How To Extend Your Hair Washes

I can now go four to five days without washing my hair. I usually use dry shampoo by day 4. You can achieve this too! How often you’ll need to wash your hair will greatly depend on your hair type and lifestyle needs. Additionally, washing your hair less often does not happen overnight. I also had to train my hair to be able to go a long time. I can now go 4 days before I need to start using dry shampoo. With the right kind of dry shampoo, I can stretch it another 2 days. If you are new to this journey, start by skipping an additional day for a while and slowly add additional days over time. That way you can bridge the extra days with dry shampoo or hairstyles that don’t show the oily hair. Today I am sharing my tips that I use on how to extend your hair between washes.

What are the benefits of washing your hair less often?

1. It saves you time and energy. The less often I have to wash my hair, the less often I have to dry and style my hair as well. If I can just hop into the shower and don’t wash my hair it saves a lot of time. Time I can spend on other things that give me much more joy.
2. Not only is it good for me, but it is also very good for the health of my hair. Washing and especially styling my hair less has really enhanced shine, reduced frizz, and the overall health of my hair. Research suggest, shampoos can strip your hair of necessary oils and natural defenses and conditioners can only replace so much. For some reason, I now get away with very minimal product use as well. All I have on hand are a good hair oil and dry shampoos for regular use.
3. The less often I wash my hair, the less shampoo and conditioner I use. Shampoo and conditioner are beauty items I tend to enjoy more luxurious kinds which also cost a little more than drugstore prices. With long hair, I tend to use a decent amount and bottles simply don’t last that long. The less often I wash it, the more product and money I save. This has been a nice benefit for my bank account as well.

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Let’s dive in on how to extend your hair between washes:

Finding the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair really makes a big difference. These are my favorite shampoo and conditioner and whenever I stray and try something new, I always seem to come back them. If you have not found your tried-and-true non-toxic hair products, Gurlgonegreen’s post on Best Non-Toxic & Natural Shampoo & Conditioners is very insightful. The post contains so many great recommendations for all different hair types.

Dry your roots completely with a hair dryer!

Using a soft cotton hair towel has really made a difference to the health of my hair and reduced the amount of frizz. A regular terry cloth towel can rough up the hair cuticles and cause breakage and frizz. Another option that works well are microfiber towels. I personally prefer natural fibers and I found bamboo towels to work the best.

After letting my hair dry for a little while, I use a hair dryer to dry my roots completely. I flip my head upside down, and blow dry the roots until they’re dry. I usually don’t use any hair products. If I do, I add them before I start blow drying. I find this really makes a difference in how long I can go between washes. It also reduces the amount of time it takes to style my hair as I’m reducing any weird waves and frizz. I usually let the ends air dry, unless I’m in a rush. I love putting it into a loose braid for waves, or a high ponytail. As I wash my hair at night, I apply a nourishing hair oil in the morning. This is my all-time favorite hair oil, worth every penny. It lasts me a long time as very little (I use 1 pump) goes a very long way. Make sure the oil you select is light weight and not too heavy. This keeps my ends soft and my roots less oily longer.

Your “hairstyle” while sleeping is important!

How you sleep on your hair at night is important. On nights I don’t wash my hair, I usually put my hair either in a bun (gives me nice waves), or a high ponytail. This also helps my scalp to get less oily and reduces tangles and frizz. Ideally, my hair is dry by the time I go to bed, but life happens and often the time is simply not allowing me to have completely dry hair by bedtime. So often when my hair is freshly washed, I put it into a loose braid or leave it loose if it is quite wet.

Brush the roots of your hair daily, and don’t get your hair wet!

In the morning, I brush my hair with a wooden paddle brush. This seems to allow oils from my scalp to get to the roots which has over time reduced the oiliness of my scalp.
I try to eliminate getting my roots wet as much as possible. A good shower cap that covers all of your hair, or a hair wrap that covers your hair is essential. This really is key. Every time I notice my hair getting wet more often, I tend to be able to go less long between washes. I don’t always travel with a shower cap but try to have my spa headband, as I also use it when I wash my face. If I don’t have either, a wide headband can also be a good substitution, or I wrap a towel around my head before taking a shower.
You wonder what to do when your hair does get wet? Don’t worry it’s not a problem at all. It’ll just need a little more maintenance and work. On occasions I get my hair wet, I quickly blow dry my roots. I also use this trick after working out or a hot bath etc. Once it’s dry, I touch up any styling as needed. I use the T3 convertible curling iron with the 1.25″ curling wand.

Find a good dry shampoo and use as soon as you need it!

Good dry shampoo that works for your hair type is a must. I like to use it on day 3 or 4 at night so that I wake up with refreshed hair. Finding a good dry shampoo is also a very individual choice. For my hair, I use this foam to powder dry shampoo once I feel my hair is getting greasy. As it is wet, I blow dry the roots. Then I follow-up with a powder dry shampoo once I need it. My favorite powder dry shampoos are Primally Pure’s dry shampoo for dark locks, and the dry shampoo for dark hair by Acure. Both work really well for my hair and soak up all the oil without leaving a “dandruff” feeling behind.

Only wash your hair when you need to:

As I mentioned, you can condition your hair to get oily less fast. This also works the other way. If you wash your hair before you need to, your hair will get used to producing oils much quicker. Don’t worry if you have the occasional event for which you want to wash your hair sooner. Now and again exceptions won’t ruin your progress. Just get back on your usual routine after. I have found it to be hard on vacation not to get my hair wet or gross from chlorine or the ocean. If I was in the ocean, I simply rinse with water and embrace my natural beach waves. If needed, I’ll use a leave-in conditioner. The pool makes it a little more challenging, I still rinse my hair out. Before going into the pool, I add leave in conditioner and a hair oil.