Does anyone else do this type of washing?

[Nedertane]

Okay, I'll say it now: Technically, I DO wash my hair every day.

Alright, now that the screams of horror have abated, let me explain why I say "technically". Rarely do I do the "orthodox" style of shampooing/washing, where you really run the lather through the hair and scalp. What I do each day, is lather up a teeny bit in my hands, then slowly and gently just glide it over the top and upper sides of my hair.

I do this because I hate not washing my hair. It's not so much an "eeewww, that's dirty!" thing, I just hate how it looks and feels throughout the day, and I never feel like I'm able to brush to oils very well through the hair.

So, seeing as it seems to be different from what the majority of hair carers are doing, I wanted to know if maybe anyone else has a similar routine, and if it works for them... Or if I should just suck it up and deal with unwashed hair, for the sake of a better follicle future.

[berr]

I actually lather and use my nails to scrub my scalp. I 'can' go a couple of days without washing but my ends seem dryer even tho my scalp is oilier. But, YES, NOT washing my hair grosses me out. (a lot)

Back when I was a kid, women would go to the salon and get their hair done up in styles they could not easlily maintain. Shortish, curly, backcombed (like those big elizabeth taylor bouffant doo's) really unaturally looking hair seemed to be the older woman style. Some of the women went every week and got their hair washed and restyled. Some I'm not sure did that. I happened to get a whiff of a stinky head a couple of times. I'd be scared to death that my head would reek if i didn't at least wash every other day.

ETA: I use oils in my length. I've got some fairy tail ends down almost to my knees (when wet in the shower it is to the top of my knees). I not sure cleansing the scalp damages much. I get more damage from friction so I tend to keep my hair up. I rarely let it go loose and when I do I'm usually in bed with a satin pillow case.

[spidermom]

If you like your hair and your routine right now, no good reason to change anything. I've noticed that as my hair gets longer, I have to re-evaluate and change things. For example, now that my ends are at tailbone and at least 6 years old, they don't hold up as well, so I'm trying to keep them dry as much as possible. Constant wetting and drying disrupts the cuticle over time.

[Nedertane]

Hair styles like that make me sad. :P Lol, you may not have just been smelling unwashed hair, though. Good chance it was probably a fair a mount of chemicals, too.

[Nedertane]

If you like your hair and your routine right now, no good reason to change anything. I've noticed that as my hair gets longer, I have to re-evaluate and change things. For example, now that my ends are at tailbone and at least 6 years old, they don't hold up as well, so I'm trying to keep them dry as much as possible. Constant wetting and drying disrupts the cuticle over time.

Hmm, I've never thought about just keeping a certain part of the hair dry. Interesting.

[Mommyof4]

My grandmother was told when she was a little girl (in the 1950's) by her grandmother that when she was growing up, the women in her village had roaches in their hair because they would leave an updo in for so long *ugh shudder*

[Nedertane]

O.O Shudder indeed.

[berr]

My grandmother was told when she was a little girl (in the 1950's) by her grandmother that when she was growing up, the women in her village had roaches in their hair because they would leave an updo in for so long *ugh shudder*

LOL.. I heard the one about a spiders nest in a beehive hair doo.

At spidermom... I didn't know water only would disrupt the cuticle. I never really shampoo my ends. Shampoo does run down the length though.

I've done some other rather unorthodox things to eliminate split ends tho that brought the nanny trolls out of the woodwork on the old forum, so I'll leave that part unsaid. ;)

Possibly genetics plays a larger part in my hair than than the care it receives.

[Nedertane]

Possibly genetics plays a larger part in my hair than than the care it receives.

I've wondered that, too. I think I pretty much inherited my dad's hair, and though he claims to have always brushed his hair when wet (a classic no-no). But I've noticed that he took the longest to even start balding out of all of his brothers, and he's the oldest.

[Jessibear2854]

Okay, I'll say it now: Technically, I DO wash my hair every day.

Alright, now that the screams of horror have abated, let me explain why I say "technically". Rarely do I do the "orthodox" style of shampooing/washing, where you really run the lather through the hair and scalp. What I do each day, is lather up a teeny bit in my hands, then slowly and gently just glide it over the top and upper sides of my hair.

I do this because I hate not washing my hair. It's not so much an "eeewww, that's dirty!" thing, I just hate how it looks and feels throughout the day, and I never feel like I'm able to brush to oils very well through the hair.

So, seeing as it seems to be different from what the majority of hair carers are doing, I wanted to know if maybe anyone else has a similar routine, and if it works for them... Or if I should just suck it up and deal with unwashed hair, for the sake of a better follicle future.

This is kinda similar to what I do. I wash my bangs and the sides (close to my ears) every day because those are the greasy parts. The rest of my hair can hang out for a few days and be ok.

[Mommyof4]

LOL.. I heard the one about a spiders nest in a beehive hair doo.

At spidermom... I didn't know water only would disrupt the cuticle. I never really shampoo my ends. Shampoo does run down the length though.

I've done some other rather unorthodox things to eliminate split ends tho that brought the nanny trolls out of the woodwork on the old forum, so I'll leave that part unsaid. ;)

Possibly genetics plays a larger part in my hair than than the care it receives.


lol.. I'm curious to know what "unorthodox" split end tricks you are referring to.. did they work?

[vanillabones]

I pretty much wash my hair daily. My hair gets oily really fast so I have to to be presentable, sometimes I'll do dry shampoo instead but I hate how it feels on my head and is really much harder to wash out than do what I'm doing. I use non SLS shampoo though :) I love SLS shampoo but... if I'm washing daily better at least be gentle?

I am contemplating buying a regular suave naturals sls shampoo once I run out of all mine though :( uh oh. At least I'll dilute it! But I'm thinking using sls will help me stretch washes to every other day (I'm lazy, washing every day is a little annoying, I prefer every other)

You're not alone! I think it is a fine-thinney thing. :) Less hair so the scalp and hair get oily really fast. I CWC and don't shampoo the length!.. that is... the little length I do have.

[jeanniet]

lol.. I'm curious to know what "unorthodox" split end tricks you are referring to.. did they work?
Berr, you know we are all wanting to know this!

[skyblue]

I've done that, just to freshen up the crown area or give it a little lift, I don't do this often but sometimes it just needs it, I normally try to stick with the once a week wash mostly, but if I play to much with my scalp the oils will kick in sooner then normal

[my2cats1]

Someone posted a link to a YouTube video showing how to do pretty much what you are suggesting - how to keep your scalp clean while saving the ends from water and shampoo until your next "full" wash.

In the video, the girl put her hair into a ponytail and moved the band down so there were several inches between her scalp and the band. She then put a little diluted shampoo in her hands and rubbed that directly onto her scalp. She rinsed the root area (and not the hair length) using a handheld shower nozzle.

I tried it at SL and it did NOT work. Now that I'm a bit beyond BSL I might try it again.

[BeautifulSoup]

I used to have a fringe or 'bangs' which I'd shampoo and wash while keeping the rest of my hair dry. This was easy because it was just a small section of hair. I'm not really sure how you'd wash your roots while keeping the rest dry though..

[Nedertane]

I pretty much wash my hair daily. My hair gets oily really fast so I have to to be presentable, sometimes I'll do dry shampoo instead but I hate how it feels on my head and is really much harder to wash out than do what I'm doing. I use non SLS shampoo though :) I love SLS shampoo but... if I'm washing daily better at least be gentle?

I am contemplating buying a regular suave naturals sls shampoo once I run out of all mine though :( uh oh. At least I'll dilute it! But I'm thinking using sls will help me stretch washes to every other day (I'm lazy, washing every day is a little annoying, I prefer every other)

You're not alone! I think it is a fine-thinney thing. :) Less hair so the scalp and hair get oily really fast. I CWC and don't shampoo the length!.. that is... the little length I do have.

Yeah, I've wondered if it's due to the texture. My sister has much thicker hair, and she's able to get away with it easier. What non-SLS shampoos might you recommend? I use Organix products at the moment, but I think the shampoos do still have sulfates. Not totally sure, though.

[dulce]

Nedertane,I do that daily too!

[berr]

lol.. I'm curious to know what "unorthodox" split end tricks you are referring to.. did they work?

Yes, it does. :D

[holothuroidea]

I have a similar method. I wash my scalp every day because I got scalp acne the last time I tried to stretch washes. My hair looked great on WO, though, but I still got my hair wet everyday otherwise it would get dry.

I currently condition the length of my hair, then wash just my scalp with as little shampoo as possible and condition again. My hair is super shiny but has no volume with this method, but it protects it from shampoo.

I'm curious about what spidermom said about repeated wetting and drying. I have very babyfine hair so I don't want what little cuticle I have to wear out but my hair really starts to feel parched if I don't get it wet. At least in the winter time anyway.

Also my hair dries really fast, it takes 10-15 minutes for my hair to be completely dry after a shower. It's short so that makes a difference but I've heard people who say their hair takes up to an hour to dry and I don't think I'd get my hair wet that often if it was like that.

Re: Stinky heads- the biggest contribution to the smell is probably all of the chemical processing. Not that you are smelling the chemicals, what you are smelling is indeed a stinky scalp. It is because the scalp has been stripped of all of its defenses against bacteria and yeast, so they get out of control and cause stink. If your scalp is healthy and undamaged you will not develop a smell. If you do, it's because you had an unhealthy scalp to begin with.