Please help - washing hair - why does this keep happening?

[WildNorthEast]

Does this happen to anyone else? It seems that every shampoo and conditioner I try, I still end up with that horrible thick grease like residue at the back of my head straight after washing my hair.

My hair is naturally wavy, so more recently I've been trying sulphate free shampoo / conditioners, but this hasn't helped (Tresemme / Herbal Essences are the most recent attempts). I haven't got lots of money to spend on these product's unfortunately, but would possibly spend a bit more if I could get nicer looking hair.

Every so often I use a baby shampoo to strip off through the build up (this works) and then go back to the usual shamp/cond's, but after a wash or two the build up starts up again.

What is it in the ingredients that's doing this?

I tend to wash my hair every 3-4 days depending on gym sessions etc.
I shampoo the roots and middle and let the rest wash off. Then rinse, a lot. I only put conditioner on the ends, leave it in for a couple of minutes and then rinse. I always let the water run over it all for ages, trying to get any excess off.

Would love to know how to resolve this issue.

I do make sure it's all covered and massage it for a fair while.
I layer it out when shampooing it too, to make sure all areas have been reached. My hair isn't that thick, so it isn't difficult to make sure all areas are covered. The rest of my hair comes out all clean, but for some reason this patch of build up persists and gets worse.
I've been looking into cleansing conditioners. I might avoid shampooing altogether for a while as some posters have said. Maybe there's a curly girl hidden beneath this mess.

Do you live in a soft water area? I live in a hard water area but when I visit my mum who lives in a soft water area I always struggle to get my hair properly clean. It always looks like an oil slick by the end of the day. No idea what to suggest but maybe different shampoos suit different types of water?

I use the bog standard head and shoulders shampoo once a week and find this stops build up. In between I use Aveda. Conditioner at ends like you do already, all build up goes. I’ve curly hair and find all the sulphate free stuff makes my hair worse.

@PieAndLattes very hard water

This happened to me. I have curly hair which is not remotely greasy, i can go 4 days without washing and still no grease. I think it happens at the back because that's where you first put the shampoo on your head. I got this with pantene but I also think treseme seemed like it might be going the same way. Never worked out why but it was horrible. I use Alberto Balsam now, and have done for a few years which is great and bonus is how cheap it is!

I had this problem. I have tried expensive (Paul Mitchell, Wolff) and cheap (Treseme, Aussie). Nothing worked until I found a sulfate free range by Superdrug. Problem solved.

I use the Aussie shampoo range as I was having the greasy build up too. Aussie range has cleared it, it’s not too expensive.

You need a shampoo with sulphates in.

Sulphate free shampoo works wonders for some but clearly not you.

Avalon Organics Lemon Clarifying Shampoo

No Conditioner at all

Use a serum on towel dried ends.

I shampoo and then condition just the ends as far as possible. Then after rinsing the conditioner I put a small amount of shampoo on the spot that seems to get greasy and then rinse it off. Seems to work ok.

I used a purple shampoo for a while, made me realise just how much rinsing is needed to remove all the shampoo - way more than I used to do.

I also follow the regime of only applying shampoo to the scalp area, and conditioner only to the length.

You need to shampoo twice

I had this for ages, it was actually hormonal after I had my daughter. I used a really harsh shampoo- some cheap knock off head and shoulders of my husbands a few times and that got rid. It was like someone has coated the top of my head on chip fat.
I have wavy hair, curly girl products (those aimed at wavies) didn't massively work for me, made my skin spotty and my hair over moisturized. I use silicones all the time and no issues at all.

Also I only had it when my hair was wet, when it dried it seemed to go. Was weird

I wash every other day (it was everyday from the age of 14 to last year- I'm 42). It used to get greasy quick but now I find if I double shampoo it's a lot better. I was getting build up with garnier hair food but switched to ogx and it was loads better. Now I use wella from the hairdressers as I have coloured hair and my hair is just as good the next day. I use a powder dry shampoo from Holland and Barrett the night before my non hair washing day and some more the next day and no build up!

I used to get this. I stopped using conditioner altogether and I only use cheap shampoo now. Works wonders.

OP silicone is indeed coating the hair with plastic. Sounds like you've maybe found the cause.

There's nothing wrong with products containing silicone if they work for a person but you need to use a sulfate shampoo to get them out. So eg using a serum (pretty much guaranteed to contain silicone) on the ends but only washing the roots, won't work, you'd need to give all the hair a good rub with shampoo.

Lots of shampoos unvelievably contain silicone, including some of those aimed at curly hair 🤦 . Nobody needs silicone in their shampoo, how can you wash something out at the same time as applying it? It makes no sense, but still they put it in there. Silicone is used freely as a detangling agent.

I don't care that baby shampoo is formulated for babies. If you're talking about Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo it's harsh AF. Maybe babies don't get their hair washed often or maybe they're all greasy, IDK. It is good for stripping away silicone buildup though. If your hair feels dry afterwards then use conditioner on it even the roots if necessary or a little olive oil (which is basically a deep conditioner).

You will find a solution OP and your hair will look better than ever. Conditioner can't penetrate through the silicone so your hair gets dryer and dryer as the silicone builds up.

You're leaving it far too long between washes, especially if you're a gym user. I wash mine either every day or occasionally the day after if I'm too tired but rarely

My hair gets exactly like this if I use conditioner. I think my water supply is so hard that it just never rinses the conditioner out properly, no matter how long I spend trying. So I use shampoo, then 2 in 1. It conditions enough, but rinses out better.

I get this but only when I use cloudy colour looking shampoo, if I use a clear colour one. Sounds weird I know but worth a try! I use the aussie mighty mega shampoo

Hi, I had this recently and a few things that have solved it are...

1. New shower head with crystal bits in to filter it as in hard water area. From Amazon for around £30 you need to change the cartridges every so often.

2. Stopped using outdoorables type beads in the washing for my pillowcases and moved to non bio - I realised I was perhaps touching my head against this all night as I sleep on my back.

3. Watched a YouTube video of how to wash my hair. Seriously! First wash don't rub shampoo into your hands just pat and massage it into the scalp rinse and repeat and 2nd time round seems to lather more as grease mostly removed from 1st wash but just try not to over wash it.

4. Good conditioner just nowhere near your scalp.

The shower head change made a massive difference.

I think it’s probably the silicones. You mention wanting to try cleansing conditioner - the Umberto Giannini range has a co-wash product, as well as scalp scrubs and a ‘detox’ shampoo either of which you could use once a week. My hair is much better since I started doing this, although mine is fine and i wash it daily. I avoid all silicones in hair products. Finishing with a cold rinse helps too.

I get this occasionally, like a sticky, greasy layer. If I brush my hair even straight after washing and drying there are lines left through my hair from the brush as if it hasn't been washed in ages.

I agree with a PP about bicarbonate of soda. A teaspoon in my shampoo sorts it. I only do it when necessary as I know it's probably quite harsh but doing it once whenever the problem arises sorts it for me.

I don't get this quite as badly any more (though I still do a bit) but had it very badly in my teens and 20s. I found that any shampoo that said it specifically helped with something, such as 'colour protect', 'thickening', volumising', 'anti frizz' etc would cause it to be worse, presumably because they contain additional ingredients/silicones to achieve whatever result is being promised.

Not much help to you but I found that baby shampoo was best, or, weirdly, the exception to the above rule seems to be shampoo designed to target dandruff or soothe the scalp (so basic Head & Shoulders or T-Gel). I pretty much stick to H&S these days (the original one, not moisturising or whatever). Sometimes my head is turned by a new fancy product in Boots but it inevitably ends up being chucked or given away after a couple of tries!

I can't use sulphate free shampoo, it doesn't get my hair clean. I use a Dove one. Unlike a PP, any shampoo that is clear turns my hair into a knotty mess, I can only use 'cloudy' ones. No idea what that's about!

I use silicone free conditioner (Hask), and I don't use any other products on my hair (heat protectors, styling products etc). Using these products improved my hair no end. I have slightly wavy/kinky hair, any kind of 'curly girl method' just made my hair lank, greasy and straight. Silicones build up on my hair and make it feel horrible 😔