WO washing HELP

[redmj]

:confused:Help me please. I have been WO washing my hair for the last two weeks. My hair isn't greasy nor is it dry. It is just limp, lifeless and dull. Does it get better or does my hair not like the WO washing???

[Alaia]

The most important thing to remember with WO is this: scrub your scalp.

Even when you're doing it right, though, the transition period is usually prolonged - expect it to last up to 2 months.

:)

ETA: Oh, and you should also invest in a BBB or similar, to spread the sebum down your hair. This aids with the WO transition too.

[Mi-chan666]

Have you tried rinsing your hair with VERY cold water after WO'ing?

That used to do the trick for me. ;) The cold water will restore some shine to your hair, at least.

Mi

[sun-kissed]

Cold water! It's a must for WO, or you will come out with dull hair. I've just switched completely to cold showers(I live where it's very nice to feel cold for a change) but you can just rinse your hair with it for the last part of your shower. It should bring back the shine. (:

[redmj]

No, I have never even heard of that. I usually let the cold water run over my face but I can do my hair also. I want my shiny hair back.

[redmj]

The most important thing to remember with WO is this: scrub your scalp.

:)

ETA: Oh, and you should also invest in a BBB or similar, to spread the sebum down your hair. This aids with the WO transition too.

I scrub my scalp as least once a day usually twice. Would a BBB make my hair poofy?

[Anje]

Honestly, expect your hair to be weird for a while when adjusting to WO. It often takes about 2 months for everything to balance out.

You may find you need to do an occasional dilute vinegar rinse. More often if your water is hard. That will help prevent any buildup from the minerals in the water, which will also contribute to dull hair, and I found that it cut a bit of the greasiness when just water didn't cut it. (Then again, my WO days weren't terribly strict. I did water, vinegar, and oil.)

[Alaia]

I scrub my scalp as least once a day usually twice. Would a BBB make my hair poofy?

Well that depends what you mean by poofy ;)

Since you're a 1c it shouldn't make your hair that voluminous. They are just very good for smoothing the sebum down the hair shaft, which means you wouldn't get very greasy hair at the top for example.

I'm not WO, and when I use the BBB it aids the shine of my hair (so probably would help you do that too!). Yes, my hair is obviously brushed, but not poofy.

[redmj]

Thanks everyone. I will be trying the cold wash tonight. Here's hoping it works.

[misspurdy06]

There is a 6 week hump to get over when doing W/O.

[piratejenny]

Honestly, expect your hair to be weird for a while when adjusting to WO. It often takes about 2 months for everything to balance out.

You may find you need to do an occasional dilute vinegar rinse. More often if your water is hard. That will help prevent any buildup from the minerals in the water, which will also contribute to dull hair, and I found that it cut a bit of the greasiness when just water didn't cut it. (Then again, my WO days weren't terribly strict. I did water, vinegar, and oil.)

I'm with Anje on this one. In fact I'd say two months transition is very optimistic, for a lot of people (myself included) it seems to take MUCH longer.

You can read about a lot of experiences on the WO thread http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3412 (ok, I admit it's a lot of information).

I've been in transition to WO since June and it's only in the last few weeks that I feel I look presentable enough to wear my hair down. That makes four months of WO and my hair is contunually improving but no, I don't think I'm quite there yet :(.

Water quality can also a big issue. I think that if your water is hard you will probably not get away with hard-core WO and will need to do either acidic rinses (with diluted vinegar or lemon juice) or use "Miracle Water" http://www.longhaircommunity.com/archive/showthread.php?t=51184. That's what I'm using as a rinse and it works quite well.

Good luck! Maybe we'll see you over at the WO thread? :D

[redmj]

I didn't think it would be such a change from what my hair is used to. I (before two weeks ago) wash my hair with borax water and rinse with citric acid diluted in water. I did that every four to five days. And an "organic" shampoo and condition once every other week. It looked and felt great the first week or so and then WHAM this flat dull dead look. I cold water rinsed tonight so here's hoping it helps. If it doesn't I may citric acid rinse one a week or so.

[Yame]

I'm a little too lazy to read the WO thread right now to scout out this answer, so perhaps someone could answer here:

What are the advantages of WO? Why did you decide to do it? Did it achieve the results you wanted? What improvements have you seen?

[redmj]

I tried it because I have always had this horrible buildup on my scalp. It would get under my nails and then dry up like it was dandruff. It was gross. I thought using the borax and citirc acid would help that but to no avail. So I am trying this. My hair looks gross right now (PTL for updos) but my buildup is almost gone.

Oh, and this morning my hair is curly and shiny but feels like I dunked it in floorwax. UGH!!!

[piratejenny]

I'm a little too lazy to read the WO thread right now to scout out this answer, so perhaps someone could answer here:

What are the advantages of WO? Why did you decide to do it? Did it achieve the results you wanted? What improvements have you seen?


I started with WO mainly because I like experimenting with weird stuff (hey, everybody's on a diet :D). I stayed in a vacation house in June where the water pressure was so poor that I couldn't really wash my hair, so I didn't and started wondering what would happen if I just kept going. What appeals to me in WO are two things:

1) I come from a routine of S/C every other day and my hair essentially NEVER looked good. It was frizzy and dry the first day and went straight to greasy and oily on the second. With WO I hope to het my hair to find it's natural balance and at least look nice sometimes...

2) I am lazy and a working mum with two small boys and I simply don't have time in the morning for a long routine so the thought of having low maintenance gorgeous hair sounds fantastic :D

When I thought this a few months back I didn't take into consideration that I would run into LHC and become totally obsessed. There are soooo many things I am itching to try now...

Anyway, did I find what I was looking for? Well, sort of... I'm four months into WO right now (even though I did do and still do things that are not really hard-core) and my hair is clearly happier than before: the frizz is completely gone, it has way more body than before and it feels super soft. The look is at times a bit stringy still, but it is continuously improving and so I am hopefull that in a couple of weeks I will just simply have gorgeous hair without using anything :cool:

I did find especially the first two months of my transition extremely tough. For weeks I had what I called a wax helmet. When I pulled a strand of my hair straight up it basically stayed that way. I tried wearing scarfs (but that's not really me) and ended up doing a few CO washes in that period. Then after two months things have been "under control" with WO only. In the past two wees I was even happy enough with my hair to both wear it down and get a trim at a salon...

Just based on my personal experience I think that going WO first of all takes a healthy dose of committment and I also think that the expectation of a 2 months transition period that a lot of articles on the internet talk about is waaaay of (at least if your starting point is a frequent S/C routine). I figure it should be much easier starting from redmj's routine, but that's not something I've experienced personally.

[redmj]

Wax helmet! I love it. That's what I have today and it is GROSS. I took my hair sticks out of my bun this afternoon and it stayed up! I was shocked. I should probably do a ca or a acv rinse but I'm really trying to tough it out.

I'm getting a bit discouraged though because everyone keeps telling me it won't work and my hair will just keep getting dirtier and more disgusting. I don't expect them to agree with me and do it themselves but don't tell me I'm just going to get dirty and disgusting. Sooooo thank y'all for your support.

[Eire]

My hair and skin are both prone to oiliness and sometimes I'd get small flakes along my hairline. I went to WO in hopes of cutting that down, and feel that I was successful. Shedding has reduced and so have splits.

My routine (I wash daily. Stretching washes doesn't work for me, and my hair doesn't seem to suffer mechanically from the extra washes).
1) Brush hair thoroughly with BBB. I do this by flipping my head, and brushing roots to ends.
2) I cleanse my BBB daily with a spray from ELF, but you can just wash with dilute soap.
3) Rinse hair with warm water. Use this time to thoroughly scrub scalp.
4) Transition water to cool. Comb through with a wide tooth plastic comb. Switching to cool helps break up oils. I find that after WO hair my hair is much less prone to tangles.
5) Grab loofah, soap it up, do whatever shaving/body washing I am going to do.
6) Scrub scalp one more time and repeat cold water rinse.
7) Give hair a final rinse with dilute ACV (apple cider vinegar). I used to rinse this out afterward, but my water is hard and it left a bad smell in my hair. Oddly enough, doing the final rinse with ACV and NOT rinsing it leaves my hair clean and doesn't smell like vinegar or hard water. I comb through again with plastic comb.
8.) Towel dry (note: this does not mean rubbing back and forth with towel - this will damage hair. I just wrap it in the towel more like a blotter than anything). I air dry overnight. Hair can be braided, put in rollers, bun rolled, left down, whatever.

In the morning it's pretty much good to go. If there is any oiliness left in the morning (certain times of the month my hormones really go crazy with the oil production) I just spritz with a dry shampoo along my hairline and lightly massage. Hair is voluminous, flake free, shiny, and very soft. Best hair routine I've found. Sometimes I'll coat the ends with coconut oil after brushing but before showering if I feel they're getting a bit dry.

[redmj]

Oh wow. Thanks Eire. I am loving the WO washing. Now just figuring out how to do it.

[sisi33]

Oh, the old, "Why are you doing that?/ You'll NEVER get your hair clean with out shampoo!/ Doesn't your hair smell???/GROOOSSSSS!" speel. It will work, don't worry! Technique is key to surviving transition. Have you looked at the archived artical on WO washing?http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=50999 Also, I second the ACV/white vinegar dilution. Also, reading the last 10-15 pages of the current WO thread has TONS of info that might be helpful!

[Yame]

I started with WO mainly because I like experimenting with weird stuff (hey, everybody's on a diet :D). I stayed in a vacation house in June where the water pressure was so poor that I couldn't really wash my hair, so I didn't and started wondering what would happen if I just kept going. What appeals to me in WO are two things:

1) I come from a routine of S/C every other day and my hair essentially NEVER looked good. It was frizzy and dry the first day and went straight to greasy and oily on the second. With WO I hope to het my hair to find it's natural balance and at least look nice sometimes...

2) I am lazy and a working mum with two small boys and I simply don't have time in the morning for a long routine so the thought of having low maintenance gorgeous hair sounds fantastic :D

When I thought this a few months back I didn't take into consideration that I would run into LHC and become totally obsessed. There are soooo many things I am itching to try now...


I can totally relate to the hair not looking good with frequent washes and the wanting to be low-maintenance points, but I solved both issues by stretching washes to once a week instead of going WO.

But I am starting to wonder if going WO might help with my shedding. It seems like whenever I put ANYTHING on my scalp, I start shedding like crazy. This happened when I was trying castor oil and it happens every time I shampoo my hair, and when I condition it, although I only condition the lengths. I have a suspicion that if I wash with water only, I won't shed as much, but I am concerned that WO will not clean my hair enough.

Should I perhaps try that for my next wash? I just washed today, so my next wash day is next Saturday. Maybe I should try WO, and see how much it sheds and how clean it looks afterward?

[Regan]

My hair and skin are both prone to oiliness and sometimes I'd get small flakes along my hairline. I went to WO in hopes of cutting that down, and feel that I was successful. Shedding has reduced and so have splits.

My routine (I wash daily. Stretching washes doesn't work for me, and my hair doesn't seem to suffer mechanically from the extra washes).
1) Brush hair thoroughly with BBB. I do this by flipping my head, and brushing roots to ends.
2) I cleanse my BBB daily with a spray from ELF, but you can just wash with dilute soap.
3) Rinse hair with warm water. Use this time to thoroughly scrub scalp.
4) Transition water to cool. Comb through with a wide tooth plastic comb. Switching to cool helps break up oils. I find that after WO hair my hair is much less prone to tangles.
5) Grab loofah, soap it up, do whatever shaving/body washing I am going to do.
6) Scrub scalp one more time and repeat cold water rinse.
7) Give hair a final rinse with dilute ACV (apple cider vinegar). I used to rinse this out afterward, but my water is hard and it left a bad smell in my hair. Oddly enough, doing the final rinse with ACV and NOT rinsing it leaves my hair clean and doesn't smell like vinegar or hard water. I comb through again with plastic comb.
8.) Towel dry (note: this does not mean rubbing back and forth with towel - this will damage hair. I just wrap it in the towel more like a blotter than anything). I air dry overnight. Hair can be braided, put in rollers, bun rolled, left down, whatever.

In the morning it's pretty much good to go. If there is any oiliness left in the morning (certain times of the month my hormones really go crazy with the oil production) I just spritz with a dry shampoo along my hairline and lightly massage. Hair is voluminous, flake free, shiny, and very soft. Best hair routine I've found. Sometimes I'll coat the ends with coconut oil after brushing but before showering if I feel they're getting a bit dry.


This is really good information, thank you. May I ask how often you do this?

ETA: oops - I saw you answered it in the very beginning. Missed it the first time, sorry. :(

[teal]

I'm getting a bit discouraged though because everyone keeps telling me it won't work and my hair will just keep getting dirtier and more disgusting. I don't expect them to agree with me and do it themselves but don't tell me I'm just going to get dirty and disgusting. Sooooo thank y'all for your support.

Who's telling you this? I'm not suggesting you get confrontational or anything, but I'd really like to hear the definition of "clean" from someone who would say something like this. In my view it's rather odd... I mean, the act of scrubbing every part of ourselves with hundreds of chemicals we can hardly pronounce (all of which have been designed in the last 100 years, no less) doesn't strike me as necessary for us as human beings to be "clean". In fact, this is a demo of just how effective marketers are at encouraging consumerism. YOU don't want to be DIRTY, do you??!! Use **our product!** **Gentle enough to use Daily (and buy another bottle sooner)!**<-- lens flares and pretty flashes, ooh, ahh, sparkle sparkle.

Not saying some of those chemicals don't do nice things for us... they do, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't take advantage of them. Just saying they aren't strictly necessary, that's all.

Yes, you'll likely produce excess sebum for a little while. That's just a part of transitioning to WO. I second the suggestions for cold-water finish, ACV rinses and brushing with a BBB. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, I promise. You can do it!! :cheer:

[redmj]

Ha Ha. I love how you put that teal YOU don't want to be DIRTY, do you??!! Use **our product!** **Gentle enough to use Daily (and buy another bottle sooner)!**<-- lens flares and pretty flashes, ooh, ahh, sparkle sparkle. Scarcasm, Love it. I totally agree though. I never before realized how comercialized (?) America is. Just because it is sold doesn't mean it is good for you.

Oh and excitement for the day NO WAX HELMET TODAY!!!!!

[piratejenny]

Eire, thanks for sharing your routine. Your hair looks gorgeous!! In fact that is kind of what I want my hair to look like eventually (it's only shoulder length at this point)...;)


I can totally relate to the hair not looking good with frequent washes and the wanting to be low-maintenance points, but I solved both issues by stretching washes to once a week instead of going WO.

Having to wash only once a week, THAT in itself sounds really good to me, too :). It's kind of my fall-back if WO won't work out for me in the long run. I have never had an issue with shedding, so I can't comment on that. I do have an issue with extremely oily skin on my face, though, and I think not using shampoo any more has helped clean up my face to the point that both my mother and sister (who only see me every couple of months) commented on it. No scientific proof here obviously, but it's the only major thing I have changed in the past few months...


Oh and excitement for the day NO WAX HELMET TODAY!!!!!

Congratulations!! See, all it takes is a "little" patience :D

[JessL]

I dont do WO but I am no-poo.

I found that when I got the waxy buildup in the beginning I could get rid of it by putting yogurt in my hair for 20 minutes and rinsing out.

Piratejenny - I also found I got less oily in my face when I went from shampooing daily to CO about a year ago. I think going no poo has helped even more. My face used to need blotting by 10 am and now sometimes I dont blot at all.

[redmj]

I bought a BBB and a wooden comb today. Hoping the BBB works like I think it will. Also, can you use the wooden comb when your hair is wet??

[redmj]

How do y'all do the acv rinse? What is the ratio of water to acv?

[teal]

I do 1tbsp ACV per 1c water, and I rinse with cold water afterward.

[redmj]

I did an acv rinse, note to self, I only really need one cup, and my hair feels amazing. I didn't rinse it out hoping it wouldn't smell like it once it tried. It does but only a little bit. My hair is so soft and no frizz. I'm not going to be home till late tonight so I'm hoping my waxynes stays away for a nice long time.

Oh and by the way, y'all are awesome. Thanks for all the help.

[redmj]

Soo doing the WO wash has made my hair super curly.

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m536/Clark_J/IMAG0003.jpg

Please ignore the less than pleasant face. The picture was taken pre-coffee.

[teal]

Wow, have you considered checking out the Curly Girl method? Those curls are lovely! And your colour is lovely too!

Pre-coffee, haa. I know that feeling!

[redmj]

Thank you very much. I have thought about it, the Curly Girl method. Haven't really looked into it yet, but I am for sure going to.

I haven't had curles likes this in ages. I'm super excited about them. I thought since my hair was so long I wouldn't have some like this. Guess I was wrong.

[piratejenny]

Love those curls!! Since I started WO every strand of my hair seems to have a different type. I have everything from slight to pronounced waves to some spiral curls behind my ears... Feels like my hair is still confused by me yanking it out of its lifelong S/C routine :D

[redmj]

Ha Ha I know the feeling. Every hair on my head has a mind of its own, and just like women, they never agree. It makes for some interesting hair days. I love the way it looks and feels though. I am totally a WO lover.

[redmj]

Ok. Question time again. How often should you acv? Or can you acv too often? I don't want to be dependant on acv but I get major waxiness. I understand that it is part of the transition phase so I don't know if I should try. To manage it or just let it run its course. Please help.