XP: Infrequent hair washing, frequent exercise?

[Brit]

The hair retraining post got me thinking about less frequent washing. My hair is super short right now, like 1-1.5", so it might be a good time for me to transition to less frequent washing, but I'm not sure how that works with working out. Right now I wash my hair two, sometimes three times per day because it gets disgustingly sweaty (think completely wet from root to tip) when I exercise. Can exercise and infrequent washing coexist?

[IndiaInk]

I wash my hair every couple days and I work out every day. But I don't sweat a lot, so it kind of works. It definitely did take me some time to train my hair to not be super greasy. I think it took a couple weeks to not feel gross between washings. If my bangs get greasy, I do wash those in the shower or sink though.

[jillybean222]

I exercise in some form 5-6 days a week. I try to think about it ahead of time...like I may skip a nighttime shower if I am going to workout early the next morning. Keep in mind, I am a SAHM and I practically live in my workout clothes and don't really have to be presentable for all that many people...just the other parents dropping kids off at preschool and maybe a teacher or two so if I am a little, um, greasy, it doesn't really matter

[SuziSaysDa]

Sadly, I have not found a way to make this work. I sweat heavily, especially from my head, so I cannot go without a hairwash after a workout, usually my hair is completely wet.

I try to counter this by switching to Wen conditioning cleanser and not use heat to dry my hair. Sometimes, if my hair still seems clean (washed earlier that day) or I am not going anywhere before my next workout, I will just rinse it and let it air dry.

[Deleted]

I have no way around this either. Mine's short like yours Brit and I am an extremely heavy sweater - soak the entire thing during a workout. I have to wash.

[shelbyann]

I just blow-dry the sweat out on non-wash days. I'm a heavy sweater too, but I have long hair so it's usually just the roots that are drenched.

In the summer it does just become too much to deal with sometimes and I feel like I can't skip a shampoo after a run....like when there is a ton of salt involved, or the end of my ponytail gets all nasty and sweat-dredded from bouncing on my back (eww).

I would think with short hair, though, you could at least try just hitting it with the blowdryer and then maybe putting some dry shampoo in?

[sadlebred]

I have a bob, and I wash my hair at least once a day. Washing it twice a day has no effect on it, and I hate icky feeling hair.

[Brit]

I need to start experimenting with it this weekend. I don't want to damage it so much from frequent washings that it doesn't grow in nicely. Stupid sweat. I swear that I did not used to sweat as much. In high school I could totally go running, air dry the sweat out, wash my body, and feel like I was "clean" enough to go out with my friends. At that point I was one of those rogue "hair down" runners. I ran with my (lower back length) hair tucked behind my ears and a baseball cap to keep it out of my face. I wonder if there is something to that?

[dragonfly08]

I work out every day, but only wash my hair every other day because otherwise it gets way too dry. In between I use dry shampoo and that seems to do the trick. Baby powder applied to the roots works, too, it's just a little messier (would be less so if you have light hair...mine is dark brown so I need to really make sure I work it in and brush out any residue).

[starryfish]

Have you tried dry shampoo? The one from Suave is super cheap and the best!

[shelbyann]

Feb 6, 2013 15:04:50 GMT -5 Brit said:

I need to start experimenting with it this weekend. I don't want to damage it so much from frequent washings that it doesn't grow in nicely. Stupid sweat. I swear that I did not used to sweat as much. In high school I could totally go running, air dry the sweat out, wash my body, and feel like I was "clean" enough to go out with my friends. At that point I was one of those rogue "hair down" runners. I ran with my (lower back length) hair tucked behind my ears and a baseball cap to keep it out of my face. I wonder if there is something to that?

During XC and track in HS, after practice I would just paper towel the sweat off and then put my normal school clothes back on. And then go hang out with boyfriend or friends. I have no idea how that was possible...I sweat soooo much more now!

GL with the experimenting! If you're showering multiple times per day, you could even just start with giving the hair a rinse every other time rather than a full shampoo. 

[Brit]

Feb 6, 2013 15:10:25 GMT -5 shelbyann said:

Feb 6, 2013 15:04:50 GMT -5 Brit said:

I need to start experimenting with it this weekend. I don't want to damage it so much from frequent washings that it doesn't grow in nicely. Stupid sweat. I swear that I did not used to sweat as much. In high school I could totally go running, air dry the sweat out, wash my body, and feel like I was "clean" enough to go out with my friends. At that point I was one of those rogue "hair down" runners. I ran with my (lower back length) hair tucked behind my ears and a baseball cap to keep it out of my face. I wonder if there is something to that?

During XC and track in HS, after practice I would just paper towel the sweat off and then put my normal school clothes back on. And then go hang out with boyfriend or friends. I have no idea how that was possible...I sweat soooo much more now!

GL with the experimenting! If you're showering multiple times per day, you could even just start with giving the hair a rinse every other time rather than a full shampoo. 

So I'm not the only one? I remember one day at the end of track practice making plans with a few of my friends and they were all "Um, ok, so let's all go shower and meet at Brit's house in like two hours." and I was all (in my head) "We are wasting two perfectly good hours between now and my curfue to shower? Just put your clean clothes back on and maybe some fresh mascara and chapstick."

[Bob Loblaw]

For years I was a non-believer; I thought I could never go days between washes because I sweat too much when I work out and my hair was too greasy. I now go 2-3 days between washes. I do work out hard on the in between days - my roots are drenched in sweat. I don't think there's a trick, you just have to stick with it.
Like everyone says, my hair hair was really gross for a few weeks but after that initial period, I could go a day in between no problem. Now I can skip 2 days. I use dry shampoo or baby powder on the 2nd night before bed and on the 3rd morning. This is nasty, but at the beginning my hair smelled gross, but that went away quickly too. This all sounds so gross as I type it out, but my hair looks (and smells!) great now, and I could never go back to washing every day.

[Deleted]

I shower in the morning and again at night after my workout. I usually only wash my hair in the morning though, it was getting too dry washing it twice a day. I don't get the sweaty though (at least my hair doesn't) I don't really see how to make this work. You might try dry shampoo, I don't know if that would absorb that much sweat though.

[sullie7173]

I work out 6 days a week and do not wash my hair every day. I have curly hair and straighten it on Sunday night and usually don't wash again until thursday. I use dry shampoo on Tuesdays and wear it up on Wednesdays. If I sweat a ton in a workout i will wash more frequently but can usually make it. I will add that I always make sure that I have the fan pointed right at me at the gym. I have been using the suave keratin dry shampoo

[Wines Not Whines]

My solution is to rinse my hair in the shower every day after I work out, but not use shampoo every day. It gets out the sweat and salt, but it doesn't get as dry.

[al320]

I have a lot of thin hair, so you can tell when its dirty. Also, i sweat an embarrassing amoutn, especially on my head. I cant not wash my hair daily. On daysni swim, i was it twice. Except for after swimming (when i use a chlorine removing shampoo and then a deep conditioner), i use loreal cleansing conditioner, which seems to help.

Ive tried just rinsing with water and then drying, it still looks gross.

[Brit]

Feb 6, 2013 20:38:21 GMT -5 al320 said:

I have a lot of thin hair, so you can tell when its dirty. Also, i sweat an embarrassing amoutn, especially on my head. I cant not wash my hair daily. On daysni swim, i was it twice. Except for after swimming (when i use a chlorine removing shampoo and then a deep conditioner), i use loreal cleansing conditioner, which seems to help.

Ive tried just rinsing with water and then drying, it still looks gross.

I wonder if we have similar hair. My hairdressers always tell me that I don't have thin hair, I just have fine hair. I think they mean that I have a lot of strands, but the individual strands are baby fine. When my hair is clean, it has a great texture to feel, really soft, but it gets weighed down by grease very easily.

[ebeth]

Feb 6, 2013 18:02:22 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

My solution is to rinse my hair in the shower every day after I work out, but not use shampoo every day. It gets out the sweat and salt, but it doesn't get as dry.

this is what I do too.  but only if I'm really sweaty post workout.  often times I don't do anything with my hair.  I'll just wash my body.  I don't shampoo my hair more than 1-2 times a week. 

but as a POC, my hair is just different.

that said, you could try cowashing (mix shampoo and conditioner) if you really feel like you need to shampoo daily (or multiple times/day). 

[al320]

Feb 7, 2013 8:26:24 GMT -5 Brit said:

Feb 6, 2013 20:38:21 GMT -5 al320 said:

I wonder if we have similar hair. My hairdressers always tell me that I don't have thin hair, I just have fine hair. I think they mean that I have a lot of strands, but the individual strands are baby fine. When my hair is clean, it has a great texture to feel, really soft, but it gets weighed down by grease very easily.

that's interesting. ill ask my hairdresser next time i go.  ive been told by other hairdressers that my hair feels like it should be blonde (im a dark brunette) because i have a lot of thin hair, which is common with blonde hair.

[gumi]

Feb 6, 2013 14:21:03 GMT -5 SuziSaysDa said:

Sadly, I have not found a way to make this work. I sweat heavily, especially from my head, so I cannot go without a hairwash after a workout, usually my hair is completely wet.

I try to counter this by switching to Wen conditioning cleanser and not use heat to dry my hair. Sometimes, if my hair still seems clean (washed earlier that day) or I am not going anywhere before my next workout, I will just rinse it and let it air dry.

How is Wen?

I got hooked on an infomercial and now I am tempted to buy it. 

[lb2006]

i have curly hair & am sweat like crazy when working out, so i have to wash every day. I try to let my hair air dry as much as possible before leaving for work & then put the hair dryer/diffuser on it. On the weekends, i let it air dry. I haven't tried dry shampoo, as i'm not sure how curly hair would fare with it (i.e. will my curls get super frizzy once they start sweat-air-drying?)

[SuziSaysDa]

Feb 7, 2013 14:31:47 GMT -5 gumi said:

Feb 6, 2013 14:21:03 GMT -5 SuziSaysDa said:

Sadly, I have not found a way to make this work. I sweat heavily, especially from my head, so I cannot go without a hairwash after a workout, usually my hair is completely wet.

I try to counter this by switching to Wen conditioning cleanser and not use heat to dry my hair. Sometimes, if my hair still seems clean (washed earlier that day) or I am not going anywhere before my next workout, I will just rinse it and let it air dry.

How is Wen?

I got hooked on an infomercial and now I am tempted to buy it. 

I really like it - but I have switched to the cheaper version at Sally's Beauty Supply - Hair One ~$25 for a liter.

I don't follow the directions exactly or use near the amount what they prescribe per usage.  I wet my hair, use enough to cover my scalp (about five pumps) and scrub my scalp a bit, then one or two more pumps for the rest of my hair (it is long - about to bra band) and work it through.  Then I pull my hair back and let that sit while I do the rest of my shower routine.  At the end of my shower I add a little more water, scrub the scalp again, comb through, then rinse well.

I really like what it has done for my hair and recommend trying it.

[braggkristin]

I used to wash my hair everyday because it was so oily. it got pretty gross. But as i have gotten older I don’t need to wash as often. Now i wear my hair short and only wash about every third day and rinse in the shower everyday. It now has more body and my color lasts way longer between colorings. And its so easy to style now that I don’t wash it to death. But I understand why some still wash everyday though.
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