How often should I wash my hair?

[EmilyMK03]

I'm trying to grow out my hair, but it's still pretty short.  I'd love to not have to wear a wig anymore.

I heard that washing one's hair often will keep it from growing faster.  Is that true?  If so, how often should I be washing my hair?  I run for 30 min, 6 days a week, and sweat a ton during my workout.  I take a shower afterward and wash my hair.  Should I just not wash my hair after sweating so much?  That seems icky.

[jfong]

There's no other way, if it is icky you just have to wash it. Just make sure you use conditioner because the natural oils will be stripped when you wash and make it drier. I myself wash my hair about 2-3x a week at most. Having a long hair with daily washing is not practical especially once it is long enough and drying it takes a while.

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[Dee Marshall]

I tend to rinse my hair, feel it to see if it feels clean, then wash if necessary. I have a physically demanding job and sweat quite a bit. Rinsing gets the salt and sweat out but doesn't really clean it, but if I was it, even with conditioner, it becomes unmanageable for at least a day. Darned curly hair!

[Deborah]

I last used soap or shampoo on my hair at the beginning of Feb. 


Sapere Aude

[Dena]

My hair is ear length and still have greasy skin. I alternate rinse or shampoo as I found shampoo everyday drys my scalp out. If you feel the need to wash everyday, you should look at conditioner to keep you hair from drying out to much. I don't have a perm anymore and I need to wet my hair to remove the slept on look.

[Nicole]

I wash mine every second day.

Once a week, I do a full wash, repeat the washing, then use hair serum.

[IdontEven]

I last used soap or shampoo on my hair at the beginning of Feb. 


Sapere Aude

This is where I'm at now, too. It takes a long time to get to the point your hair and scalp can handle that, though. I recently found some forums that have a lot of really great information regarding hair-care that you just can't find anywhere else. There's so much misinformation floating around out there about hair. I'd link but I think the ToS says I can't...so I guess my advice to anybody who wants to do some learning is to research the hair cuticle.

Go far enough down that rabbit hole and you'll understand everything you ever wanted to know about how hair works, and more.

[Deborah]

I do clean it once a week or so with baking soda and vinegar.  I also might use conditioner a couple of times a week.  The rest of the time I either just rinse with water or put my hair up so it stays dry.  It never gets oily at all anymore and in fact tends to dryness so I have to add oil several times a week, usually argan oil and occasionally coconut oil.

Before HRT and before I stopped using soap my hair would get pretty oily without a daily shampoo.


Sapere Aude

[Barb99]

Conditioner every morning and wash every 3rd. day.
I work in a manufacturing environment so it picks up smells I don't want.
It's growing out rather nicely, about 3" past shoulder length and very soft.
Another 6" is my goal.

[Tessa James]

I love long hair and somehow have a lot of friends who are hairdressers:)  They suggest that most of us wash our hair too often with shampoos that dry our scalp and reduce the needed natural oils.  They recommended gentle rinses vs daily washing to me.

The play and album HAIR remains one of my all time favs

[kittenpower]

I wash my hair with sulfate free shampoo every 3 days, and rinse with a conditioning treatment between washes. I also use leave in conditioning and heat protection products.

[ChasingAlice]

i wash mine three times a week.

[Katiepie]

My hair already grows pretty quickly. On that note, it really depends on the physical activity I do during the day of which governs if I really need to wash my hair.
At one point in time I only used conditioner for a good 4 months, and nothing really changed.
As of current, I tend to generally shampoo 2 to 5 times a week, based on the as a whole of activity I do.

Kate <3
Always remember to smile your face

[Rebecca]

I'm an every 2 days gal but push to 3 on occassion.  Colour protect shampoo & conditioner. Shower cap on no wash days. Probably unrelated but roots dyed every 4-5 weeks.

[Jenna Marie]

That's a myth. It's probably because hair that has already fallen out can get tangled in the remaining hair, so then when you wash it, there's all this loose hair in the drain... but washing isn't *making* it fall out or grow more slowly. How fast hair grows and how long it can get before it naturally falls out is mostly hereditary, although I think there are some vitamins and whatnot that can help a bit. HRT supposedly makes hair thicker and glossier too, but that didn't happen to me personally; probably just as well, since it was already thick enough to sometimes break my brushes.

I wash mine 6x a week (and condition 3-4x) and it's nearly to my waist when the curls are stretched out.