What Happens If You Wash Your Hair Too Much?
Probably you’re a clean freak, and you think washing your hair every single day is the best way to keep it free of dirt, grease, and buildup. Well, you’re not wrong.
When you wash your hair often, it will be looker cleaner than when you wash it just as few times.
It’s practically the same as doing the dishes. Unfortunately, your hair isn’t dishes, and there are some severe consequences of over-washing.
What Happens If You Wash Your Hair Too Much?
When you wash your hair with a shampoo to get rid of dirty, you’re also stripping it off its natural oils. These oils are what make your hair look greasy if you skip washing for too long.
When the oils are gone, your hair will dry out, but your scalp isn’t going to sit around and let that happen. To compensate for the lost moisture, your scalp produces more oil, which makes your hair greasier faster.
Another thing that can happen when you wash your hair too much is product buildup. Shampoos are meant to wash off dirt, but if you over-use them, they would aggravate the situation rather than correct it.
Over-shampooing your hair can cause residue buildup (product buildup). This will make your hair look greasy, sticky, and rather unpleasant.
In most cases, the buildup will only make your hair look like a bad joke, but in severe cases, it will clog your hair follicles and lead to hair loss.
As said earlier, washing too often dries out your hair. If this continues, your hair will start to thin out, become brittle, and fall out.
Signs You’re Washing Your Hair Too Much
While washing your hair every day is what most people consider as over-washing, you might notice your hair is not as shiny as it once was even if you aren’t washing every day.
The reason for this is because we have different hair types and what counts as over-washing differs for each hair type.
Your Color is Fading Too Fast
If you dye your hair and you notice the color losing its radiance in just a few days, it might be a sign that you’re washing too much.
However, it could also be a sign that you didn’t use the right hair dye. Permanent hair dyes last longer than other hair dye types, so if you use a permanent color on your hair and you notice the color fading within the first or second week, then you’re shampooing too much.
For most people, the permanent color begins to fade after around 28 shampoos. This should about 6 or 7 weeks.
That’s if you’re shampooing only three times per week. If you’re doing anything more than that, you will notice the color weakening much earlier.
Your Hair is Dry
This is the most noticeable thing about over-washed hair. When you wash, you strip your hair of its natural oils, if do it too often, the lack of moisture will leave your scalp dry and flaky. When this happens, your hair will flatter and look dull.
Your Hair Has Lost Its Shine
Your natural oils are what make your hair look radiant and shiny; without them, your hair will dry out and lose its shine.
If you notice your hair’s looking dull, it means it is losing a lot of moisture, which is probably because you’re shampooing too much.
You Notice Flakes On Your Scalp
When your scalp loses too much moisture, it becomes flaky. This can lead to a condition known as dandruff.
How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?
This will depend on your hair texture. If you have dense coils, you would have to wash your hair differently from someone who has flat, beautiful waves. Below are different hair textures and the best washing practices that suit them.
- For Fine Hair: if you’ve beautiful hair, you might want to wash more frequently to get rid of the excessive oil. But this will only make your hair much worse. You should try as much as possible to shampoo less often and use a volumizing product on your hair to increase the intervals between washes.
- For Thick Hair: If you have thick hair, you won’t have to worry about it getting too oily. You can wash just twice a week, and you’ll be fine.
- For Oily Hair: Washing oily hair frequently won’t get rid of the oil. Instead, it will force your scalp to produce more oils to make up for the lost moisture. To keep it clean, wash it only four times a week with dry shampoo and apply a moisturizing conditioner after each wash.
- For Color-Treated Hair: Washing your color-treated hair too often will make the dye fade faster. To keep your hair clean, you should shampoo three times a week. Also, avoid shampoos with sulfate, parabens, and silicone as these chemicals encourage buildup and could damage your hair.
- For Tightly Coiled Hair: If you have tightly coiled hair, you should co-wash it every three days and wash it with a clarifying shampoo every two weeks. It will help keep the hair clean and free of buildup. Note: co-washing refers to conditioning your hair without shampooing.
- For Damaged Hair: if your hair is dull, dry, and frizzy, then you’ll have to wash it more often and be selective with the hair product you use. You can use a strengthening shampoo on your hair, followed by a hair repair treatment twice a week.
- For Thinning Hair: if you have thinning hair, then you should wash less frequently. Instead of regular shampoos, use scalp-stimulating shampoos.
- For Normal Hair: By normal hair, we mean hair that isn’t oily, fine or curly. If you have normal, then you should wash as often as you need to. If that means you’ll be washing every day, then you should get a dry shampoo to help extend the time between washes.
- For Hair With Scalp Buildup: To get rid of buildup, you will need to wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoos are formulated to take care of build-up, but they could cause your hair to dry out. You can prevent this from happening by applying a moisturizing conditioner after every wash.
Final Thoughts
If you notice your hair is oily, then you should know it’s natural and shouldn’t be a reason for you to wash your hair more frequently.
You can check out the hair washing guide for different hair types and wash your hair according to your hair type.