My brother used to be a part of the "No Poo" movement. Stupid hippies.

I imagine you'd have to "ween" your self off of shampoo, as going from 7 times a week to 3 all of a sudden will still have your glands "working over time" until they adapt.

There is a reason hippies are generally referred to as "filthy, dirty hippies".

Something I've heard of is shampoo and hair loss has to do with how most shampoos containing sodium lauryl sulfate. This is something added to shampoos that make lather and bubbles.

I have superfine hair so if I go a day without washing it's very noticeable. I'd love to wash less but while that may have flow when I worked for Wild Oats it really doesn't fly in the office enviroment

lots of hair posts on consumerist lately

i wash my hair about 2-3 times a week, and here everyone thought i had bad hygiene. :333

@imperialist: now that I think about it I lose siginificantly less hair now that I use SLS free shampoo

i wash my hair only every 4 days or more. it's very short though, don't know if that makes a difference. i do rinse very well and scrub with plain water at every shower.

if you're looking to make the transition from shampooing every day to every other or even less frequently, invest in some dry shampoo, or if you're blond, you can just use talc or baby powder. if you have dark hair, make sure to get some formulated for dark hair. i know this from experience. bumble & bumble makes one, but it's around $30. folica.com and drugstore.com both sell several brands that are far cheaper.

just a little sprinkled on your head and brushed through the hair will soak up the oil on the shaft, making your hair look less gross but still allowing your scalp to produce oil.

this trick also cuts down on styling time, allowing much needed sleep in time for those of us who are night owls.

How about shampooing and using conditioner!

Have they actually tested that in a clinical setting, or is it an assumption? I'm curious.

How do the glands "know" that you've washed the oil away? Do they have little sensors that keep track of oil they've emitted, and see if it's still in your hair and on your scalp? Wouldn't they just consistently produce the same amount of oil day after day?

I just don't know about this. My hubby has really oily hair. If he goes more than a day without washing his hair it stinks like hell. Like HELL. It's not just oil, but bacteria that live in the oil that make a funk. If he started washing his hair only a couple times a week, I'd have to divorce. Seriously, I've never met anyone with oily hair like his. No way he could go more than a day. It's so bad that his pillow smells. Even after washing the pillowcases, I must have my OWN pillowcase back. His still has a faint oily head smell to it. It skeeves me out.

I think it's genetic, because my mother-in-law has nasty oily hair as well. Even in an advance age, when old people are supposed to have dry skin and hair. It's gross and smells like hell. Now in the nursing home, her hair gets washed once a week, and I will tell you it has NOT leveled off her production of oil like this article says it will! Even after two years in the nursing home!

My hair and scalp is dry. However, I start to get a funky smell after a day or two. So I wash my hair every other day. It's long and curly and a pain to wash, so every other day works for me. But I can't go longer than that. If I do, my husband says "Ewww, you smell like day-old-wife."

I do it daily (mild shampoo, tho) b/c I play sports often, especially swimming. And condition because, hey, I'm a California male (fill in whatever stereotypes you must).
Between the two, I'd be hard-struck to not wash daily, I think. Suggestions?

I've always wondered this: how do people with hair weaves approach the follicle hygiene thing? I'd think shampooing with a weave would be a no-no, but the idea of that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

@Imperialist: It's also in most toothpastes. Can cause Canker sores.

@Trai_Dep

See above post about dry shampoo...that's how you take care of a weave too. You can wash sewn in extensions, but not terribly often.

And all this time I thought I was not shampooing just because I was a cheapass...

@Julia789: The same is true of a dog. Washing a dog washes away their natural oils and yes, the body can sense this. That causes the dog's skin to start producing those oils giving you the "wet dog" smell. My dogs get bathed only when they've been rolling in mud and they always smell great (well aside from if they've been eating poo).

I wash my hair every 2-3 days, when it starts to be noticeably oily. It doesn't stink, but it looks greasy.

The problem with this is just based on personal experience, everybody is different and everybody's hair reacts differently. Factors like length, thickness and behavior (wavy, straight or curly)..it makes me very skeptical, or atleast super curious to how they came to this conclusion, and the specifics of how it was tested.

There's also one more thing, what about your life? Do you spend most of days indoors, owrking light in controlled climates,or are you outside, in the wind, heat, cold, whatever. I'm in the latter, and I know from experience I can't go a day without feeling dirty and my hair being oily, not matter what I do to my hair or much or little it's handled.

My hair is curly and dyed, so it reacts very well to minimal shampooing. (And I'm not even a dirty hippie, promise!)

I used to shampoo regularly, but I would have to use so many other products to overcompensate for the side-effects that it got ridiculous. Two hours a night, hundreds of dollars of products, and the only thing I had to show for it was dull, oily hair that was weighed down by all the chemicals. I shampoo 2-4 times a week now and use a leave-in conditioner, nothing more. My hair actually looks healthier and cleaner. As an added bonus, I can now use semi-permanent hair dye instead of permanent. Maybe it's not for everyone's tastes or hair type, but I'm really glad I decided to stop shampooing so much.

Perhaps it's OK to simply rinse your hair every other day, then shampoo on the others?

My nephew's girlfriend went to Aveda cosmotology school. The first week of school they were told to wash their hair every other day (maximum). She passed this info on to all of the ladies in her life.

It took about 5 weeks or so for my scalp to adjust. In that time I looked a little greasy. But now my hair is a lot more healthy. I color it every 5 weeks and I really notice a difference- much less dry.

Part of the problem with shampoo isn't so much the frequency, but the volume of shampoo used. You REALLY only need about the size of a dime, if not less, of shampoo to successfully wash your hair.

You really only need to wash your scalp, as well, not quite so much the "rest" of the hair, as nine times out of ten, the act of rinsing the shampoo will clean the length of the hair.

Obvious exceptions to above rule include if you've done something excessively sweaty or managed to get dirt in the length.

As a few have pointed out, this doesn't mean don't rinse your hair with water while you shower - just don't use shampoo every time.

I read an article last year in a British paper about this - they challenged people to go 6 weeks without shampooing. Everyone's hair was more oily at first and some had itchy heads, but after a couple of weeks, the people with normal to dry hair, especially shorter hair, said that their hair became soft and silky, but not greasy.

I use a good shampoo & conditioner (Matrix Biolage Hydrating Shampoo and Finishing Rinse), though, and they actually help my hair be less dry, especially the ends. I love the way my hair smells with the products I use, too. Even my hair stylist has commented on how good it smells when he cuts it.

yeah, I'm going to continue to wash my hair everyday

Shampoo?
I just use regular soap!

I've also read (from a dermatologist and an aesthetician) that we wash our faces too often, with soap or other cleaning agents. I try to only use (mild) soap -- Dove, Pears -- once a day on my face, and just use tepid water and maybe some witch hazel to clean any grime off the other time.

+1 for the dry shampoo. My stylist (also Aveda trained) got me hooked on the TIGI Rockaholic dry shampoo. Works well on my very fine hair, and no one knows the difference.

@edwardso: I also have very fine hair, and it's very noticeable if I don't shampoo every day. I once went to the barber's before washing my hair, and he told me it was time to change the oil in my hair. My hair is thinner than it used to be, but there is not sign of baldness, and I'm 66.

An employee of mine never used shampoo. He only rinsed his hair with hot water in the shower, he had awesome looking shiny hair and it never appeared greasy or smelly. He also had a shorter hair style so maybe that helped.

I can go, at MOST 3 days. I have long curly hair that I usually straighten and can go 3 days then, but usually wet and blow dry my scalp on day 3. If I leave it curly, I have to wash it everyday because I tend to use more hairspray and hair products to keep it not frizzy.
The 3 day non washing usually happens out of laziness of running late. If I had time, I would wash it everday because it always looks best on the first day of washing and blowdrying and straightening.

Been doing this for many years, and I might add, IT-Chich has amazing hair. =)

@edwardso: Same here. My hair is so fine that it is an absolute mess when I wake up in the morning. The only way to deal with it is to wash it. If I take a shower and only wet it down then it looks lousy. When it dries it still looks matted down. The only way to make it look decent is to shampoo it.

I am also amazing at spelling my own user name wrong.
^ ^

@WEGGLES90: Yep. It's kind of gross at first but worth it in the end. Too much shampoo/conditioner is bad for your hair and can lead to buildup on the hair. When I was dying my hair all sorts of weird colors, I cut back to shampooing once a week. I wash my hair 1-2 times a week now and most people wouldn't know the difference.

I buy the theory. Should I cut back on conditioner too or just shampoo?

@Julia789:

This isn't anything new. It's true that excessive cleaning can cause sebum glands to work overtime or damage hair, thus creating more of the problem that you're trying to eliminate. Shampooing fewer days is more of a rule of thumb for the average person. Some people, or circumstances, will require more than washing than most.

For most, an easy alternative to shampooing everyday is, on the off days, to either just wet your hair while showering, or with a spray bottle, instead of shampooing. If you feel you need conditioner, use it primarily on the ends.

The spray dry spray shampoo versions also won't strip as much sebum as regular shampooing will. Psssssst Instant Spray Shampoo is the most common, but there are many. This or the similar type, hair powder, as suggested by aliasmisskat. Both types take some getting used to.

Once, when I was in Paris, Hillary Johnson, a friend of mine who wrote a piece on hair care for the LA Times, sent me to Leonor Greyl, who she called "the couturier of hair." (The LAT paid for the visit, best of all.)

Madame Greyl told me "Americans wash their hair too often." She recommended that I wash my hair no more than once or twice a week. And also recommended that I not use shampoo that lathers. Her shampoo, Creme Moelle de Bambou is fantastic. For between shampoos if your hair is oily, there's her Lait Lavant a la Banane, which is like putting banana juice on your hair, but gets it squeakyish.

As an alternative to Creme Moelle, for those who are frugal, a great substitute is Buddy Wash (yes, for dogs) lavender shampoo and conditioner. You can get huge bottles of it for about $8.99 each on Drugstore.com. I use it on my dog and I use it, too. Smells great. And there are other fragrances.

My tailbone length hair gets "washed" once a week and I only really wash the scalp. If I need a refresher in between I'll do a quick conditioner rinse in the shower with something cheap and runny like Suave that won't build up. There's nothing "hippie" about me, I just like having healthy hair.

@prodpoke: I wash my hair with shampoo only once a week. But I take a shower every day, mostly rinse my hair under the water when I don't wash with shampoo.

Oddly enough, I hate when my hair comes out after a shampooing, its all fluffy and goes everywhere. I basicly have a bad hair day. When I just rinse it's way more manageable and doesn't go everywhere.

oh yea I'm a guy with long hair, if you didn't get that from the text above...

@edwardso: Thirded. My hair sticks out at all angles when I wake up in the morning due to the superfine-ness. Wetting and combing just makes it look flat, so shampoo is the only way to go. Though, I think I could cut back on the amount of shampoo I use.

What about people that use styling products that are tough to rinse out? I use a pomade/wax that WILL NOT come out unless I shampoo? Please don't tell me to switch products; I've tried numerous ones over the decade and have found the one I like.

On my last visit for a hair cut, my hair stylist also mentioned shampooing no more than 2-3x per week. She said it would take a few weeks for my hair to adjust, but my hair would end up looking better and being healthier. It's something I haven't tried yet, but plan to.

If I don't use any shampoo then under my bangs I will break out with acne. So no thanks to that.

I have long, fine, curly hair. I absolutely HAVE to wet and condition it every day, or I can't get a comb through it. I only shampoo it 2-3 times a week.

It's all dependent on the type of hair you have. For example:

I'm white, with wavy to straight dark hair. I can usally get away with washing my hair every other day. First day, I usally wear it down and the next up in a ponytail so it doesn't look as greasy. Then I wash.

My boyfriend is black, and has the dark curly hair. He usually washes his hair once every week or so and just rinses it with hot water inbetween. I can always tell when he's washed his hair because his hair is so stinkin' soft afterwards.

Now, I have a friend who can usally go once a week before washing her hair, but that's usally because she has so much product in her hair that it's insane. I also have another friend who has to wash his hair everyday because it's so baby fine.

@boomerang86: My wife does this, just rinsing it most of the time, and shampooing maybe twice a week. She says it makes it much easier to work with. The only time she's had problems was with really soft water.

I have long, thick, slightly wavy hair that I used to wash every day when I smoked, because I was very conscious of the smell. Even though I went outside to smoke, it still got in there.

Now that I don't smoke anymore (thank you, Chantix!) I don't shampoo every day. It still needs a rinse and conditioner, or I can't even comb it. But my haircolor (red) lasts longer now.

Holy crap - my mom has been saying this exact thing for years and it turns out she was right! Damn, it turns out she was right about so many of these little things.

I shampoo every other shower, but any less frequently than that and my hair gets gross.

Not washing your hair every day seems bizarre if you have oily hair. I have super fine hair that gets oily quickly...I think I would rather still wash my hair every day, but just use less shampoo. I really can't bear the thought of not having clean hair every day. Even if it actually IS clean, the fact that it doesn't look clean bothers me.