Things to Consider When Determining How Often to Wash Your Hair

It can be hard not to give into the burning desire to wash your hair every day (who doesn’t love feeling fresh all the time?), but studies show that washing your hair too often can actually do more harm than good. Some may find that frequent washes work well for them, while others may notice issues such as hair loss and dry hair become bigger problems with more frequent shampoo treatments. How often you wash your hair is based on a few things that we discuss below:

First Off, Do You Color Your Hair?

Hair color can be a huge determining factor when figuring out how often your hair needs to be washed, and even more so if you color your hair. The ingredients in most shampoos, such as sulfates, will strip the hair of artificial color over time and even cause damage to your ends. If your goal is to preserve the beautiful hues your colorist worked so hard to achieve looking vibrant for longer, shampoo is not your friend. However, there are special shampoos that will help preserve your hair color as long as possible once you inevitably do have to wash your hair, and you can find guides for those products online.

As for how often you should wash color-treated hair, though, that’s up to you. Most colorists highly recommend that you wash your hair once every two to three days if it’s been treated with dye. If your hair isn’t prone to grease and you’ve found a killer dry shampoo, though, feel free to push that number to every three or four days. Just a heads up; water will also fade hair color, so keep that in mind when avoiding shampoo sessions during your daily shower.

What Color Is Your Hair Naturally?

Blondes may be able to get away with washing their hair more frequently than brunettes, according to expert hairdressers. The pigments in brunette hair are prone to fading when washed too often, so the ideal amount of washes per week should exceed no more than two times. To avoid being stuck with mousy, dull locks, try avoiding the shampoo bottle a little more often than usual and see what happens to your hair over time.

For anyone, even those with an active lifestyle, try incorporating dry shampoo into your routine more often. Getting used to feeling like your hair is a little bit greasier than usual may be uncomfortable at first, but eventually, your hair will adjust, and it will start to feel normal. While brunettes are prone to pigment loss with frequent shampooing, blondes can be prone to dry hair and breakage in the same way. Natural blondes tend to have finer hair, which can become dry easily with improper care.

Texture Is Everything

Because of its tight, coiled texture, black hair is often considered some of the hardest hair to keep healthy as it’s so easily prone to dryness and breakage. The most important thing to consider when taking care of natural hair is making sure you’re keeping it properly moisturized. In order to keep it moisturized using your scalp’s natural oils you may want to consider shampooing less often and using conditioner on the ends each time you shower. Those with this hair-type should seriously consider washing with shampoo only once per week, focusing on keeping the shampoo only near the root. Moisturizing shampoos and leave-in conditioner will also be your best friend in keeping your hair moisturized and healthy looking. 

Similarly, those with thicker, curly tresses are going to want to focus heavily on moisturizing products rather than a deeply cleansing shampoo. Even then, you may want to consider only shampooing once or twice a week to preserve each strand of hair, as curly hair is prone to not being exposed to the hairs natural oils as easily as straight hair is. The best way to determine what works for you is to experiment with different products until you find something your hair responds well to. If you don’t like the look or texture of your hair while using one product, try another until you find something to keep your curls looking beautiful and healthy.

Do You Hit the Gym a Lot?

So, you’ve figured out how often you should wash your hair based on its color and type, but now you’re faced with one important, glaring issue—you work out almost every day. What you’re going to want to do with your hair is going to depend greatly on the type of exercise you’re doing. For example, you may just want to feel refreshed after a yoga class—in this case, a quick rinse in the shower should do you just fine.

However, for more extreme sweat-sessions such as boot camp or cross-fit (or simply if you’re a sweater), you may feel like water doesn’t exactly do the trick. In most cases, dry shampoo is going to be your best friend here. A good dry shampoo will absorb the excess oils in your hair without leaving your hair looking dusty. While brushing through your dried hair (emphasis on dry here, let the sweat settle), lift the tresses and spray toward the root a few inches away from the scalp. This will keep your hair looking and smelling clean until you can wash it.

Again, those with thicker, curly hair are going to want to pay special attention to their tresses when working out often. Balancing less washing with your usual amount of sweating (or more, if you’re beginning to get into fitness) will seem tough at first, but eventually, you’ll get the hang of it. Those with harder to maintain hair textures will find that using a sweatband or hair-wrap will help greatly, just make sure you keep it on throughout your entire workout and then until your hair dries. Using a blow-dryer to rid your hair of sweat will also help keep your hair from needing a wash after a workout.

Finding Your Perfect Routine

Aiming for every two to three days is a good rule of thumb for how often you should wash your hair, but every other day is a good way to get into the habit of washing your hair less if you’re a culprit of over washing. There are a lot of benefits in washing your hair less often, allowing the natural oils your scalp produces to do what they’re intended to do—hydrate and mend your dried hair. Over washing can lead to dull, dry, brittle hair that often sees breakage and damage—not to mention hair loss.