hair every time I have gymnastics, because I'm desperate for a shower after that. I could possibly skip washing my hair some of the time, even though I get sweat and chalk in there, but I like to get my curls back after the tight buns and whatnot I have to do. I don't really see much of a reason for stretching washes when I prefer my curls and feeling clean.

[MandyBeth]

CO wash after workout. CWC as needed. Was daily, now 2 days is ok.

[Capybara]

Interesting! So far, the prevailing reasons seem to be:

*Convenience
*Exercise
* Dyed hair (so it doesn't fade)
*Helping scalp balance

Does stretching washes, in itself, make your hair healthier? :confused: I suppose it would give time for the sebum to coat the hair, but .. ?

[papillion]

I'm on stage two nights a week, so I have to wash my hair the day before the first of the two in order for it to look good.

I've tried stretching washes, but I can't last a whole week without washing. So I wash the day before the shows, and then once more during the week.

[09robiha]

- beacause I like it and my hair dosent protest. :eek:

[Capybara]

- beacause I like it and my hair dosent protest. :eek:

:lol: I can relate ...

[Islandgrrl]

I don't have a set schedule for washing (CO). I just do it whenever it feels ready. Sometimes that's two days in a row, sometimes it's two weeks apart.

[SharkDisco]

I'm trying to wash every second day, down from every day. Ideally it would be every third day, but by the end of the second day my hair feels so gross I can't stand it (oily at scalp, dry and scratchy at the ends). I'm doing this in the hope that less washing will equal less damaged hair over time.

[Capybara]

I'm trying to wash every second day, down from every day. Ideally it would be every third day, but by the end of the second day my hair feels so gross I can't stand it (oily at scalp, dry and scratchy at the ends). I'm doing this in the hope that less washing will equal less damaged hair over time.

Does washing hair cause damage? It would make sense, I'm just wondering, because it's something that will happen to my hair hundreds of times. Is it worth the inconvenience (?) to stretch washes to my limit?

[eezepeeze]

I wash every 5 days, although I could go twice that without getting greasy. I wash to get some bounce back into my curls and wash out the pre-wash oiling that I do.

[Drarra]

I wash my hair when it looks dirty. Right now, that is every other day. Sometimes I can wait an extra day, and other times, daily is necessary. I hate the greasies.

[jasper]

I wash as unoften as possible. It isn't for a hair related reason, it is for water conservation!

[wvgemini]

- beacause I like it and my hair dosent protest. :eek:

This mostly. And I have a crazy variety of shampoos/conditioners and I like the way my hair smells with them, lol.

[Naamah]

I wash my hair every other day because I enjoy my hair more if I wash it that often. I haven't seen any negative effect on my hair from it.

[constantki]

I'm just lazy xD
Washing my hair feels like such a hassle so I only wash it when absolutely necessary (which usually ends up being every Thursday with some variation)

[JenniferNoel]

Every few days. It gets greasy fast.
I don't like greasy hair, but if I washed it more often, it would get pretty dry.

[virgo75]

I've been washing my hair daily but I'm actually trying to cut down.

I wash it because I like to wash it and enjoy the scents of different shampoos & conditioners - it's like aromatherapy for me. :) I also found that washing daily keeps my hair moisturized better than washing it less and keeping it out of the water.

I'm trying to cut down because the past week or so I've been taking my hair down to wash it and it's still wet from the day before. Makes me feel like it's overkill. lol I also don't want to wash it every day when it gets colder because I don't like feeling cold. I may just wash twice a week and then do water rinses in between? Not sure.

[jeanniet]

I try to wash on a four day schedule, but could move that a day either way depending on convenience and need. If I could get away with washing only once a week, I would.

[sugarpixie10988]

I wash my hair about three times a week maybe, it has more volume after I wash and is more soft and less of a frizz monster when it's humid.

[Juneii]

Every other day. My hair is much too greasy to stretch watches without it bothering me. Not to mention my bangs start to look horrible by the second day anyway.

[CurlAhead]

I wash my hair maybe once a week.. Why? Because I'm so lazy! :P

[Tabihito]

Every day, sometimes every other day. Any longer than that and the grease monster comes for me.

[christine1989]

I wash daily although I'm trying to cut back to every other day (not in the current 95 degree weather though!) I just can't stand feeling dirty or oily so I co wash once a day and shampoo 1-2 times a week.

[PiroskaCicu]

My hair is very thick but at the same time fine. Meaning, I have lots of hair, but I have fine hairs. Anyway, because of this when its unwashed, I really hate how it feels/looks. I love my hair more when it's washed so I wash every other day, sometimes every 2, 3 days. Sometimes I stretch it out more if I have nowhere important to go (which is a lot of the time:P). On days when I don't wash, it's usually up in a pony tail, to hide the bad hairdays. :P

[lajsa]

I wash about every other day, whenever it gets 'greasy'. It doesn't have to be very greasy to annoy me, really. It's enough if it looks dirty when I put it up in a bun or something. I'm trying to stretch the time between washings, though - I've stopped using shampoo, and I'm hoping the lack of "drying" stuffies in my near-daily hair care could perhaps help me get less oily with some time. :p

[Chiara]

I wash my fringe (bangs) every other day, because they start looking stringy. I wash the rest of my hair once a week, either diluted shampoo or CO. My scalp prefers to be washed less (or else it gets really dry and flakey) but my hair tends to look noticeably greasy, which I don't like. My hair also gets really dry if I wash too often. So I'm trying to balance what my hair and scalp prefer with the look that I prefer!

My scalp is dramatically less greasy after I did around 8 weeks of WO washing. However, my fringe picks up oils from my face, so that's why it looks greasier faster.

[Ludde]

I wash when hair and scalp ask for it. My scalp seems to be much more content with the oil cleaning than with balsam which I used before. It is less and less a matter of the scalp getting cranky and more when the rolls get dry and starts to point at the olive oil bottle or try to curl joyfully around it whenever we walk past (no subtle signs here). The trick is to decide if an oil and water-wash, only water or a water and vinegar kombination is required.

[Night_Kitten]

I wash once a week on the weekend, because it needs a long time to air-dry...
I could probably go 9-10 days between washes, but that would mean washing in the middle of the week - not the best option for me...

[frost pattern]

I wash when my hair feels greasy (which would strech washing up to 10-14 days), sometimes a few days earlier. I enjoy the low maintenance effort since my hair is growing so much! I used to wash daily for a better look when my hair was shorter and I hated it.

[Henrietta]

I feel like my hair needs it. I wash every 3 days. There was a time I washed it every 2 days but I quit it.(I had to use too much shampoo, according to my dad:D) Then I wanted to stretch the washes but it didn't work, even after going cone free. Every 3 days is not too often, my laziness can handle that, and not too rarely, my hair looks "ok" at the end of day 3, though not perfect. Day 4 would be horrible:D But 3 is still ok:)

[Luna12345]

I wash my hair everyday....I think it's habit beacause I've been washing my hair everyday ever since I was a kid so if I skip a day I feel like my head gets itchy and I just wouldn't feel fresh or clean.

[MissCoco]

I used to have combination hair and straighten it every time I washed it (which was about once per week), but now that my hair is heat-free and heavily oiled regularly, for some reason my scalp- even with daily scalp massages- doesn't produce much oil now. I try waiting until all of my hair becomes greasy from my own oils, but after a week I get impatient and start oiling my hair (I leave it oiled for three days, usually). In any case, I like the low maintenance of washing infrequently. I just wish I knew why my scalp won't produce many (or any) oils... :confused:

[Barniie]

grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.g rease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.gr ease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.gre ase.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grea se.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.greas e.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease .grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease. grease.

[Capybara]

grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.g rease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.gr ease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.gre ase.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grea se.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.greas e.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease .grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease.grease. grease.
I laughed at this!!

I wash my fringe (bangs) every other day, because they start looking stringy. I wash the rest of my hair once a week, either diluted shampoo or CO. My scalp prefers to be washed less (or else it gets really dry and flakey) but my hair tends to look noticeably greasy, which I don't like. My hair also gets really dry if I wash too often. So I'm trying to balance what my hair and scalp prefer with the look that I prefer!

My scalp is dramatically less greasy after I did around 8 weeks of WO washing. However, my fringe picks up oils from my face, so that's why it looks greasier faster.
I guess, it makes sense to wash when it gets dirty!


I wash my hair every other day because I enjoy my hair more if I wash it that often. I haven't seen any negative effect on my hair from it.
I'm wondering, if there was any negative effect on my hair when I used to wash it daily? I don't have any lasting damage from it.

I wash my hair about three times a week maybe, it has more volume after I wash and is more soft and less of a frizz monster when it's humid.
I like the volume I get from washing as well :D part of the reason I'm not tryin to strath any further is the volume I get and enjoy.

Every day, sometimes every other day. Any longer than that and the grease monster comes for me.

Again, wash when it's dirty :)

Would I be correct in saying that washing hair frequently isn't as bad as I though it was? :)

[Carolyn]

I wash (CO or CWC) on an as needed basis. It depends on the weather and what I'm doing. If I get sweaty and gross, I wash it. If I'm going to be out doing things with friends, I wash it. If I'm home or not doing anything more than going to Walmart, then I don't wash it. When I'm on vacation I often wash it daily because I want it to look nice every day. If I plan to wear my hair down I have to wash it that morning. My hair is more moisturized and shinier if I wash it every other day. I've gone 4-5 days now and then and my ends are a dried up, frizzed mess. I don't mind wet hair at all. I kind of enjoy it.

[wishbone]

Exercise. I go to the gym/run/ do martial arts most days of the week, and find that sweat makes my hair go gross. Not greasy, just feels like theres buildup on the roots and it makes my scalp feel itchy too.

[Sunsailing]

I wash mine every other day. If I go longer than that, then I end up with increased shedding.
My theory is that too much DHT will build up on the scalp and cause the increased shedding.

[kitschy]

I co-wash every other day because my ringlets turn into fuzz.

[hmmm]

Personally I don't mind grease so much as an irritating (irritated, yes, but also irritating) scalp. It tells me when it's time for me to oil and wash, and most of the time I listen to it. Other times I put it off because I'm lazy like that.

[poloandpearls]

I'm with Buttercup02 & spidermom - I wash when it starts to feel like it needs washing (i.e. my fringe / just behind fringe starts to stick together, on the way to being greasy).

Luckily, my Mum always got me to wash my hair fortnightly as I was growing up, so I think my hairs' used to producing its own oils over this time.

Unfortunately, the desire to wash my hair after working out & the amount of time it takes to get my hair dry again (at least half a day in the sun or half an hour with a blow-dryer, which I'd rather avoid) causes me to exercise much less than I'd like to / should.
I'm currently considering buying a professional quality hairdryer so I'm more willing to exercise & I'll be washing more often - maybe weekly / twice a week if it's bad.

[ArienEllariel]

Typically I wash every day but I'm trying to stretch.. Actually, I've found that in between CO or a diluted shampooing, my scalp likes it best if I do WO with a diluted ACV rinse. My hair feels really good and moisturized after the WO ACV thing. I'm just not sure how often during the week I'm allowed to do that before it becomes too often and my hair or scalp protests.

[rags]

I wash usually every other day because I have fine, thin hair, and i exercise a lot. On fine thin hair the smallest amount of grease will make your hair stick to your head. Since I dislike the Gollum look, I wash.

If I haven't been in the heat or at the gym, I can go 3 days without washing.

[Qwerty Uiop]

I wash as infrequently as possible to prevent breakage. I am not the most patient person in the world, so the less often I have to detangle, the better.

I also use a baking soda rinse, which can be quite drying but is preferable (to me) to the potentially unsafe chemicals, like pthalates, in commercial hair products and sulfates, which I know are "addictive" and cause my scalp to overproduce sebum.

I probably us the BS rinse about every 6-8 weeks and water only once a week.

[deko]

I wash my hair when I have to. I don't like wet hair and it takes hours to dry.

[mariika]

I usually wash once in three-two days because my temple hair gets kinda greasy. if I wait longer my nape hair gets greasy as well and that is no good. sometimes I think I wash too often and I shouldn't wash when my temple hair is a bit greasy but I am anticipating my hair to get real greasy soon so I wash it to prevent that. not sure if I'm overdoing here and should probably wash less often.

[slz]

I wash my hair when the inconvenience of having dirty hair outweighs the inconvenience of shampooing - which is an ordeal in itself and a real chore most of the time.
So, when working, I'll wash once a week on the week end, since I wouldn't have time to do it during the week and 2 weeks between washes is a bit much for appearing in public.
On holiday, I don't really keep track - I will wash my hair tomorrow or the day after most probably, but I don't remember when was the last time. My hair doesn't look particularly dirty, but it starts to feel painful at the roots when left in an updo, so it's time.

[ravensinger13]

My hair goes up in a cinnabun every day except wash day, and only gets a thorough brushing every couple of days. I generally get around to washing it 1-2 times a week, but I'm really aiming for once a week. If it gets really sweaty, dusty, or generally can't stand it I do a scalp rinse and that usually takes care of it. BTW, I'm trying to cut down on washes because I was shedding like crazy and the less I mess with it the less it seems to shed. I don't know if that actually works, but it makes me feel better about it.

[Drynwhyl]

I'm washing this often because in the summer, my sebum production skyrockets and I can't stand myself being so greasy. ><

[Crackaleen]

I wash once a week for various reasons. The main motivating factor is to avoid drying my hair out any more than necessary and prevent damage, but it's also a convenience thing. My wash routine has gotten more and more involved and I couldn't imagine doing it more often, it takes too much time. And then it takes my hair forever to dry afterward. Plus my hair takes a couple of days after a washing to look good, so if I washed every day or every other day (for instance), I'd lose good hair days.

[Capybara]

Ooh, that makes sense that washing your hair more frequently would cause shedding!

[CrisDee]

For me, it's all about style. My hair is still quite short, as you can see in my avatar, and it looks like total crap if I go a day without washing. I'm planning on less frequent washing once it gets long enough to bun, but for now, in order to make it look like anything, I have to wash it :(

[Hiriel]

I'm lazy, and don't wash my hair unless I have to ;)

[In2wishin]

I usually wash 2X a week. I tried to stretch it out to 1X but my scalp would start itching around day 4-5 and my hair would be really greasy. The only exception to this is the week I spend at a lake in summer. I swim everyday so I CO wash at the end of the day. I need to get the sunscreen out plus I could never detangle otherwise.

[growing2shine]

Right now I CWC once a week because my scalp is very sensitive and when I wash more often my scalp just freaks out, but when the week has passed my scalp gets irritated by dead skin, dirt and sebum. So thats pretty much what works for me right now.:hmm:

[silverjen]

I have been WO-washing 3x a week, on a schedule. However, just this past week I decided to wash only when my hair needs it. This first week I was able to go 5 days. My hope is that the time between washes will gradually lengthen. Reasons? To conserve water, save time, and for the health of my hair and scalp.

[Ash]

Daily washer. If I do not clean my hair daily with either CO or CWC, I end up with a breakout on my scalp from sebum and the length gets really crispy and I can't get a comb through it.

[Kiffer Fadybugs]

I usually wash it every other day. I don't know how to drive, so I walk to work. My scalp sweats as I walk, so it builds up the sweat and other stuff. I don't know what to call it. But if I scratch my head, this white stuff gets stuck under my fingernails. It grosses me out. And my head gets really itchy. I feel better when it's clean.

[baaaad_kitty]

I live in the tropics where it can be disgustingly hot and humid. I can't stand sweat, any amount of it. So I wash with my no poo every other day and water only in between. Sometimes I just use a honey rinse

[CherrySilver]

Exercise.

I do cardio once every two days and can't stand to leave the sweat in my hair.

Ditto, plus I like to put my homemade topicals/oils on my scalp and it looks/feels gross unless I can wash it out, although I think the benefit is worth it. Otherwise, I could go about a week before washing it.

[Djinmonet]

When it's shorter, and the oils have less length to travel, I wash more often, because the scalp hair looks oily. When it's longer, it takes more time to get all the oils to the bottom of my hair, so I wash closer to every 4 days, or a week.
If I don't wait as long as possible, my hair dries out very badly on the length, even if I do a massive oiling before.

Haven't yet figured out a way to scalp only wash without the edge of the wet getting gunky, but I suspect it's just due to my water. Thinking more, and more about attempting WO scalp days, but haven't tried it yet.

[nobeltonya]

Right now, because it‘s still hot and humid, I‘m washing every day. I have an oily scalp (and skin), so I feel particularly gross if I don‘t wash it. Plus, I sweat more if I don‘t wash (I sweat a lot anyway), and it makes my neck itchy to wear it down like that. And it just feels really nice to massage my scalp clean. :)

But, once it drops below like 65° and I won‘t sweat so much, I can go every other day. Any more, and I still feel gross. It definitely saves a LOT of time washing every other day..

[squiggyflop]

um anywhere between 2-5 days depending on how i feel about the hair..

um mostly it has to do with laziness.. also my cowlicks in the front are curly and extra grease makes them slick back elegantly into updos.. if i have clean hair in a bun sometimes the curly cowlicks stick out 5 inches like antennae.. since i have one cowlick on each side of my hairline it looks really weird

[DuckyDot]

Everyday :) My hair gets horrid otherwise and I have Seborrheic Dermatitis which gets un-bearable if I miss a day. Also I do Sports 3-4x a week (Depending on what my schedule for school is). I'll Either CO or Use a Sulphate-Free Shampoo

[PeonyGarden]

I wet my hair every day, to detangle and moisturize, although I don't really consider this washing, even if I give my scalp a rub. I guess I'd say I wash my hair once every two weeks usually. Sooner if I feel like I need it, or if I exercise or go swimming a lot. My hair doesn't get very greasy so it's not something I usually have to worry about :).

[sunrain]

Depends on how greasy it looks and how much I've been sweating. I've been trying a WO routine, but since it's more humid at home, I have to throw in a baking soda rinse concentrating on the scalp and nape. I love how soft and moisturized my ends are with WO, but scalp and nape have a tendency to look stringy even if I wash every other day. Still experimenting, though. If I was exercising/playing sports, I will wash my hair afterwards or the next day (when I was still doing CO).

[CricketSong]

Every day, although I'm trying to stretch it out to every two days, but it's hard because it gets greasy fast and I don't want to be bringing that out in public :(

[chicken]

I wash my hair every other day at the moment - at least I should do, because it is greasy by then. But if I'm just sitting at home, I wait another day...
There a weeks when I'm swimming every morning. Then I wash it every day because of the chlorine in the water.

[Morgaine]

I wash my hair twice a week because it gets greasy after 3 or 4 days.
I'd like to wash it only once a week but it is really hard to stretch washes. I just hate going out with my hair looking/feeling greasy.

[Blond Unicorn]

I'm washing my hair wednesday and sundays !
This is a routine for several years now and it works great for me.
I'm excersing 2x a week and horse riding 5x a week - so with that I just feel, that my hair needs some washing every now and then. In the last years my hair was very seldom greasy, so this is not the main reason for washing it.

[MerryKat]

My prefered method is NW - so that would No Washing.

My reasons for moving to this method and the reasons I always return to this method (I get bored [and forget how horrid my hair is when using conventional washing] and life sometimes means my hair needs washing in a more conventional manner [swiming with children, seaside holidays, smokey (cigarettes and Bbq) parties, ) are:

* Hyper sensitive scalp which gets red, sore, itchy, scabby and flakey from nearly every product I have every tried - and even those that work short term end up causing problems.

* Very fine hair that gets fuzzy, frizzy and fluffy after washing / or limp and greasy looking from leave ins

* I like my hair more and more the longer it has been since washing

* I seriously dislike my hair when it is wet - and it takes a very long time to dry up (drying down makes a puff ball)

* I love the ease of not having a washing routine to have to follow - no having to plan when to wash to make sure hair looks good

* with NW my scalp is happy and my hair is more weighted down, so no fluff and fuzz

* easy to follow - scritch, massage & preen twice a day and scalp & hair are happy

[jennyjb]

I wash once or twice a week depending on whether it feels or looks dirty and whether I'm going out. I've never washed more often than every third day and these days I prefer to go longer if possible (mostly due to laziness, but I'm sure it's better for my hair as well. My scalp doesn't seem to mind).

[cubedcoley]

I really enjoyed this thread so far and have been COing daily for about 2 weeks, cone free and getting off the SLS shampoos. I am hoping to stretch out the COing, but don't want to get greasy. Seems like I am greasy by Day 2 and end up needing a wash. Can you feel the question coming? I suspect this is due, in part, from switching up my routine with regards to feeling a greasy scalp on Day 2 and it will pass, allowing me to stretch the CO wash. However, does anybody have any tricks to hide the grease and avoid washing? Powders or anything else? Updos hide the grease well if I don't want to wash, but I am limited as I am not quite APL right now. :) Thanks in Advance all lovely Ladies and Long-Haired Knights! :)

[Nicoliee]

I wash my hair when it starts to feel/look icky.

[MandaMom2Three]

I wash my hair when it looks dirty. Right now, that is every other day. Sometimes I can wait an extra day, and other times, daily is necessary. I hate the greasies.

This, word for word. Sometimes I'll wash even when the length doesn't want it because my scalp needs it. i can't wait until my hair is long enough to make scalp only washes easier!

[frost pattern]

... However, does anybody have any tricks to hide the grease and avoid washing? Powders or anything else? Updos hide the grease well if I don't want to wash, but I am limited as I am not quite APL right now.

When I started to grow my hair, it was hoovering my shoulder and I was a daily washer. I read a lot about boar bristle brushes, bought one and realized it adds volume to my hair and makes it looking less greasy. I wonder if this works for other people as well? My hair met APL recently and I wash every 6-10 days now, whenever I think it's necessary.

[mira-chan]

I wash my hair about once a week. I have done so all my life and it works well. I have dry hair and scalp, it doesn't get greasy, even after more than a month.

[irishlady]

I wash every 3 days usually, sometimes every second day depending on what it looks like. My hair can be irritating in that the ends are dry but the scalp is oily.
Maybe it's because I use shampoo, but my scalp reacts badly to CO and such, so I'm better off using the shampoo as well.

To answer your question, I just haven't got the time and patience to wash my hair everyday.

[africa]

Quixii, just want to gawk and say that you have extremely beautiful hair. And its even more special because you have curls that need to grow extra long to show length I think.

Cheers,
Africa

[Fufu]

every alternate days..

if i sweat that day due to the horrible weather, I will wash again.

[africa]

I'm quite amazed that I washed my hair 13 days ago and it only started looking greasy yesterday. Today I'm pushing it and tomorrow I don't need to see anyone so I'll wash it tomorrow afternoon.

Obviously you can deduct that I try to wash my hair only when absolutely ultimately necessary. I avoid washing because I struggle with dry hair and also because I don't like bathing, it wastes my time and my hair looks bad afterwards, even if I tied it! I shower when I need to, usually every second day.

[Oz]

wash it as little as possible.. so only when its sickenlingly greesy and needs it..
I hate showers and baths,, hate being naked and wet and all that.

[Siava]

I wash my hair every other day because of the greasy roots and sebum smell. I don't like the smell of my own sebum.

[Madora]

I wash my hair when it needs it, which for me is every 3 to 4 weeks. I brush my hair every day, which helps a lot in extending washing.

[FluffSpider]

Once a week.Reasons?
1. I used to wash every 3/4/5 days, but it started to get greasy on day 2, not on 3/4.... so it actually made my greasy scalp worst
2. Sebum-related again. I notice that with an odd henna-ing and washing once a week, I could actually stop using oils and conditioners. My hair isn't tangled when wet or after shampoos, and it's shinier
3. I can't air-dry. It takes way too much. This way I minimise heat damage
4. It forces me to bun my hair on days 4->7, so I get less splits and broken ends.
5. If you wash on a relaxed day, you can pamper your hair, because you have the time. If you have half an hour to get out of the house, the conditioner will condition your hands more than it'll have the chance to condition your hair

[angelfell]

I'd like to stretch washes more. Currently, I skip a day between washings, maybe two if I can stand it. The reason is not my hair, but my body.. although I don't exercise much, I just feel as if I need to shower often and for my body to be perfeclty clean. That and shave XD. I find shower caps annoying and uncomfortable so I just wash my hair as well. I can't even CO wash because my scalp gets too greasy the next day. So I just shampoo my scalp and conditioner the rest/scalp after that.

[africa]

Oz, wow! I felt quite exposed by confessing that I dislike showers and baths! So good to hear someone else feels the same way ;-) (oh I can't find those smileys!)

[QMacrocarpa]

My washing schedule was twice a week until the weather got cold, now it's once week. I don't like having wet hair. Will see if I can stick to once a week when the weather warms again.

[Becky Safari]

I have to wash my hair every day! I wish I could stretch washes, but I'm too active. I go to the gym (sweaty hair), horseback ride (dusty hair), surf (salty hair) etc. When I do have a day off and do nothing about once a week I'll skip washing my hair though

[Braidy]

In the past few weeks I've been leaving 3 days in between washes but I think I should be able to stretch it so now I'm gonna try to leave 4 days in between for a few weeks and after that if it feels alright I want to stretch to 5 days in between etc. to end up washing maximum once a week. I strongly believe in the natural processes that keep our body balanced so I'd like to restore that for my hair. I'd go WO if I dared but I don't think I could cope with the greasy transition period so I try to build up this way.

[Rebecca.1905]

Depends. If I do heavy cleaning or work out and get sweaty, I'll wash early. If not, then I'll do every other day, or every 3rd day. I just feel cleaner that way. I try not to wash every day, but I've noticed that since I found LHC and have been CWC and experimenting with oils, my hair is in better shape and it seems to be better all around anyway.

[kouran]

I wash my hair two times a week (wednesdays and sundays) because i don't have much time and my ends don't get damaged. I don't mind having oily hair, I usually wear it in an up-do. On wednesdays I only wash my scalp...it's faster that way and I don't have to wait hours for it to dry.

[Anywhere]

i wash every 2-4 days usually. Sometimes I go longer. I do not like waiting for my hair to dry and if I wash too often my scalp gets crazy flakey.

[Vani1902]

I wish I could wash only once a week. My hair does not allow it. After 2 days it becomes hard to deal with. So, I wash 2-3 times a week. I do my best to stretch it.

[Lianna]

I wash everyday because where I live is really hot, I'm more confortable this way. I've also noticed my hair grows more when I shampoo it everyday (from 0.5 to 0.8 inch a month). I did CO for several months, but this only happens with shampoo (SLS).

[janeytilllie]

I also found that washing daily keeps my hair moisturized better than washing it less and keeping it out of the water.

This is the same reason for me.

I use to do only scalp washing and do a full length wash once a month. I thought that reducing my washing will keep my hair from getting dry and protect it with sebum coating.

It was fine to begin with but then winter hit it! My hair was breaking and was dry.

I now wash every 3 days and my hair seems to be more moisturzied and less dry. I have found using conditioner regularly is helping me to reduce my breakage and get less tangles :)

[CurlySoleil]

Honestly, I have had the most trouble with figuring out how often to wash my hair. As a curly with type 4a (maybe a little 3c, but I just go with 4a) hair, I've gotten most of my hair care info from curly sites/forums/youtube channels. A lot of these women tend to hold off as long as possible. Usually washing every 7-10 days. So, I tried that. But by the time wash day rolled around, my hair was so dirty and *dry*! Even with daily moisturizing!
So, then I started washing more frequently. Almost every day. Didn't like that either because my hair takes forever to dry because it is so dense. I have finally decided to try washing every 3-5 days and I think this will be ideal. I haven't put it into motion yet, so we will see.
Oh, as for the reason... my hair gets really dry, dirty, and oily if I don't wash my hair more often. Just spraying with a moisturizer daily doesn't really get to all of my strands and then sealing with an oil starts to cause build up. And it just feels gross!

[Athena's Owl]

I wash my hair when either my scalp starts to feel a bit gummy, or because I want to re-set my curls.

[rosieex3]

I love how my hair looks 2+ days after washing it. When I first wash my hair, I can't brush it out or else I'll have a big ball of frizz. So my hair looks super wavy, scrunched, and piecey after washing. Once my hair's natural oils moisturize it about 3 days after washing, I can brush it out and have super pretty loose waves. :)

[pop]

I wash my hair 2 times in a week. If I wash it more than this I feel disappointment for some reason!! :)

[jenwexler]

I'm wondering in what point in history it became a necessity to use shampoo? Wasn't it invented only within the last century? I wonder how people dealt with their hair without it. Personally, I only wash it when necessary and I don't think my hair suffers from lack of shampoo.

[McFearless]

I CO wash so I don't have to fear drying out my hair with shampoo and stretching washes for that reason. At the same time I have curly hair and if I don't condition and detangle every 3 days its a huge mess!

[McFearless]

Honestly, I have had the most trouble with figuring out how often to wash my hair. As a curly with type 4a (maybe a little 3c, but I just go with 4a) hair, I've gotten most of my hair care info from curly sites/forums/youtube channels. A lot of these women tend to hold off as long as possible. Usually washing every 7-10 days. So, I tried that. But by the time wash day rolled around, my hair was so dirty and *dry*! Even with daily moisturizing!
So, then I started washing more frequently. Almost every day. Didn't like that either because my hair takes forever to dry because it is so dense. I have finally decided to try washing every 3-5 days and I think this will be ideal. I haven't put it into motion yet, so we will see.
Oh, as for the reason... my hair gets really dry, dirty, and oily if I don't wash my hair more often. Just spraying with a moisturizer daily doesn't really get to all of my strands and then sealing with an oil starts to cause build up. And it just feels gross!

I completely get what you're saying. Sometimes you just need to rinse your hair in water to add moisture. Have you tried CO? It allows me to wash my hair as often as I want and if I bun after washing the length stays damp for 3 days.

[constancev18]

I've been experimenting with stretching b/w shampooing. Last month I went 30 dys (yep) but my hair was too dry even with moisturizing (product build up was preventing strands from becoming moisturized) so this month I'll try 3 wks. When I'm exercising regularly, however, I cannot go any longer than 2 wks.

[Finoriel]

When I started to stretch out washes I washed it one day after the starts-to-look-icky-day. Some years later I can wash longer apart than two weeks, without it looking greasy at all.
Though I noticed that my scalp is happiest when I wash between day 7-10. Must be something about dead skin building up or something like that.
You can slow down / reduce sebum production with "training" your skin. But not the production of new skin cells and the shedding of old ones.
And I don't do scritching with fingers or a comb to remove those. Seems like too much mechanical stress on the newly grown hair. For me "treating it like antique lace" just doesn't go together with scratching with a comb through it. "The roots of today are the ends of tomorrow." :wink: and water loosens those dead skin scales more gentle imo.

[Tookii]

I'm washing practically everyday :( Im trying to stretch my washes though. My goal is to only wash once or twice a week. It should work because when I was younger it worked well...

[Chamy]

For me the time between washings varies all the time, sometimes it is 7-10 days between washings, and sometimes i wash everyday for three days in a row. It depends on how i wear my hair, if it has been up in a bun or braided, and if i have been working out. I dont have a designated wasday as such.

[lascuba]

I "wash" (mostly just rinse with weekly BS and/or ACV washes) and condition everyday. I can sometimes get away with just dampening my hair and using a bit of styling product, but my curls just look better when washed everyday. I'm pretty sure second day hair is a myth. :p

[Copasetic]

I wash it once it starts to feel greasy or grimey. This works out to about every 3-4 days.

[azhie]

I'm trying to stretch out washes, so far it's about 3-4 days. I think washing less is better for my hair. Less shedding, etc. My scalp used to get greasy the next day when I washed daily. Now that I stretched it out, it doesn't get greasy until 3-4 days. The scalp adjusts! I'm also finding that my lengths don't need to be washed even after 3 days. Only my scalp gets greasy and itchy. Trying to figure out how to deal with that now..

But I'm currently in a situation where I don't sweat or get dirty much. I'm not sure what I'd do when I start exercising more or living in a polluted city.

[jujube]

I wash daily for the moment because it gets greasy quickly. When it's long enough to be in a ponytail I'll stretch washes to every other day, and after that we'll see.

[Cirafly24]

I usually wash twice a week. I have a very oily scalp, and my hair looks dirty within 24 hours of washing it...so I wear it up a lot to hide the greasies (and to protect the ends, of course)! By the third day, I can't even wear it in a ponytail, because the oil has traveled down far enough to make the ponytail look greasy, too. Once in a while I just can't make it the 3-4 days in between, and I do a scalp wash to hold me over.

[pennyroyal]

I used to wash everyday (ack!) because my scalp would be horrid if i didn't. I was able to go every other day for awhile but that was it. Since i began using henna i can now go 3 days without a wash! yay! Henna is amazing & it really seemed to help my scalp. I am planning on stretching to 4 days quite soon.

[EbonyCurls]

If I could go a week without my hair tangling, or my scalp becoming oily and flaky, I would in a heart-beat. I've determined it's not the products I use since It doesn't start until about day 4 or 5. So, I do my due diligence of washing every 3rd or 4th morning. It works for me.

[thatjengirl1]

I wash my hair about every 2-3 days.
Mostly because i'm lazy. also because i don't think it's good for your hair to wash it everyday. it really seems to dry my hair out even if i use a lot of conditioner. my hair is alot happier being washed less :)

[ecologystudent]

Is being lazy a reason? Because that's why I don't wash more often- that and my hair doesn't require me to.

[lynnspin]

I used to wash everyday... but now its about 3 times/week or every third day. It has been working out well because i can sleep in extra. I now shower at night, cutting down on time needed to get ready in the am. Now if i washed my hair the night before, i just need a few minutes to spritz with water and style quickly with the blowdryer. I used to get up at 5 .... now i can sleep till 5:30!

[jayde9]

About every 2 to 3 days for me, mostly laziness but also trying to keep it from drying out.