How do you prevent dandruff?

[Shmiley]

I've had it for years! It's not too serious (i.e. if I wore a black cardigan, it wouldn't be covered in white flakes) but it's enough that when I scratch my head, a white 'blob' of it will be under my nails

Is there any homemade remedies for it? Or a specific shampoo/conditioning routine that I should be trying?

By the way, it's not really an 'itchy' scalp.

TIA

Elvive dark blue bottle with orange lid was recommended on mn a while ago. I've bought it but finishing off others ATM so can't comment myself

I get this as soon as we put heating on for winter. Apparently, extremes of heat and cold can aggravate it but more interestingly I've read that direct sunlight can suppress the fungus/bacteria production that causes excessive skin cell shedding. I never get it that bad in summer but always winter ie. radiators blazing away and little or no direct sunshine on my head. I use T-gel as it contains Polytar a substance that combats the fungus/bacteria but it's not a quick fix. Bottle says up to 6 weeks of use before results. You can get stronger ones over the counter I think. Oh yeah, a hairdresser once told me to try teatree oil as it's naturally antibacterial. Didn't work for me personally.

What worked for me a long while back was to use a medicated shampoo like head and shoulders. I read somewhere that you should leave the shampoo on your head for 2 mins to let the chemicals do their stuff, so did that each hair wah. Once the bottle was finished and the dandruff cleared up have gone over to using a milder dandruff shampoo (Body Shop Ginger shampoo).

HTH.

If you want a medical type of shampoo you can get dandrazol off the shelf. They sell it in my local home bargains and it is one of those that you leave on your scalp for 2 mins it is £1.50 for a little bottle (about 75ml). I personally used to suffer with the same problem but my solution is a bit more expensive (though it isn't aggressive like the 'anti-dandruff shampoos'). I use philip kinsley scalp toner and I do the scalp mask if I need to (haven't needed to for about 9 months now). Other than that, make sure you are massaging the scalp when you shampoo and condition (not just piling your hair on top on your head and rubbing the bubbles around) as the massage will help to remove the dead skin from your scalp (remember it is still skin and needs to shed like the rest of the skin on your body). Also make sure you do a proper rinse - if shampoo and conditioner is just left on your skin then it is like having a residue on your face after cleansing - it will block pores and cause the skin problems.

All good advice from mrsmartin, you can think of it as dry skin, if it was on your face you would moisurise. Use a gentle shampoo taking care to rub on to scalp not just the hair, rinse very very well, then use a good quality conditoner again rub into scalp and then rinse very very well.
There are a few different complaints making the scalp flakey not all are dandruff. If you use a dandruff shampoo when it is not needed you could be making things worse.