Scalp washing, length dry. Anyone?

[spidermom]

I can't recall the last time we talked about this, so I decided it was time to start a new thread.

I recently gave up about 7 inches of dried out, split beyond all tolerance hair. I've been trying to figure out what I can do different this time so that when I get to my goal length again (where the red shirt ends, below), my ends will be in better condition.

I realized that my ends have been washed 1000s of times by the time they get to my rear-end. Maybe they need a break. This morning my scalp hair was stuck to my scalp with oil, but the length looked clean. So I decided to wash the hair that needed to be washed while sparing the hair that didn't.

I used a hair band to secure a shower cap around most of my length. I left enough slack between scalp and band so that I could lift the bagged hair up and away from my scalp with one hand while I ran water from the shower over my scalp. Then I shook up my shampoo mixture and squirted the mixture all over my scalp while holding the bagged hair again up and away. I held it up while I massaged my scalp in the direction of the bagged hair with one hand, then changed hands and did the other side of my scalp.

Still holding the bagged hair out of the way, I rinsed. The last thing I did was use the blow dryer (warm) on the hair I had washed for about 10 minutes, enough to stop the dripping. My hair was only wet to about the level of my shoulders.

It worked really well and I'm going to do every other wash this way, maybe even every 2 washes depending on how clean my length looks and feels.

Anybody else doing this? Please talk about your methods (I'm sure mine could be improved upon).

[excentricat]

I've tried doing scalp-only washes, but I don't have enough length to make it meaningfull yet. I found CWC where I'm not shampooing the length, only conditioning works well for me.

[Finoriel]

I tried. (Reducing drying time would be really nice.)
And I miserably failed :laugh:

But I just tried to hold a very loose braid "out of the way" and did not use a bag... ended with a wet braid and badly rinsed scalp and hair.
So I'm all ears to learn better methods.

[Deborah]

I do scalp-only washes occasionally, when I feel that my hair needs it mid-week. (I normally wash just once per week.) I don't use a bag or anything, I just braid it and hold the braid up out of the way. Then I wrap my wet head in a towel for a few minutes, leaving the braid out, then let it air dry. Actually I do scalp-only CO washing, not using any shampoo. It works just fine for me.

[Beatnik Guy]

Most of my washes are scalp only -- it takes a little practice but is worth it!

[angelthadiva]

Most of my washes are scalp only -- it takes a little practice but is worth it!

Okay stingy with the details on how to do this successfully...Care to share?! ;)

Thank you for starting this thread Spidermom. I am in the same boat, but I have not cut--I did a tiny trim the other day though. I have tried scalp washing with minimal success, but would do them more if I achieved a better outcome.

Amoretti did an article that I found quite helpful, but since I don't have a handheld sprayer on my shower I can't follow her instruction. I *do* have a sprayer in the kitchen, but I have a strict rule about doing anything that has to do w/hair in there.

I will be closely watching this thread, because I would like to be able to stretch out my full hair washing to once a week. I was doing every other day for several years, but have moved to every two days now.

[Delila]

One of the methods GM recommends involves putting conditioner on the length before shampooing the scalp. I never had much luck using their 12 minute conditioner this way, but I've done the same thing with other products. (the GM stuff is kind of dry, and I get fed up adding water to it just so I can spread it over my length)

So far, this is the only method that works for me, my hair gets wet, but not over cleansed.

[angelthadiva]

One of the methods GM recommends involves putting conditioner on the length before shampooing the scalp. I never had much luck using their 12 minute conditioner this way, but I've done the same thing with other products. (the GM stuff is kind of dry, and I get fed up adding water to it just so I can spread it over my length)

So far, this is the only method that works for me, my hair gets wet, but not over cleansed.

I do this already, but I'd prefer to not have the length wet at all, or damp if possible. That tends to be my problem. I can't rinse well enough and then my ends turn into a wick sucking up all the water. :rolleyes:

[MsBubbles]

I have been pushing scalp washes now since I discovered how much they help me - 17 months ago. I started a poll just before that (Oct 29th 2009) about scalp washes and got some good feedback.

I came to the same conclusion you did, Spidermom, about the number of times my ends were washed or rather simply just ripped through with a comb afterwards. So I can successfully avoid that now but for once a month when I do a full wash (unless I take to doing SMTs). I used to think my hair would probably not even get to waist if I had to try to detangle it every other day, and it wouldn't have.

My scalp is the typical 1a/F/ flat-greasy, so stretching washes never did anything for me.

Also, every time I do a full wash, for some reason, I shed a lot of hair. With scalp washes I get to keep a lot more of my hair. Even though it's not noticeable on the tape measure, it is noticeable to me in my hemline, in the quest to avoid see-through ends.

I can't really get away with doing it Amoretti's way (as in her article), because I don't have a detachable shower head and for speed's sake I wash my hair in the shower.

So I bought some cheapie shower caps from Walmart and use big floppy ponytail holders (about 4). First I put my hair in a loose ponytail. Then I put another ponytail holder midway down the length and don't pull the last loop all the way through so it shortens the pony a bit. Then I stuff the length into the first shower cap (somewhat like you described, Spidermom), and wrap a ponytail holder around it. Then I wrap another shower cap around that and do the same thing again.

The whole thing is floppy enough for me to lift my scalp hair away from my head to get my scalp good and clean underneath.

Sometimes my entire ponytail gets drenched anyway, but the fact that it has been kept in an orderly fashion inside the baggies means I don't have to detangle the pony length at all, just wrap in a towel and let it dry a bit.

Detangling is an absolute breeze these days. After 10 mins in the towel I let it loose and comb gently from the bottom up, which I have found is the best way to not encounter any knots at all after a scalp wash.

Most washes at least some of the length gets damp. I haven't figured out how not to do that standing vertically in the shower. Gravity has a way of pulling the water from my head down into the ponytail.

[spidermom]

I didn't have much success when I first tried this, but I think A) My hair was quite a bit shorter, and B) I didn't leave enough slack between bagged hair and scalp. I really need to be able to pull the bagged hair up and out of the way of the water.

I'm really happy with my results this time. All my hair looks clean and shiny.

Some of you may not know this, but even getting your hair wet can be drying. Water raises the cuticle and makes hair temporarily weaker. The more you do it, the more roughened up and damaged the cuticle gets. So it really is worth trying to keep the hair dry, especially at those old, fragile ends.

[MsBubbles]

Well in that case... any tips on how I can keep my ends dry when standing in the shower and doing a scalp wash?

[angelthadiva]

Well in that case... any tips on how I can keep my ends dry when standing in the shower and doing a scalp wash?

That's where we are waiting for BNG to share his pearls of wisdom. :D

I've tried a high, loose ponytail bun w/the bun wrapped with 2 shower caps--That worked the best, but I did have some wicking. I did have good results with the rinse though, the ends were pretty dry, but a tiny section between the scalp and ends was a bit damp.

Another method was a loose braid, then bagged ends--That worked the worse. If I had 1 more hand I could totally make this work!

[spidermom]

I left about 4 inches of slack between the bagged hair and my scalp so that I could hold it above the flow of water. I had wicking problems in the past, but not so much this morning. I think spending a few minutes with the blow-dryer getting rid of the drips before I un-bagged my hair helped a lot, too.

[MsBubbles]

I remember the tie-the-braid-end-to-the-shower-rod theory now. Yeah my hair is not nearly long enough for that.

For my hair, getting it wet but still orderly is still better than having to detangle, so I'll take it for now! My poor ends are paying for worse sins, anyway.

ETA: I just had a thought. Not sure why I didn't think this before. Wash all the other stuff first, then do the scalp wash, but keep myself leaned forwards so it drips over my face instead of into the ponytail. I'm sure this is a no brainer for most!

[EdG]

I fold up my hair and hold it over my head while I scalp-wash. I can usually prevent the length from becoming soaked.

I haven't been scalp-washing lately because I'm unable to apply shampoo in all the places that have sebum.

Let us know how the scalp-washing turns out!

I suspect washing is only one contributor to worn-out ends (the others being sunlight, mechanical abrasion, and just plain age). :)
Ed

[LornaDoone]

I do scalp washes most of the time, I only wash my length about once every 10 to 14 days.

I do two kinds of scalp washes. Just about everyday I will wash my temples and the hair around my forehead (these areas tend to get oily really fast) I put my hair in a high bun, cover it with a shower cap and wash while in the shower.

Every two or three days, I wash all of my scalp in the bathroom sink. I bend over and make a loose braid coming out of the top of my head, leaving four or five inches of slack at the top of the braid so I can get my hand in there to wash. Then, I hook the end of my braid to a hook suction cupped to my bathroom mirror. This leaves me with both hands free and because the braid is above my head, it minimizes water being wicked up. :D

I have also done a full scalp wash (not just my temples) in the shower by using a claw clip to fasten the end of my braid to a plastic clothes hanger. I hang the hanger on the shower rod and wash away! But it is a little awkward if you drop something. :pinktongue: I find this works best if you have a detachable shower head.

[clichepithet]

My method is very similar to yours, spidermom. In short: I do beebutt it (small tie), prior to wrapping in the shower cap and securing the whole rig with two (large) "scrunchies". One to keep it tight, the other to keep it tighter. :p

I do this in the shower. Once I've done the above, I hop in and just keep my head down, looking-at-the-floor type down, while doing other showery things. Scalp is last, bending over with a diluted 'poo mixture in a nozzled bottle (like a color applicator) just squirted in and around. We have an attached hose, so I just use that to rinse.

ETA: Eer, sorry. To dry I just pat it with a soft baby towel, before standing back up and removing the bag-rig. Comb out, ta-da. Wet no lower than shoulder.

[Nastasia]

Spidermom, I do almost exactly the same thing that you do. I use plastic shopping bags - the smallish ones that you get from convenience stores. I find that they bunch up tighter than a shower cap, and I can use the handles to wrap around my hair and tie the bag down tightly without using an elastic. I do get some wicking, but my hair still only gets wet down to about my shoulders.

[sycamoreboutiqu]

Great thread - I have been struggling with this and pretty much gave up.

The visuals though are priceless !

Now if we could just have a Jetsons like device with a clamp that held our ponytails and functioned like a hovercraft directly above our heads we would have this nailed !

[pepperminttea]

I tried this but completely failed at keeping my length dry, and ended up fully wetting and conditioning the ends. :rolleyes: I'd love to find a better method.

[Beatnik Guy]

Okay stingy with the details on how to do this successfully...Care to share?! ;)

Yeah, sorry about that -- it was kinda late here when I posted that. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I scalp wash in the shower. I put my hair in a ponytail somewhere between nape and shoulders, then bundle it all into a shower cap. I push the shower cap back to around the ponyband is and hold the rest of my hair at about nape tightly inside the cap with one hand. I face towards the water and get my scalp wet. Then, with the other hand, I shampoo scalp, then rinse -- and generally then get out of the shower, at which point I let go of the bundle of dry hair (ok, sometimes a little water seeps in) and wrap all hair in towel. Whole process takes me about three minutes so is a lot quicker than a full wash. Hope that makes sense. :)

Someone mentioned shampooing scalp and conditioning length when doing a full wash -- that's what I do. Wet all hair in the shower, shampoo scalp hair only, then let the suds wash down the length; then condition just the length (although I often smooth a litttle conditioner over my scalp hair too).

[Avital88]

hmm this idea sounds so good, i think im gonna try it too, for the moisture of my ends it will be perfect

[Anje]

I seem to recall someone described throwing their (longer than mine!) braid over the shower bar. You might be able to rig something with a braid, a coathanger, and something like a clothespin to clip onto the braid and hold it up.....

My ends like getting wet, so I haven't gotten around to experimenting with this sort of thing.

[Flaxen]

Gladtobemom's Nanny Pauline tied her length to a hanger with a ribbon and then hung it over the shower bar. It takes some pretty long length to do that, though. :lol:

Here's (http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=15591) a scalp washing thread in the archive that has some good tips.

[Aliped]

I have tried this before with a loose braid, and failed. Although for those of us with bangs, a bangs only wash is somewhat similar, and definitely helps with stretching washes! I'm definitely going to try bagging the length though.

Cheers :D

[spidermom]

I suspect washing is only one contributor to worn-out ends (the others being sunlight, mechanical abrasion, and just plain age). :)
Ed

True. I already wear a hat with ends secured up to protect them from sunlight and minimize mechanical abrasion as much as I can. Also, I've been on the CWC routine with diluted shampoo and generous pre-wash coconut oiling of the length for years. Still - at classic length, my ends were completely trashed, especially after I returned from the Caribbean. So I'm trying to tweak at least one thing in my routine to hopefully make a difference.

I'm thinking about catnip tea soaks, too; just haven't quite worked out when or how.

Otherwise, it will be grow to classic length, cut back to hip or tailbone length, grow and repeat. Which isn't SO bad.

[angelthadiva]

Yeah, sorry about that -- it was kinda late here when I posted that. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I scalp wash in the shower. I put my hair in a ponytail somewhere between nape and shoulders, then bundle it all into a shower cap. I push the shower cap back to around the ponyband is and hold the rest of my hair at about nape tightly inside the cap with one hand. I face towards the water and get my scalp wet. Then, with the other hand, I shampoo scalp, then rinse -- and generally then get out of the shower, at which point I let go of the bundle of dry hair (ok, sometimes a little water seeps in) and wrap all hair in towel. Whole process takes me about three minutes so is a lot quicker than a full wash. Hope that makes sense. :)

Someone mentioned shampooing scalp and conditioning length when doing a full wash -- that's what I do. Wet all hair in the shower, shampoo scalp hair only, then let the suds wash down the length; then condition just the length (although I often smooth a litttle conditioner over my scalp hair too).

Thank you :flower:

A few more questions: do you then squeeze the poo right onto your head? That's where this one handed method gets tricky for me ;)

[Lifezbeautiful]

Some of you may not know this, but even getting your hair wet can be drying. Water raises the cuticle and makes hair temporarily weaker. The more you do it, the more roughened up and damaged the cuticle gets. So it really is worth trying to keep the hair dry, especially at those old, fragile ends.[/quote]


Wow .Thanks for that Info........It really makes a lot of sense.

[Beatnik Guy]

A few more questions: do you then squeeze the poo right onto your head? That's where this one handed method gets tricky for me ;)
Generally, I squeeze the poo onto my leg and transfer to my head from there -- that part can be a little tricky. ;)

[McFearless]

I used to do it but much less classy. I'd just twirl the ends and hold it up without a bag. I CO wash now so it is no longer necessary.


*facepalm* Now I see the goal is to keep the length dry. I thought you just wanted to keep shampoo off the ends. Oops..

[angelthadiva]

Generally, I squeeze the poo onto my leg and transfer to my head from there -- that part can be a little tricky. ;)

See now you are piece mailing the details :wail: are you balancing on one leg at any point in this routine?

:hmm: I might need a video :eyebrows: with a black bar across the NSFW places of course! ;)

[Anywhere]

I do them every once in a blue moon. I braid my hair on top of my head and hold it out of the way. It gives me that fresh and clean feel that I never get anymore with my long wet hair usually plastered to my body. My only problem with it is that my hair gets... awkward when it's around water but is not washed. I have that problem when I skip washing all together as well though.

[spidermom]

Thank you :flower:

A few more questions: do you then squeeze the poo right onto your head? That's where this one handed method gets tricky for me ;)

If you put your "serving" of shampoo into an empty shampoo or conditioner (or any other empty bottle with a squirt spout) with at least half a cup of water (I never measure it), you can shake it up and have it ready before you even start. Once you are in position - which for me is holding my bagged hair up so water won't run down into the bag - you can squirt the shampoo solution all over your scalp with one hand. Then you can massage it over your scalp with first one hand, and then the other. I always, even when I'm washing all my hair, run my fingers in one direction when I massage the shampoo solution through all my hair. I want to avoid as much tangling as I can; that's why I don't massage around. I start at the hair line and run my fingers toward the bagged hair - like I'm finger combing. Then I pull my fingers out of my hair and place them back at my hair line, but in a slightly different place.

[Chiara]

I seem to recall someone described throwing their (longer than mine!) braid over the shower bar.
Given how vague I can be in the mornings, I can see this one going horribly wrong for me... :)

This information is all so useful, as my ends love to dry out and it'll be winter here soon (southern hemisphere)... thanks spidermom and everyone for all the info!

[ArienEllariel]

Absolutely. If my scalp is the only thing greasy and in need of a wash, I ponytail the rest, slide the band down a little and shampoo my scalp one-handed. I throw my soaking wet hair up in a towel, still ponytailed. after about 5 min., I take it down and comb it out as usual. Takes so much less time to dry. :)

[Uni&Corn]

I just tried this tonight with much success! I made a loose sock bun on the top/backish part of my head (I thought maybe the hair being rolled into the sock bun would prevent the hair most tucked in the sock dry, even if the bun got wet a little), and covered and secured that with a shower cap. I held my hand over my bun as I very carefully shampooed my scalp. I have bsl hair and it worked really well :) I also used a detachable shower head.

[skyblue]

when I'm just gonna do a scalp wash I use the sprayer from my kitchen sink, I have my hair in a low pony, bend over the sink, then just spray the scalp area and wash, rinse, and pat down with a towel it works really well for me and takes like two seconds lol!

[Cupofmilk]

I have just trimmed an inch of yukky ends. I was not going to trim in 2011 but I only trimmed less than 0,5 inches in December 2010 and it wasn't enough.
I wash my hair in the bath at the moment - applying shampoo to the scalp only and then I immerse my head in water ... this does mean the length does see the shampoo in a deep bath of water. I then apply conditioner to the lot for 5-10 minutes. Go under again. ACV rince and done.
I think It might be better sticking the length in a loose braid with a food bag over it and securing with a hairband. Then I could kneel next to the bath - wet the scalp - perhaps tucking the braid in a bag under my bra strap at the front wash scalp, rinse ... I will report back

[freckles]

I've tried this in the past, and I just CANNOT get it. It seems like it would be great for me, since often my 3-or-4-day-post-wash hair feels GREAT, lovely and silky, from shoulder down, but by that point my scalp is a stringy horrible mess. My previous attempts have been failures though. It hardly seems like I can keep much of my hair dry at all. Maybe my hair is just not long enough for this to be a useful method? People who have had success with this method -- at what length did it start to be 'worth it', in terms of amount of hair kept dry?


Generally, I squeeze the poo onto my leg and transfer to my head from there -- that part can be a little tricky. ;)
:lol: this mental image made me laugh so much, and I'm not even sure why!

[MsBubbles]

Freckles: I started at BSL. It took a few trial-and-errors but for my wimpy hair those early efforts were still way better than a full wash.

My hair is very stringy too when I wear it down, so I keep it up a lot. But when I know I'm going to want to have it look nice down, I give it a full wash with a coney conditioner for the one-off.

These are the things I need to do with my particular head of hair to give it the best shot at being long and not see-through.

I agree with that method, Spidermom. Mix it in a 50c bottle from Walmart first.

Chiara: I know how you feel about being foggy in the mornings. It's hard to establish new habits, especially then! But you'll get it after a week or so.

[CherrySilver]

One of the methods GM recommends involves putting conditioner on the length before shampooing the scalp. I never had much luck using their 12 minute conditioner this way, but I've done the same thing with other products. (the GM stuff is kind of dry, and I get fed up adding water to it just so I can spread it over my length)

So far, this is the only method that works for me, my hair gets wet, but not over cleansed.

I do this, too, all the time using cheapie conditioners. It spares my length but gets the scalp clean, especially after an oiling. I've tried the baggie before, but the length always seems to get a bit wet in the process and hardly seems worth the bother. Then again, wet hair never bothered me....

[MsBubbles]

One of the methods GM recommends involves putting conditioner on the length before shampooing the scalp. I never had much luck using their 12 minute conditioner this way, but I've done the same thing with other products. (the GM stuff is kind of dry, and I get fed up adding water to it just so I can spread it over my length)

So far, this is the only method that works for me, my hair gets wet, but not over cleansed.


I do this, too, all the time using cheapie conditioners. It spares my length but gets the scalp clean, especially after an oiling. I've tried the baggie before, but the length always seems to get a bit wet in the process and hardly seems worth the bother. Then again, wet hair never bothered me....

But those would be C-W-C washes, right? Which is not a scalp wash. I did CWC for about a year into my long-hair quest, and found it STILL pulled out more hairs that I was willing to lose. It STILL dried out and fried my ends.

If I don't use a coney conditioner, I get tangles beyond belief and a trash can full of hair. If I use a coney conditioner, it ultimately dries my ends out. The beauty of the scalp wash is that there is no need at all to do anything to my ends except let them sit there untouched. I think this is the only way I can grow my hair long since I have a really oily scalp.

[angelthadiva]

But those would be C-W-C washes, right? Which is not a scalp wash. I did CWC for about a year into my long-hair quest, and found it STILL pulled out more hairs that I was willing to lose. It STILL dried out and fried my ends.

If I don't use a coney conditioner, I get tangles beyond belief and a trash can full of hair. If I use a coney conditioner, it ultimately dries my ends out. The beauty of the scalp wash is that there is no need at all to do anything to my ends except let them sit there untouched. I think this is the only way I can grow my hair long since I have a really oily scalp.

CWC for me, and please somebody jump in to share your CWC experience, but for me I did CWC for my entire length and did that method for at least a year with good results. Then I switched to hybrid wash, which is more like GM method, with just putting conditioner on the length for the first C, then W was basically just a scalp wash, I did not put shampoo down my length at all in essence, but it would wash down the length as I was rinsing. The final C (for me) was concentrating on the length first, then whatever was left (on my hands) went to the scalp/root area.

Just to share my scalp washing experience for today...I feel that I had some success, in that my ends remained dry. There is definitely a learning curve to this and practice, practice practice!

What I did: Detangled my hair prior to washing, then started a loose braid at about shoulder length and banded the end with an elastic. Then I folded up my braid and wrapped a 2 disposable shower cap around the length then securing the top of the braid/shower cap with a big scrunchie. I did use a combination of BNG and SM's suggestions (using one hand/squirt bottle method) both worked well for me. I just kept switching which hand was holding up the braid/shower cap. The only thing for me was this was a wee bit more than a scalp wash--Probably scalp and down to just past my neck wash, which was fine for me. I'm currently growing out dye, my virgin outgrowth is at about this length and this is just about where my demarcation line is, so I in an effort to make everything look fresh, I did wash a little bit more on the length than most people might want.

I did blow dry (which is part of my normal routine) and am happy to say that my drying time is about 1/4 of what it would have been if I had done a full hybrid. Spidermom do you blow dry or do you let your hair dry naturally?

ETA: From roots to length, my hair feels consistently smooth and silky soft as if I washed the whole thing. This method definitely takes a lot of planning, and planning ahead and coordination but at this point I think the benefits may outweigh the extra time involved. Maybe next time I will time the entire process to see how long it actually took and compare the two, I'm just going by feelings and it does feel that it took longer to wash (due to being extra careful), but it took less time to dry :shrug: HTH :flowers:

[CherrySilver]

Then I switched to hybrid wash, which is more like GM method, with just putting conditioner on the length for the first C, then W was basically just a scalp wash, I did not put shampoo down my length at all in essence, but it would wash down the length as I was rinsing. The final C (for me) was concentrating on the length first, then whatever was left (on my hands) went to the scalp/root area.


That's exactly what I do, too, except you said it so much more eloquently, angelthadiva! ;-)

[Emerald88]

I will do a scalp wash if only the roots look greasy & the rest is clean. I keep my hair in a low bun & I just do from the ears forward so technically I don't do the entire scalp, but this is the only way I have had success with it. I use a large plastic cup to wet my hair in the front & rub a shampoo bar over it & then rinse using the cup holding my head forward so that the water runs over my face and not back over the bun getthign the length wet. I also use the CWC method which helps my ends. I condition with coconut oil or shea butter before washing & conditioning.

[spidermom]

I did blow-dry when I washed scalp only, but only enough to get rid of the drippiness. I left it damp and air dried from there.

[Beatnik Guy]

Just to share my scalp washing experience for today...I feel that I had some success, in that my ends remained dry. There is definitely a learning curve to this and practice, practice practice!
That's great! You do need to do it a few times before it becomes second nature -- and even then from time to time I find more length gets wet than planned. :rolleyes:

[angelthadiva]

That's exactly what I do, too, except you said it so much more eloquently, angelthadiva! ;-)

:flower:


That's great! You do need to do it a few times before it becomes second nature -- and even then from time to time I find more length gets wet than planned. :rolleyes:

Since I'm pleased with the results today, I see no difference in how my hair will look tomorrow (we shall see) though. If it looks the same as it normally would on my first no-wash day, I'm going to do the scalp wash again to further stretch out my full wash. If my memory serves me correct, my last full-wash was on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how long I can stretch out a full-wash. How long do you stretch yours out, BNG...Or anyone who routinely uses this method? I'm curious :flower:


I did blow-dry when I washed scalp only, but only enough to get rid of the drippiness. I left it damp and air dried from there. We are close to hair twins, but more like hair cousins :P I can't stand the drippy, but my Aquis towel takes care of the drip. I just don't like the wet rat look I tend to get if I fully air dry. I do a lot of damp drying too ;)

[MsBubbles]

, with just putting conditioner on the length for the first C, then W was basically just a scalp wash, I did not put shampoo down my length at all in essence, but it would wash down the length as I was rinsing. The final C (for me) was concentrating on the length first, then whatever was left (on my hands) went to the scalp/root area.:

I guess I'm getting hung up on LHC terminology here :p. To me a 'scalp wash' is keeping the ends dry and not conditioning them, or anything. You're talking about C-W-C here, right? I think the big difference is keeping the ends untouched as much as possible. It has made the WORLD of difference to my ends, and I could not achieve that through CWC. :)


: If it looks the same as it normally would on my first no-wash day, I'm going to do the scalp wash again to further stretch out my full wash. If my memory serves me correct, my last full-wash was on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how long I can stretch out a full-wash. How long do you stretch yours out, BNG...Or anyone who routinely uses this method? )

When my hair was shorter I wore it down more and I used to find my hair needed a good wash & condition every 10 days or so. Now I wear it up most of the time I only give it a full wash every month, unless I accidentally dunk my braid end in some food or spit my toothpaste out onto it.:o

[Spring]

ETA: I just had a thought. Not sure why I didn't think this before. Wash all the other stuff first, then do the scalp wash, but keep myself leaned forwards so it drips over my face instead of into the ponytail. I'm sure this is a no brainer for most!

This sounds like a great idea! I was picturing this as I read it, and I think I'm going to give this a try.

[angelthadiva]

I guess I'm getting hung up on LHC terminology here :p. To me a 'scalp wash' is keeping the ends dry and not conditioning them, or anything. You're talking about C-W-C here, right? I think the big difference is keeping the ends untouched as much as possible. It has made the WORLD of difference to my ends, and I could not achieve that through CWC. :)



When my hair was shorter I wore it down more and I used to find my hair needed a good wash & condition every 10 days or so. Now I wear it up most of the time I only give it a full wash every month, unless I accidentally dunk my braid end in some food or spit my toothpaste out onto it.:o

I don't see why you couldn't do a CWC for a scalp wash if you wanted. I just don't, I was referring to the GM method; which is similar to the hybrid wash I do when I do a full wash. I do agree, though that the idea behind scalp washing only is to protect the ends. To protect my ends on a full wash, I do apply conditioner to the ends only, then wash.

Sorry, I've been talking about 3 different methods :o

[Spring]

ETA: I just had a thought. Not sure why I didn't think this before. Wash all the other stuff first, then do the scalp wash, but keep myself leaned forwards so it drips over my face instead of into the ponytail. I'm sure this is a no brainer for most!


This sounds like a great idea! I was picturing this as I read it, and I think I'm going to give this a try.

Thanks for bumping this topic Spidermom. I tried to scalp wash before and it didn't work, so reading the ideas in this thread was very helpful.

I tried this with a low braided pony, covered with a plastic bag, facing the water flow while holding up my braid. Squeezed the excess water, put hair still covered with bag in a towel to dry. 10 min later, took towel and bag off to airdry. My braid stayed dry :). I'm pretty excited.

[MsBubbles]

I don't see why you couldn't do a CWC for a scalp wash if you wanted. I just don't, I was referring to the GM method; which is similar to the hybrid wash I do when I do a full wash. I do agree, though that the idea behind scalp washing only is to protect the ends. To protect my ends on a full wash, I do apply conditioner to the ends only, then wash.
Sorry, I've been talking about 3 different methods :o

Ok I didn't even look at the GM method so that's probably why I'm confused! Sorry. :o

What's good about this topic is we can all do whatever works for us, and we all have our own particular hair, not to mention water-quality.

[Beatnik Guy]

It will be interesting to see how long I can stretch out a full-wash. How long do you stretch yours out, BNG...Or anyone who routinely uses this method? I'm curious :flower:

Generally two or three weeks -- although I have gone a month without a full wash sometimes in the past. ;)

[Misti]

Some of you may not know this, but even getting your hair wet can be drying. Water raises the cuticle and makes hair temporarily weaker. The more you do it, the more roughened up and damaged the cuticle gets. So it really is worth trying to keep the hair dry, especially at those old, fragile ends.

While that's true, I fidn that an ice cold rinse (hair and scalp only -- not down your back) helps a lot to lay the cuticle back down.

[embee]

I've done WO scalp only, though right now I'm doing NW/SO. This summer I'll quite likely go back to WO scalp only - too sweaty from the garden for NW/SO I fear..

I would make a loose top-of-the-head bun and secure it with a plastic hairstick. Cover this with a showercap/baggie/waterproof thing. (The showercap needs to be twisted and made double or it really won't stay on.)

Then I can get my scalp nicely wet, and can lift the bun a bit to let the water run on the scalp there. Since I used no products it was just water. When done with the shower, remove the plastic hair cover/baggie thing and wrap head with a towel like for a regular hairwash. When dressed then take down the bun and comb out the hair. Only the upper part was wet, and it's only damp by now.

For me the main trick is the *top-of-the-head* bun.. the water runs down, away from the bun. :D

[CrowningGlory]

I've been doing scalp washes for several years now for hair that has been from BSL to almost clasic and is now just past waist. What I found helped me at first - and especially when I had to wash in the shower - was to take an old sock, cut out the toe, roll it up and place it over my pony. Then I made a bun with my hair on top of the sock and covered with two shower caps, using a scrunchie to secure. The sock tended to soak up any of the water that threatened to wick through, thus keeping my length dry.

Now, due to bathroom renovations, I have to wash in the bath and I find I don't need the sock as often. I'm also using shampoo bars and find that I can't scalp wash as often without having to do a full wash.

[angelthadiva]

Ok I didn't even look at the GM method so that's probably why I'm confused! Sorry. :o

What's good about this topic is we can all do whatever works for us, and we all have our own particular hair, not to mention water-quality.

No worries, and you bring up a good point about water quality! I hadn't thought of that, but since you mentioned it; we have treated, city water that has a lot chemicals in it. Hubs has filters on the shower head. I noticed a difference almost immediately with my skin/scalp being less dry.


Generally two or three weeks -- although I have gone a month without a full wash sometimes in the past. ;) Wow, that long? Sorry if this is a repeat, but how often do you do a scalp wash?

A sock you say, CG: I might have to give that a try ;)

[Beatnik Guy]

N
Wow, that long? Sorry if this is a repeat, but how often do you do a scalp wash?

Every 3 days (ok, sometimes 4, but that's often otter-in-oilslick territory :frog:)

[Gabriel]

I tried this last night. I didn't wrangle with plastic bags or shower caps or any of that. I don't have that much co-ordination ;).

I used a regular hair band and made a loose ponytail at the top of my head, braided that and tied it off. Hopped in the shower and clipped the end to a shower curtain ring. I used my shampoo bar twice on my scalp and did an acidic rinse and then used some conditioner. The braided length stayed nicely dry.

I wrapped a towel around my scalp and just left the braided ponytail out. I unwrapped that after a few minutes and switch with a dry towel. Then I took the braid out and gently combed everything and let it air dry.

The results are great and I can see this being how I primarily wash my scalp for most of the week, only doing a full wash once a week. Time will tell though but so far so good.

[jojo]

Interesting thread, would a spray bottle with diluted shampoo (I used diluted just as good) be better for applying the shampoo and i am also thinking 2 braids would be better than one, as you could move them out of the way more, bagged of course?

[walterSCAN]

I have always wanted to try this! I can't tell you how many times I've had a braid in for a day or so and wanted to wear my hair down with the lovely braid waves (not to mention how awesome, soft, and silky my length gets by wash-day sometimes!), but couldn't because my scalp looked too oily. :mad:

However, my hair isn't long enough (and probably won't be for a couple years) to throw over the shower doors to keep it out of the way, and I am massively uncoordinated, so I'm thinking the only way I'll ever successfully manage a scalp-only wash is if I actually have more hands to do it!

I wonder if I can convince DH to come in and help me... you know, just have him be in charge of keeping the braid dry and go about my business... :p I think my length would thank him for it (of course, it would thank me if I were coordinated!)

Side note: I do bangs-only washes or rinses (depending on how recent my last full-head wash was-- I have to do something to get them wet every morning because apparently the way I sleep necessarily entails snarly-bizarre-sticking up bangs!) every morning in the bathroom sink... I wish my bathroom sink were more capacious, because then I could do scalp-only and just tuck my braid into the back of my shirt or leave it sitting on the counter.

...But I do worry about tangles from having the water running the opposite direction from my hair doing that in the sink. I had to get a new shower head for this apartment because of that-- if the water isn't falling directly parallel to the direction my hair is, I get tangles all over right next to my scalp. :shrug: F hair can be very frustrating. Mine moves too much/ too readily for its own good, so I really need to be standing up and not bending my head to wash my hair. I definitely always do what spidermom was talking about with keeping her washing strokes in the same direction as the hair-- I can't do any real massaging except in the one direction.

[MsBubbles]

JoJo I use a little bottle but with no spray top, just a squirty-type top to it. I'm thinking if I spray the diluted shampoo it might just be froth at that point! :). But I haven't tried it.

WalterSCAN: just wanted to mention a braid works worse for me with scalp washes. I have to have a really loose ponytail. I can't braid my hair loose enough to be able to lift all the hair away from my scalp to clean it good and proper. If I make a braid that loose it all just slips out.

[walterSCAN]

JoJo I use a little bottle but with no spray top, just a squirty-type top to it. I'm thinking if I spray the diluted shampoo it might just be froth at that point! :). But I haven't tried it.

WalterSCAN: just wanted to mention a braid works worse for me with scalp washes. I have to have a really loose ponytail. I can't braid my hair loose enough to be able to lift all the hair away from my scalp to clean it good and proper. If I make a braid that loose it all just slips out.

I think I'lll try braiding first if I manage to convince DH to help me-- ponytailing causes me so many tangles unless I remain completely motionless. Seriously, for whatever reason if there is any movement at all and my hair is in a ponytail, it starts tangling. I haven't used ponytails in over a decade because of it. :(

Thankfully, I've got a lot of experience with braiding loosely for easy scalp-access because that's how I do my hair for my henna root touch-ups. Thanks for the tip though! :)

[MsBubbles]

WalterSCAN: Hey we're hair twins! Yeah I made the mistake once of going for a 3 hour skate with my hair in a ponytail (hanging out under the helmet). Took me another 3 hours to get a comb through it. NEVER again! It's braids from now on!

But I stuff the ponytail into shower caps, and I'm not sure really how effective that is, but it keeps the strands in line somehow. And of course a lot of the time my ends are all coned-up because cone-free turns my hair into cotton candy shudder:

[walterSCAN]

Hmmm... MsBubbles, we may only be very close hair cousins if yours likes cones... ;) Mine hates them. It gets all clumpy and weighed down... and kinda sticky regardless of incessant rinsing/ how much I used... bleck.

Or perhaps we're just texture and tangles twins! :laugh:

I don't actually use conditioner at all any more-- just my coconut oil-aloe gel-rosemary EO leave-in concoction in damp hair after I get out of the shower. My hair loves it! It started truly hating every kind of conditioner I tried after we moved to this apartment (in retrospect, I realize that it didn't like even no-cone conditioner that much even before then (minor clumpiness/ stringiness/ stickiness), but I didn't know any better) and started using the water here, so I had to find something else. :shrug:

[jojo]

1
JoJo I use a little bottle but with no spray top, just a squirty-type top to it. I'm thinking if I spray the diluted shampoo it might just be froth at that point! :). But I haven't tried it.

WalterSCAN: just wanted to mention a braid works worse for me with scalp washes. I have to have a really loose ponytail. I can't braid my hair loose enough to be able to lift all the hair away from my scalp to clean it good and proper. If I make a braid that loose it all just slips out.

let me know how it goes, i may just try this

[spidermom]

One thing I'll have to remember - even if I'm only doing a scalp wash, I still need to wash my brush and comb at the same time. I think I re-oiled my hair by using them unwashed because my hair was stuck to my scalp with oil again in only 2 days. I've done a full-hair wash since then.

[angelthadiva]

Every 3 days (ok, sometimes 4, but that's often otter-in-oilslick territory :frog:)

:lol: :thumbsup:


One thing I'll have to remember - even if I'm only doing a scalp wash, I still need to wash my brush and comb at the same time. I think I re-oiled my hair by using them unwashed because my hair was stuck to my scalp with oil again in only 2 days. I've done a full-hair wash since then.

That is a very good point with washing our brushes and combs. I need to do this more frequently! I remember to remove the hair regularly, but not always to actually clean the brushes. As a side note, this is a good reminder for those who wear makeup--Wash the brushes regularly :D

[MsBubbles]

Hmmm... [B]
I don't actually use conditioner at all any more-- just my coconut oil-aloe gel-rosemary EO leave-in concoction in damp hair after I get out of the shower

Ok I might have to try that!! Also do you use henna? That's something I'm not likely to do, even though I'd LOVE to be a henna candidate. My skin tone wouldn't really work with it though. Maybe if I use cassia, then try your concoction I can get away from the cones. Hmm.


One thing I'll have to remember - even if I'm only doing a scalp wash, I still need to wash my brush and comb at the same time. I think I re-oiled my hair by using them unwashed because my hair was stuck to my scalp with oil again in only 2 days. I've done a full-hair wash since then.

Yes! I've reoiled my scalp before with an oily comb! I throw mine in the dishwasher every so often.

[walterSCAN]

Ok I might have to try that!! Also do you use henna? That's something I'm not likely to do, even though I'd LOVE to be a henna candidate. My skin tone wouldn't really work with it though. Maybe if I use cassia, then try your concoction I can get away from the cones. Hmm.
*snip*

Yeah, I use henna-- I've done a few full-head applications and I do a root touch-up every couple months or so. :) I love henna and the awesome henna-red I'm slowly replacing my chemically dyed length with!

I've never used cassia because I want dark red, but (obviously here on LHC...) I've heard a lot of great things about it. :) I made a thread about my leave-in concoction a couple months ago where I posted how I make it, if you want I can PM you a link/ instructions (so I quit hijacking spidermom's thread! :o).

[Finoriel]

Sooo, I tried this several times by now. I started to do some sort of work out almost every day, to convert winter-flab back to bikini-shape :p ahem anyways, but after a workout it is very handy to be able to do a scalp-wash or at least a scalp-rinse to save some time.

My personal summary for now is:
Plastic bags seem to hold tight better when they are a thinner kind of plastic.
I still need to hold the bag up over my head, the higher the better. Or said the other way around, bag or no bag my head still needs to be lower than the hair.
I need to loosely braid my length otherwise it gives me a giant birdsnest and/or a wet length.
Attaching my braid to the shower was ... ow. Restricting to say the least :lol:
Using the sink is actually more comfortable and more effective for me than using the shower.
I can get away with using barely lukewarm water in the sink, while I need warmer water in the shower to not freeze off essential body parts.
Also, don't sneeze while your head is close to the sink.

My favorite method was to just loosely braid my hair into a single braid and tuck the end of it under my belt to prevent the braid from flopping forwards.
Then stick my head under the faucet of the bathroom sink and carefully lift the hair from the scalp by sliding my fingers from the hairline "inwards", to make sure the water can rinse through all parts of the hair properly. Strange enough but my head deep in the sink in combination with rounded back seems enough to stop the water from wicking down the length and it's not as uncomfortable or messy to stand like this as it may sound. I even manage to keep my shirt and the bathroom floor dry :p
Then I am either done after this step, when I just wanted to rinse my scalp, or I use a squirt bottle to apply a watery shampoo mix. (Egg-shampoo to be exact, but I guess the sort of cleaning agent doesn't really matter as long as it's relatively thin to spread easily.) I tend to apply small amounts to different areas on my head. Like apply to top of head area, massage it into the scalp by sliding fingers between hair and scalp and then apply some more to another area of my head etc.
When I'm done with that I just rinse off everything, carefully lifting the hair from the scalp again by sliding my hand between hair and head to make sure I don't miss any areas.
Before I bend up and wrap the towel around my head I wait for the worst drippies to stop, or my length will get soaked to mid back, no matter how many towels I use.

Immediately after washing the wet part of my hair is not even down to my shoulders, but it usually soaks down to a little bit below shoulders during drying time.

All in all I'm done with washing in under 5 minutes and the air drying time is around half an hour.

[Gladtobemom]

Gladtobemom's Nanny Pauline tied her length to a hanger with a ribbon and then hung it over the shower bar. It takes some pretty long length to do that, though. :lol:

Here's (http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=15591) a scalp washing thread in the archive that has some good tips.

Actually, Nanny's method works if your hair is nearly tailbone, it works. I just hook the hanger to a loop of clothesline that's over the rod. DH bent the hanger hook so its pretty tight and barely fits the little rope.

Then I just get on my knees and bend forward over the bathtub. I take the shower nozzle OFF the hand shower hose so I get a stream of water to flood my scalp. DH adjusts the length of the loop so I can bend forward enough so my head is horizontal and the hair has slack for rinsing. I just leave the loop hanging on the rod pushed to the back end of the shower all the time.

I squirt diluted shampoo (I dilute it in a pointy nosed squirt bottle, that's the way I keep the shampoo) at my scalp and massage. Then I rinse well.

It dries pretty fast, especially if I wrap it with a microfiber towel for a little bit.I LEAVE my hair in this braid till its dry, I just flip it up over the table behind the sofa. This gives me volume at the roots, too.

[DTsgirl]

I tried to do a scalp wash today. I flipped my hair forward, braided it starting a few inches from my forehead (oh so stylish) and then tried to attach it to the shower curtain rod (hair clips and rubber bands). This did not work, so I washed with one hand and held the braid out and to the side with my other hand. I have a Roots Only bottle from Wal - Mart (dyeing bottle with comb instead of single nozzle - VERY handy) that I put my diluted shampoo in and squirted my scalp with that. The whole process worked pretty well, although I may not have gotten all the shampoo;we'll see when it dries. After I got out, my hair was wet to my shoulders, but about 18 inches was still dry.

[GALISH]

I CWC and never wash length. It does get clean when the shampoo rinses from the scalp but it doesn’t dry unless you put shampoo right into the length and ends.

[hina87]

Wow, thanks i like this idea of just scalp washing. Will try it because I agree that the ends will be washed more than the scalp so it is prone to dryness. I never thought of it like that before and I sometimes wonder why my ends are dry..

[spidermom]

And another old thread rises from the dead like a zombie!

Once again, yesterday I had to lose at least 3 inches of length because of too many split ends making detangling a nightmare. So this morning I did a high ponytail and braided the length before my workout. Afterwards I pushed the hair tie away from my scalp, bagged the braid, and scalp washed with diluted shampoo, keeping the length dry. My hair is still in the braid.

I had to post about it because I'm renewing my intention of keeping my length dry as much as possible. I think it's better for my hair.

[RitaCeleste]

My hair gets thinner and thinner at the ends. I trim it when it gets to straggly to stand. It finally got to waist or little past it but I pull it over the shoulders to trim it so its not straight across. Do you think putting conditioner on the length before I wash my scalp would help? I have just been deep conditioning the mess out of it because I neglected it a bit. I've only shampooed once in ages. The thing is I'm renting from my ex now and he knows if my hair isn't wet for days. He thinks I'm unclean if he doesn't see wet hair every other day. Lately he's been seeing me and my daughter with caps and treatments on our hair so he hasn't said anything. Is all the conditioning itself going to be bad because I'll be wetting my hair so much more? I was just co-washing it one or twice a week before, now its like four times a week. Me and my youngest daughter do not make much oil, we are not oily after a week without washing. My other daughter washes every other day and we question whether or not that is enough for her, she makes lots of oil. She must take after her father!!! I now wonder if all the conditioning and wetting the hair is gonna be bad for our hair or good for it?

[Amanah]

wouldn't it be easier to do scalp only washes in the sink while you hair is tied back into a bun or a braid down your back?

[Tisiloves]

For the "I don't have enough hands to manage this" problem maybe a claw clip on a string would help? It could be tied to the appropriate hardwear and the string could adjust the height.

[ratgirldjh]

I've been trying to do this lately myself.

What has worked best for me (so far) is getting all my hair wet and just scrubbing my poo bar on my scalp.

Whatever runs down my hair during the rinse is enough to clean my hair and not dry out the ends as much.

My hair is only shoulder length at the moment so this is the only way I can figure out how to wash my scalp - plus I use soap or poo bars.

Also I've noticed that doing a water/lime juice acid rinse after my poo bar instead of ACV leaves my hair shinier and softer and doesn't dry out my ends as much as even diluted ACV or white vinegar!

It seems the ACV was leaving a bit of residue on my hair (which I noticed as a red tinge on my white dog which gave me this idea) and so I've tried white vinegar also and it works well but the lime juice seems to rinse cleaner for me and leaves my hair softer.

[spidermom]

I've been doing CWC with diluted shampoo for years, and it definitely worked better for me than regular S&C. But I can't seem to conquer my split end problem, so I'm trying to tweak my routine. Wetting the hair is said to wear out the cuticle, which is why I'm going to try keeping my length dry. When I do get all my hair wet, I'm going to apply a moisture treatment to at least the bottom half of my length.

[einna]

Very interesting thread!
I have been doing some scalp washes the last few months, CO or WO. I bun my hair loosely on top of my head and wrap a shower cap over. It still needs some tweaking, but it works pretty well when my hair is not too oily. I usually do it after working out, to get rid of sweat, not oil, but I am going to do it more often as my dry hair needs all the protection it can get.

However, I need to mist my lenght slightly, then oil lightly a few times a week, or my hair will get too dry and tangly. Will this countereffect the scalp washes? It is just a little bit of water, not even close to fully soaking it like I would with a full wash.

[heidi w.]

By now, probably this thread is filled with info on how-to. The hair not intended to get wet must be bagged. Simply holding a braid out of the way won't work. I've seen people tie up hair length to the rod that holds a shower curtain. I use a single shower cap and one hand pretty much to do the whole thing. I can do as much or as little as I want. The hardest part is getting a good rinse, but it's do-able.

Here's my how-to. I just did this yesterday. I had about two inches of length below my chin that also needed cleaning, so I first detangled all my hair than put it in a ponytail and then twist the ponytail and then wrapped the length about all that twisting and shower capped it.

Then I stepped in the shower. The first part, is I have to get the hair wet, and those experimenting with scalp washing may not intuitively realize this, but you have to Face the Shower Water and tilt your head forward. I drop the cap to the nape of my neck, and this time since I wanted those two inches also cleansed, I drew the cap down a bit more. I made sure that before I stepped under the water, that the capped hair was relatively securely capped and that it's wrapped around the entire circumference of the ponytail. I hold the shower cap at this base and use my thumb to hold the clump of sheathed hair up.

Then first application of shampoo once the hair is wet. The first application merely breaks the surface tension that dirty hair tends to have from sebum. Rinse well. This last time I washed more of my hair rather than less.....so I had a bit of an easier time rinsing the shampoo out. Then third application where I kind of scrub my scalp itself a bit. I also shampooed the underside at the back of head at the hairline. Rinse. I had flap of hair hanging down over my ears, which made it a little easier to scrub my hair and rinse the shampoo out of my hair.

When done shampooing, I tap my hair with my hand in specific locations and check my hand to see if there are any shampoo bubbles on my hand. This helps me be secure the hair is well rinsed out.

Then when all is clear, I kind of press on the hair flaps at the side and remove excess water, and pile all my hair back into the shower cap and finish bathing.

One can simply scalp wash the top of the hair, or a little bit of hair in the front/top of the head to about as far back as the beginning of the ears. I pretend there's a little imaginary line running from ear-to-ear over the top of my head, and I don't go further than that. Notice that back of head hair shows oiliness slower than the front of or top of the head hair. I call these amended scalp washes. This kind of hair wash is fairly quick and really dries a whole lot faster than any other kind of hair wash. IF I'm doing this wash before work, I just then put my hair up, and maybe during the day I may get a chance to take my hair down while seated at my desk, but usually I don't, and the drying finishes overnight while I'm sleeping.

Not terribly hard, but it did take me a few tries to get this down. Remember you face the shower water and really tilt the head forward to control how much hair gets wet. When you get better at it, you get really good at controlling what hair gets wet. I'm now a master at scalp washing and can do whatever I want. I also had to accept that sometimes I may not get the best rinse of products. That does occasionally occur, but you get better at that too, as one practices and gains experience. A scalp wash gives me about 2 more days of not having to fully wash my hair. Very useful after mowing the lawn, for example.

I scalp washed last night cuz I didn't have a lot of time to handle my hair in anticipation of an evening out. I was asked out at noon, and I had homework to do, so that's how I handled my cruddy-lookin' scalp. Scalp wash got me through the date without revealing I was walking the planet with some wet hair. My scalp related hair dried in about half an hour; the length below my chin dried overnight, but my hair was tucked up in an updo, so the guy had no idea I had wet hair. Trick achieved.

Have fun. This is a useful skill, and those with BSL or less length might have a bit of a time with this hair washing method. But you can do the amended scalp washes, I discuss above.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Very interesting thread!
I have been doing some scalp washes the last few months, CO or WO. I bun my hair loosely on top of my head and wrap a shower cap over. It still needs some tweaking, but it works pretty well when my hair is not too oily. I usually do it after working out, to get rid of sweat, not oil, but I am going to do it more often as my dry hair needs all the protection it can get.

However, I need to mist my lenght slightly, then oil lightly a few times a week, or my hair will get too dry and tangly. Will this countereffect the scalp washes? It is just a little bit of water, not even close to fully soaking it like I would with a full wash.

Last night, I even managed to apply some conditioner to the chunk of hair below my chin. You should still be able to oil hair and even apply conditioner to the hair that needs it when scalp washing....

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I've been trying to do this lately myself.

What has worked best for me (so far) is getting all my hair wet and just scrubbing my poo bar on my scalp.

Whatever runs down my hair during the rinse is enough to clean my hair and not dry out the ends as much.

My hair is only shoulder length at the moment so this is the only way I can figure out how to wash my scalp - plus I use soap or poo bars.

Also I've noticed that doing a water/lime juice acid rinse after my poo bar instead of ACV leaves my hair shinier and softer and doesn't dry out my ends as much as even diluted ACV or white vinegar!

It seems the ACV was leaving a bit of residue on my hair (which I noticed as a red tinge on my white dog which gave me this idea) and so I've tried white vinegar also and it works well but the lime juice seems to rinse cleaner for me and leaves my hair softer.

Apple Cider Vinegar will indeed tinge lighter colored hair colors a bit reddish, so for light colored hair, I recommend using white vinegar or lemon or lime juice instead.

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

I've been doing CWC with diluted shampoo for years, and it definitely worked better for me than regular S&C. But I can't seem to conquer my split end problem, so I'm trying to tweak my routine. Wetting the hair is said to wear out the cuticle, which is why I'm going to try keeping my length dry. When I do get all my hair wet, I'm going to apply a moisture treatment to at least the bottom half of my length.

Have you tried different conditioners? Maybe that will make a difference? I use conditioner on my full length only up to the bottom of my ears. None on scalp hair because of my Seborrheid Dermatitus scalp condition....

heidi w.

[heidi w.]

Generally two or three weeks -- although I have gone a month without a full wash sometimes in the past. ;)

Me too. Scalp washes got me by. But eventually I had to wash it all.

And when scalp washing, I wash my comb still every single hair wash to avoid a Seborrheic Dermatitus outbreak on my scalp, which is painful and irritating when this happens.

heidi w.

[Gabriel]

Funny to see this thread again! I have been scalp washing the way I mentioned pages back successfuly for over a year now.

I am pretty sure it's a main factor in improving and maintaining the health of the ends of my hair. My most recent trims were about 5-6 apart and each time my hairdresser has commented that I've needed less than an inch taken off.

[MasCat]

I might give it a try :) I like the way my ends look after a couple of days after washing, but my hair from scalp up to my shoulders gets heavy and oily very fast.