How long is ‘too long’ to go without washing your hair?

[JuneRoses]

As in, it still looks nice and doesn’t smell, but hasn’t been washed in x amount of days? I can easily go 3-4 days without washing my hair but I do it anyways because I think it must be gross not to, even though it looks and smells perfectly fine. For clarification, I’m just talking about hair, not bathing in general. If anything, my hair gets easier to manage and the style looks nicer if it hasn’t been freshly washed. I have straight hair if that matters at all, and I use dry shampoo which gives my hair nice volume.

TLDR; Gross, wash your hair regularly regardless! Not gross, only wash it when it looks/smells bad.

I have two blow drys a week.

Once a week or so, I have bum length, curly, red (so a little coarser than average) hair. It takes 40 minutes to wash, condition and rinse it and around 2 hours to dry. So all in all nearly 3 hours before any styling.

I don't have the time or inclination to wash it more often than that, and it is tied up for work generally 4 out of the 7 days

I can't help but feel quite odd given the comments so far - my hair is disgusting after 24 hours and sometimes before! If I didn't wash it every day I'd be able to style it with its own oils.

Every other day, sometimes every 2 days.

It totally depends what type of hair you have

If you are lucky enough to have the kind of hair that doesn't get greasy quickly then YANBU to only wash it every week or so unless you have a lifestyle which results in your hair getting properly mucky with mud, dust, smoke etc

Mine looks shit after 24hr hours so I wash it most days. I have tried leaving it longer but have realised that if you have greasy hair it really isn't possible to 'train it' to be less greasy - that is fake news spread by people with good hair genes!

4 days or so max for me. But after 2 days it needs to be in a ponytail

When I lived and worked in Central London at 30 is obviously 100% different to living in a small village by the sea at 50.

It just depends.

After 3 weeks is as dry as would be a day after washing. Got afro hair

I have very thick curly hair, always on the dry side and never greasy. I wash it roughly once a week. I've done 9 days frequently before.

Used to be more when I did lots of exercise but these days I don't, so it doesn't get super sweaty. Doesn't get greasy but after a week of putting oil in every day (and being unable to brush it unless soaking wet), I feel it needs it as a rule. Also worry about it getting smelly but dh assures me it doesn't!

2 days is my max. I feel greasy and itchy on day two.

Same! You could cook chips in mine after two days.

Very long and very thick hair - and a very oily scalp. It's been oily since I was a spotty teenager and I'm in my 40's now and my scalp is just the same!

I need to wash it every day otherwise the scalp starts not just flaking with dandruff-like pieces, but it starts getting sore and crusty (sorry, I know that sounds a bit grim!), and the roots look very noticeably greasy. For a good 12 months, I tried not washing it every day, as folk kept telling me it was bad for my hair/ scalp. Well, I never had these issues when I washed it every day, so now I've gone back to every day and there's no more crust or soreness.

It totally depends on the person I think, doesn't it - I'd love to be able to get away with just twice a week!

Once a week!

Sadly only a couple of days before it looks very oily and lies strangely. When I took roaccutane for my skin it dried my hair out too and I could go for days, it was great!

Yeah I’m the same. I do have very fine hair that would get greasy fast. I tried ‘training’ it when I was younger but it was always oily after a day, never improved. And frankly, while I do understand and sympathise with people whose hair is too thick to dry quickly or too dry to wash frequently, I feel grateful my hair isn’t like that as I really want all of me cleaned at least once a day.

I have to wash every day. It just looks awful otherwise. Glastonbury is going to be interesting.

One of the few positives from menopause. I used to have to wash my hair every day (every other day at a stretch), now I can leave it 5 or 6 days easily

I can easily leave it up to a week and it looks and smells fine. I always wash it after running/swimming though so it hardly ever gets left that long.

Once a week usually, sometimes longer. Not even greasy at that point and no one has ever said it smells. It is tied up all the time though, and very thick

By 3 days it really needs a wash to get a nice texture and 'bounce'. I used to wash my hair every day!

I wash mine every other day. It feels horrible if I leave it longer.

I wash mine every day when I have a shower. It's short, fine and blonde and I look like Ive stolen Boris Johnsons hair if I don't. If I'm doing a shed sort out or big garden jobs I might brush it and get on with the job and then wash it once I've finished . But I wouldn't go out with it like that and it would feel really dirty to me by the end of that day. I work out for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week Always wash it after that

Up to a week because my half errs on the dry side. That's if I straighten it, if I leave it curly I use product and wash it daily. I don't regularly leave it a week though, more like 3 days if straightened , I just like to freshen it up after then.

I do mine every other day, I just prefer it feeling fresh. Could maybe stretch it another day but I don't.

Every other day or it feels gross and I have to use dry shampoo on the non wash days.

I have tried to stretch it out but my hair is too fine.