How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?

Wondering how often to wash your hair? We found out how often the average woman shampoos her hair, and we’re sharing the answer.

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I’ve received a few emails recently asking about how often a girl should wash her hair. I did a little research and it’s an interesting topic because there really seems to be a big divide in what people recommend.

So, how often should you wash your hair? Personally, I was always taught to shampoo my hair every day. Over the years, however, I’ve learned that daily washing really dries my hair out.

These days, because I get highlights and my hair is damaged, I only shampoo 3 or 4 times a week. This has definitely helped my hair a lot: it’s much less dried out without the constant shampooing and blow drying.

Celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves, who does Eva Longoria and Jessica Simpson’s hair, agrees that you shouldn’t wash your hair every day. According to Oprah.com, Ken says that “certain hair types and textures only require washing once a week, where others work well washing 2 to 3 times a week.”

Thursday’s New York Times style section had an article about hair washing frequency, only to the extreme. Of Course I Washed My Hair Last Year (I’m Almost Certain) talked about how lots of women wash their hair just once a week and some only wash once a month! The average seems to be around 3 times a week. Apparently it’s trendy to spend less time on your hair.

As someone whose hair gets oily after just a few days, I can’t imagine only washing your hair once a month, but maybe it would work well for those with dry hair? The idea does sound tempting – who wouldn’t want to spend less time doing their hair each week? I just don’t know how it would really work for the average woman.

What are your opinions on this? Do you wash your hair every day or do you think once a week is best? Leave a comment and take the poll below! I want to hear what you think!

287 thoughts on “How Often Should You Wash Your Hair?”

  1. i have really curly hair, so i wash about every other day. I use this shampoo that smells great the day you wash it, and really nice the day you don’t. Sometimes, when i have sports, I wash every day. That’s when it gets gross.

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  2. My scalp was so dry from cheap generic shampoos that i decided to try washing it with conditioner only for 4 days. I t looked ok, but with ash blond hair thats fine, I needed a better product- figured it was tha wax in the conditioner that was yucking up my hair. I just bought something at sally’s beauty store called “Hair One” its sort of like Wen by guthy renker, only its cheaper and my hair has never looked so good! shiny/soft and not flat! Its something called a cleansing conditioner, and it does just that. I could use it every day, cuz it has no surfactants or sulfates, and does not strip your hair, but I might not have to, am waiting to see what it looks like in the morning.

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  3. I am a wash-a-holic when it comes to washing hair! I used to wash it everyday until I started researching on how bad it is to wash your hair everyday.

    Since I have thin fair blonde hair, you can easily tell when it looks greasy and dead. I guess it doesn’t help when I used to straighten it at night and morning EVERYDAY. But I have cut down on the straightening, and I am starting to wash my hair “every other day” and yeah, it usually looks a little greasy on the 2nd day, so I just tie it up.

    I might start the baby powder idea too, which is buying some baby powder and sprinkling some on your scalp/comb, and then brush it through your hair. I would also reccomend, if you don’t have dry hair and use conditioner, PLEASE DO NOT use conditioner if you have perfectly normal hair. It just makes it look even more greasy!!!

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  4. Although washing your hair is counted as bad; I have to disagree. I wash my hair every day and it has so much volume and shine afterwards.
    If I don’t wash my hair everyday it becomes really greasy and I can’t do anything with it except put it up.
    I use to wash my hair every other day but slipped into the habbit of washing it everyday but now I just can’t stop.
    I feel dirty if I leave it!
    I’ve tried leaving it for a few days then washing it then leaving it, but it’s no use because it just looks greasy and feels gross.
    I refuse to go to class with unwashed hair because my hair is the one thing about me which I take probably the most pride in.
    I am a brunette, my hair is quite long and straight; having straight hair it gets greasy quicker; i even read somewhere that straight hair reflects the light or something so it’s prone to grease? =/
    I’m happy with washing it everyday; its never dried out – though I will admitt that I too, get split ends.

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  5. I went through a no-shampoo period and didn’t shampoo for about three weeks. Took a shower every day, and it never stank. It was crazy-don’t-leave-the-house-greasy for a few days, but after that it was thicker, softer and had this beautiful wave that my stick-straight hair never had before. I finally broke down and washed it and now it gets ultra greasy by the end of the day, so I may be going back to my no-shampoo theory.

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  6. Im African American and I also use a relaxer every 3 months. I wash my hair 3-4 times a week. Years ago I was taught to wash my hair once every two weeks and my scalp was itchy, had dandruff galore, was unhealthy and smelled horrible. I then switched to once a week and some of the unpleasant side effects were diminished but my scalp and hair still were unhealthy. Finally, overcoming my fears of washing more than once a week, my dandruff is under control, my scalp feels great and my hair looks and feels a lot more healthy. I still trim my hair about every 8-12 wks, which is no more than I had to do before when washing my hair less frequently.

    Each individual is different and has to find what works best for their hair.

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  7. I’ve got really curly hair that’s dry and find that it always looks better the second and third day after I wash it. Alot of times I just rewet my hair and gel it up and it’s good to go. My hair is just to curly to brush everyday it tangles from just drying it with a towel so there is no way for me to not wash it when I brush it out. So I leave it alone after washing it for 3 days to a week. depending on how the hair looks. I’ve been leaving in a condition and it has help alot with letting the tangles come out easier.

    I like to use spray gel lately with leave in condition it gets my curlys to stay in place. Of course anyone who has curly hair knows that you’re hair from wet to dry gets smaller as the curly tighting up.

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  8. right, im a teenageer and just recently my hair has started gtting greesy every day so i am washing my hair every night i used to be able to leave it 3-4 days before it went greese i know its probs hormoness but im scaRED becose everyone is saying washing your hair everyday is bad for you but i HAVE to at the minute well any way how long will this “greesy stage” last ????

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  9. I wash my hair every day because if i don’t it looks so greasy. even by the the end of the day my hair will start looking greasy. i wish i could wash my hair less. i don’t know what to do.

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  10. (english is not my first language, but i hope you can read it)

    im also asian, and i have thick hair in a medium lenght 😉
    I usually wash my har at least every second day,
    ´cause i do alot of sports.
    But I wanna start to try to wash it every third day, ´cause i´ve just been in the hair salon, and my hairdresser told me to try that
    have tried it, but my hair looks so greasy the third day
    i´ve just started, but i don´t know if i should continue
    should I ?

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  11. I have Asian hair of the thick (it’s too big for my head), dry and coarse variety and I find washing it every 4 days really helps to weigh it down, so I don’t have to wear it tied back all the time. It helps that I have dry skin (eczema), so not washing my head too often is really good for my scalp. Personally, I think it really depends on the condition of your scalp, and not so much your hair. My mom has the same hair as me, but she has a normal scalp that greases up after a couple of days, so she’s just invested in a good hair care system rather than letting her natural oils aid her hair.

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  12. I have to wash my hair everyday. It even gets greasy at the end of the day. I have brunette hair so it looks dirty when it’s greasy. I don’t color my hair either. (not anymore since a bad hair fry 2 years ago) I only use Burt’s Bee’s Shiny Graipfruit Shampoo and Conditioner. I always get compliments on how natural my hair looks. I guess all that hair coloring all those years (about 15 years I colored) really dried my hair. Going natural looks much more natural. Who would have thought.

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  13. I have Asian hair (the naturally straight and long type)
    and have to wash it every day or else it looks greasy/smells

    However, I think it’s thinning on top. Any suggestions?

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  14. I always felt bad about not washing my hair everyday…I just never needed to…it’s good to know I don’t have to embarrassed as times goes on :/

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  15. I have long, really thick hair.. so i wash it every other day (unless i work out or something). Since it’s so thick it doesnt get greasy. But sometimes if it randomly looks greasy, i put baby powder in it. it works so well. the powder makes your hair look really clean because it soaks up the grease i guess you could say… i know it sounds gross but it works!

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