Diluted shampoo/conditioner questions

[unknown]

Could anyone help me?

I've been CO/WO-washing for over a year since shampoo dries out my hair pretty badly. I have A LOT of hair and having to wash it with plain water is a real pain, conditioner just weighs it down and forces me to wash more often.

Is diluted shampoo as damaging/drying as full strength? Would conditioner still be effective when it's diluted and would you get build up if you used full strength conditioner w/ diluted shampoo?

Also, how do you get the diluted shampoo to lather? I tried it twice by squirting a bit of shampoo in a glass of water and pouring it over my head, all I got was some tiny bubbles.

My hair is dyed with a semi so I'm hoping that diluted shampoo doesn't strip the color as much as undiluted does...

Thanks in advance! :)

[SopphireGem]

I dilute my shampoo in a plastic bottle; if you shake it vigorously, it lathers up loads! I find it a lot less drying than full strength shampoo :)

[TheMechaGinger]

I do the same thing as SopphireGem, I co-wash most days and then about once a week I wash with diluted shampoo. I just put a little squirt of it in an old shampoo bottle, fill maybe a quarter of it with water and shake it all up and dump it over my head and massage it in. It isn't nearly as drying for me but prevents buildup pretty well

[christiner]

i went WO for almost 3 weeks and then used very diluted shampoo, hoping that it'd just remove a little bit of the grease on top. i put a squirt in about 2 cups of water and only poured it on my roots. i felt like it totally stripped alllll the oil away - the lack of lather was irrelevant. very sad. it really dried out my scalp. i am not sure what else to do, so i'm hoping for suggestions from others as well.

have you tried a dry shampoo? i can skip a wash if i use baby powder or similar on my hair, but that doesn't work long-term.

[skaempfer]

What kind of shampoo is it? Perhaps that's the problem?

[unknown]

Thanks for the replies :)

I tried it today in a bottle but the lather looked more like soap bubbles. Is this how it is supposed to be? I didn't do a very good job at cleaning either...?

Christiner - I do use dry powders, but it doesn't work long term for me either. I'm really hoping that this is going to work..

[justgreen]

I use an applicator bottle with a nozzle. About 1/2 ounce of shampoo about 4-5 ounces of warm water. Wet your hair down really well, then shake the bottle with your finger over the nozzle tip. Use the nozzle to get the lather right down on your scalp in various places using one hand, and use the other hand to lather it up as you go. I can go a whole week without washing and have really dirty hair and this dilution solution gets my hair very clean without stripping it.

I don't dilute my conditioner.

[earthnut]

I didn't dilute my shampoo when I was doing mostly CO, I would put a tiny amount of mild shampoo on my hand and rub my hands together, then work the shampoo on my scalp. By rubbing my hands together, I was able to distribute the shampoo better. Sometimes I would use only a drop or so of shampoo, rubbed on all my fingers. I found that diluting the shampoo made it so watery most of it ended up on my length, where I didn't want it, not on my scalp.

Have you looked into non-sulfate shampoos? There are may surfactants and some are much milder than others. Sodium laurel sulfate is the harshest and should be avoided if you don't want to strip your scalp. The mildest shampoos have no ingredients that contain -sulf- anywhere. Look at the ingredients, many "sulfate-free" shampoos will still contain an ingredient with -sulf-.

[LadyLongLocks]

I dilute my shampoo with filtered water in an empty bottle and shake it. I am trying to use less shampoo now.Even my Organix shampoo makes suds! I shampoo it 2 times. It cleans my hair very well. I do avoid the length getting excess shampoo on it. I will never go back to straight, undiluted shampoo. Its easier to rinse out too.
I always follow with conditioner that is NOT diluted.

[unknown]

Thanks! I'll give it another try then and with undiluted conditioner. Also I'm going to try it in a spray bottle/aplicator. Would undiluted shampoo be enough to remove cones?

Earthnut - I've wanted to try sulfate free shampoo, but it is almost impossible to find where I live...

[earthnut]

Earthnut - I've wanted to try sulfate free shampoo, but it is almost impossible to find where I live...
This list may be helpful: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=2100233&postcount=51

[spidermom]

I dilute my shampoo in a plastic bottle; if you shake it vigorously, it lathers up loads! I find it a lot less drying than full strength shampoo :)

Me too! CWC with diluted shampoo gives consistent good results.