Why is it that people who don't wash often can grow hair long?

[Lynnerie]

It seems like people who just leave their hair alone can grow it so long. I see plenty of guys who have braids who have it braided till it looks a mess and you wanna offer to do it for free have long hair. Their hair grows so fast.

And its not just guys its females too. I have a girlfriend who would braid her hair oil the scalp and leave a wig on for like 2-3 weeks then wash and repeat. Her hair was gorgeous. Another girlfriend of mine wore a wrap and she would wash it every 10 days and use that profective megagrowth everynight and rewrap.

So I'm wondering am I doing too much? I've been CW's every other day but since I'm transitioning I wonder if I'm manipulating it too much. After I wash it I'll put it in a weave ponytail usually. I straightened it last night and now that I got it straight with my generic chi (awesome) I don't want my newgrowth to revert.

Am I doing too much with the conditioner washes. I'm thinking of going back to washing once a week. Then i've read that your scalp has to be clean for faster growth so which is it? SHould you wash often or leave it be for awhile? What do you think?

 

[Crissi]

It seems like people who just leave their hair alone can grow it so long. I see plenty of guys who have braids who have it braided till it looks a mess and you wanna offer to do it for free have long hair. Their hair grows so fast.

And its not just guys its females too. I have a girlfriend who would braid her hair oil the scalp and leave a wig on for like 2-3 weeks then wash and repeat. Her hair was gorgeous. Another girlfriend of mine wore a wrap and she would wash it every 10 days and use that profective megagrowth everynight and rewrap.

So I'm wondering am I doing too much? I've been CW's every other day but since I'm transitioning I wonder if I'm manipulating it too much. After I wash it I'll put it in a weave ponytail usually. I straightened it last night and now that I got it straight with my generic chi (awesome) I don't want my newgrowth to revert.

Am I doing too much with the conditioner washes. I'm thinking of going back to washing once a week. Then i've read that your scalp has to be clean for faster growth so which is it? SHould you wash often or leave it be for awhile? What do you think?

I have a friend who just wets his hair washed once or 2x a month and keeps it braided, and his hair grows fast. I have a friend who washes hers bout 1x every 2 or 3 months and hers is long and healthy. And I aint gon lie, when I left my hair in a weave for 3 months without washing, it was the healthiet it has ever been, which when I did wash it, it looked a hot mess and got tangeled underneath

 

[SignatureBeauty]

That is so true, I had been Cw everyday and I just decided to do it once a week, I think it was too much for my dry hair because it seemed to make my hair drier and besides my products was going fast so I had to slow my role because my money is short.

But since I have been washing once a week my hair is just fine and not as dry. I guess when you leave your hair alone it will grow but when you are focused on it so much you seem to never get there.

 

[Legend]

Many women I know with long, healthy hair only wash their's bi-weekly. IMO, I think washing more often is a personal choice. Unless one has a medical condition, hair will grow regardless of how often you wash it. If your hair maintenance program is good (keeping ends moisturized, protein when needed, good nutrition, etc.), then the hair growth will be maintained. I wash my hair twice a week now and it is my choice because I style my hair for work and I use styling products that can gunk up my hair after a few days; however, when my hair was at its longest (and I was a lot more low-maintenance then), I washed it only about once a month more or less.

 

[sylver2]

no manipulation.

 

[Tene]

I guess it depends on the person. Before I came to the boards my hair was dry as a desert and brittle. I would only get my hair washed when I went to get it done which was every two months. When I started washing once a week and then started doing co washes I noticed a big change in my hair.

 

[testimony777]

I think it depends on how much oil a person's scalp produces naturally and what products they use to style. It makes sense to me that a person who wears styles that require minimal styling products would not need to wash as frequently. On the other hand, if you use heavy styling products or if your scalp produces a lot of oil naturally, more frequent washes might be in order.

Ultimately I do not think there is something magical about frequently washing or not. It is about understanding your hair and scalp and knowing what is needed when.

 

[lonei]

For me, I have texlaxed hair and to wash it anymore often than every 2 weeks leads to much more hair loss due to the difficult detangling process. The least I manipulate my hair the better, I comb it very little between the 2 weeks if not at all. It's doing so well now that I think that with the right itchy scalp products, I will start washing once every 3 weeks. I am still managing to make my hair look fresh after excerising every day and not washing for 3 weeks. Each to their own.

 

[tallygirl]

I've heard some of my friends say that their hair tend to grow quite fast when it goes unmanipulated for weeks at a time. I've tried it before, and my hair did grow quite well....My problem with this regimen is the funky smell of the hair, the itching, the build up on the hair and scalp....it was just too much for me, and I have this germ phobia thing going on , so I absolutely, positively could not stick to this type of regimen....

 

[MizAvalon]

Little or no manipulation can certainly help with how much hair you retain. But washing/not washing has nothing to do with your GROWTH RATE. Human hair grows 1/2 inch per month.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but this is true for most people.

 

[Poohbear]

I discovered this concept during this month of April... daily co-washing was too much for my extremely tightly coiled fine stranded hair. Frequent washing was fine when my hair was super short... now that it's longer and kinkier, it's not such a good idea for my hair. I tried daily co-washing for 2 weeks during the beginning of this month and noticed that my hair stayed 5" since my last trim (which was at the end of March).

So I have decided to leave my hair alone too. I will be washing about once a month and only using grease in my hair to protect it from breakage. I won't be putting anything on my scalp. I'm just going to allow my natural oils to build up.

I can see how not washing often and washing often can allow the hair to grow long.... but for me, I believe not washing often will work best for my hair.
I can't wait to see results from doing so.

 

[mermaid]

I shampoo and condition every day- BUT, I don't do anything with it afterwards meaning, I only put it in a ponytail or twist into a claw or just plop on a headband- very very little manipulation.
If I go more than 2 days without washing, my scalp itches and flakes like crazy and it just feels disgusting to me. When my hair is pressed I go a few days without washing and it drives me nuts!!!

 

[1QTPie]

I agree it is because they don't manipulate it. I can't go more than 4 or 5 days without water hitting my scalp though. After a few days, my scalp itches like crazy. And since i work out, the sweat build up is not a "good look."

 

[Poohbear]

I wonder why some of you have scalp itches after a few days from not washing. My scalp doesn't itch like crazy from not washing for some reason.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I wonder why some of you have scalp itches after a few days from not washing. My scalp doesn't itch like crazy from not washing for some reason.

Mine either! Love your Hair Color by the way PB
I came to realize that no matter what expert say I have to do what works for me and daily CW was just not doing it for me. by the time I spray my scalp with my peppermint spritz my scalp feels so good and my hair does not stink at all. But like the others said it is a Personal choice.

 

[LipGlassHoney]

I wonder why some of you have scalp itches after a few days from not washing. My scalp doesn't itch like crazy from not washing for some reason.

Neither does mine! I have gone months without washing my hair and my hair didn't stink ot itch. I use products daily too.

 

[Amarech]

I think its a little bit of " a watched pot never boils" and a little bit of personal
factors as well.

It can seem as though your hair grows faster when you do less because the last time you looked or did anything to it it was shorter.

I don't think leaving it alone makes that much difference; and if you're constantly checking your hair every other day it'll seem like the length is taking forever.

 

[Crissi]

I think its a little bit of " a watched pot never boils" and a little bit of personal
factors as well.

It can seem as though your hair grows faster when you do less because the last time you looked or did anything to it it was shorter.

I don't think leaving it alone makes that much difference; and if you're constantly checking your hair every other day it'll seem like the length is taking forever.

its so true

 

[Isis]

I would so love to be able to wash less often than 2x per week and have beautiful, fresh-smelling, healthy, moisturized hair without an itchy, flakey scalp. That would sure free up a lot of time.

Maybe I need to find out why my scalp itches every 4th day. I don't use any products that build up on my hair or my scalp. Maybe it's psychological?

 

[Poohbear]

Mine either! Love your Hair Color by the way PB

Thanks, but I didn't put any color in my hair! Lol! I think the setting I had on my camera put a tint on my hair making it appear to be a brown color... My actual hair color is black (or a really really dark dark brown).

 

[CurleeDST]

Just for me, I think someone should wash their hair at least once a week. I mean your hair and scalp go everywhere your face goes so just think about it - don't wash your face for 1 month. The thought is kind of ick.

I know several people who wash their hair once a month and I also know their men and they complain b/c their hair typically smells and is flaking up.

 

[Valerie]

I guess it depends on the person. Before I came to the boards my hair was dry as a desert and brittle. I would only get my hair washed when I went to get it done which was every two months. When I started washing once a week and then started doing co washes I noticed a big change in my hair.

I'm afraid, I am one of those people who have to daily cw. I use to wash my hair every three weeks at one time, and my hair stayed the same length for ages.

 

[beyondcute]

After I get done with this prescription shampoo Im going back to once every 2 -4 weeks like I was when I was in high school. BTW when I was in high school my hair grew from shoulder to beneath bra strap in 1 year Less washing is awesome for me. All the rest of my family as well

 

[Lovelylocs]

Washing your hair more often does make your hair grow faster.

Once your scalp gets used to being washed more often it produces more oil. That's why when people wash their hair too much they will have really oily roots and really dry ends.

No offense, but washing your hair once every 2 months or so seems nasty to me. You can tell the people who do that b/c they smell a certain way. I have never met anyone with hair that is at least arm pit that follows this type of regimen. How long are you talking about?

I agree that less manipulation is definately better. You should be able to detangle your hair slowly and carefully w/o breakage. If you can't, it probably needs some treatments to get it into shape.

 

[beyondcute]

Oh yeah I forgot to add, my hair never stunk or flaked up.

 

[CurleeDST]

Ok but I dare say if someone knew their hair smelled they would do something about it.

Oh yeah I forgot to add, my hair never stunk or flaked up.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I don't believe that washing daily makes your hair grow any faster. Now this is just my opinion. I wash once a week now and that is it . some people can go for a long time not washing their hair and it don't stink. I am sure that they probably wipe their scalp off or they can use a dry shampoo or something.

To some it is GROSS and to some it WORKS!

 

[beyondcute]

Ok but I dare say if someone knew their hair smelled they would do something about it.

Of course if I KNEW it smelled I woudl do something but if I sleep beside someone everyday and they tell me the truth about everythign else, why woudl they lie when I ask about what my hair smells like? I think unless youre caking of product or sweating and workign in a dirt mine your hair shoudl not get that dirty. If it doesnt itch and it doesnt bother me or anyone around me then why mess wiht it? Its less manipulation and way less drying for my hair. If it works for someone else then wonderful but for me Im going back to it ASAP

 

[CurleeDST]

I think that hair growth rate greatly depends on health, family history, and hair profile. So what works for one won't work for all. The key is finding a regimen that works for you. Clean hair is always a good start though.

I don't believe that washing daily makes your hair grow any faster. Now this is just my opinion. I wash once a week now and that is it . some people can go for a long time not washing their hair and it don't stink. I am sure that they probably wipe their scalp off or they can use a dry shampoo or something.

To some it is GROSS and to some it WORKS!

 

[CurleeDST]

Understood but as previouly explained in my analogy - your hair goes everywhere your face goes. Run an experiment and stop washing the face for a week. Or just splash water on it in the morning for a week and go. What is the result?

When you think about the air, exhaust from cars, dust from being indoors, etc. the hair gets dirtier than one may think on a daily basis.

Of course if I KNEW it smelled I woudl do something but if I sleep beside someone everyday and they tell me the truth about everythign else, why woudl they lie when I ask about what my hair smells like? I think unless youre caking of product or sweating and workign in a dirt mine your hair shoudl not get that dirty. If it doesnt itch and it doesnt bother me or anyone around me then why mess wiht it? Its less manipulation and way less drying for my hair. If it works for someone else then wonderful but for me Im going back to it ASAP