Washing hair with just water can lead to greasy hair for some individuals, while others find their hair healthier and more manageable than ever. The key to success when trying out water-only washing is patience and persistence. Your scalp needs time to adjust to the new routine before you'll see noticeable results.
Water only hair washing doesn't provide enough moisture to replace daily styling and conditioning, so detangling and restyling without tools is virtually impossible. This could lead to dry, brittle hair. Also, the fact that there is no conditioning involved limits the amount of softness and shine that can be achieved.
Greasy hair after washing may be due to a person's hair care routine, an overproduction of sebum, environmental factors, or underlying health conditions.
Cold water closes the hair cuticles and helps reduce frizz.
As a result, your hair will feel rough and greasy, even after washing. However, water that is too cold might make your hair dull and lifeless. Cold water may affect the hair volume and make it appear flat.
Also, if you have tangle-prone hair, you can choose to clean your hair only with water and then go for a deep conditioner. Skipping shampoo will allow sebum to evenly spread over your scalp and keep your hair moisturized.
“The benefits of water-only hair washing allow your natural oils to protect, nourish and lubricate your scalp and hair rather than constantly being washed away from a traditional cleansing detergent or shampoo,” says McDaniel.
If you wash your hair too often, you can trigger an overproduction of those natural oils, creating excess sebum production, and bang—you've got greasy hair the next day, or even just hours after rinsing.
The no-poo method is a hair-cleansing technique that removes shampoo from the equation, says Geeta Yadav, MD, a dermatologist in Toronto. Instead of using shampoo, followers of the practice use alternatives such as apple cider vinegar, a cleansing conditioner, or just plain water.
How Much Should You Wash? For the average person, every other day, or every 2 to 3 days, without washing is generally fine. “There is no blanket recommendation. If hair is visibly oily, scalp is itching, or there's flaking due to dirt,” those are signs it's time to shampoo, Goh says.
"There isn't really any benefit to not using shampooing, the alternative is that your scalp continues to produce oil making your scalp and hair greasier which can lead to a breeding ground for bacteria causing scalp issues, especially dandruff.
Also, it's important to note that for some, 'hair training' can take months, and for others, it may only take a few weeks. It just totally depends on the texture and weight of your hair. For me, I would say it took ~2 months of training before I was able to confidently go so long in between washes.
Greasy hair is caused by an excess or build-up of sebum, the natural oils produced by our scalp to support our hair health. These natural oils help to support the outer layers of the hair and protect the delicate proteins inside.
This is simply due to physics: It takes much more work for scalp oils to travel down a corkscrew-shaped hair shaft or down long hair shafts. On the other hand, hair types that disperse oil more easily, such as thin hair or short hair, tend to appear greasy more easily.
5 Signs of Oily Hair & How to Identify It
The major sign of oily hair is in the appearance of your locks. If your tresses appear greasy, lank, and lifeless you are most likely suffering from oily hair. Some people may find they experience oily roots, but dry hair and damaged hair towards their tips.
Greasy Hair
We'll preface this by pointing out that oil (sebum) isn't your hair's enemy. In fact, you need a certain amount of sebum to protect your hair, give it structure, and stabilize your scalp's pH balance. But if you forgo washing your hair, excess oil can accumulate, giving you that slimy, shiny look.
This means that if people leave their hair wet after they wash it their strands are in a more fragile state and there is more potential for it to be damaged. Dr Moore recommended that when people dry their hair they should squeeze out all of the moisture with a towel first.
Lemon juice is always used to remove the greasiness off of everything. Use this natural shampoo as a degreaser and clean your hair without a shampoo. Lemon juice also helps reduce oiliness in your hair and provides volume. The astringent properties of lemons help get rid of excess dirt and oil from your scalp.
"The average individual can typically go 2 to 3 days without shampooing their hair. However, if your hair is visibly oily, you may not want to wait that long," she says. "Usually, you can go longer without washing your hair when your hair is styled up, but no one should ever go more than 14 days."
When to wash. Rossi generally tells his patients they should wash their hair once or twice per week. But if you've had chemical treatments that can make your hair drier — such as bleach, perms or relaxers — you might want to wash it less than once weekly to avoid breaking or brittle hair or split ends, he said.