Hair advice (washing multiple times per day)

[SayrraT]

Hello,

Don't think I've ever been in here but I'm hoping that you might be able to help me!

I'm a scientist and occasionally at work I need to work in 'clean' labs. This required many showers (and changes of clothes) per day. For the next 10 or so weeks I have to shower, and wash hair, a minimum of 3 times a day.

My hair is OK at the moment but obviously all this washing isn't great so wondering if anyone can suggest anything to keep it in good condition?

My hair is wavy and a reasonable length (down to bra band). I don't ever blow dry it.

Any help much appreciated

Can you not wear a tight cap?
You’ll ruin your scalp if you’re shampoo-ing it 3 times a day as it will produce excess sebum.

What Randy said!

Do you have to dry it too? Bloody hell, that'd be time consuming for me! Can you leave it wet and maybe put some sort of masque on to protect it from all that washing? I'm guessing probably not but worth an ask!

That’s a lot of hair washing ! Can you use a very mild shampoo (baby shampoo?)
If so I’d condition first then mild shampoo and condition again.

How about a cleansing conditioner- would that be acceptable? Sounds a nightmare for thick curly hair.

Would you consider having your hair cut very short for this period? My hair is like yours and I have often wondered what it would look like cropped to an inch, inch and a half or so. This might be the prompt for me to try it.

You can buy a co wash which is more a conditioner to cleanse your hair. (As used in the curly girl method) It is much less harsh than shampoo. How on earth can you get such long hair dry 3 times a day without a hair dryer?

I have quite wavy/dry hair and often only wash with conditioner. would that be acceptable in your line of work? it do you need sulphates to properly wash out any contaminating stuff?

I agree that some sort of protective cap would prevent damage to the condition of your hair as it may mean that you can cut down the washing to once per day. How are you drying it?

Do you have to shampoo your hair each time? If not, just use conditioner (these contain mild cleansing agents). If you do need to shampoo your hair try a sulphate free product as it’s more gentle for your hair.

Moroccan oil is my favourite product to add moisture back to my hair.

3 weeks isn’t that long so your hair shouldn’t permanently suffer, it will take a few more weeks for it to revert back to normal though. As others have said your scalp will probably start to produce excess oil to compensate.

Thanks everyone, I'm just home so will have dinner then read through your comments and reply!

Is this the sort of thing where the policy was arrived at by a load of short haired/ bald men?!

For many with long hair it's going to be wet for ages/ takes ages to dry so won't that make whatever it is worse?

What about people with expensive black hairstyles? (Sorry not sure if that's the right terminology).

Whats it for? You don't have to say obv.

I've been in this situation and yes it's a pain. I'd use the mildest shampoo that you can, and then a leave in spray conditioner, I think Aveda do one, other makes are available!
At the end of the week I would treat my hair to a really intensive conditioning masque and leave it on all Saturday morning.

Hair style would be either back in a pony tail or I'd just give it a loose plait. It's like wash repeat, wash repeat. Funnily enough it gave me time to clear my mind and do some deep thinking. I had some of my best problematic solutions whilst washing my hair!

Also clothing wise I'd have to plan my clothing out on Sunday and put it into stacks for the week ahead. When your tired first thing on waking, the last thing you want to think about is what am I going to wear today. Ohh and no synthetic fibres helps. Hope this helps OP.

I would use something like as I am co wash and then a leave in conditioner

Please check the actual facility requirements and whether washing 3x a day is REALLY part of the role!!!! Have you not asked the other staff that work there???

I say this as someone who worked in a secure, medical research company. I was wrongly told I needed to FULLY wash prior to entering the facility and again on leaving. After 2 weeks of washing my very long, thick hair onsite in a porta-a-cabin, then walking through snow into the facility, to then have my frozen hair melt the entire shift, I now check the actual requirements in detail!!!

Is there not a hair cap that can be worn to prevent you needing to wash it thoroughly so often? Have you read the actual requirements? have you spoken to management and other staff?

I'm thinking you can't really choose the product at work, can you??

It reminds me when I worked at the hospital and had to wash my hands with alcohol several times a day. Even my nails became terribly brittle. I had to counteract all that washing with some serious moisturiser after work.

People seem to like using leave in conditioners or hydrating masks

Thanks for your suggestions. Just a bit of background to try and answer specific questions.

Vaguely what I do is test pharmaceuticals (vaccines, chemo drug etc) to make sure they don't contain contaminants and are safe before they are released for use. So, it's very important that we don't introduce any contamination.

The general procedure is into secure unit, clothes off, over barrier into shower 1. Full wash body and hair, dress in appropriate scrubs (none of your own clothes allowed), into level 1. If staying in level 1 just need to add hairnet, gloves, facemask.

If level 2 or 3 then another wet shower or a dry shower (blasts you with air to blow contaminants off you) with full clothing changes in between including respirators, bio suits etc if needed. If you leave (which I need to after I've done my bit of work) you have to repeat when you go back in (I go back in in the afternoon!). I'm glad it's only short term for me and the showers are excellent

I leave my hair down or loosely plait it. A cap would not be possible, I generally use spray conditioner (aussie - if this is rubbish let me know!) after my first shower and at home.

It's harder to get other shampoo/conditioner further into the unit as it needs to be decontaminated before it goes it too!

I will get my hair cut shorter, last time I did this (need to do it every couple of years, other times I work in a normal lab) I had 11 inches chopped off

Hair dries quite quickly, it's usually at least 26 degrees in the labs I just blot it dry and leave it down as long as possible before plaiting it.

I'll investigate the possibility of just using conditioner and/or having my own stuff transferred in.

Funnily enough we have several long haired men who work in the unit though my boss is bald so I always joke that the water just wooshes off him!

@Elouera because of other parts of my role which are "dirty" it is necessary for me to wash fully. However, it is not a requirement for everyone entering the unit to wash as often. I've worked there for nearly 10 years. The teams that only work in the clean labs just need to shower to enter (for example) level 2 or 3. The team I am in mostly work on "dirty" stuff and so need to shower even to enter level 1. I work mostly at level 1 and 2 but different things in each so generally my routine is: morning is shower in - level 1 then level 2, afternoon is shower level 1 then level 2 but often I also have to do something else that requires an extra shower (usually would be air shower but it's temperamental so needs to be a wet shower then!).

Just to add: DON'T use baby shampoo.
That's the worst possible shampoo you can use. It's designed to have the same pH as human tears so it doesn't sting BUT it's far too alkaline for hair. It's like washing with perm solution!

The Aussie spray in conditioner isn’t bad actually.

I had to wash my long curly hair every day for three weeks when I was working in school immediately after lock down. I had the flexibility to use my own shower and conditioner though. As curly haired people will know, every day is a shock to the system so three times a day is tough. I used only conditioner for most of the washes and never rinsed it out properly. I used a very gentle milk shampoo once a week. I then put it in a bun and left it to dry (takes hours). I think you might have a problem that your hair is never going to be fully dry unless you do blow dry it at some point so your scalp might suffer.

Three weeks of this did affect my hair but it has recovered since rotas and pods got sorted and I was only in a couple of times a week. Hair is quite resilient really!

Don’t envy you though!

Just another thought - could you take sachets of conditioner in so that you’re not having to decontaminate huge bottles? Lots of places sell them as masks or for travel.