Diluted shampoo questions

[linnepinne]

Hi all of you lovely LHCers!

I have some ponderings and questions for all of you who wash your hair with diluted shampoo. Here is some background:

My main problem is that I have a sensitive scalp that produces alot of oil (no ichies or dandruff though), and normal shampoo or CV bars or any type of "soapy" product really does not work for me, as my head is a greaseball at the end of the day due to the harshness of these products. This has made me avoid SLS, or anything lathering like that, like the plague (at least for my hair).

I currently use Rhassoul clay to wash my hair, which has made me able to strech washes to every third day. It cleans my hair nicely, but I don't get much volume or shine. Sometimes I CO and that works fine too, it makes my hair shiny, tangle free and moisturized. But it makes my hair a little more heavy and I have to wash it every other day if I CO, no matter what kind of condish I use (all of them cone free and CO-approved of course).

I have also tried the Oil Shampoo Method, which I LOVED at first, because it made my hair so shiny and voluminous. Much better that with regular S&C, and much more volume and shine than with the clay. I also felt like my hair had a bit of a growth spurt, with alot of new baby hairs. But after just two or three washes, I was back to the greaseball-at-the-end-of-the-day-horrors and having to wash every other or every day again.

But now I'm a bit curious about CWC with diluted shampoo, and just washing my scalp and protecting the lenght. So here are my questions:

Have any of you had problem with greasies? And has this method worked for you when trying to strech washes?

What type of shampoo do you use, normal SLS or other?

How much do you dilute your shampoo (what ratios of water and poo)?

How much is it possible to dilute without the shampoo losing its washing abilities?

Have any of you successfully been able to use very diluted Oil Shampoo?

I would also be greatful if you could describe your washing routines for me. If you use any rinses, vinegar, herbs or other. And how you acctually go about to CWC your hair.

Sorry for all of these questions, I'm sure I could get all of the answers myself just from experimenting. But I'm in an ok spot right now with my hair, washing about 2 times a week. Ans if I can get some more info about this, I might not end up spoiling my streching. My dream is to be able to just wash once a week!

Also; my hair is fine, straight, virgin, undamaged and not very thick.

Thanks in andvance to all of you who are willing to take the time to hel me! :blossom:

[shikara]

I used to put a good dollop into a tall plastic cup, fill it about half full, stir, and fill to top, then slowly pour it all around my scalp. Then I did a second wash full on but with a smaller amount. What I feel works better now tho, is to do an oil massage to my scalp (probably only ends up to be eight to ten drops total), then wash full on twice but with a gentle surfactant. I use Mill Creek products - they have a few lines, and I use the Keratin. Hope this helps!

[Amber_Maiden]

Have any of you had problem with greasies? And has this method worked for you when trying to strech washes? : I don't have oily hair. I do stretch washes up to 14days.

What type of shampoo do you use, normal SLS or other? Allergic to SLS, so has to be SLS free. Also vegan, free of most chemicals, organic, animal friendly, etc.

How much do you dilute your shampoo (what ratios of water and poo)? Half a spoon of poo and a half cup of water.

How much is it possible to dilute without the shampoo losing its washing abilities? It would have to be a lot of water for it to not work at all...

Have any of you successfully been able to use very diluted Oil Shampoo? Yes.

I also do a vinegar rinse.

[torrilin]

Right now, the shampoo I use is Desert Essences fragrance free one. It does have SLS, but my skin is pretty ok with SLS. Mostly I CWC with it, since then I only neeeeeed to have two products... I'm something of a product junkie, but I also have minimalist phases.

I don't dilute very heavily. I use a dime size (or less) drop on my palm, and then I lather it up on my hands. Then I smooth the lather into my scalp, and massage in sections like I would for a conditioner only wash. If I applied the same amount of shampoo straight to my scalp, it'd lather up maybe 1/3 of my head. Done this way, I can get my whole scalp most days, and on some days damn near my entire head of almost waist length hair. The bottle the shampoo comes in is not well suited to dispensing small amounts tho.

My skin is fairly dry, so greasies aren't normally a problem for me.

I haven't tried to find the maximum I can dilute my shampoo. This works, and does not cause greasies. I've washed my scalp once this week, and I don't *really* need to do it again yet. Maybe in a couple days.

When I did the oil shampoo method, I did it in about the same way. A small amount of shampoo, mixed with roughly 2x as much coconut oil, and then lathered in my hands. I didn't find that this method worked exceptionally well for me, because we have pretty hard water and my hair and coconut oil do not mix well with hard water. I'd have to follow it up with a diluted vinegar rinse and even then I didn't get anything like the reduction in tangling I really wanted. Nor really improved volume. It ended up being a lot of fiddling for very little effect.

[chou]

Have any of you had problem with greasies? And has this method worked for you when trying to strech washes?
I have very thick, dry hair so I use diluted shampoo to avoid stripped my hair and making it frizzy. I diluted shampoo once a week or so in between CO washed and that keeps my hair from getting visibly greasy. However, I do need to clarify every once in while to get up the residue that eventually builds up from using only sls-free diluted shampoo to remove hair butters, oils and styling products.

What type of shampoo do you use, normal SLS or other?
I use sls-free unless I really need to clarify. Right now I'm experimenting with Queen Helene Curl Queen which is sls-free and has many more moisturizing ingredients than most sls-free shampoos. I have found that most sls-free shampoos still have drying surfactants such as coco-betaine that are too harsh on my hair without the additional moisturizing ingredients that my hair needs to keep from tangling.

How much do you dilute your shampoo (what ratios of water and poo)?
A couple of quarters worth of shampoo in a cup or so of water.

How much is it possible to dilute without the shampoo losing its washing abilities?
I think you can dilute it quite a lot as long as you massage your scalp well to remove oils.

Have any of you successfully been able to use very diluted Oil Shampoo?
I've never tried this.

[unknown]

I read in a paper that you can dilute a shampoo bottle three times it's volume and it will work just as well due to the SLS. This has worked for me...

[Long_hair_bear]

I don't dilute my shampoo since I only wash every week and a half or so. I use toadstool's blue lilac handmade, sls free shampoo. :D

[justgreen]

Have any of you had problem with greasies? And has this method worked for you when trying to strech washes?

What type of shampoo do you use, normal SLS or other?
I use several types. Nature's Gate Original Herbal has a semi-mild sulphate. L'oreal Everpure is sulphate free. I usually mix them when I dilute.
How much do you dilute your shampoo (what ratios of water and poo)? about 1 tablespoon of shampoo with 5 ounces of warm water. In an applicator bottle with a nozzle tip. This allows me to shake the bottle and get tons of lovely rich lather to apply right on my dirty scalp.

How much is it possible to dilute without the shampoo losing its washing abilities? If I am washing more than once a week, I can use half the above amount of shampoo with the same amount of water and still get my hair squeaky clean.

Have any of you successfully been able to use very diluted Oil Shampoo? I've never tried an oil shampoo. I have platinum white highlighted hair and oils tend to cause darkness.