Non lathering shampoo

[allnaturalboy]

How do you know your hair is clean without the lather before you dry your hair? And what do you think of these types of shampoos?

I like to use SLS free shampoos, but all of the ones I've used contain some sort of surfactant that will still lather. Whenever I don't get enough lather, my hair doesn't feel clean and will sometimes have greasy areas after it dries. My hair is oily though, so that probably has something to do with it.

Is it difficult to spread the product all over your scalp?

I like my lather, but I'm thinking of trying a non lathering shampoo just to see if my hair will like it. However, if not many people have luck with it, then I'm not going to bother.

[spidermom]

I dilute my shampoo in so much warm water that sometimes I get minimal if any lather. One thing I like to do to be sure I clean my entire scalp is to use an empty conditioner bottle to make my solution in. I shake well, then squirt it all over my scalp. Then I take my shower comb and comb over my scalp (NOT my length). I comb from forehead toward nape, pick up the comb, bring it back to forehead but moved over a fraction of an inch, and comb again. Repeat until entire scalp has been combed. Then rinse.

Just this morning I had such oily hair from an overnight oiling and my solution was so weak that I doubted all the oil would come out in the wash. But it did.

[jeanniet]

I use a homemade shampoo that doesn't lather, but I don't scrub my head or encourage lather anyway. I always dilute whatever I'm washing with in about a pint of water and just pour it all over my head, let it sit for a few minutes, and rinse it out. I think thorough distribution, especially if you have thick hair, is more important than lather.

[Ravenwind]

I found that I would have to use a lot more shampoo in order to get *somewhat* of a lather, and it was still a bit difficult to spread it around. My hair always did feel clean afterwards, but sometimes it still felt a little greasy, like as if I used conditioner on my roots. I switched back to shampoo with sulfates and silicones though and personally I love it sooo much better lol. Envy Organics has pretty good lather though, smells really good, and that's what I used before I switched to Pantene.

[Chromis]

Lather has nothing to do with "clean" it is just for appearance sake. If you pre-oil, clean hair will no longer feel oily, otherwise really, most shampoos and even water alone get it pretty clean. Most people just don't get their head that dirty!

My toothpaste does not lather either and it weirds my husband out. I find anytime I use his, the lather now gets in the way off seeing if there is anything I have missed before I rinse my mouth :lol:

[oktobergoud]

I like lather, actually. Without lather, I feel my hair doesn't get clean well enough. Not because the lather cleans my hair, but I feel the lather will make it more easier to wash ALL of my hair, you know? Like it spreads easier!

[spidermom]

I used to have a problem with shampoo distribution because of my thick hair. Making a shampoo solution in water and squirting it all over the scalp (and through my length when I want to wash it all) is the best way I've found to make sure I get good spread.

[allnaturalboy]

Well, that's better than buying a whole new shampoo. XD

I have experimented with dilution in the past, but sometimes the solution is too weak and my hair would end up not feeling clean. However, I decided to give it another try. I washed my hair a little while ago with an extremely weak dilution twice. I'll report back after it dries.

Chromis, I know lather has nothing to do with being "clean." However, lather does help with distribution and allows me to make sure my entire scalp has been sufficiently cleaned. Water only definitely doesn't work for me. However, I also have relatively hard water. Water only makes my hair more greasy than before I washed. The only time water only has ever worked for me was when I washed in a crystal clear, spring water lake.

Thanks for all of the replies. :)

[Flying Penguin]

I use sulfate-free shampoo that doesn't lather. What I do it is squeeze it into the palm of one hand, then with my other hand, apply to the areas of my scalp I know are greasy - i.e. above the face, to the sides of the face, top of my head near the part, and the back cowlick area. I massage my scalp with my fingers and then rinse it out. The lack of lather doesn't bother me because I've done it this way a ton of times and it cleans everything. The lack of lather does maker it harder to spread the shampoo around, so I tend to use a fair bit (covering like 75% of my palm). Trying diluted shampoo is on my to-do list. :)