The Official "Stretching Washes" Thread

[LaurelSpring]

Great idea for a thread. This is something I am working on also. I want to stretch washes to minimize damage to my hair and to attempt to cause my over oily scalp to stop producing so much oil. Plus, its just so much easier and more convenient and saves on products. I will also add that I hate having wet hair in the winter so that is also a huge reason to start stretching more now.

When my hair was shorter and layered I absolutely had to wash, blow dry and curl it before I left the house. Im so grateful those days are over!! I have noticed that using sls shampoo does cause more oil production in my hair. If I use sls my scalp is a grease ball on day two. If I dont use sls then I can go 2-3 days withouth too much problem.

At the moment I am working on stretching from every other day to twice a week. I want to do a full wash with a non sls natural alternative (DW, Shampoo bar, eggs etc.) on Sunday and then I hope to do a scalp wash on Wednesday and see how that goes. If I need to spritz my roots some in between or use cocoa powder I will do that. I am open to occasional sls to clarify if necessary.

This is the plan at the moment. I am starting to implement it now. So, we'll see how it goes!

[LaurelSpring]

I'm now at 10 days without washing and it looks like I can go on for a lot longer. (I just don't want to yet. lol )
My hair has slowly gotten used to less washing and my sebum production has slow down to the point where my hair just does not get greasy anymore. (started with WO washes and ACV rinses and cut out all SLS shampoo and it took me 6 months to get to this point)

I do however spend at least one hour a day on my hair to brush it and to massage the scalp.
Usually I start with wide brush to detangle.
Then I take a fine tooth comb and put fresh clean guaze over it until the teeth go through it.
I comb through my hair few times and then throw away the guaze.
Then I follow with BBB to make sure all the sebum is spread nicely down the hair shaft.
When I finally wash its home made shampoo: 1 Egg, 1 tsp of honey, 1 tsp of Aloa gel and few drops of oil of day mixed together until well combined ... then I add few drops of lemon juice. Once in a while I will add 1/2 tsp of gelatine powder to the mix.
Put that on my head and keep for at least half an hour then wash out with water and rise with mild ACV rinse.

I found that while conditioner is great for your hair for the first 2 to 3 days ... its not so great for stretching washes. But that just may be my hair since its really thin and fine.

If my ends get too dry (it happens sometimes) I will use a bit of emu oil of shea butter on them.
Otherwise I keep my hair up during the day ... when I feel like it. lol It usually looks good enough to be down.
And sleep with unbraided hair but on a silk scarf.

Good luck to all who wish to stretch

Thanks for your post littlenvy. We have a similar hair type and it is encouraging to know that you have accomplished this!

[mizsunshyne]

Until recently, I was stretching about 3-4 days. I'm a housewife, though, so I stay in most of the time and it doesn't really need it. Now school is in session and I'm constantly on the go, so my hair NEEDS the wash every other day. It always liked to be washed often, too, so now I only go a day or two without it.

When you first start stretching out the washes, you're going to notice your hair gets REALLY greasy. Give it time, it will stabilize and then you can figure out how far you should stretch your washes.

[morecowbell]

I would like to go longer without washing my hair. Currently, I can only go a day; for instance, I will wash my hair Tuesday, and not Wednesday, but again Thursday. I only shampoo the roots, however, I have not shampooed the length for about a week and counting . I think I will shampoo the lengths twice a month. The problem I have is that my hair gets greasy even in that second day. Part of that probably is that I apply a leave-in conditioner, but I apply very little, just enough. Soo.. I don't know XD

I had the same problem when I first started out. If you go one extra day between washes the greasies will happen, but for me they only lasted about a month. I weighed the discomfort of greasy third day hair versus the ease of only washing once a week in winter (my goal). Maybe try a dry shampoo? Tresseme Naturals makes one, it's sold at most stores (including w to the almart)

[missjessiecakes]

I am not really attempting to stretch washes completely but in the sense I am trying to stretch sulphate shampoo washes to about once a week and CO every day. My scalp gets horrifically disgusting scab type things when I go more than about 30ish hours without washing. So I am trying to see if I can maybe do CO to keep my scalp semi happy until the once a week wash.

[LadyLongLocks]

Great thread!
I have been stretching my washes for over 2 years now. I went from always 2 times a week to every 5 days and now every 6 or 7. I also cut back from shampooing 3 times to doing it once or twice(lather rinse repeat). I use dry shampoo once in a while (usually baby powder) but I hate to do that and It feels weird. It helps if I am in a pinch.
Sometimes I condition the last 18" in the winter, but I dont consider that washing since nothing touches the scalp. I like my scalp after a wash but hate the ends. When the scalp is oily my ends are good. Seems like right in the middle, say day 3, both should be good.
I am glad I only wash once a week. Much less wear and tear on my hair it seems.
I was never a daily washer. Usually twice a week was the max.

[Capybara]

Up until just over a year ago, I washed my hair almost every day. My hair didn't get greasy every day, but it just seemed to be "the accepted thing to do." I then stretched my washing to every second day, then every third day, and now I go from 3-5 days between washings (usually 4, but give or take a day depending on if I have an event to attend or something).

I'd like to stretch more - my hair sure could handle it, I have a pretty dry scalp - but I don't like how the length feels after a few days. If I want to wear my hair down, but it has asymmetrical braid/bun waves, it gets annoying. I can wear my hair down up until 4 days after a wash (have never tried to wear it down after that point ), but if I want it to look nice, I'd have to wear it down all of the days before that, or make nice waves with careful braiding/bunning. Doesn't usually happen, oh well!

The reason I'd like to stretch washing more, though, is that my scalp LOVES it. I have mild psoraisis on my scalp, and it got so irritated when I was washing every day. Now, I barely notice it's there! I'd definitely recommend stretching washes to someone who has psoraisis - couldn't hurt to try!

[Witchy]

I can and have gone more than a week without washing my hair, and it still looks, smells, and feels clean. I will usually wash not more than twice a week, because if I don't, then the rest of my body feels dirty.

Stretching washes works really well, because I have chronically dry scalp. Long stretches between washes, and especially ditching the shampoo, seems to really help my scalp retain moisture without drying to a crisp.

[tinker bug]

I used to wash my hair every other day to every day before LHC, but now I'm known to stretch it to 11 to 15+ days between washes (I'm glad I'm saying this on LHC, cause anywhere else and I'd get the EEEWW look).

For my first year or so onLHC I was WO with very minimal EVOO on my ends. when I was WO I usually went 3 days between washes.

Then the second year I finally learned how to PROPERLY CO wash (I thought it was just using conditioner on the ends and WOing the scalp), and I stretched that out to 8-ish days between washes. I would still look like a greaseball very rarely, but since my WO stint, it seems like its almost impossible for my hair to be oily without me putting oils in it.

This last year and some odd months, I've been COing, using diluted shampoo with my CO, or doing the normal S&C. I'm a whole lot more picky when it comes to greasy hair now--I can only stand it for a day maybe. So when I say 15 days between washes, its not me trying to stretch it anymore, its just the result of stretching--thats when my hair starts to get greasy.

For someone trying to stretch washes, I would reccommend using diluted shampoo (I use 1/4 suave naturals to 3/4 water) and oiling the ends ONLY

[BonnyJ]

Due to having Rheumatoid Arthritis etc. I have been forced to lengthen times between washes. I do CWC with sulfate free shampoo and lots of cones. If I am lucky I wash my hair every 2 weeks but have gone as long as 7 to 8 weeks due to surgery, flaring etc. RA has taken so much from me that I refuse to let it have my hair (as in cutting it to make it easier to care for).
I usually just do a cinamon bun with a hairstick and no one but me knows when I last washed it.
I have discovered an olive oil infused hair lotion at Walgreens that is wonderful to use on my ends.