How often do you wash long hair?

[ceecee]

I have to wash mine every day and the dry shampoos do not work for me (I even tried the very expensive ones). DD washes and straigthens her every day. Now and then she will leave it unstaigtened and scrunch it, but she would NEVER leave the house without washing it.

 

[averysmom]

My hair is naturally curly, so if I want to wear it down, I have to wash everyday. I so try to only wash every other day, so I usually have to wear a ponytail day 2.

If you cut down on the washing, your scalp will adjust - give it a week or two. When it is used to being washed everyday, it is in overdrive oil production. When you wash less, your scalp will start to produce less oil (according to my stylist - and when I switched to every other day, I noticed that it did happen.)

 

[pintamino]

Greasy hair is a product of washing your hair too much - you can train your hair to be less greasy by washing it less. And yes, I was a person with "VERY greasy hair" - in college I would wash it twice a day. When you wash it all the time your scalp makes more oil to compensate for the fact that you are stripping it daily.

You have to "suffer" through greasy hair for a few week only washing it two or three times a week before it adjusts, but it is worth it. Washing your hair every day is the worst thing you could do for your hair/scalp and essentially nobody should be washing their hair every day. When you're not washing every day you also use less heat/styling which is better for your hair as well. Hair not washed every day will be healthier and if you have thin hair, usually thicker.*

Get a shower cap and definitely shower/bath every day, but don't wet your hair.

This video has some ideas for coping with greasy hair:*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDrM2_LaPEQ

 

[williamson_ja]

My stylist told me to wash with shampoo every other day. On the off days, I get my hair wet in the shower and scrub it like I was shampooing and just don't use the soap. I have shoulder length hair and it works great for me. When you scrub your hair without the shampoo, you can actually feel the oils in your scalp releasing into your hair..... also to clarify, I live in a very dry climate with naturally dry hair that only gets worse with the blow dryer and straightener. This works perfectly for me.

 

[SarahandPaul]

I used to be a daily washer up until about a month ago. My stylist recommended the no shampoo baking soda method. It seemed a little crazy to me and I'm not really into natural stuff,but I promised to try it for 3 weeks. I am loving it! I am "washing" with the baking soda 2 times per week. I can wear my hair down without any greasiness on days 1 and 2, with day 3 being a ponytail. I can already tell that I'll soon be able to go 4 days. Give it a try....it's cheap and easy! I do shower and get my hair wet everyday after exercising and to start my bedhair over!

 

[Jey12]

I'm curious for those that only wash every few days what kind of hair do you have? I have thin, curly hair but a ton of it. I don't mean length wise, but just the amount. I have medium length hair, and for years had hair to the lower part of my back. If I don't wash and condition every day I'd never get a comb through it! I could go to every 3 days on washing my hair but by day 3 I'd have a hair style similar to Ronald McDonald. Just skipping a day usually results in a nice ratted up chunk on the underneath side by the next day. I don't have oil issues either with washing every day. I tried to have it straightened once and that was a nightmare. The curls just won't go away and I have to laugh at the people that tell me they'd die for my hair.

 

[NYCDiane]

My hair isn't oily or greasy but it used to look like dried out straw unless I used a ton of product to give the illusion of "healthy hair". I used to wash everyday.

Now? I only wash 2x a week (3x max if dirty) as I stated earlier. I also use NO product on my hair other than Shampoo/Conditioner blend. I either blow dry or let it air dry and then use the inStyler on it. It comes out nice and straight and looks healthy because (now) it IS healthy.

 

[ekatiel]

LOL,, looks like I'm the grubby one here. ONCE per week. It is almost to my shoulders, not long by any means. But if I wash it more than that, it is frizzy and yucky looking.

I only use cold process soap bars to wash with, no conditioners as that makes it weighed down and oily looking. If you are having oily scalp problems, I really do recommend using a cold process soap bar and leaving off the conditioners.

You're not the only one ! After I wash my hair, it is frizzy for about the first two days. It looks best the next few days, then it starts to get greasy on about day 6. I wash mine every week, also. It just works best for my hair type and the climate (hot and humid) I live in. --Katie

 

[m&m's mom]

I have a very precise hair routine with my mid-back length hair.
I wash my hair twice a week- usually on Mondays and Fridays. I always put conditioner on my ends before I shampoo to protect them. Then I NEVER blowdry my hair. After I get out of shower, I put Moroccan Hair Oil on the bottom half of my hair and then put large velcro rollers in my hair. About 3:00 in the afternoon I take out the curlers (I work from home so no one sees me).
Right before bed I put my hair in a tight "Sockbun". If anyone does not know what a sockbun is, I strongly recommend "You Tubing" it. It saved me sooooo much time! I obviously have dry hair.

 

[meriface11]

I have long (past my bra strap), fine but thick (a ton of it-my piny tail is about the diameter of a quarter) curly hair. i have very oily skin in general (face and scalp). I used to wash it every day, but stopped a few years ago i went to about 2-3 times a week and my hair has never looked better. it did take a while to get used to. on days when i wash, i use a no sulfate shampoo (Deva Lo-Poo), or a baking soda mixture. on days i don't, i rinse and "wash" (scrub my scalp) using conditioner so that i can resyle everyday. i usually wear it curly, but on the rare occasion i blow it out, i use a dry shampoo to lengthen the time of the blowout. the only water soluble products that have no silicones--doesn't require harsh detergents to clean out of hair.

 

[plummer925]

I have long, thick wavy hair and I wash it only 2 or 3 times a week. It's not good for your hair to wash it too often!

 

[pixiewings71]

My hair is almost to my butt, I wash it every single day, unless we are camping or having an extremely lazy day or I'm very sick. I don't use heated products daily and my hair is so healthy it's insane. My stylist says she wishes everyone's hair could be like mine because it's so healthy.

i do not agree with those who said oily hair is a sign of over washing. I've always had oily hair, even as a child when I only washed it every 2-3 days. My skin is also oily, if I do not wash daily I am a gross greasy mess. lol

 

[Pembo]

I have thick, mid-back length hair. I wash it every other day.

 

[kkwis2]

My hairdresser recently told me about hair becoming more oily when it's washed more often. I have very fine hair, but an okay amount of it. I grew it out last spring/summer so all summer I washed every other day. We went camping with friends for 3 days in August and even on day 3 of no washing, my hair wasn't all that bad. The year before (when I was washing every day) my DH was making fun of the oil slick on my head!

When school started again in the fall (I'm a teacher) I just couldn't take the time to curl my hair on my no-wash days, so I started washing every day again. I can't even go without washing on the weekend now! I was complaining about it to my hairdresser and that's when she told me about how much healthier it is for you hair to not wash every day.

I would suggest, like another poster did, that if you want to try not washing every day, go for it! Give your hair several weeks to adjust. You may find that you love it!

 

[disney*mom*82]

I have thick wavy hair, its a little shorter than midback. I wash it every day, unless Im running too far behind, which is maybe 2-3 times a year. I cannot stand not to wash my hair daily, it just looks bad and feels nasty.

My DD4 has long hair, she wants to look like "Tangled" and her hair is just a few inches above her bottom, we wash it every other day, only because she has dry skin and exzema year round and it is hard not only on her body, but her scalp to wash daily.

 

[Tinkmom]

. . .I don't use a lot of products on it, so it doesn't get a build up of them weighing it down. I use a shampoo/conditioner, a separate conditioner that I leave in for a few minutes before rinsing, silk which is a leave in conditioner, a dab of mousse for the roots to have volume at the crown, and a very fine mist of hairspray if needed. And then a shine mist on top of that. . .

I LOL'd at this

 

[budafam]

I have extremely thick hair that is almost down to my hips at the moment. I wash it every 3-4 days. It's not oily at all & I've had numerous hairdressers tell me that my hair is very healthy and strong. I also don't use products on it.

If I wash it at night, it has to be before 5pm or it won't be dry before I go to bed

 

[Discrazymama]

Every single day. Its absolutely disgusting and seriously 10+ shades darker if I don't. I have naturally light blonde, fine hair but tons of it thats down to my chest. And Im naturally very oily.

However I do not use Shampoo. I only use conditioner. Seems backwards but its fantastic. I recently had a friend poo-poo me for this until she was up one night watching an infomercial for Wen... and now my cowashing isn't so crazy My hair is also LESS greasy now. However still bad enough to require a wash daily. On those rare lazy days at home when I don't shower its much more manageable and not so itchy.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I have very, very, very thick hair that is past my shoulders but not quite to my mid-back. Every hair stylist I've seen has said I have the thickest hair they've every worked with! I usually wash once a week. I put it up on top my hair in a pony at night. I don't have a problem with it being itchy or greasy at all. I do put a leave in conditioner and mousse in it after I wash and I dry and curl it. The rest of the week I will touch up the curls and often add a dab of de-frizzing oil to tame the frizz. I don't use very much hairspray at all.

I do use a shower cap so I can shower everyday!

 

[sookie]

every day unless it still looks GREAT on the second day. never more than 2 days.