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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hairwashing

76 replies

Crabface · 12/08/2021 14:56

Just seeking confirmation that I'm not weird...

I have long hair which I wash upside down by bending over the bath and using the showerhead. Seems practical to me, for combing the conditioner through etc.

My mother (who has short hair) reckons I am extremely eccentric to do it this way, and wonders why I can't wash it standing up in the shower 'like everyone else does'

(my mother is fond of pointing out ways in which I am 'not like all the normal people')

I generally wear my eccentricity with pride, but just out of interest, and for a little validation, how weird am I for washing my hair like this?

OP posts:
PickAChew · 12/08/2021 16:58

@PlanDeRaccordement

I voted YANBU because its not eccentric

But it is wasteful of water to do it that way. And we all need to be environmentally conscious and take steps to not use more natural resources than we need. So I would encourage you to start washing it when you are washing the rest of you in the shower.

It's not wasteful at all. I turn the water off when I'm not actively using it-just run some into a jug to use with my conditioner.
myotherusernameistaken · 12/08/2021 17:02

@Anordinarymum

Ethnicity has nothing to do with this.

The OP didn't ever mention it?

Why have you?

PrivateParty · 12/08/2021 20:21

That would kill my back.. Leaning over the bath.. And when I have had to do that in the past, like someone else said, I feel like I don't get the hairline right..

nancybotwinbloom · 12/08/2021 20:41

I only have a shower so I wash it the opposite but if we had a bath I would prob do it 50% your way and I did when I have a bath

FloFlower · 12/08/2021 20:47

I think this is one of my favourite threads for ages. It is delightfully batshit.

DrFoxtrot · 12/08/2021 21:06

This thread is like a parallel universe Grin

Disrespected · 12/08/2021 21:17

I often do mine like this but find it goes knotty but I have very thick hair. Even with loads of conditioner it's knotty. But I prob do it this way twice a week. Rest I do the right way up haha

Ghosttile · 12/08/2021 21:19

I stand like that in the shower cubicle to rinse my hair. The skin on my forehead and my back reacts to my shampoo and conditioner if I rinse it out standing up.

MiniTheMinx · 12/08/2021 21:25

@thenightsky

When I had long hair I always washed it upside down over the side of the bath. Then when I cut it short, I found it easier in the shower. Now its long again, I've gone back to upside down over the bath.

Washing very long hair is difficult in the shower as it covers your entire upper body, clings to armpits and boobs etc, meaning you can't soap up properly without it catching in your fingers and tugging.

Yep this. I also don't want conditioner all over my back.
NotMyCat · 12/08/2021 21:29

I washed mine in the sink tonight Grin it's a hangover from when I had spinal surgery and couldn't bend, I had to sort of keep my entire body straight and launch myself at the kitchen sink to be able to wash my hair so I was like diagonal

HereWeGoAgainRoundAndRound · 12/08/2021 21:33

I do exactly the same! Bath with shower head but no actual shower or door/glass to not soak the bathroom ,perfectly reasonable to do your hair like that. Trying to lay in a bath and wash your hair as people suggest or whatever is awkward as the bubbles from bath just go back in hair, ovs if in a actuall enclosed shower then wash will in but otherwise carry on 👍🏼 tbh people going on about waste of water washing it over bath, standing in a shower water running there is not much difference in amount of water, washing hair probably takes the same amount of time wether in shower or over the bath.

MaMelon · 12/08/2021 21:34

I often do this if I’m washing my hair at night - if I’m going into the office I’m up at 6 so don’t have the time/inclination to wash it in the shower in the morning and then dry it. YANBU and your mum is bonkers.

Jerseygirl12 · 12/08/2021 21:35

Why don’t you wash your hair when you’re in the bath?

AnyFucker · 12/08/2021 21:35

Why does leaning over the bath to wash your hair make it more knotty ? Confused

BuckarooWithBruceGrobelaar · 12/08/2021 21:41

I do the same. I can rinse much better this way and distribute my products more evenly

sleepylittlebunnies · 12/08/2021 22:10

I never had a shower the entire time I lived with my parents, so I either used a jug over the bath, a shower head that attached to the bath taps, or if someone was in the bath I’d tip my head over the kitchen sink and use the mixer tap. Hardly eccentric if you don’t have a shower.

ElleGee1 · 12/08/2021 22:10

I don’t think it’s weird. Watched my mum wash her hair in the sink every day throughout my childhood. Although I could never understand why she wouldn’t just go in the shower.. I wash mine in the shower as the sink or bath would create hell fit my back and neck Grin x

Firsttimecatlady · 12/08/2021 22:13

@MiddleParking

Has someone totally misread the word ‘eccentricity’?! Grin
Thank you!!! You’re right, but I couldn’t work out what that pp was on about, and where the hell they’d got ethnicity from! GrinGrinGrin I can sleep tonight now… Wink
2Rebecca · 12/08/2021 22:17

I often wash mine like this if I just want to wash my hair not the rest of me. It's quicker if I'm going to work. It doesn't use more water, probably less as I turn the shower hose off when I'm waiting for the conditioner to work where as in a shower I'd keep it on to stop me getting cold.

messybun101 · 12/08/2021 22:40

@ArabeIIaFigg

Washing your hair upside down does reduce the amount you find stuck in your bum crack.

Or so I’ve heard.

Just reading through the comments before saying this. My hair is very long and thick. I lose a lot when washing. I go upside down over the bath because of the hair/arsecrack problem I get in the shower
Anordinarymum · 13/08/2021 11:27

@Crabface

Okay some of you are very strange with the detective stuff.

For clarity, I only have a bath. I am at my mums (for a few days to visit) and she only has a shower.

Someone made a remark about ethnicity which I'm wholly perplexed by, at no point have I mentioned anyone's ethnicity?

Whoops ! My bad :)
Anordinarymum · 13/08/2021 11:27

But if you say you are eccentric, you probably are not. Eccentricity is a badge others pin on you OP

justmetoday · 13/08/2021 11:33

@PlanDeRaccordement

Ok, so my original comment stands, while you are at your mums (able to use a shower) you should use the shower to wash your hair with rest if you if you care at all about conserving water and the environment.

Obviously, if when you have no access to a shower, then you can’t.

I dont think it would save much water tbh. When i wash my hair in the shower, the shower automatically takes much longer. Its probably the same as having a quick rinse and then bending over washing the hair seperately.

Always this environment police.
I wash my hair twice a week, so i probably use way less water for it than someone who washes every day. Doesnt mean i have to go around telling people to stop doing it their way?

BeingATwatItsABingThing · 13/08/2021 11:37

Weird thread! I wash my hair stood up in the shower but you don’t have a shower so you can’t. Your mum is weird for making a fuss about it.

I hate washing my hair in the bath and it never feels clean after. It also takes an age to get my hair back into position after with my parting in the right place. Showering is just a much nicer feeling as well.

Anordinarymum · 13/08/2021 12:32

And don't forget The Curly Girl method either. That's an upside down exercise if ever there was one

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