Is it normal to take 5-6+ hours to wash your hair?

[kandi1280]

I'm finding that I tend to get very lazy on wash day because I know how long it will take me (5-6 hours) to wash my hair. I typically wash on Saturday because I can't wash Sunday because of church.

I prepoo w/ Dabur Alma Oil Gold and Conditioner or w/ EVOO and conditioner - 1 hour

Wash with Keracare Moisturizing Shampoo while I shower - 20 min

Deep condition with Keracare Humecto, EVOO and Vatika Oil - under dryer - 30 min

Cold Rinse and Rollerset hair (lacio-lacio, chi, silk infusion and a lil vatika oil) - 45 min - 1 hour to rollerset (I TOTALLY SUCK AT THIS - It takes me FOREVER).

Sit under hood dryer - 1.5 hours

Flat iron hair with Sedu ( My hair never comes out flat I always have some poof - Again, I'm just a mess at rollersetting). - 45 min.

These are approximate times but you get the point. It just takes too long and I get lazy and try to cut corners. To make matters worse on days in which I do a protein treatment in before the deep conditioner add another 30 min. This causes me to be lazy and wait longer between washes or I'm skipping the protein treatment altogether.

I don't like airdrying because my hair simply hates it. It never comes out right and by midweek my airdried ponytail or bun is bone dry. Not to mention my SO is growing to hate wash days. Last week it was so bad he woke me up at 7am on wash day so that "I wouldn't take all day with all the washing ish."

So what do you ladies do to shorten your wash days?

 

[Dposh167]

ive been able to reduce it to maybe a 4 hour process when i wash,dc,rollerset,dry,flat iron...i dont prepoo much amymore...and i stopped doing all of this with the tv on. I would get distracted and it would stertch out to a 6 hr. process

 

[Nonie]

That IS long. I think I would cut out some of that time (but that's coz I'm an odd sort of creature) by prepooing overnight w/ a plastic cap. Minus one hour. Instead of sitting under a dryer, I'd airdry in rollers while I did household chores coz I haven't got the patience to sit under a dryer that long, especially not after I'd just DC'd. Since I'm going to use the flat iron after the rollerset, I believe my hair would turn out OK (Gotta have the faith! ). Minus one and a half hours.

So I'd be down to 20 min wash + 30 min DC + 1 hour rollerset + 45 min flat iron = 2 hour 35 mins that I focus entirely on my hair.

 

[complexsimplicity]

it used to take me alot longer to do my hair as well now i can do everything i need to do in jus 3.5 to 4 hrs. i know still a long time but i've gotten my routine down. i think it would help if u used a different type of roller. i checked ur fotki and i see u use magnetic rollers w/ the clips. since i cut that out i dropped my time dramatically. it took me forever w/ those rollers bc i had to keep readjusting to keep them in. now i use mesh rollers w/ end papers wrapped around them. first i wet the end paper w/ water and the wrap it around the roller to make it stay until i'm able to get to it. i used to roll w/ the mesh rollers w/out the end paper and it would take me a long time again bc of readjusting. now i don't have to readjust at all. i also use the plastic roller pins. so much easier than worrying about the two clips. mesh rollers will also cut down on ur drying time. the largest sizes they have though is only 1.75in. i'm searching high and low for 2in so that when my hair is long I can still use mesh rollers. hth

 

[loolalooh]

Most wash days for me are 15 minutes. On days that I DC and/or feel like twisting my hair, wash days can be 3-4.5 hours. Eliminating heat for drying and heat styling helps to cut down on time. I also stick to the basics (wash,DC).

My lazy days (which are MOST of the time) go like this:
Co-wash - 5-10 minutes
Moisturize - 2 min
Twist (if I feel like it) - 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours

That's it.

On a more time-consuming wash day (which is usually the clarifying day), I:
Clarify - 5-10min
Deep Condition - 1 hr
Detangle - 40 min
Moisturize - 2 min
Twist - 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hrs

 

[dcprdiva]

5-6 hours is too long to be doing anything unless you are getting paid!

It only takes me MAX two hours. I prepoo with Amla (not every wash most times) for 30-45 minutes, shampoo in the shower takes 10 minutes, if that. DC for 20 minutes. Takes 30 minutes to roller set and then 45 minutes to dry.

I can't spend all day doing anything because TIME IS MONEY.... LOL

 

[andreab]

It takes me about 4 hours if I use the hooded dryer. Now it takes me 3 hours because I don't do any hooded dryer for conditioning and use the hand dryer to dry my hair. With a 3 month old baby I can't sit under the dryer for long periods of time.

 

[dcprdiva]

I'm finding that I tend to get very lazy on wash day because I know how long it will take me (5-6 hours) to wash my hair. I typically wash on Saturday because I can't wash Sunday because of church.

I prepoo w/ Dabur Alma Oil Gold and Conditioner or w/ EVOO and conditioner - 1 hour

Wash with Keracare Moisturizing Shampoo while I shower - 20 min

Deep condition with Keracare Humecto, EVOO and Vatika Oil - under dryer - 30 min

Cold Rinse and Rollerset hair (lacio-lacio, chi, silk infusion and a lil vatika oil) - 45 min - 1 hour to rollerset (I TOTALLY SUCK AT THIS - It takes me FOREVER).

Sit under hood dryer - 1.5 hours

Flat iron hair with Sedu ( My hair never comes out flat I always have some poof - Again, I'm just a mess at rollersetting). - 45 min.

These are approximate times but you get the point. It just takes too long and I get lazy and try to cut corners. To make matters worse on days in which I do a protein treatment in before the deep conditioner add another 30 min. This causes me to be lazy and wait longer between washes or I'm skipping the protein treatment altogether.

I don't like airdrying because my hair simply hates it. It never comes out right and by midweek my airdried ponytail or bun is bone dry. Not to mention my SO is growing to hate wash days. Last week it was so bad he woke me up at 7am on wash day so that "I wouldn't take all day with all the washing ish."

So what do you ladies do to shorten your wash days?

You need to shorten your drying process somehow... maybe a new dryer or somehow speed up the time it takes to rollerset....

 

[ScarletPhoenix]

Yeah I believe that is wayyyyy to long. Because I co-wash during the week my hair isn't that dirty so, I don't prepoo, if I did that would have to be something done overnight. I wash, dc, and airdry (rollerset when I get a t/u and that can take a minute)...but my hair only takes me about 1 hr 15 minutes. Now I am texlaxed and hiding my hair until December so I bun it and let it air dry. I couldn't imagine spending 5 to 6 hours on my hair. My gracious I would have cut it off....that is insane.

 

[camilla]

im really bad i have no patience for the dryer i pre-poo thursday night wear a greasy cond. pony to work you will never tell i wear a cap over bun to work take off at work and put back on on the way home then wash dc and set on friday if it is not dry i have been nkown to fall asleep in my lazy boy and wake up sat morning with the swangy swangy ...lol my hubby thinks im crazy he took picts.. but i will not post lol

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

I tottaly understand you! This is why i never do anything but ponytails, but with the right products, i definitely want to do more to it. i purchased macherie's rollersetting dvd for starters (that could probably cut out about 20 minutes from rollersetting). Also, she has a video on youtube on which she uses saran wrap (instead of a flat iron) to get the poofiness out of her hair. that can cut out 45 minutes to 1 hour right there.

And like the others have said, try pre-pooing (if you have to) overnight. I pre-poo only when my hair feels extra dry or it's tangled (and that was only twice!). That saves another hour right there!

 

[kandi1280]

You guys are great. I will shorten my pre-poo to half an hour and do my best to try to get the rollers in within a half hour, tops and also shave 10 mins off of my DC. I will also look into the mesh rollers (thanks for the tip), hopefully that will also cut down on the drying time.

If I can get it down to 3.5-4 hours that would be ideal for the moment. My goal is 2.5 hours to do everything. But the only way I see that happening is with a perfect rollerset that would eliminate the need to flat iron. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[kblc06]

No, it takes all of 1 hour unless I decide leave deep conditioner in my hair

 

[BostonMaria]

When my hair was relaxed it took me about 4-5 hours to do my own hair. Even though I have natural hair now, if I rollerset its a long process and it'll take about the same amount of hours. The good thing is if I just wash and go the whole process is 15 minutes.

OP, the good thing is once you do all of that work the rest of the days should be smooth sailing since your hair is straight. If I rollerset I can keep that look for at least 5 days and it takes 2 seconds with a brush and I'm out the door.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Now that I am not flat ironing anymore, its super short.

Co-wash & finger detangle - 3 minutes in shower
Add leave in - 2 minutes
Put into ponytail - 1 minute
Add puff with bobby pins - 1 minute
Gel top of hair (fly aways) & add scarf - 1 minute
So 8 minutes tops

I take off the scarf when I get to work

For dc days, add 30 minutes. So 38 minutes and a ponytail style

For rollerset days, add 30 minutes to set & 35 minutes to dry under Pibbs and then 15 minutes to touch up roots only with miniglide - so 1 hour and 20 minutes...still under 2 hours if I dc for 30 minutes.

 

[charmtreese]

It can take me that long, but then again I enjoy the whole wash day rituals!!!

 

[MizAvalon]

That is a long time. I'm at about 3 hours now and I'm trying to find ways to shorten it because it's just too much. Makes me not want to wash my hair.

 

[itismehmmkay]

I'm gonna say no

Just reread your post


Actually the things you wrote aren't so bad:

- The prepooing, you can obviously be doing something else around the house.
- The shampooing is while you're taking a shower anyway
- The DC, now that is a bummer But still not too bad.

I think you need to give airdrying another try, but ONLY airdry in a rollerset and do so overnight.

That breaks your 5-6 hours in half. That next morning (works best if it's Saturday morning), you can do something around the house then just pop those rollers out and flatiron

 

[Napp]

i would never spend that long on my hair unless im doing braids or twists and plan to keep them in for a while

 

[Menina Preta]

To shorten wash day:

- I don't pre-poo when I don't have much time or patience to be playing in my hair.
- I roller-set in front of a mirror. This has decreased my roller set by 15-20 min. Before, I used to try to roller set and watch TV, but I'd miss too many sections, make bad parts, etc. It was the worst. Now, I RS in like 30-40 minutes.
-I have a Gold-N-Hot hair dryer and it takes about 50 - 60 minutes for my hair to dry on high and hot. I used to use a soft-bonnet dryer, which used to take forever and ten days.
-I only flat iron my roots b/c I set my hair on big rollers (grey), so the curl falls easily, reducing the poof factor.
-Also, if I'm tired or it's getting late, I go to sleep and just flat iron the roots in the morning.
-Oh, and I try not to do wash day around my SO...His presence would just fluster me and make me go slower, LOL.

 

[Simply_Kelz]

I just cut out my pre-poo, and DC dry, then shampoo, if I'm not in a rollersetting mood, I'll comb straight down, sit under the dryer for about 30 minutes, and flatiron. That whole thing takes me about 2 hours.

 

[*KP*]

Last week I knew I would be short on time so I DC'd overnight with Keracare Humecto on dry hair. In the morning I shampooed once then did a quick condition with Aphogee 2 min reconstructor while I showered then I air dried in 2 braids. My hair used to be really dry when I air dried but I think I have that down now after some tips from the ladies here.

Another thing I do when I am short on time is, I wash & condition late at night then put flexirods in and sleep with them. They are usually dry a couple of hours after I wake up the next morning. Wash days were taking over my life so I had to find ways to streamline the process a little.

 

[*Muffin*]

Wow, you ladies are amazing. 4-6 hours on wash days? If it took me that long I'd probably never wash my hair. I usually multi-task when I wash and DC my hair. If I do a pre-poo I usually only leave it on 5-15 minutes without heat and I usually sort out my laudry and put in the the washing machine during this time. Then I shampoo it out and apply my DC usually for an hour, but during this time I'm taking my clothes out of the washer and putting them into the dryer,eating dinner, surfing the internet, checking to see if my clothes have finished drying and/or doing something else to occupy my time. Then I just apply my conditioner and shea butter and coat with oil and bun. I'd say my whole routine (including the days I prepoo) takes no longer than 2 hours, and most days it takes less because I don't shampoo my hair very often, so that elimiates the need of prepooing. I guess I'm just lazy, lol.

 

[quasimodi]

Six hours??? Wow. Only if I'm taking out braids that I've had in for a long time, but most of the six hours would be on taking out the braids. Not the shampoo and deep conditioner.

I don't prepoo unless my hair feels tangled (which is doesn't usually), so the whole process usually takes about two hours. I"m like Muffin. I do lots of other stuff while I'm doing my hair.

• I DC on dry hair (separated into sections) for 30 mins. to an hour
• Cowash in the shower (15 mins.) Don't really use shampoo, just a baking soda and water mixture from time to time, since I avoid cones for the most part.
• As I twist hair, apply leave-in conditioner, moisturizer and seal w/ oil. Depending on the size of the twists, it can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
• Airdry
• The next morning, I usually either hide my hair in a headwrap or undo the twists, spritz w/ leave-in, and fluff for a twist out.

 

[Ramya]

It doesn't take that long
wash- 5 min
Condition- 5-10 min
Style- 1 hour

I don't spend more than 2 hours on my hair. I would give up and shave my head if it required much more than that

 

[Barbara]

For someone like me, yes, because I just did my hair for the first time last week.

 

[naijamerican]

It doesn't take that long
wash- 5 min
Condition- 5-10 min
Style- 1 hour

I don't spend more than 2 hours on my hair. I would give up and shave my head if it required much more than that

Me, too. I really respect those of you willing to commit to pre-poos and the good things you do to your hair. But 4 to 6 hours on wash days makes me wonder if we might be making things more difficult than they have to be. I've never pre-pooed. I don't even do hot oil treatments (although I did buy some oil to start doing stuff like that). I find that if I just keep my hair in twists it stays healthy and strong. On the other hand, I guess I do do things that are time consuming but I spread it out, like I'll deep condition overnight. That's truly out of laziness, though !

 

[Str8~Curly]

A friend of mine used to air dry roller set overnight and didn't use heat in the morning and her hair always looked so good. I just don't know how she slept with those big rollers though.

That is a long time, I couldn't even imagine taking that long.
My whole wash routine takes about 20 minutes (not including showering time) since I wash, moisturize and air dry in a bun. I hardly ever DC and when I do it's usually overnight with a baggy and no heat.

 

[jkamiel]

I agree with some of the other ladies. You should try to DC overnight or pre-poo overnight. I had a brief stint of pre-pooing but i think it had no effect on my hair whatsoever so I stopped. But if you need to prepoo, go on ahead, girl.

If you DC overnight before washing (combining the DC and prepoo!) and then do a quick condition (if you want) after shampooing itd cut a lot of time out.

My wash days take however much time I have. I can wash my hair, do a quick condition in the shower, and put my hair into two pigtail twists.. that takes like 30min. Or I can wash, really DC, and then style which takes from 2hours to all day if i'm not going anywhere.

 

[sylver2]

yikes 5-6 hrs
it takes me about 1 hour & a half for everything

shampoo-10 mins
dc-(unless i do ovrnite dc)10 mins while in hot steamy shower
detangling-10 mins under runnin water with dc still in hair
leave in-5 mins massage it thru
braids for braidout- 20 mins or blowdry straight-35 mins
if i do flat iron thats 30 mins