No {sham}poo. Has any one else tried it?

Tried it with my then teenage daughters many, many moons ago in the summer holidays as they’d read that washing hair made it more greasy and they were at that age - greasy locks and spots. We managed for four weeks. It didn’t stop greasy hair and styling was out. We gave up.

Why don’t you want to wash your hair?

No I haven’t and I wouldn’t! We live in a village with tractors flying by spreading dust wherever they go so my hair would be dirty not just greasy.

NfkDumpling, I decided to try the experiment after reading one woman's experience. It's interesting that shampoo ads talk about 'healthy-looking hair' - as if it only looks healthy. I'm also conscious of saving money on shampoo, cutting down on plastic containers, sending less foam down the drain. I'm brushing my hair more often, and it does seem to be easier to style. The shower cubicle is easier to keep spotless. It's just an experiment that I thought was worth giving a go!

I've heard of the no shampoo theory and have read about several people who have put it to the test. Allegedly if you can keep it going, for, I believe a few months, the hair is supposed to feel wonderful cleansed of all chemicals, and hard to believe, apparently no longer feels dirty. Don't know if any of those who followed such a regime carried on with their non washing for the foreseeable future. After a couple of days I feel a great need to wash my hair so can't imagine I could ever follow such a regime and in any case I colour mine as well so it would still have to be shampooed at such a stage. However, I guess if one were to step back in history there would have been very little hair washing going on.

Good luck with it OP.

Daisyanswerdo Do you have some kind of difficulty in managing to wash your hair (a disability or mobility problem perhaps)?

I wash mine every day. The thought of leaving it for even 3 days wouldn't appeal to me - sweat, pollution, cooking smells, would bother me.

I have a friend that did it for quite some time. Apparently the condition really improved. I think two weeks is the longest I’ve ever gone.

I “Wash” my hair in the shower most morning , but I don’t use shampoo or soap just warm water , it looks ok and I’m told it doesn’t smell

Hair may look good with not washing but what about the smell, you would not be able to smell it yourself.

Believe me , my lot would soon tell me if I smell !

I wash my hair everyday with the cheapest shampoo I can buy and my hairdresser always tells me what good condition my hair is in but I ve never coloured or bleached it so it should be
I couldn’t not wash my hair it would be a horrible feeling for me personally and yes I be concerned it would smell greasy I just would t like to not wash it

I think the idea is to just not use shampoo, but wash it with plain water, that would get rid of cooking smells.
When I was small my aunty use to tell me to brush my hair 100 times at bedtime. That way the oils would be brushed along the length of the hair to protect it.

Would you not clean your face for however long? Or your body?

So why would you scalp be any different? It's skin, after all.

Ok, try just using water, but surely don't just leave it unwashed!

I couldn’t contemplate not washing my hair. I do it every morning in the shower. Even if I know I’m going to be home all day and not be seen by another person.

During the past 3 months I did on one day decided not to get dressed or showered. I had a wash and stayed in pjs and dressing gown for the day.

By evening I felt thoroughly miserable and had a shower and hair wash after dinner.

I wash my hair every 2 or 3 days. I couldn’t bear not to. My scalp gets so itchy and uncomfortable.

My skin is now very dry. I think it used up all the oil allowance is my first 50 years. The doctor advised only showering once a week, I compromise with every four or maybe five days. My skin has definitely improved, and my hair also. But my hair looks suddenly awful after five days.

(I should add I do wash every day - just not all over, if you get my meaning!)

I don’t use shampoo and only co-wash once a week. My hair can go about 10 days before it starts to look in need of a wash. If you gradually extend the gap between washes, your scalp adjusts. It took me about a month to go from daily washing to weekly washing. When I used shampoo and washed more often, I had itchy, flaky skin on my head and perpetual mild dandruff. Now I have no dandruff, and strong, glossy hair (though the colour of a Brillo pad, alas!).

I always remember years ago, Bob Geldolf saying he followed this practice. Saw him on t.v. recently, he was not an advert for this method!

No, PinkCakes, no disability or mobility problems - thanks for asking. I think everyone who's tried this says it is difficult for the first 3 or 4 weeks but if you can stand it, the scalp then starts to adjust, as geekesse says. I do run hot water through it of course, and as it happens, I finish my shower with cold water, but I expect this will only convince everyone that I'm some kind of freak. It might affect my hair - I don't know. My hair today feels soft, not greasy, looks good and as for whether it smells - I live alone so can't be sure, but it's ok for me to live with! It's much less itchy than it used to be, that's certain.

I have very dry flyaway grey hair which I used to wash every other day. I once tried wetting hair, conditioning, leaving on and then rinsing off and shampooing. Apparently most people never rinse their conditioner out thoroughly enough. It was okay, but after I while, I felt my hair got ever drier. However, since lockdown and all the articles about not washing it as often, I've taken to washing it every 5 days. I must admit, it's not as flyaway, doesn't smell and feels nicer. It's also a lot quicker in the shower. I suppose not having greasy hair makes a huge difference. My OH has greasy hair and if he doesn't wash it for a few days, it smells horrible.

I have psoriasis on my scalp (and everywhere else), so not washing isn't an option but I use olive oil soap which is just that, solidified olive oil only, used across the Middle East and Mediterranean. There are many eco-soaps around but most still contain lye - this doesn't.

I tried it not so long ago and I wen on for about 3 weeks. I was fine as I usually wear a bun or a braid and for me it looked okay. Then one day my DGD sent me a bunch of my pictures, they were heavily edited and I had longish and bushy red hair. I asked her about it and she laughed, telling me that she just tries photo editing in some program she read about and she decided to practice on me because my hair looked so sleek and even flat that she "didn't have to ask me to put them under the bandana to make her practice possible". After that I gave up ditching washing, haha!
So yeah, my results of that look like this: my hair looked flat, I read the article my DGD told me about, I tried to learn this program. Not exactly the result I wanted, but still alright . I was a little bit offended that she tried to make be look better, because that means I look really bad .

Anyone remember that tv series 'Living in the past'? The participants used mud to cleanse their hair. They said it was messy but left their hair in wonderful condition.