Anyone else hate the smell of unwashed hair?

[Idontpostmuch]

I'm constantly surprised by how many people don't wash their hair enough. We all have to wash our hair with differing frequencies. My friend only does hers once a week and it's OK. Yet I keep coming across people with revolting smelling hair. In theatres and cinemas, on public transport, and often even in the street, if the breeze catches the scent. Does it really smell so bad, or am I just hyper sensitive to the smell?

DH smells like this on the second day. I can't persuade him to wash every day. I don't. I can go a hell of a long time before it starts.

I used to worry about super sensers smelling when I was on my period, or just generally smelling my privates. I had to work hard to convince myself that someone that sensitive would be smelling everyone else too, and try not to be self conscious.

My sons thank God haven't inherited DH's family's skin type or slack habits. They are sweetly scented young men!

Have you tried co washing? If you change up your routine you can find something that works better- not so you can wash more often but so it's less fluffy on day one.

I'm experimenting with this at the moment. The longer I leave between washes, the better my hair gets. I'm trying to work out what's going wrong- too much protein, too much moisture...
but co washing is generally better for me.

Perhaps he has a minor fungal infection of his scalp. Buy a bottle of neutrogena shampoo for him and see if that helps.

Yes, I have heard that. I've probably hone too far the other way 😬Just can't stand unwashed hair though!

i can smell it too. Horrible smell. I once worked with a girl who would wash only her fringe and tie the rest of her unwashed hair back. It smelled so bad as she wafted around swishing her ponytail. Also people in shops standing in queues is the worst.

Agree with this. Rarely smell dirty hair on adults. But there seems to be some sort of prevailing idea that children's dirty hair doesn't smell.
It really really does.

I confess I hate the smell of unwashed hair- and can sometimes definitely smell if someone has their period or if they have had sex recently.

I had a colleague who only washed her hair once a week and swore blind she did not smell and it was healthier for her hair. But she did smell and it was an open plan office and I would sometimes have a vicks inhaler with me to smell when it got too much.

My hair is washed daily. But I have quite fine hair and that keeps it at it's best I believe.

Me too. It's gross.

@ASighMadeOfStone Interesting. I always detect the smell of unwashed hair, yet didn't notice it in my children until their teens, at which point I insisted on daily hair washing. Now, we could speculate that I didn't smell it because I was used to them. That logic falls down because I even smell my own hair on the very rare occasions when I've missed two days.

Thanks for all your posts. Good to know I'm not the only one.

I can't say that I usually notice it on other people, but I notice it on myself if I go more than a couple of days without washing my hair.

I usually wash mine every other day. I've been told that this is too frequent, but I absolutely cannot stand having greasy hair. Dry shampoo isn't sufficient imo, it can extend washing by a day, max, and that's only if I'm not going out anywhere.

I've smelt it before, it's not nice. But worse for me is the smell of an unwashed person who's having a period. That I can smell even more distinctly and I really wish I could opt out of that. It's worse when you're close and they're moving about so it comes in wafts 🤢

@MidnightMeltdown I've been washing mine daily for many yrs. I don't see any signs of damage, but even if I am sacrificing some hair quality, it's worth it IMO to have clean, fresh smelling hair. I know we're all told it's bad for it to wash it too often, but we're told a lot of things ie drink 2 litres of water per day that may not be true. A long time ago I had a top stylist looking after my hair. She'd stopped working in the salon, but took a few clients and worked from home after her young children had gone to bed. We washed our own hair in her bathroom and then we got top of the range haircuts for a fraction of the price. She knew a lot about the science of hair and the best shampoos to nourish particular hair types. She didn't believe it did any harm to wash hair frequently and always advised clients just to go for it if their hair felt better with daily washing.

Ha ha