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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to wash my hair every day?

107 replies

Pearldrop · 28/04/2026 15:11

I wash my hair everyday. Sometimes every other day, but lately I’ve been doing it every morning.
I have thick hair but the roots get easily greasy especially now in my mid thirties (I’m 36, almost 37). I get sweaty at night especially when I’m due on my period. I wake up feeling disgusting unless I shower including my hair.
Is this too much?
I swim twice a week, most weeks too. So I’m washing it after that too.

Everywhere online it says it’s unhealthy to wash it everyday.

OP posts:
DreamyJade · 28/04/2026 20:53

BeeDavis · 28/04/2026 20:02

You shouldn’t wash your hair everyday. You’re stripping it of the natural oils. Hair can be easily manipulated so if you wash it every day, it will need washing everyday. If you give it time and slowly reduce how much you wash it, you may be able to get it down to only being washed every 3 days or so. I’m currently pregnant and only wash my hair once a week and even then it’s not desperately greasy.

I’ve tried that. It doesn’t work. I’m just greasy. My hair is greasy. My skin is greasy. After 50 years, countless products, washing, not washing, nothing has stopped my inherent greasiness!

Cat250571 · 28/04/2026 20:29

I wash mine every day otherwise I feel dirty. It's not a problem to wash it every day.

Dazedandconfused28 · 28/04/2026 20:29

I wash my hair every day, very occasionally ai skip a day - but my hair then feels very thin, lank, greasy & dry at the ends - I've never been able to settle into a routing of washing it less frequently

FrLarryDuff · 28/04/2026 20:27

As I can smell greasy roots at 50 paces, if I had them, I’d be washing daily.

IwanttoWFH · 28/04/2026 20:25

I wash my hair every third day (wear it down two days, wear it up the third day then wash it). I have fine hair which looks fluffy on day one, it always looks better on day two.
My hair doesn’t get greasy really, but my scalp gets itchy/flakey if I leave it any longer.
I’m too lazy to wash and dry my hair everyday. Plus, it would seem a waste to wash it when it’s not greasy.

I’ve read that clean hair and a clean scalp is required for hair growth. Not sure how true that is.

PenCreed · 28/04/2026 20:24

I wash mine every day, despite having curly hair which most people say doesn’t need it. I asked my curly hair expert hairdresser about it, and her view was that it’s fine, my hair isn’t damaged, it just depends on how oily your skin and hair are. My skin tends towards oily so my hair does too. Like most things, it’s not one size fits all!

sunflowersintheday · 28/04/2026 20:20

mydogisthebest · 28/04/2026 20:19

I have asked a couple of hairdressers about washing my hair every day and they all said it was ok to do so. One said "you wash your body and face every day so why would you not wash your hair".

Quite. It's perfectly fine.

mydogisthebest · 28/04/2026 20:19

BeeDavis · 28/04/2026 20:02

You shouldn’t wash your hair everyday. You’re stripping it of the natural oils. Hair can be easily manipulated so if you wash it every day, it will need washing everyday. If you give it time and slowly reduce how much you wash it, you may be able to get it down to only being washed every 3 days or so. I’m currently pregnant and only wash my hair once a week and even then it’s not desperately greasy.

I have asked a couple of hairdressers about washing my hair every day and they all said it was ok to do so. One said "you wash your body and face every day so why would you not wash your hair".

Zingybanana · 28/04/2026 20:19

QuintadosMalvados · 28/04/2026 15:50

I'll also add that it looks better if unwashed and it's more manageable it's just the contrast between washed body and unwashed hair makes me feel icky.

It would be great to overcome this.

SAME!

I have washed my hair daily since I was about 12 and cut it really short and it suddenly became really thick and I needed to wash and dry it to style.

Following the trauma of a teenage crop I now have long and boring thick hair that I mainly wear up. But I just can’t get out of the habit of washing it every day. I don’t feel clean and awake and ready for the day if I don’t wash it in the shower, even though I periodically go through phases of trying and my hair probably looks the same or better.

sunflowersintheday · 28/04/2026 20:13

SpookedMackerel · 28/04/2026 20:07

I love the feeling of washing my hair, I wash it and condition it every day, and I don’t bother keeping conditioner away from my scalp or anything. Sometimes I wash it twice a day if I’ve had a busy day, just to relax.

I don’t dry it, I just wrap in a towel and then brush it.

It’s in great condition, tbh, I can go out of the house straight from getting up without even brushing it if I want to, even though it’s quite long.

I so love the feeling of washing it, it really relaxes me. Once a week only sounds like torture.

Me too, the massaging of the scalp is so relaxing, and it feels so fresh. My hair is naturally very shiny and in good condition, so I definitely think it's down to the daily wash and massage!

Wexone · 28/04/2026 20:10

I have very long very very thick hair. before covid I would have washed it every third day buy during covid managed to train it so I now only wash it once a week. washing my hair takes ages about half an hour in shower. usually just tie it up and air dry it but if was styling it that's another 2 hours and bloody aching arms after. I used to use dry shampoo alot but noticed lately that only need dry shampoo when I am getting close to the time my roots need done. highly recommend the k18 dry shampoo it's so worth the money. your actually suppse to put dry shampoo the night before so it works as you sleep. I don't touch my hair too often either and sleep on a silk pillowcase. I will get a blowdry about once a month too. love it when get that done
my sister has very thin hair that also would get grease alot and she also trained it over covid. she now has a job meeting alot of clients so pays for a weekly blow dry on her hair. she very rarely washes her own hair now 😂

SpookedMackerel · 28/04/2026 20:07

I love the feeling of washing my hair, I wash it and condition it every day, and I don’t bother keeping conditioner away from my scalp or anything. Sometimes I wash it twice a day if I’ve had a busy day, just to relax.

I don’t dry it, I just wrap in a towel and then brush it.

It’s in great condition, tbh, I can go out of the house straight from getting up without even brushing it if I want to, even though it’s quite long.

I so love the feeling of washing it, it really relaxes me. Once a week only sounds like torture.

sunflowersintheday · 28/04/2026 20:07

I wash my hair every day. I like the feeling of clean hair and a clean scalp. It used to be greasy, it's not now.
I've never used "clarifying" shampoo or conditioner in my life.
Frequency is a personal choice, hair types vary, so nothing "unreasonable" about it.

ExperiencedTeacher · 28/04/2026 20:07

I wash mine daily. It’s in good condition and not doing it any harm. I won’t be changing my habits!!

BeardofHagrid · 28/04/2026 20:04

I think it’s more healthy for hair to be washed every day. There’s a YouTuber called Kayli Boyle who has the most beautiful, long, luscious hair ever, and she washes it every day.

Mercurysinretrograde · 28/04/2026 20:03

I wash my hair every day. I hate how it traps smells (especially if I am cooking) and my scalp smells unclean and my hair smells stale if I don’t. But I have always had oily hair. Completely understand that someone with dry hair would think this excessive!

BeeDavis · 28/04/2026 20:02

You shouldn’t wash your hair everyday. You’re stripping it of the natural oils. Hair can be easily manipulated so if you wash it every day, it will need washing everyday. If you give it time and slowly reduce how much you wash it, you may be able to get it down to only being washed every 3 days or so. I’m currently pregnant and only wash my hair once a week and even then it’s not desperately greasy.

MumOf4totstoteens · 28/04/2026 20:02

Have you tried dry shampoo?

Livemenot · 28/04/2026 19:50

I’m 35 and I’ve been washing my hair every day for years as they get greasy very quickly and I need to do a ponytail or something to try and make it look okay the next day.

Sladuf1 · 28/04/2026 19:46

No, you’re not being unreasonable. Like others I tried washing my hair every other day and it felt horrible, looked horrible and I was very self-conscious about it.

My worst experience happened when I had stitches in my forehead and was told to not wash my hair while the stitches were in. Never got on with dry shampoo, so after a few days I was carefully combing my hair with water mixed with shampoo, making sure the skin around my forehead was dry. It helped somewhat but I was still convinced my hair looked and felt awful. First thing I did when the stitches were out was go home and wash my hair TWICE.

CheeseWisely · 28/04/2026 19:35

I wash mine twice a week, but it takes 1-2 business days to dry naturally or an hour to dry properly with a hairdryer so that’s plenty!

TheyGrewUp · 28/04/2026 19:31

When I commuted into central.London every day, on the tube, I washed it every day. And every day the rinsing water was grey with dirt. When I stopped that, every 3 days was fine.

FunnyOrca · 28/04/2026 19:27

It’s about hair type.

I have blonde, thin, fine, low porosity hair and exercise most days. It needs washed every day. I once made a point by not washing it for a day and going to the hair dresser. She couldn’t believe that was only one day.

Stuff about washing away oils etc is nonsense. It depends on hair type. Shockingly, not everyone’s is the same. Some people just can’t believe that.

nopeandnopeandnope · 28/04/2026 19:26

I shampoo and condition every day ,sometimes put conditioner on first ! I do it every day because I get up at 5am some days and it wakes me ! I feel very lethargic if I don’t shower.

BuildbyNumbere · 28/04/2026 19:26

I think the more you wash it the greasier it can get due to keep washing away the oils, so more are generated to make up for it.

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