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 disagree. I do have a good sense of smell but the dirty smell is vile.
People are sadly oblivious.

I have lots of long, fine, dead straight hair. When I was younger, it needed washing at least every other day, or it would get limp and greasy.

Now I'm in my 50s, I seem to have a bit less of it, but it's a bit coarser, and I could easily leave it a week, it just doesn't seem to get greasy. I don't tend to leave it, though, as I shower most days, and I may as well wash my hair since it's dead straight and requires no styling. Takes a couple of hours to dry after towel drying, though, but looks fine air dried.

I generally wash mine twice a week but occasionally once. I do feel it start to get a bit greasy around day 6 though

2.5 days.

Mine just gets dryer and dryer. I have to wash it to out conditioner on it. Usually once a week.

Mine would just be a thin limp mess if I did this!

Finally a normal once a day friend. I have fine hair, even on day two it's smelly greasy and look awful

I have a good sense of smell but I can honestly say I've never smelled anyone's hair since my brother, a teenager at the time, decided to grow dreadlocks in the late 80's/ early 90's

My DM’s hair occasionally does smell if she’s refused to let the carers at her nursing home shower her.

@Firestonlee some hair can't be washed that often, it's as simple as that really
Mine copes with 2 x a week but more than that would be damaging
Plus adding on the drying time and washing time etc
Some hair you're looking at a good 2hrs to wash and dry

Every other day. I do go 3 days sometimes if I’m not leaving the house!

I regularly go 4 days max. Your hair doesn't need washing daily, it's bad for your scalp as it strips the natural oils.

My hair never gets greasy, so I wash it when it doesn't smell or feel clean any more - every 3-4 days, or sooner if I cooked something smelly!

Every 6 days, but can stretch to 7

I find the more I wash it, the more it needs to be washed. Plus my scalp feels really cold and sensitive afterwards...it never feels truly dry

Before the ease of showers, women used to go to the hairdresser every week.

I could get a full week out of mine since I started using a mint and rosemary hair oil overnight before I wash. But I go to the gym a couple of times a week so I'll generally wash it twice and space my work outs in line with when I'd be due a wash or just do a very light workout/ long walk in between. I find my hair gets very dry very quickly if I wash it too much and my colour fades SO fast that I end up dying it more which also isn't great for it. I use a hair oil on the ends throughout the week and if I'm going for the week and haven't been to the gym, the last 2 days i'll wear it up. But never more than twice a week unless it's an special social occasion.

It depends on the person and the type of hair they have. Also it depends how often it's washed. My hair is really bloody annoying. The more I wash it the more it wants to be washed. So if I wash it every two days it will start getting greasy by the end of the first day and I can easily fall into the habit of washing it every day. Which I don't think is good for me or my hair. so I try and leave it for a week, but I will use dry shampoo because it makes it look and feel a little bit better. When I am doing a lot of exercise, I just rinse it every day and wash it twice a week but the day before I wash it it feels hideous, but my husband said it looks okay but I think that's the dry shampoo helping to absorb the grease.

I can't say it's ever smelt bad, and neither has my husband! He would definitely tell me if it did, as I would tell him if his body or hair smelt bad.

Not saying you're wrong, but how do you know the smell is coming from their hair and not their body, or coat/clothes or scarf or hat?

I can't say pick up bad smells on public transport but I would just think it's BO before going with that persons hair smells!

Dirty hair has a very recognizable odor.

@CarolinaWren

Maybe not to me then. My youngest is a horrible shower dodger and only washes his hair every 4 or 5 days, (he does shower daily though) his hair looks greasy the day before it's washed, but I regularly sit next to him and his hair doesn't smell. Though his bedroom smells horrible pretty much since the day he turned 13, despite it being hoovered twice a week and the sheets changed weekly.

Yes I can spot it as well, it’s the smell of scalp I think. If you smell the inside of a knitted-style hat that hasn’t been washed for a while you will know what it smells like. I definitely smell it on the bus when they have all of the windows shut. Some people don’t seem to generate this smell though. For example my hat doesn’t smell but my husband’s does.

3 days is my max.... I could push it to 4 days and do that once in a blue moon by using dry shampoo if I have to but I absolutely hate the feel of it on my scalp so I try to avoid it.

I tend to wash my hair every other day and occasionally on the third day. Just a quick body shower in-between. My hair is really thick and takes ages to dry so I always wash it in the evening as it would take too long in the morning.

If I don't wash it everyday I look like a greasy new born chick. With an itchy head.

Is that the Alberto Balsam shampoo in apple flavour?

yes it works brilliantly! you need quite a lot and I use my fingers and a hairbrush to work it right through at the roots and through the lengths as it is harder to get through than shampoo and takes a little more working through to work. I think you can also get the Sainsbury's or Asda generic cheap apple conditioner - they all are pretty much the same thing.

5 days

Wash mine most days, sometimes I skip a day if I'm not going anywhere but it is like an oily mess by then. The smell of dirty hair is 🤢🤢