To ask how often you wash your hair?

[laidbackneko]

Now, I shower every morning and sometimes have a bath in addition (as a luxury) in the evening. But I only wash my hair twice a week. Which I thought was pretty normal and acceptable until it came up in conversation with a friend who had a look of barely concealed horror. She washes hers at least every other day and thinks it's poor personal hygiene to go more than two days without clean hair.

Perfectly fine with being called a scuzzy grunge pot (I really don't think I am!) but curious to know which of us, if either, you think is BU.

Your friend is being ridiculous - everyone's hair is different.

I typically wash my hair every other day, but my scalp produces oil according to the frequency with which I wash it. If I do a wash only 36hrs after the previous wash rather than 48 then I will get very greasy very quickly afterwards. If I stretch out the normal 48hrs to 60 or 72hrs then it will actually seem cleaner for longer in the subsequent days. I think the oil-producing cells in the scalp go into overdrive if disturbed too often. I use batiste on in-between days, and I can only do a nice hair-up style if it's been around least 15-18hrs since I last washed my hair as it's too fine/flyaway when it's only just been washed.

Hair oil isn't dirt as such anyway. If you aren't getting mud or jam in your hair on a daily basis then it's fine to leave it for as long as you like between washes.

Every day. There is no way I could get away with any less than that - often in the evening it is already starting to look limp and greasy.

The "if you don't wash it, it stops being greasy" fairytale is just that - a load of rubbish. I have come into contact with many people who haven't washed their hair for weeks or even months. It is not clean or fresh. It is smelly and looks horrible.

as often as it looks/feels like it needs doing.

I have very fine hair which looks oily quickly, but I dye it frequently which means I like to avoid washing and heat-styling too often.

So, I wash about twice a week and boost it in-between days with dry shampoo, which actually makes my hair look better as it adds a lot of volume and texture. As long as it doesn't look noticeably dirty or smell especially gross, I really don't think there's any hard and fast rules.

I wash mine every two days. Used to be every day but as it got less greasy found that was too drying. If I leave it 3 days find it starts to look a bit limp.

DD, however, has very thick long hair and washes twice a week. Any more and it starts to look like straw. She showers every day and keeps it under a shower cap, I can confirm it never smells or looks dirty!

It all really depends on your hair type. I think a weekly wash would be enough to stop it smelling sweaty, the sweat on your head is not the smelly kind you get in your armpits.

I

I wet my hair in shower on days I don't wash it as it needs to be blow dried every morning- thick curly hair that is stuck up in alarming shapes when I wake up!

I've got finger tip length hair and wash it once a week

It is the same kind of sweat actually. And the only smelly sweat is old sweat. Fresh sweat doesn't smell.

Once or twice a week. I shower every day. My hair is long and heavy and I can't be arsed with doing it more often. It doesn't get greasy very often. I do use dry shampoo sometimes.

Every other day and dry shampoo on the days I don't 'wet wash' it

Twice a week. Every day in my teens, every other day in my 20s and 30s but it is no longer greasy. I live in a small market town, next to open fields, and work in a village with little traffic, so it doesn't get dirty in the same way it did when I lived in London or worked in other big cities.

Every day. Sometimes twice. I have short hair and it sticks up like a brush when I get up so I have to wash it. Also I hate the smell of "outside" on my hair ( smoke, exhaust, etc)

About every 4-6 days depending on dry shampoo supply

Every other day mostly, occasionally every day

However for 3 years I had full head bleach (peroxide white blonde, often dyed baby pink or toned grey) and was advised by the hairdresser to wash bleached hair as little as possible, and to use dry shampoo between washes. My hair didn't get greasy at all, so washed twice a week, and went through cans of Batiste.

Now I'm dyed back dark again no way I could go any less frequently than eod

Everyone's hair is different! I'm half Jamaican and wash mine with water every shower but only shampoo/condition like every 10 days or my hair would turn to straw. My daughters hair however needs a proper wash at least 3 times a week. Only you know what's best for your hair :) x

I have short layered hair and every morning I wake up looking like Worzel Gummidge, I could never get away without a daily wash and blow dry.

Every three weeks.

Normally every night, but I sometimes leave it for 2. My hair goes horrible/feels really dirty if I don't!

In the three years since I started growing my dreadlocks I have reduced down from three times a week to one, maybe two if I've got particularly grubby. I found since I'm putting no hair spray/mousse/product/etc in it to get it to do anything (super fine dead straight hair) it needs washing a lot less.
Yes us dreadies do wash our hair!

No doozie, it isn't.

From puberty onwards the sweat glands under the arms and in the groin area start to secrete pheromones which are proteins. If this sweat is not washed off bacteria break these proteins down into smelly substances giving the characteristic sweaty groin or armpit smell. Sweat glands in other areas do not secrete these pheromones so don't produce the same smell.

This is also why pre teens do not smell sweaty in the same way.

every 3 days

Everyday because I like to

every time I exercise so generally Tuesday night, Thursday night and Sunday morning - with dry shampoo in-between - I have thick shoulder length hair that get's a bit greasy at the roots after 24 hours

Every other day but only because I get an itchy scalp otherwise

Every morning. I have very fine hair which already looks lank the following morning. I only don't wash it in the morning if I'm going for a run. Even dry shampoo doesn't rescue it.

I have curly hair so wet and condition my hair almost daily but shampoo once a week or so.

I think how often you need to wash your hair depends very much on your hair type.