Q. about shedding/washing frequency

[Forever_Sophie]

It seems like I lose almost twice the amt of hair when I wash it every 3rd day! Much less when it's every other.

Sooo...I can't make sense of why it happens, but would I be better off washing every other day b/c of this? My hair is kinda dry, it can easy go to the 3rd day looking just fine, but...I don't want to lose any more than I "have" to!

Thanks in advance.

[Teresa9000]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe it's just that your loose hair comes out more in the shower than from combing it. Like, it's hair that would naturally come out. Does that make sense? I know I lose more hair in the shower than when I comb it. Even if I comb it well right before jumping in the shower I still lose about the same amount of hair as I would if I took a shower without combing my hair first.

[Forever_Sophie]

Hi Teresa~

Actually, I'm more concerned that I lose more washing every 3rd day than washing every 2nd day...So wierd! (sorry if I wasn't clear!).

[Curlsgirl]

I doubt that would make any difference. My opinion is washing less often is better since every time you wash you are stripping your hair of it's natural oils. Also since the average loss of hair is 50-100 hairs per day you actually are seeing that much more hair waiting one more day. As long as your hair doesn't start feeling thinner or you aren't losing more than that you're okay.

[flapjack]

It's different for everyone and depends on how much oil you naturally produce. I wash my hair every other day and if I wait longer, my scalp gets so greasy that even when I gently distribute the oil down my hair as much as I can, it's still overkill, itches and feels nasty and I lose more hair. And I only lose 1-2 strands of hair in the shower, every time. I don't know why it's exactly 1-2 but it is, haha.

[Forever_Sophie]

It's different for everyone and depends on how much oil you naturally produce. I wash my hair every other day and if I wait longer, my scalp gets so greasy that even when I gently distribute the oil down my hair as much as I can, it's still overkill, itches and feels nasty and I lose more hair. And I only lose 1-2 strands of hair in the shower, every time. I don't know why it's exactly 1-2 but it is, haha.

Okay, you've convinced me to wash every other day! lol I was afraid of it getting dry but I'll use oils or whatever ;) Loss is a much bigger risk!

[flapjack]

Well, if you have a dry scalp, it's fine to wait more between washes. I just produce a lot of oil... everywhere, haha. Everything has advantages and disadvantages.

[busnutmedic]

I wonder about this because before I joined LHC I would never let my hair get really greasy between washes and now I do and my hair has thinned considerably :P

Maybe infrequent washes just don't work for anyone. And I've tried, I've gone with CO only for months a months and my hair has been the biggest greasepot ever (well, maybe not quite *ever*, but it has gotten incredibly bogged down with natural oils), and while it did adjust a bit after a while, it doesn't seem to have done anything great for my hair in the long run.

Bonnie

[Forever_Sophie]

I wonder about this because before I joined LHC I would never let my hair get really greasy between washes and now I do and my hair has thinned considerably :P

Maybe infrequent washes just don't work for anyone. And I've tried, I've gone with CO only for months a months and my hair has been the biggest greasepot ever (well, maybe not quite *ever*, but it has gotten incredibly bogged down with natural oils), and while it did adjust a bit after a while, it doesn't seem to have done anything great for my hair in the long run.

Bonnie

I really, really appreciate this post! Back to frequent washing for me :)

[Riot Crrl]

With 2c, do you even comb out your hair between washing it? If you don't then the sheds might just be coming out at the normal rate. Then they stay in there until the next time you do your detangling routine, when it then is more hair since it's just been a longer time.

[flapjack]

Yeah, definitely try more frequent washing and try to keep track of how much hair you lose per day for a few weeks. Good luck, hopefully this will solve your problem. :)

[manderly]

I lose gobs of hair when I skip washing for a few days in comparison to a day or two. I chalk it up to those being the hairs I would have lost had I washed every day, they are just all coming out at once and look scary.

[busnutmedic]

I lose gobs of hair when I skip washing for a few days in comparison to a day or two. I chalk it up to those being the hairs I would have lost had I washed every day, they are just all coming out at once and look scary.

Ahh, yes! That happens to me also.

But I've definitely noticed a long term trend that has led to thin hair, whatever the cause.

Bonnie

[Forever_Sophie]

With 2c, do you even comb out your hair between washing it? If you don't then the sheds might just be coming out at the normal rate. Then they stay in there until the next time you do your detangling routine, when it then is more hair since it's just been a longer time.

Of course I comb my hair! A few times/day. Maybe I'm understanding this q. wrong, but...this question is puzzling.


I lose gobs of hair when I skip washing for a few days in comparison to a day or two. I chalk it up to those being the hairs I would have lost had I washed every day, they are just all coming out at once and look scary.

That's what I was thinking for a while (a long while!) but like Bonnie, I'm starting to think there'll be long term effects...Like, for a long time I figured, maybe w/ all the hair pills, my hair's growing faster & shedding faster, BUT only recently when I started washing every other day I noticed I lose so much less that way...

[Riot Crrl]

Lol, sorry to be confusing. If I have been wearing my hair down and curly, I can't even think about dry combing it without ending up with a fuzzball of horror, is why I asked. The only time that would be at all considerable is if I have let it dry while pulled straight in some updo. (Of course, if it dried curly I also can't consider sleeping on it and wearing it a second day without getting it wet again, but a lot of curlies can and do.)

So, when I'm walking around with curly gelled hair, any hairs I shed naturally over the course of the day do not tend to fall out on the floor or anything. They just stay in there until the next time I can detangle, then I get them all at once.

[Philomela]

I used to cope with the same situation, Forever_Sophie. Skipping one single day ended up in massive hair loss that couldn't have been attributed to an accumulation of hairs that would've been shed when not washing. I persisted in this for about half a year, thinking washing every other day (instead of every 3 days) would be beneficial. Wrong! I noticed considerable thinning. I switched back to washing every other day, and my shed rate is no longer worrisome.

[Buddaphlyy]

Honestly I don't know and at this point, don't really care. Hair is going to shed anyway, whether I wash it or not, so I just close my eyes during the wash phase so I don't have to worry about it. I think I get the average 50 - 100 shed hair a day.

[Forever_Sophie]

Lol, sorry to be confusing. If I have been wearing my hair down and curly, I can't even think about dry combing it without ending up with a fuzzball of horror, is why I asked. The only time that would be at all considerable is if I have let it dry while pulled straight in some updo. (Of course, if it dried curly I also can't consider sleeping on it and wearing it a second day without getting it wet again, but a lot of curlies can and do.)

So, when I'm walking around with curly gelled hair, any hairs I shed naturally over the course of the day do not tend to fall out on the floor or anything. They just stay in there until the next time I can detangle, then I get them all at once.

omg, so sorry! lol (I was imagining washing - a few days - washing, etc, all w/o combing!) I know what you mean about the "fuzzball of horror" but I've never washed without combing it out first! (I'm learning so much since posting here!).


I used to cope with the same situation, Forever_Sophie. Skipping one single day ended up in massive hair loss that couldn't have been attributed to an accumulation of hairs that would've been shed when not washing. I persisted in this for about half a year, thinking washing every other day (instead of every 3 days) would be beneficial. Wrong! I noticed considerable thinning. I switched back to washing every other day, and my shed rate is no longer worrisome.

Yes, that's exactly it. The extra hair isn't in proportion to the "daily" shedding I'd get from 1 extra day. I've been going 3 days (often, not always) since '06! :( Makes me wonder how much thicker my hair could have been...Oh well, now I don't have to feel bad about that ridiculous amt of S&C & products I own! lol