For centuries people have been washing their hair and other body parts with water only. Think about it through history. There has always been water but not always soap and or shampoo. Soap has been around, of the homemade or handmade variety, in one form or another in civilization for a much longer time. However, bathing and or shampooing have changed significantly as well.
Bathing was an infrequent occurrence from the beginning of recorded time. Many times the bathing practices were based on the geography and climate. It is mandatory to live near a fresh water source not only for bathing but also for survival. Without fresh water you die, a pretty simple reality.
Some historical facts concerning the hygienic use of water
Water was discovered and made available from digging wells, and naturally occurring through fresh water springs and of course streams, rivers and lakes. The convenience of transporting the water from the source played a significant role in the amount of water used for personal hygiene as compared for nourishment.
If you had to carry water for several yards, tens of yards, or even hundreds of yards you would be less inclined to use the water to bathe. A simple wash up with a splash here or there would be the most frequent compromise. You would be more likely to go to the source to bathe, but what if it was bone chilling cold from the winter snow melt coming down from the mountains? Not so much. This reality would limit the amount of times in a year much less a month or a week that you would bathe or wash your hair. Even when you did bathe rarely would it be with a cleaning agent such as soap.
The advancement of society over the centuries, with indoor plumbing, hot water heaters and a bathtub or shower in most every home, has obviously transformed what is an acceptable level of personal hygiene. What may have been a quarterly, monthly or even a weekly practice has evolved into an almost daily requirement for the majority of people in society. It is not a bad thing or damnation on society to bathe daily or not. It is to a degree a personal taste or desire. It often is based upon how much physical scents or a personal confidence come into play.
The reality of shampooing your hair every day isn’t pretty
The modern shampoo has been in existence and more readily available since the 1930s. Through the last eighty plus years shampoo has become one of the more advertised products in American society. The first formulas of shampoo were much more harsh on your hair. They were designed for a minimum of a once per week use. The adage of a woman refusing a date because she was washing her hair came from this era. As the chemical formulas of shampoo became gentler in the 1970s and 1980s, daily shampooing became more prevalent if not the normal expectation for many Americans.
The way that shampoo works to cleanse hair has reasonably caused a vicious cycle to occur. Shampoo cleans your hair by stripping it of the natural moisturizing oils produced by your body. Your body’s response to the removal of the oil is to produce more oil in order to replenish the hair. This leads many shampoo users to wash their hair daily to keep from having hair that appears to be very greasy or oily. Hence the vicious cycle that shampoo can cause.
There are some pretty special benefits of washing your hair with water only
You won’t have to worry about killing your hair with chemicals anymore
There isn’t a single shampoo out there that isn’t flooded with hair killing chemicals that will leave your scalp burned and your follicles dry and cracked. When you start to wash your hair with water only, you’ll be to step away from those chemicals completely.
You won’t be spending a ton of money on shampoo a year ever again
Shampoo costs anywhere between $6 and $15 (and sometimes a lot more than that), and you usually have to resupply more than 15 times a year. It adds up in a hurry – but now all of that extra money will be going right into your back pocket!
You’ll let your “real” hair finally shine
It’s impossible to know exactly what your “real” hair is supposed to look like – curly, straight, wavy, or some combination of all those textures – when you’ve been using shampoo and conditioner this whole time. Hair that’s been washed with those chemicals has been treated to relax over time, until pretty much even the bounciest hair has been beaten into submission.
When you start to wash with water, that’s no longer a problem.
Tangles will untangle themselves!
After allowing your natural oils to settle over your hair follicles, your hair is going to naturally untangle itself – and then stay untangled – with just a little bit of persuasion on your end.
… And some drawbacks, too
You’ll have to make sure that you don’t build up too much sebum along the way
The last thing that you want to do is build up too many mineral deposits in your hair when you’re using nothing more than water, so you’ll want to be careful that you’re using the softest water possible along the way.
This might require you to purchase an extra shower filter, but the benefits are significant – and you’ll begin to notice them almost immediately!
The clarification process is going to take a little bit of time
It’s going to take a little bit of time to go from chemically treated hair that’s been scrubbed with shampoo every day for years and years to completely happy and healthy hair using nothing more than water, so you’ll have to commit to the process before you jump right in.
But it’s definitely worth it!
What happens by washing hair with water only?
The practice is fairly simple. When you wash your hair, skip the shampoo and conditioner and use only hot or warm water, your preference. You still want to use your hands to scrub and help to cleanse your scalp. You also need to use your fingers to rub through your hair to free the particles and other items that always seem to be in your hair.
This is perhaps the simplest part of switching from shampoo to ‘no poo’. The process does not simply happen overnight. You cannot expect one good scrubbing and washing hair with water only to change years of your body’s response to shampoo use. It could take from two to six weeks to complete the transition from shampoo to ‘no poo’. Years of the oil replenishment cycle will take some time for your body to adjust to. In the mean time your hair might just look like poo.
Your hair could have an oily or greasy look until the adjustment occurs and you might have a more difficult time being patient as this transformation occurs. To most water only users it is ultimately worth the wait for the transition to take place, but again that is an individual preference. Most people who have made the switch from shampoo to water only seem to like the affect the change has on their hair in addition to the change in the feeling of their scalps.
The oiliness of a person’s scalp can be based upon the length of time for the transformation from shampoo to water only, but could also be dependent upon the size of an individual’s oil glands. Obviously the larger the oil glands are the more oil produced in the scalp. So generally speaking, genetics can also play a part in the amount of oil secreted through the scalp into the hair.
According to studies, scientists believe there is no reason to believe that using shampoo, even on a daily basis, is harmful to a user’s health. On the other side there is also nothing unhealthy or even gross about not using the shampoo and washing hair with water only.
It appears to be equally cleansing when washing hair with water only as compared to washing hair with shampoo, this seems to make the decision on which method to use a personal preference. It could come down to an economic decision as well. How much is spent annually on hair care products in addition to your water bill? Based on the volume of hair care product advertising in the media today it would obviously be a several billion-dollar industry in the United States alone.
Your quick guide to the cleanest hair you’ve ever had
Believe or not, there are actually a couple of pretty involved steps that you’re going to have to follow to clean your hair perfectly with nothing but water!
1 – Getting started
It all starts by letting your hair get a little bit dirtier than you’re probably used to. This is pretty simple and straightforward – all you have to do is skip washing it for a couple of days. This is going to be the standard practice from here on out, and it’s perfectly fine. It’s never going to cause your air to stink, feel funky, or look a mess after you have gone through the “washing only with water” process a couple of times.
2 – Prep time
You’re going to want to prep your hair in the shower (before turning on the water), really working to massage your scalp so that you stimulate each and every single follicle and encourage them to pump out as much extra oil as possible.
Just a couple of gentle scrubs with nothing more than your finger, really trying to “scratch every inch”, so to speak, is going to do everything you needed to as far as bringing your hair back to life is concerned.
3 – Brush it out
After that, it’s all about making sure that your hair is as untangled as it can possibly be. You aren’t going to want any clumps, any knots, or any tangles. Any obstructions like this are going to choke oil and nutrients from getting exactly where they need to get.
If you absolutely have to use help to get the tangles out, don’t be shy about using a brush (though it should be one with bristles that are pretty spread out to avoid abuse and breakage).
4 – “Greasing up”
You’ll want to slowly start at your scalp and gently use your hands to move oil down deeper along the length of your hair, gently squeezing and effortlessly distributing any and all foil you can along the way.
This is going to take a little bit of practice to really master, but once you have it the process will speed up quite a bit. It’s important that you try and move as much oil as you can to really evenly distribute everything, as this is the real secret to extra healthy hair and hair that effortlessly resists dirt, dust, debris, and dead skin cells later downline.
5 – Jumping in the shower
For a lot of people, this is their favorite part of the day, and you shouldn’t have to worry about rushing.
Top right into the shower, crank the water up just as warm as you like it, and all allow the warm water to “melt” the extra oil and distribute it effortlessly across your hair and scalp.
Give it a couple of minutes to really soak through, and then start “scrubbing” your head just like you did in step two, only pulling your fingers deeper and deeper through the hair to make sure that the oil is evenly distributed and that any excess is pulled off at the same time.
This whole process is probably going to take a 10 or 15 minutes, though you certainly can stretch it out a little bit longer than that. Just don’t use water that is too warm come or you run the risk of drying your hair too much and causing it to become damaged.
6 – Drying your hair for the day
Now that your hair is clean again, you’re going to want to be pretty gentle with how you dry it.
Wet hair is effortless to break and damage, so you’re going to want to try and shy away from using too much vigorous motion or a brush. If you do need to brush your hair while it is still wet, make sure that you’re using a comb or a brush with extra wide teeth. You don’t want to be pulling hair out or breaking it along the way.
A little bit of coconut oil scrubbed and warmed gently between your hands can then be applied to your hair (while still wet), giving each and every one of your hair follicles a big boost in the nutrient department while also helping your hair smell fantastic at the same time.
A couple of tips and tricks you’ll want to keep in your back pocket
If you’re looking for a couple of easy ways to make sure that your hair stays as healthy as humanly possible, here are a couple that you won’t want to skip!
Supplement with biotin a couple of times a week
This amazing little supplement is fantastic for helping you grow happier and healthier hair and nails, but you don’t need to flood your system with it every day. Supplement a couple of times a week and you’ll be fine.
Get a little bit of gelatin in your diet every day
Gelatin (the same stuff that helps make Jell-O possible) not only helps to create and stimulate new hair growth, but also improves the speed at which your hair grows and helps transport important nutrients along the way to your scalp and follicles as well. Get a little bit of gelatin into your daily diet and your hair will love you for it!
Make sure that you are perfectly hydrated
It should come as no surprise to anyone that we are pretty dehydrated on a regular basis. Your body isn’t going to “behave” when it’s in a state of dehydration, so try and get more water into your body whenever possible. Drink when you’re thirsty by all means, but try and shoot for at least five or six glasses.
Boost your Vitamin C levels
Vitamin C is special stop, and you’ll want to try and make sure that your body is “maxed out” in this department. Take a daily supplement, eat foods rich in the vitamin, or start pounding glass after glass of orange juice – you’ll be glad you did!
What do you think? Keep the conversation going. Please feel free to leave your comments or tell your personal story about shampoo or ‘no poo’.
I have tried going no poo a couple of times, but havent been able to succed the transition phase for more than 2 weeks. I don’t know how you managed to go around having a greasy look. I just can’t keep a normal life with a dirty look. How could i go to work, visit my relatives or having a date if my hair looks, and probably smells, bad?
If you’ve shampooed your hair all your life, then, obviously, it will be greasy again soon after you’ve washed it. The process does not simply happen overnight. It could take from two to six weeks to complete the transition from shampoo to ‘no poo’. The trick is to brush like mad and hang on to your resolve. Your boar bristle brush will be your absolute best friend during this whole process. Brushing the oils through your hair is really the only upkeep you need to do between water-washes to keep your hair looking clean and oil-free.
I think the ‘smelly hair’ concern ( as one reply here mentioned) is exaggerated……if hair is (water only) washed every second day or so, it won’t smell ( just as water only body washing will leave the skin clean, but not perfume scented from soap) …..somebody on another site mentioned they add a little essential oils to their hair if they do want a fragrence.
No, it really does end up smelling, despite a lot of claims to the contrary, and the most common remark on the “Long Hair Community” water-only hair washing super-thread is, “I’m 8 weeks in and I still can’t wear my hair down.”
everyone is different, it’s true for you about the smell, not others including myself. I learned a trick when younger from my grnadma. I never use deodorant and zero smell. But if you happened to sleep with someone who gave you armpit smell, or somehow you used their clothes or whatever happened that makes you smell, or you already usually smell and wanna get rid of deodorant, use lime. Just once. Simple.
The smell issue is real. I dare you to wash your armpits and clothes after working out with water only to see if you can beat the smell. It will still be there. The same happens with sebum. There are ways to manage the smell, though, like the one I mention in my reply above 😉
I disagree. I train hard 5 days a week and have washed with water only for several years (due to eczema flare ups from most cleaning products) and I never smell. Maybe you just have strong natural body odour? I have started the water only method for my hair in the last 2 weeks and whilst it is definitely going through the greasy phase, it doesn’t smell either.
My water only hair experience so far has been in stages (I am a bloke with shoulder length wavy blonde & very very fine hair FYI):
~After the 1st few days – mega grease & super itchy scalp.
~After first week, scalp is no longer itchy and frankly feels better than it has in years.
~End of 2nd week – hair is still greasy and feels a lot heavier than it used to, which has actually made it easier to manage. I used to have to hairspray even when tied up to stop flyaways getting in my face; not anymore.
~It seems like its less greasy than it did at the start.
I am trying water only because I am A) a cheap skate B) lazy & C) dont like chemicals. The lazyness means I have not been doing anything in the post above. To me water only should be quicker than faffing around with shampoo. I shower and ‘wash’ my hair daily and all that to do every time I shower would take too long.
I know. It’s terrible. I’ve been no poo for 6 weeks and my scalp hasn’t fully adjusted, but I can feel a difference already, my hair is a little less oily. To manage the smell (because it is, indeed, real) I prepare some strong tea– peppermint is my favourite–and I use this to rinse after washing with baking soda or water only. It really helps! As dry shampoo, I discovered cinnamon. You can add cornstarch, but ground cinnamon alone works great and keeps the smell away! It is also a natural fungicide and bactericide.
Great to hear that Liana, thanks for joining the discussion. Can I ask what type of hair and length you have? I am doing some more in-depth research is this method is also good for very long or curly hair due to brushing.
Hello, Maja.
I have light brown, long, wavy/curly hair. My hair is quite thin, so when I used to shampoo practically on a daily basis, it would look oily by day 2, but now it looks quite good and my waves are still there, even after brushing with dry shampoo.
Waw great to hear that Liana, I was very concerned if this method ruins curly hair, I am glad to hear it works for you.
I have been doing water only for about 6 weeks – I tried using the baking soda and cider vinegar thing once cause I had an important work meeting, it defo made it cleaner but dried my hair out no end & I felt like I had set myself back – since then, water only. I am losing faith and my resolve! I wash with water only I brush with wooden brush and Boar bristle brush. It NEVER feels clean – when I wash its just heavy and waxy & tangly and like there is noooo point even attempting to brush it / dry it straight after so I scrunch it and let it air dry curly – it looks pretty fab the first day with big curls but it feels uncomfortably heavy & waxy, by the second day the curls have fallen out – so I will brush it and scritch and preen like your supposed to, and my hair is wavy but lank and dull – greasy but with dry ends. By the third day my hair has to be put up, it has white dots and itches like mad – I never had a dandruff or itchy problem until I went water only! My boyfriend can not stand the greasy feel of it or the musty hair smell. The ends are sooo dry that they are splitting. I put up with this for 5 days before starting the cylce again – but does it ever get better than this?? Will it always smell – does it ever feel as nice to wash – will the texture of my hair ever be as if I had washed it with shampoo and conditioner? Or is the best I can hope for is 1 day of waxy curls and 4 days of greasey dry lank smelly combo.
I haven’t heard of many people with very curly hair who found the no-poo method a good routine. We use too many stylers for water to really cleanse our hair, and the friction without a protective oil or cream can be damaging. It works better (so I hear) for folks with straight hair as brushing curly hair is damaging. But if you still want to try it wash your hair more often. The begining is very hard and is normal to wash hair with water also every second day not on 5 days.
For anyone reading this with the same problem – I had the same experience after around 6 weeks. I stuck it out and it DID get better, keep washing with water, keep brushing with boar bristle brush.
I then invested in a shower filter (hard water area) which made an instant difference to the waxy weight of my hair.
After about 6 months I started using apple cider vinegar around once a week to help with the build up of sebum (probably because the shower filter had stopped working) and this also made an immediate difference. My hair felt softer and more like normal but I found that I was needing to use it more frequently as time went on.
Then I went on holiday to an area with soft water and could not believe the instant difference in my hair from using water only every day.
I have stopped using shampoo 16 months ago, about 4 weeks ago I still wasn’t entirely happy with how my hair felt and looked (although not bad enough to go back to shampooing) I bought a Sainsbury’s basics 2 ltr bottle of water, ‘clarified’ my hair with an ACV wash, rinsed with the bottled water and was instantly delighted with the change. I’ve done ACV once per week since using a smaller ratio each week, and washed with bottled water each day. I’m finding my hair looks sooooo much better, feels sooo much better and this is the first time I’ve actually been happy with it. 4 weeks in I am only using about 200ml bottled water to since each day and I give it a little scrub too. It was all the yuck in the hard water that was clinging to my hair and making it look oily. I also found the maintenance of this with just the brushing too time consuming which didn’t help with the build up of yuck in my hair.
My tips would be keep going and trying new things until you find something that works for you and if you are struggling with sebum and ‘dust’ in your hair after a few months look to the water you are using.
My thing now that I feel I can wear my hair down easily is working out how to style and deal with my crown cowlick without using straighteners or products. Any advice?
Thanks Natalie for sharing your story, I hope many will read this and continue with the noo poo method. I wrote a few methods how to straighten your hair without heat here: https://www.shampootruth.com/how-to-straighten-your-hair-without-heat/
Hi there. I am wondering if you are still using water only? If so did your hair sort itself out in the end? I am having a similar experience and have been using water only for 9 months. I’m at my wits’ end!
PS I am thinking about getting a shower filter installed. It’s my last hope.
Hi Quinnie, if you live in a zone with hard water, installing a filter would be a great idea. Read Natalie`s experience above, and report if using a filter worked for you too. Thanks
I’ve been doing only water for years now, and shampoo only every now and then. Didn’t know it was a method. My hair isn’t greasy or smelly either. I think I started doing it as a kid after I realized how poofy my hair was getting using shampoo.
Hi Philip, it`s great to hear it works for you. Thanks for sharing your story.
Obviously no one is lying on this thread; they are all just experiencing different effects from the transition. I started spacing out the time in between washing my hair over 2 years ago. Now I condition about 1x per month, Water Only Wash about 2x per week and scritch/preen/brush as often as possible (like mention, preferable daily). It was a long process but I didn’t think much of it because I just shampooed as needed… keeping in mind I was eventually going to stop using shampoo all together.
I think this is the process everyone should use; it works for everyone (obviously harder with long and/or curly hard [mine was short during the start, getting long now]) and your hair slowly adapts to the fact that you likely shampooed your hair every day of your life.
When you begin, go as long as you can or feel comfortable going before shampooing again. Say that is only 2 days, that’s fine. Next time, shoot for 3 or 4 days or again, as long as you can go. Really try to go longer and longer without shampooing each time although sometimes this can be hard (also, i was not exercising or really sweating much this whole time, but that could be why I didn’t experience the smell issues some people mention).
I think it is unrealistic to think people are going to achieve the Water Only look in 4 – 6 weeks; while some may experience a quick transformation like that, everyone I’ve convinced to go Water Only has not succeeded because of the greasy look. Instead of giving up completely, just try to go longer the next time you need to wash. I didn’t keep a calendar or write anything down, I just tried to remember roughly the last time I washed.
The one and only issue I had was the excess sebum accumulation that I thought was dandruff and then dry scalp but it was neither. I believe this was from not boar brushing, scitching, preening and warm Water Only Washing enough. Now that I do that more it has gone away.
For those genuinely wanting to commit to Water Only Washing, tell yourself it is going to take you 8 – 12 months to transition. It could likely take less time, doubtfully take more time and you won’t be disappointed when you still need to wash your hair every 2 days or every 2 weeks or every 2 months as you transition.
Lastly, for those days you do wash your hair with shampoo (try for an all natural shampoo) I recommend using a oil in your hair after getting out of the shower. This will replace the oils that you just stripped from your hair as your scalp begins making less and less sebum because you are shampooing so infrequently. Remember, little sebum (hair grease) production is normal and what we’re going for. When you shampoo your hair every day, you scalp adapts to produce more and more and more, making ‘quitting’ shampoo near impossible (or as hard as the above states)
As you likely know, once the transition is over, you’ll have naturally looking, shiny, hair that isn’t flat and styles with ease. Good luck, hope this helps!
One thing I know little about in regard to Water Only is hair types and honestly, hair lengths. I have little idea how longer hair or curlier hair differs from my thick, brown and once short hair. Either way, give it a try. Adaptation is a natural process and just like your hair became dependent to shampoo, it almost always should be able to go back.
Thank you very much Ryan for sharing your story. Yes I agree, it`s hard to give people an estimate time, transition time is different for everyone. And as all things in life, if you don`t try, don`t work hard and you are not focused, of course it will not work.
I have been washing mt hair once a week for years. It cut down on my oils. Then a few months ago I went to Cowashing(washing with conditioner) once a week. I just did my first water wash a few days ago. I also used vinegar(1 part vinegar 5 part water.) As a rinse and my hair looks grate.
I have been using Wen to wash my hair for the last two years and only need to wash my hair every 5 days. I recently switched to the Water Only and thought I had a great head start, but the waxy feeling in my hair is really concerning. Its not right at the root, but a little lower and then down to just above my shoulders (my hair is a few inches longer than that). I tried doing an ACV rinse and then a couple applesauce rinses (based on another site’s recommendation) but it did not do enough to decrease the waxiness and left my ends dry. Any advice?
I am starting no water but my only concern is how to clean my hair if I go swimming or if I go to the beach
Chlorine, salt and sun can really do a number on our lovely hair—stripping the color, drying it out and leaving it knotted and snarly. Unless you’re cool with plunking a rubber swimming cap on your head, make a big hair bun on top of your head. Just don`t let the salt water in your hair. And wash your hair with water when you`re home.
When I go to the beach I rinse off in the showers there, then shower more thoroughly once I’m home. I use just water each time and haven’t noticed any damage from salt/sun, although I’m not at the beach regularly. No experience with chlorine yet. I have taken Maja’s advice wrt using a natural bristle brush. I brush my (dry) hair thoroughly with it before showering, and it makes my hair silkier and more moisturized. Perhaps this would help with chlorine-damaged hair?
When I go to the beach I rinse off in the showers there, then shower more thoroughly once I’m home. I use just water each time and haven’t noticed any damage from salt/sun, although I’m not at the beach regularly. No experience with chlorine yet. I have taken Maja’s advice wrt using a natural bristle brush. I brush my (dry) hair thoroughly with it before showering, and it makes my hair silkier and more moisturized. Perhaps this would help with chlorine-damaged hair? The oils seem to protect it better from damage.
Good grief! The typos are crazy..
I’m thinking of starting to join “water only” club. I need some answers to my queries.
1.I daily use coconut oil after taking a bath. If i have to wash my hair using water only the next day, how is it going to clear the oil in my head. I mean should i have to start oiling my hair only once/week?.
2. Is it a good idea to shave my entire head and then start water only practice?. So that i will escape from smelly issue?
3.Is it a good idea to oil hair daily?
Thanks
Hi Anil, once you start with water only hair wash will be hard and your hair will be more oily in the transition period. So it`s still good to use coconut oil, but more on the roots of your hair. And you don`t need to shave your head to start, but if you feel that this will be like a totally new begining and you will better stick to this new lifestyle, than do it, it`s totally up to you.
I’ve been washing my hair with just water for around a month now. I have washed my face with just cold water (and a wash cloth) for 4 years now due to acne, with excellent results, so I decided to try it on hair too. I used to have dyed/bleached hair, and at that time I would shampoo and condition it every day with high quality salon products. Since returning to my natural colour, I eventually switched to VS Sasson, which works well, but is quite drying, so I would only wash it every other day (no conditioner). I live in a very humid climate and have straight fine hair, so usually on the second day I would put my hair up, because although it felt too dry to wash, it was a bit too greasy to leave down.
After switching to water, I got a few pimples on my scalp during the first week as my skin adjusted, and my hair felt heavier and took longer to air dry than with shampoo.
Now, my hair dries faster and doesn’t feel as heavy. I’ve been washing it every day, as I find the oils accumulate by the second day. For me, my hair never really LOOKED bad as I was adjusting, but it felt different both in and out of the shower- less slippery and smooth. In the shower there was more friction between my fingers and hair which felt weird at first. I had to fiddle around with the best way to wash it. For me, I use cool water and let the water stream through my hair as I massage my whole scalp. Afterwards, I let the water stream over the back of my head, as I find there are more oils there that need washing away.
To me, the only drawback to this method is that it takes twice as long to shower, and more water. However, I like the freedom from products, and the feeling of getting back to my roots (pardon the pun). It’s liberating to feel that my hair can be fine on its own.
For those wondering about smell, I have never had any problems, although by the second day I get a light stale grease smell (hence why I wash it every day), perhaps this will change after a longer time with this method.
Thank you for sharing your story Kat, I hope many will read your comment and try out themselves.
Stopped using shampoo because it made my hair frizzy as fuck. Using a comb was no option because I’d tear 20 hairs out with each stroke.
Im doing pretty much the same you described though I use cold water exclusively. Still works great!
Thanks for the post Maja! I hope water-only washings will become the norm in the future once again.
Thanks for the feedback Ilija. I finish washing hair with cold water too, gives them an additional shine.
Do you repeat the “Your quick guide to the cleanest hair you’ve ever had” method everytime you wash your hair?
Yes, this is a standard practice, but becomes easier/faster after a couple of time you try. You hair get less greasy once you get used to only water.
Hi! I have a week sice i’m using this method. It’s wonderful! Although I have my hair and face extremely oily. with this method the hair no longer have so much sebum and is even ok with just whashing with water. I have curly hair and curls are the best ever, and volume what can i say, great. But though I washed with cold water and hot water alternative, lots and lots of water after it dries, my hair like it’s full of dust, particles that can see in light, I have black hair. It is not dandruff. I do not know what it could be. It happened to someone ? Any suggestions? Thank you!
Trapped particles of dust and dirt can be removed to some extent by washing with water. To further clean the hair, a boar bristle brush can be used to brush the dirt right out. How is your brushing working since you have curls?
Thanks for the reply. I thought so that through brushing i am going to rid of those dust particles. I had a brush with bristles but it was not very helpful. I bought one that has the wire bristles . I find it more useful. Tomorrow i going wash my hair and i am going totell you. Regarding my curls, They can be repaired if i splash the hair with some water. .Sorry, my english is not so good. Have a great day.
Great thanks, keep me updated on your progress.
Oh my gosh—I have been looking for someone to explain this! I have been having the same problem!!! I had some success with water washing until I got what looked like dandruff and immediately resorted to shampoo. This makes me think I just got lazy about brushing … which I know I did once my hair started looking good. Thank you for this answer!!! ! I am going to try this again and try to be better about using my bristle brush regularly.
I have a question for anyone who has an answer. I have spent the last two years attempting to cut down on oil by stretching my washes. I realize now that I was seeing little progress because even though I stretched 4,5,6 and sometimes even seven days, I was still stripping my hair with the regular shampoo on that seventh day and using a heavy and damaging dry shampoo from day three until I washed again. There really has been very little progress. It has been frustrating because I have been stretching for so long but yet 60% of my life I feel disgusting. My question is this. I’m inclined at this point to go cold turkey… Go straight for the water and embrace hats and whatever else I need to do to get me through. Here’s the question I keep coming back to though. I wash my hair with water… Do all the stuff they tell you to do in every article from the prepping, the preening to the boars brush etc. etc. I get out of the shower and it almost feels greasier than when I went in. Fast forward for five days… I wash with water, And I mean hot water… Scrubbing the tarnation out of my scalp… Attempting to free my long strands of all of the build up and dirt… And still I get out and feel even greasier. If I were to do this for a full month… Are you telling me that the oil eventually starts breaking up? I understand that my scalp will slow down and produce less oil, But what gets the ridiculous oil that has been caked in my scalp for the last month finally out? What Gets it clean again if every time I wash with hot water I get out of the shower and it is still super greasy? My daughters have gorgeous longhair and I have already started them on strictly water washing in my attempt to keep their hair from starting down and oily road which will inevitably happen in their early teen years. In turn they wash with water and jump out smelling clean and their hair looking great because it does not yet produce oil. If I embrace this thing and can literally go six weeks and do very little water washing, how does it start finally looking clean? Does that make sense?
hi, is this method recommendable for people who has dandruff?I try it and dandruff doesn’t seems to appear much than those shampoo that contains sodium Laureh sulfate, I tried this method since I saw your post for the first time . btw my aunt said to me that it is bad for you for not washing your hair with shampoo and it seems greasy which i dont really agree after seeing your post, and keeps on annoying me for good for this, she doesn’t seem to be consenting with my method ,do you have any suggestion overall for my dandruff issue or so ?