Strange question for those who exercise... how often do you wash your hair?

khhregister · October 2016

I have fine, dry, wavy, very thick hair. And I sweat a TON when I work out.
If I wash my hair more often than every 3 days or so, it gets overly brittle and frizzy.
When I come home from the gym, I leave my hair up in a bun. I shower off, wash my face (which winds up getting just a little bit of the hairline on my forehead wet as well), and just let the sweat dry. I comb my hair out a couple hours later and it looks great. If it ever looks/feels a little oily, I use a small amount of dry shampoo. You don't want to overdo that either - I never use it twice in a row without a shampoo.

I also use a boar-bristle brush that helps distribute the oils. It's made a difference compared to my old nylon brush.

octopusplum · October 2016

Why hello there OP! I am a sweat queen. I sweat when I'm cold, I sweat when it's comfortable temperature, I sweat when it's hot. It's ridiculous...so just imagine the gym!

Top this off that my hair is down to the bottom of my bottom. Hair washing is a pain. Since I've been this way my whole life and been advised by doctors that essentially life sucks,deal with it...I've got a few tips.

Don't always deep condition, condition when you need it. Leave in gentle products like Briogeo are super helpful and keep down grease.

Rinse your hair, you don't always need shampoo. Use warm water and massage your scalp, air dry.

If you get really bad build up or use lots of products, strip your hair once a week or as needed. These shampoos can usually be found at beauty supply stores and leave your hair squeaky clean, they're usually used before a perm or color treatment. They are designed to remove buildup of product and gunk on the hair. Side effect: they help you need less conditioner and they can help with an oily scalp caused by genetics, excessive washing, etc cetera.

Keep your hair up at the gym or while exercising if it's longer, this doesn't directly cut sweat per se but it makes rinsing the scalp easier, cuts tangles of doom, and it's not in your way.

Brushes matter. Try a boar bristle to help distribute oils.

Dry shampoo if you really need to, it can seriously help if a warm or cool water rinse isn't effective for you.

Hope that helps!

dutchandkiwi · October 2016

No way would I wash it after every workout. My hair would fall out I think. My hairdresser tells me it is actually very wrong to use that much soap (daily wash) on your scap and that it actually gets more greasy because the ppor scalp skin is trying to stay in good condition.
I wash my hair once a week. After a workout I mostly just let it dry. Just have a brush/comb and hairstyle stuff in the office in case I need it.

jordanamrussell · October 2016

I have curly hair and I workout 6 days a week and wash my about 2-3 times a week depending. It's so bad to wash your hair everyday. You can always just rinse it out with just water and a little conditioner if you are one of those people who find it impossible to shower without washing your hair lol..

DancingMoosie · October 2016

I guess I'm the only lucky one to get scalp fungus from stretching washes?

chromekodi · October 2016

Lol I shower once a week whether I need it or not... No but seriously I work outside and sweat all day and I MIGHT wash my hair once a week. My hair just looks way you better if I don't wash it. Plus it's way easier to make it into a certain style if I don't wash it. And I never use conditioner

sweetpea813 · October 2016

So I used to wash my hair every day and sometimes twice a day if I worked out later in the afternoon and my hair got really damaged. It got brittle and dry. I know it sounds gross probably but I go home and dry my sweaty hair with a hair dryer then put dry shampoo in. Then I wash it the next day. I wash my hair every other day now.

robininfl · October 2016

DancingMoosie wrote: »

I guess I'm the only lucky one to get scalp fungus from stretching washes?

This does seem odd. mine is the opposite, it takes a long time to dry so if i washed everyday it would be wet so much i think it would cause problems. stretching washes lets it be dry for awhile before getting it wet.

stealthq · October 2016

I'll wash it every couple of days if I don't sweat much. If my hair gets at all wet from sweat it's getting washed again even if I just took a shower that morning.

My scalp is unfazed by frequent shampoos and I regularly apply argan oil to keep frizz down, so my hair is not going to dry out.

MelanieCN77 · October 2016

Curly but fine hair here. I work out every day but my treadmill/weights sessions don't do much to my hair beyond a little dampness. I skate a couple times a week though at high intensity and wear a helmet, and I schedule my washes around this. No more than twice a week, still, although dry shampoo is my friend to cut the greasiness once in a while. Luckily my texture means I can sort of fluff and go most of the time.

Strange question for those who exercise... how often do you wash your hair?

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