Would this be a better way to shampoo?

[SopphireGem]

I wash my hair every other day, but I would like to be able to wash it just once a week. I think it needs washing so often because shampoo strips the hair of its natural oils, encouring the scalp to overproduce sebum. I've tried stretching my washes, but it only results in my hair being really greasy after a couple of days. I've also had no sucess with CO washing or WO. So instead I thought of a gentler way to shampoo;
Instead of massaging the shampoo into my scalp, would it be a good idea to lather the shampoo in my hands and then simply stroke it onto my hair without massaging it in, or possibly to just dilute it in a bottle and pour it over my hair? Would that help the scalp not to overreact to the shampoo, or would it just leave my hair really greasy?

[Mommyof4]

I've always washed my kids' hair by squirting a quarter-sized drop of shampoo into a cup, letting the water blast into the cup to create some bubbles and then pouring it over their hair, with their head leaning back.. then we condition and rinse with cooler water. They have never had dry scalp or greasy scalp issues. I started doing this about 8 months ago, (when I used Shampoo) and noticed a huge difference in itchy scalp and dry patches. It seems to get the shampoo all over, without any friction, but it still cleanses well enough from my experience :) Hope this helps!

[spidermom]

I almost always dilute my shampoo in warm water in a squirt bottle. It's much easier to get it spread over my entire scalp that way (I squirt in continuous lines from forehead to nape across my scalp, or the reverse direction if I'm bent forward). It works really-really well.

By the way, they've done scientific studies to determine if this oil over-production myth is true, and it seems to be false. The scalp produces about the same amount of sebum per day whether you wash it away or not.

[Madora]

I wash my hair every other day, but I would like to be able to wash it just once a week. I think it needs washing so often because shampoo strips the hair of its natural oils, encouring the scalp to overproduce sebum. I've tried stretching my washes, but it only results in my hair being really greasy after a couple of days. I've also had no sucess with CO washing or WO. So instead I thought of a gentler way to shampoo;
Instead of massaging the shampoo into my scalp, would it be a good idea to lather the shampoo in my hands and then simply stroke it onto my hair without massaging it in, or possibly to just dilute it in a bottle and pour it over my hair? Would that help the scalp not to overreact to the shampoo, or would it just leave my hair really greasy?

If you wash your hair every day, the natural oils will be stripped away, leaving your hair like hay.

The kind of shampoo you use can play a huge part in the overall health of your hair...some shampoos are much more harsh than others.

When I shampoo, I dilute a tablespoon of my GM pink creme shampoo with 8 oz of warm water, then pour it over my head and massage it well through all the hair. This removes the surface dirt on the hair. Then I rinse. I repeat with the shampoo again, to cleanse my scalp. Then rinse well, then condition.

I've also tried just applying a bit of shampoo in my palms then applying it to my hair but found it just didn't work for me.

Diluting the shampoo worked much better. My hair and scalp are clean and feel clean, and the conditioner aids greatly in the detangling process.

[white.chocolate]

Curiously enough, I've done everything you'd asked. I tested it with my already-mild shampoo I'm using. I also have greasy hair, which gets annoying, and that's the reason why I tried these alternatives in the first place. The results:

diluted shampoo + massaging: quite greasy hair after wash
diluted shampoo + no massage: ugh! greasy and itchy scalp
shampoo + no massage: not so greasy after a wash but itchy scalp
WO: does not work!

Neither of them worked for me. My solution for now is to use a milder shampoo and get used to not washing everyday, which I used to do not long ago. I don't want to not wash my hair just because it's drying, or the other reason you stated (I'm not sure if it's correct).

[spidermom]

Interesting, as I massage in one direction after applying my diluted shampoo, and it cleans very well about 99% of the time. Unless I've got something really stinky in my hair, like python musk, I always only do one condition/wash/rinse/condition/rinse.

[HintOfMint]

I honestly don't think, for the vast majority of people, stretching washes leads to less oily hair.

I think some people have a sort of sensitivity in which detergents irritate the scalp and the scalp responds with oil to protect itself.

other than that, sebum production for most people is a pretty constant thing. I think many people psychologically adjust to not having freshly washed hair every day, and that's what makes them think stretching washes works. Washing every other day or every 3 days is perfectly fine and normal. Since you've tried WO and it didn't work, I don't think your scalp is going to be able to be trained to less washing.

By all means, try the gentler method but don't beat yourself up or get frustrated if you just need to wash your hair more frequently than you like.

[spike316]

YMMV but stretching washes became MUCH easier for me to do after I was able to put my hair up and braid it at night. I handle it far less during the day now, and when I'm sleeping it doesn't get the oils from my face in it, there's also more space for the oil to go on the hair shaft. So if you can't do it now you might have an easier time of it in the future. ^_^