Medium to Longhaired Naturals - what's your wash routine?

[jada1111]

For those naturals that have some length (even though shrinkage might say otherwise LOL), how many times do you wash your hair a week or month?

I know when hair is shorter you can wash it basically everyday if you want, but as it gets longer, it can be time consuming depending on what you want to do with it.

I wash my hair about every three days. My entire routine takes about an hour, but I'm going to try to cut that down using a method that I saw in one of Taren916's tutorials (shout out to Sunshine One for putting me on to her), where she washes and styles her hair at night, puts a plastic bag over it, then fixes it in the morning. It seems to cut styling time in half:

http://www.youtube.com/user/taren916#p/u/48/mDfAbuY0SF8

http://www.youtube.com/user/taren916#p/u/47/SZh6SS1Liuw

I know many naturals say they're not afraid of the water, rain, mist, etc., but um... it bothers ME. When I leave the house I have my hair a styled a certain way. If rain, water, etc., hits it, then it may come out looking fuzzy and poofy which is why I never got into the "spritzing" thing. I don't want water to touch my head again until the next washing or if I'm brushing the edges back into a pony puff or something.

Now that your hair is longer how many times do you wash your hair in a week? If you're working out and sweating a lot how are you handling it?

TIA! :-D

 

[Whimsy]

I was my hair every few days. If I have a really intense cardio session one day, I'd wash or at least rinse my scalp with water no matter when my last wash was. I like a clean feeling scalp The longest I'll go is a week without a wash, and that's only if I have twists in.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Every 2 to 3 weeks... unless I do wngs for the week its everyother day (which is very rare now).

I dont work out but i do get some reversion now that its summer. but thats okay since im not really a fan of super sleek hair.

 

[jada1111]

Every 2 to 3 weeks... unless I do wngs for the week its everyother day (which is very rare now).

I dont work out but i do get some reversion now that its summer. but thats okay since im not really a fan of super sleek hair.

Do you do conditioner washes in between that or you mean you literally don't wash your hair at all?

The only reason I can't do this is because I get mad itching after a few days. It's always been this way even when I was relaxed. I can't go past a week without my scalp putting me through changes.

 

[Creatividual]

i wash my hair once a week with shampoo. I use "natural/organic" shampoo. I'm not loyal to one brand and it doesn't matter if it's SLS free or not. I've found since I condition my hair before I wash it that rather it has sulfates or not, my hair doesn't get dried out.

 

[jada1111]

i wash my hair once a week with shampoo. I use "natural/organic" shampoo. I'm not loyal to one brand and it doesn't matter if it's SLS free or not. I've found since I condition my hair before I wash it that rather it has sulfates or not, my hair doesn't get dried out.

You use regular conditioner or a deep one? Moisturizing or protein?

 

[SheenaVee]

I co wash nearly every day. I deep condition every few weeks. Shampoo whenever I have build up. I can't go more than a week without washing coz my scalp starts to feel really dirty and smells oily. I try to wash my hair in two or three sections but because it's longer it is a lot more time consuming so sometimes I can't be bothered to. I detangle whenever I wash.

 

[AimWard]

Every 5 to 7 days with a sulfate free poo (right now I'm alternating between shea moisture's raw shea restorative poo and Jessicurl's gentle lather). Lately I've been working out almost every day and I sweat like a racehorse, but I can still get to day 5 without having to poo (my curls seem to look better as the week progresses). I just keep my product usage to the bare minimum (sweat mixed with excess product causes strange odors and yucky build-up) and I put nothing on my scalp (except a very small amount of EVOO on rare occassions).

 

[jupitermoon]

Lately, I've been washing about once or twice a week. I used to wash daily but got tired of walking around with wet hair. I simply get in the shower, scub my scalp gently with the pads of my fingers. I very rarely use shampoo. Sometimes I scub my scalp with just water and other times with a little bit of conditioner. After I finish scrubbing, I rinse thoroughly. I then add conditioner and finger comb my hair in four sections. I add a little more conditioner and don't rinse it out. I then put my hair into one braid, bun, or updo to air dry. This doesn't take long at all. The entire process takes about 15-20 minutes I guess. I also clean my entire body along with my hair while in the shower. I use a claw clip to clip it up so that I don't get soap in it will washing the rest of me.

 

[Creatividual]

You use regular conditioner or a deep one? Moisturizing or protein?

A lot of times I just use oil like coconut to condition with. Another one I use and like is Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditoner. I believe that "deep" conditioning is a myth but the Giovanni one is considered/marketed as a deep moisturizing conditioner.

I don't really do protein conditoners. If I were I just mix some mayo or yogurt, honey, and oils for protein. Again, I do this on dry hair before it's been washed.

 

[Natural-K]

I wash with shampoo once every 2 weeks or more. I may cowash once or twice between shampoos. I do rinse my hair daily in the shower or under the kitchen sink to style it in the mornings. Every morning I rinse, add conditioner/leave-in conditioner, and coconut oil. Or for twist outs I do the same thing at night and add about 6-8 twists before bed. Exercising doesn't effect my hair routine at all.

 

[nikolite]

About once a week, and sometimes every 2 weeks. I use diluted shampoo. Most of my styles are designed to embrace the frizzies anyhow. Working out isn't a problem--I sweat but just ignore it.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Nope no water touches my hair. I never experienced the itchies except when i have cornrows.

Do you do conditioner washes in between that or you mean you literally don't wash your hair at all?

The only reason I can't do this is because I get mad itching after a few days. It's always been this way even when I was relaxed. I can't go past a week without my scalp putting me through changes.

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I co-wash (I don't use shampoo) at least 3x a week due to going to the gym.

 

[aa9746]

I have to wash at least 1X a week or my scalp will itch. I tried to go without shampooing but it didn't work for me.

 

[cmw45]

I've pretty much been protective styling for the past year but for the week or so between styles I wash my hair once it comes out of the style and cowash every two days during the week. My hair is in sections in huge braids. I would never wash my hair with it all out over my head. Way to many ssks develop that way. Why in protective styles I follow the same routine.

 

[chocolate01]

I wash every other week, my schedule is too packed to wash every other day. I usually wear twists or have my hair straight.

 

[Janet']

I WEN once a week- any longer and ssks and detangling is a beast. When I do wngs, I wet my hair every day and those have been my key to retention...

 

[Avaya]

Is everyone washing in sections? Is there anyone that washes their hair section free, particularly 4a/b's?

 

[Whimsy]

Is everyone washing in sections? Is there anyone that washes their hair section free, particularly 4a/b's?

Usually in 2 sections. 4 if I'm doing a dc.

I'll do 1 section extremely rarely and I still end up roughly parting my hair in 2 during the process.

 

[Detroit2Dallas]

I wash my hair free, but I think I need to start sectioning it off because its getting to the point where its getting to be a big tangly mess and i'm tired of fighting with this stuff. I'm starting to dread doing my hair

 

[suburbanbushbabe]

I wash every 2-3 days, shampooing once for every 3 or so co-washes. Thanks for posting the links. I'm going to check out that Sue Maesta hood band. I want to decrease my use of scruncies at night, even though they are loose.

 

[Ms Lala]

I shampoo every 2 weeks in sections, braids, or twists (depends on how my hair is styled). I rinse in between if needed but I don't use poo.

 

[winnettag]

I wash once a week with Elucence MB shampoo and on days I work out I co-wash.

 

[jada1111]

Is everyone washing in sections? Is there anyone that washes their hair section free, particularly 4a/b's?

Yeah, me. The women that I've seen wash in sections tend to have very thick hair and it works for them.

Mine isn't super thick, so I wash it normal and use a very good moisturizing detangling conditioner.

 

[Maracujá]

I shampoo every 2 weeks in sections, braids, or twists (depends on how my hair is styled). I rinse in between if needed but I don't use poo.

So when you wash in twists, when do you undo them? When you`re putting the dc on it?

 

[Truth]

Wash in now 4 sections sometimes 5. ..every other day to every dayto once a week depending on the weather or if i'm in braids. Shampoo atleast once a week. and do anything else as needed.

 

[Pooks]

When I know I'll be working out regularly, I am in plaits or twists. I shampoo wash at least once a week, and cowash whenever I feel like it. When I was really on my grind with working out I cowashed after every session.

When my hair is down from plaits or twists, I always wash in sections this totally revolutionised my wash days! I use the pads of my fingers to cleanse my scalp with diluted shampoo, and squeeze through the large plaits. I rinse, coat the plait with DC, and then take each plait down to throughly coat in the DC.

 

[Janet']

I shampoo every 2 weeks in sections, braids, or twists (depends on how my hair is styled). I rinse in between if needed but I don't use poo.

Oh yes, I definitely do this and i undo each section- wash then retwist...Makes life SO much easier!!!

 

[naturalgyrl5199]

I wash 1-2 times a week now. I am not working out as much as I should, but even when I am working out a lot, I keep it at 1-2 times a week. I work 10+ hours days most days of the week, and in the fall and spring I teach college at night, so my days go up to 12-14 hours/4 days/week. Plus its colder and I don't sweat as much.

I only use shampoo once/maybe twice a month, and thats sulfate-free. I have CON, that I use very sparingly. I have a sulfate-free cleanser (Hair One), that works great as I shampoo and conditioner in 1. I usually co-wash during the week, and I scrubb my scalp clean.....Once I use up my CON...I will be rotating the Hair One (buying a big bottle), and Giovanni 50:50 Clarifying/Moisturizing conditioner permanantly since they have no sulfates.......I twist or braid after every wash....