Deep conditioning vs. stretching washes

[C.H.]

I'm pretty good about stretching washes. In the past I washed once a week, but I have recently gone as much as a month between washes, and could probably quit doing it entirely if I really wanted to (I don't).

On the other hand, I would like to start deep conditioning my hair on a regular basis. But given that one usually saturates the hair with and then washes out these kinds of thick concoctions there seems to be some kind of trade off here.

Where do you think the balance lies between deep conditioning and stretching washes? Is it worth washing more often than necessary if it means your hair gets a good deep treatment regularly? Or is there some middle ground or compromise between the two that I haven't thought of?

[krissykins]

I didn't realize there was a tradeoff... There was a time (last summer maybe--can't remember) Where I was washing once a week, and the night before, I would soak my hair in oil, then just wash it out the next morning. I still stretched washes as much as I could.

Since I'm a COer, I've also substituted SMTs for washes before. :p

[C.H.]

Maybe there isn't really a trade off, but I'm sitting here thinking, I really want to give myself a deep condition, but at the same time thinking I could put off washing my hair for another week if I don't. I'm just not sure which is more important.

I have also been wondering, if you are CO washing, is it really necessary to stretch washes, since you are basically just moisturzing your hair and not stripping it or exposing it to anything harsh. But completely aside from that, I think the detangling I have to do once my hair gets wet and curly is hard on my hair no matter how careful I am, so it's better to minimize that however gentle my cleansing method might be.

[krissykins]

I stretch washes because sebum is good for hair no matter how it is removed :p I like to oil my length because it's similar to the benefits of sebum on my scalp.

Do you detangle when your hair is slathered on conditioner or just plain wet? I never detangle when wet because it damages my hair sooo badly. Dry detangling is normally gentler for me.

As for the deep conditioning thing, have you tried following it up with an ACV rinse? That might help with stretching washes a bit.

[heidi w.]

Conditioning is more important.

IF you ever have to choose between shampoo and conditioner, plop the money on conditioner.

In fact, for my hair, I find that waiting too long actually means that my conditioner's ability to protect and keep the hair soft overly long, say two weeks is the longest it lasts, really. I find it rather "breaks down" the longer between washes, and so can the incident of nasty tangles increase.

This is only my experience and I have a problem with Seborrheic Dermatitus which precludes the option of waiting 4 weeks, or a month or longer between a hair wash. In my case, too long means dealing with a breakout and a hyper-active bacteria causing a kind of rash.

heidi w.

If you wash so infrequently, consider washing your detangling tools whenever you wash your hair.

[heidi w.]

Maybe there isn't really a trade off, but I'm sitting here thinking, I really want to give myself a deep condition, but at the same time thinking I could put off washing my hair for another week if I don't. I'm just not sure which is more important.

I have also been wondering, if you are CO washing, is it really necessary to stretch washes, since you are basically just moisturzing your hair and not stripping it or exposing it to anything harsh. But completely aside from that, I think the detangling I have to do once my hair gets wet and curly is hard on my hair no matter how careful I am, so it's better to minimize that however gentle my cleansing method might be.

If you must detangle while still wet, consider these ideas.

1. Detangle when the hair is damp, not sopping dripping wet when the hair is stretched and plumped to its maximum.

2. IF you must while sopping wet, stay in the shower and coat the hair with conditioner. THEN coat the detangling comb with conditioner too, constantly re-dipping in the vat of conditioner.

Use fairly warm water when conditioning. This allows cuticles to be opened and maximum absorption of the conditioner and bonding with the cortex of the hair, as conditioner is designed to do.

3. Of course, begin at the bottom and never pile your hair to wash it. Ever.

[Misti]

I'm sitting here thinking, I really want to give myself a deep condition, but at the same time thinking I could put off washing my hair for another week if I don't. I'm just not sure which is more important.



Couldn't you stretch the washes and then just do the deep conditioning the night before you were going to wash anyway?

[heidi w.]

Keep in mind that one reason for stretching between hair washes is to utilize the benefit of all that sebum to moisturize hair, such as distributing with a BBB.

Because of my scalp skin issue, stretching this long is completely impossible. Know that itchiness can increase with this much stretching. There's a point at which I believe stretching can be stretched and beyond that, the hair will stink and look cakey and oily-ish. Also with this much stretching and depending on how active your hair follicles are at providing sebum, you can end up with difficulty getting the hair scalp skin really clean. As in, you may need to apply shampoo about 3 times, and rinse really well in somewhat warm water -- not too coo of waterl.

But everyone has a different priority.

heidi w.

[C.H.]

My hair is too curly to even consider detangling after it dries. But, yes, I do so gently--in sections and starting from the bottom--while it's completely saturated (aka lubricated) with conditioner. I still think it can be a little hard on my hair.

[C.H.]

Couldn't you stretch the washes and then just do the deep conditioning the night before you were going to wash anyway?


That's what I would do. I'm just saying that if I wash very infrequently, that means not being able to deep condition as often as I would like. I would like to deep condition once a week. But I could stretch washes for two weeks or more. I'm asking whether people think it's worth it to wash more often if it if means you hair gets more regular/frequent deep conditioning treatments.

[C.H.]

Conditioning is more important.

IF you ever have to choose between shampoo and conditioner, plop the money on conditioner.

In fact, for my hair, I find that waiting too long actually means that my conditioner's ability to protect and keep the hair soft overly long, say two weeks is the longest it lasts, really. I find it rather "breaks down" the longer between washes, and so can the incident of nasty tangles increase.

This is what I'm getting at. I feel by avoiding washes for too long, my hair perhaps misses out on the benefits/nourishment of (deep) conditioner. I understand that when you delay washes you have the benefit of sebum on your side, but it seems to me that conditioner does something for my hair that sebum alone can't. So I'm just thinking through how to balance all these--benefits of sebum, benefits of (deep) conditioner, benefits of less frequent detangling.

[Misti]

That's what I would do. I'm just saying that if I wash very infrequently, that means not being able to deep condition as often as I would like. I would like to deep condition once a week. But I could stretch washes for two weeks or more. I'm asking whether people think it's worth it to wash more often if it if means you hair gets more regular/frequent deep conditioning treatments.

Ahh, OK. I was probably reading too fast because I missed that.

I guess I don't really have an opinion on that since I've never tried stretching my washes for any length of time. (It might well do my ends some good if I did...but I *like* washing my hair. :D )

[Gulbahar]

I've found that washing my hair once a week and deep-conditioning before that is the best solution for me. I could go longer without washing but as heidi w. already pointed out the conditioner coating the hair wears out after a while.

[Madora]

I wash my hair once a month but brush 100 strokes a day with my boar bristle brush..and I keep that brush washed every other day.

I learned to shampoo a certain way from Dr. George Michael. I dilute a tablespoonful of his Pink Shampoo in 8 to 10 oz of warm water.

Then I gradually pour this all over my head, and shampoo throughly, using my fingerpads. I rinse thoroughly, then repeat again, and end with a rinse as cold as I can stand.

My conditioner is now Tresemme Naturals with Aloe and Avocado (no sillicones) and a little goes a LONG WAY! A cap full usually does it for me! I let it sit for about 3 minutes then rinse out my hair several times, ending with a cold rinse.

TANGLES -- I hate 'em with a passion, and have evolved a method of keeping them to a minimum thru the shampooing/conditioning/rinsing processes.

Before I step into the shower, I brush my hair thoroughly, then use my wide tooth comb and part my hair from nape to forehead.

I take the right side section of hair and drape it over the right chest and do likewise on the other side. All thru the shampooing/rinsing/conditioning/rinsing, I try and keep the two sides separate. I have found that the more you can control your strands, the less likely the tangling will be.

I always detangle with a wide tooth comb, slowly and gently, with the hair slathered with conditioner!

I've never used any deep conditioning treatments because my hair didn't need it. I've always held that while conditioning DOES help your hair, too much of it just coats the strands more and more, making build up inevitable..and I just didn't want that hassle!

I love EVOOing, by the way! Wonderful results! (done on completely dry hair..once a month).

[celebriangel]

Hmm, I'm having this trouble too. With my CWC method (modified slightly from the LHC version) I could stretch for basically as long as I liked.

If you're stretching this long, do you do any preening methods? I use a scalp massage/preening technique with just my fingers to distribute sebum throughout my hair. This helps prevent gunky buildup on my scalp and keeps my length soft and shiny. I also spray cool rooibos tea on my roots nightly and massage in - this is a lovely cool feeling and my scalp feels refreshed both afterwards and in the morning. I could stretch washes pretty much indefinitely doing this.

However, I recently switched to CO, and I now feel much less bad about washing "more frequently" than I need to (once a week as opposed to...well, however long I felt like) and I'm doing deep treatments every time I wash - always a prewash EVOO overnight, sometimes an SMT, and always SMT after my henna. So my wash cycle goes: normal wash, normal wash + SMT, normal wash, henna + SMT. Rinse and repeat.

This way I feel as if my hair is getting lots of conditioning but not too much cleansing. However, if I am ever really busy and have no time for my hair, I fall back on my scalp massage, preening and nightly rooibos tea, and I can avoid washing for as long as I like until the busy period is over.

[C.H.]

Hmm, I'm having this trouble too. With my CWC method (modified slightly from the LHC version) I could stretch for basically as long as I liked.

If you're stretching this long, do you do any preening methods? I use a scalp massage/preening technique with just my fingers to distribute sebum throughout my hair. This helps prevent gunky buildup on my scalp and keeps my length soft and shiny. I also spray cool rooibos tea on my roots nightly and massage in - this is a lovely cool feeling and my scalp feels refreshed both afterwards and in the morning. I could stretch washes pretty much indefinitely doing this.

However, I recently switched to CO, and I now feel much less bad about washing "more frequently" than I need to (once a week as opposed to...well, however long I felt like) and I'm doing deep treatments every time I wash - always a prewash EVOO overnight, sometimes an SMT, and always SMT after my henna. So my wash cycle goes: normal wash, normal wash + SMT, normal wash, henna + SMT. Rinse and repeat.

This way I feel as if my hair is getting lots of conditioning but not too much cleansing. However, if I am ever really busy and have no time for my hair, I fall back on my scalp massage, preening and nightly rooibos tea, and I can avoid washing for as long as I like until the busy period is over.

Not really. I do like to give it a good BB brushing every few days to distribute sebum and remove lint. An itchy scalp is what used to compell me to wash, but the last time this happened, thanks to something I read on LHC, I did a little scritching with a fine-tooth comb and that made it go away. And that's when I realized I could probably stop washing entirely if I wanted to. I've been meaning to read up on the no washing/preening methods, but haven't gotten to it yet. I just love that you guys call it "preening."

I will probably settle into washing once every 1-2 weeks. After that it seems my hair would benefit from some nourishment. But it's good to know that I don't have to wash it at any particular point and can put it off until I'm ready to do it.

And here we have yet another reason I'm not inclined to go fully curly on a regular basis. Doing so puts an end to stretching washes and will require me to wash much more frequently than I want to, as the curls quickly lose definition and advance from tangles to matting, so have to be reformed and conditioner detangled after a week at the absolute max. You'll notice most curlies wash every few days for this reason. Furthermore I wouldn't be able use a bb brush to distribute sebum and remove particles as dry brushing the curls is out of the question.

[jaquelines]

i do have a few questions here : when you mean stretching the washes, are you referring to shampoo washes, conditioner, or simply water over the hair ?
because i don´t know how you ladies handle it, but even though i use a BBB, by scalp is getting greasy, and the roots as well, if i don´t wash my hair in the 3.rd day.
so when i hear that for example Madora, you wash your hair once in a month, how are you managing with the oily scalp ? doesn´t your scalp get greasy ?
on the 3rd day my scalp is oily, greasy, and my hair feels a bit dry, even with the 100 brushes per day with a BBB.
i don´t get it. sorry.:rolleyes:

[growingpains]

There's definitely a balance.

On one hand, wetting the hair causes cuticle expansion and over time results in minor damage the more often done.

One the other hand, hair that is exposed to the elements without getting re-moisturized may well be worse off and better for it if you wetted and moisturized (deep conditioned) more often.

I honestly think it's a personal thing. If your hair is soft and moist then stretching washes is great. But for me, my length is happier when moist, but I have some damage at the ends that need pampering.

[Anje]

When I've got my scalp in proper shape, I often wash (well, CO) based on when my ends start feeling like they could use conditioning, rather than based on oiliness at my scalp. That seems to work well for me, as my ends tend to feel dried out with oil alone after a while.

[jaquelines]

When I've got my scalp in proper shape, I often wash (well, CO) based on when my ends start feeling like they could use conditioning, rather than based on oiliness at my scalp. That seems to work well for me, as my ends tend to feel dried out with oil alone after a while.

i am sorry, but i am still confused. does this thread refers to - no matter if your scalp is oily one should extend washes if the hair is not dry ? so , for example - even if my sclp and the roots are awful greasy, the hair does not need washing until it feels dry ? i can´t figure out how madora, or others wash their hair every other week, for exemple .



i do have a few questions here : when you mean stretching the washes, are you referring to shampoo washes, conditioner, or simply water over the hair ?
because i don´t know how you ladies handle it, but even though i use a BBB, by scalp is getting greasy, and the roots as well, if i don´t wash my hair in the 3.rd day.
so when i hear that for example Madora, you wash your hair once in a month, how are you managing with the oily scalp ? doesn´t your scalp get greasy ?
on the 3rd day my scalp is oily, greasy, and my hair feels a bit dry, even with the 100 brushes per day with a BBB.
i don´t get it. sorry.:rolleyes:

[Carolyn]

It's really a personal thing with a lot of variables. You might want to find someone with a similar hair type and check out their routine. I've said many times I don't think stretching washes is all that it's cracked up to be. I've found that stretching washes anything past day 3 is actually detrimental to my hair and scalp. My length needs to get wet at least every 3 days, and more often is even better. My ends get very dry and brittle if not wet and conditioned every other day. CO washes count for this. My scalp gets painful sore spots if I don't do some kind of a wash every 3rd day or more often. I'm a blonde so my hair looks really nasty with a grease and sebum coating. Someone with a different hair type may not have these issues.

[C.H.]

When I've got my scalp in proper shape, I often wash (well, CO) based on when my ends start feeling like they could use conditioning, rather than based on oiliness at my scalp. That seems to work well for me, as my ends tend to feel dried out with oil alone after a while.

Me, too. That's when I start feeling they need a proper conditioning and perhaps it's simply not beneficial to put off washing any longer. Yours might be a better way of gauging how often I should wash.

[Anje]

i am sorry, but i am still confused. does this thread refers to - no matter if your scalp is oily one should extend washes if the hair is not dry ? so , for example - even if my sclp and the roots are awful greasy, the hair does not need washing until it feels dry ? i can´t figure out how madora, or others wash their hair every other week, for exemple .
What I'm saying is that when I've got my scalp at the oil production level I like (it's not quite there yet right now -- I'm still stretching again after all the shampooing trying the oil-shampoo fiasco months and months ago got my oil production way up), my ends get dry before my scalp gets oily.

If your scalp is getting greasy while your ends feel fine, you probably don't have your washes all that stretched out yet. Or else your ends need less conditioning than mine. ;) Whether you're able to get your oil production to the point where your ends need to have attention before your roots depends on your own scalp and what method you use to stretch washes. If I shampoo, I can't get washes stretched as much because the harshness prompts my head to crank out more oil.