When it comes to washing my hair, I’m either all-in or all-out. By which I mean, I either wash it meticulously every single day or I let it get so built up with oil that it’s almost a different colour by the time I get round to giving it a good scrub.
This is because I honestly don’t know how often I’m supposed to be washing it. Should I be letting oils build up or is that causing my oily scalp? Is washing it too often what’s causing my oily scalp?
Can I be BOTHERED to go through all the faff of a hair wash every single day? Realistically, probably not.
I decided that now is the time to find out once and for all how often I really should be washing my hair.
How often hair should be washed
Annoyingly, the answer is it depends.
According to the health experts at Columbia University: “Generally speaking, it’s recommended to wash your hair once it’s greasy or unclean to the touch. For some people, that means washing every other day. For others, it could mean shampooing once a week.”
This is actually quite helpful and despite my hair knowledge being next to zero, I’m always hyper-aware if it’s unclean.
The experts also debunked a theory that I once fell for that not washing your hair often ‘trains’ it to not get oily. They explained: “Unfortunately, sebaceous glands are controlled by hormones. Therefore, oil production can’t be changed by hair washing routines.
“If you’re thinking of scaling back how often you wash your hair, dry shampoo may help to keep things looking fresh between washes. Brushing your hair also distributes oils throughout your hair, preventing greasy roots.”
Which revealed to me that, uh, a lot of my hair woes could be solved by simply brushing it.
Oops.
