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.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you purchase through our links. Please read our full disclosure here.

Long hair
Pexels

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 NEED HELP I used to wash my hair everyday and now it is FALLING out!!!!!!!!!!!!I’m not going to wash it please answer someone!!!!advice!!!!BTWmedium thick whit

    Reply
  2. I usually wash my hair everyday because it will get frizzy and greasy. After that I need to blow-dry so it will appear good. what is really the right thing to do?

    Reply
  3. I wash my hair everyday because I just don’t feel clean unless my hair is washed, I work evenings in a food place and so have to wear a hat and by the end of an 8hr shift it smells. My hair is so dry now and I pile on the conditioner, going to try and find some fish oil capsules because I was told they are good for hair and nails. My hair drives me mad I think I should start wearing hats full time now.

    Reply
  4. i just wash my hair twice or thrice a week, the roots of my hair get greasy the third day after washing nd then my hair start falling, so it becomes necessary to wash……i have very long hair, they’re till my hips, i dn’t know why they’re falling so much, could u pls give me some advise as my hair are dry also and they’re full of split ends nd i don’t even highlight them…..i m 16 years old.

    Reply
  5. For those of us who are vintage vixens (meaning not just retro or rockabilly, but full on vintage personal care – from pincurls to cold cream), a lot of girls I know only wash their hair once a week unless they absolutely need it. The way they (and I) keep it from getting gross is to constantly groom it. I may or may not do a tutorial on this concept, because women in, say, the 1930s or 1940s weren’t washing their hair more than once a week in most cases and they seemed to get along just fine.

    Reply
  6. I wash my hair twice a week. i went to a top end salon with a friend and she was amazed how beautiful and healthy my hair is.

    i have normal-fine straight hair. depending on the month and week, my hair will be dry-normal or oily-normal. seriously it depends what i eat, if i am in the sun, and so forth

    Reply
  7. @Grace

    What Hair product do you use?? Piling up conditioner doesn’t necessarily make your hair better, but actually can go worse. And if you plan to wear a hat even not during work time I highly recommend you NOT to.

    Your hair needs to breathe, don’t let it be in a hat for more than you have to.

    I suggest you use TRESemme as it works a hell better than any other hair products I’ve used; I take pills that makes my hair brittle and very dry, but it cured it for me and I now also use a mask once per week. My hair is so soft now.

    Use the Salon Silk TRESemme one, it will do you good.
    You should not use a lot of shampoo as it dries your hair, but just a small amount would do, you’re getting rid of smell not oil. I’d advice you to eat salmon more and take more proteins as proteins improve your hair condition as well.

    Jus remember not to hide your hair in a hat more than you should!!!

    GOod Luck, tell us how it went.

    Reply
  8. My hair is long, medium thick and straight, I used to wash it every day bacause it got really greasy, but then i realized that the more you wash the more oils it produces, so i washed it every other day, then every 2 days and now i got to the point that I can stay up to 3 days without washing my hair until you can notice that it is getting dirty… it’s the same advice dermatologists give you when you have oily skin and acne, the more you wash your face, the greasier it’ll get, so ony do it when it’s really necessary

    Reply
  9. There is nothing more off-putting than smelly, dirty, oily hair. There are shampoos that are formulated, gently enough for daily use. Oh and when washing hair, massage the scalp. It’ll make the hair grow healthy and naturally shiny.

    Reply
  10. @Natalia Dawn

    thank you so much for the information!!
    But is THE CONDITIONER’ BY PAUL MITCHELL at walmart or like sallys beauty salon??
    Also what is a stripping shampoo????

    Reply
  11. Hello every1 I left a few question on here but no1 really gave an answer.
    So I was wondering if any kind of product under like 10 dollars thats either at walmart or sallys beauty salon. Also whenever I flat iron my hair without a heat protection spary bcuz the 1 I have just makes my hair worse so what can I use 4 that?? Another question is that I dont have thin hair nor thick hair so its in between and my hair is a little shorter in the back and longer in the front but not a big diff betwwen the length,but anyway my hair tends to always flip up just in the back,anything i can do 4 that??
    So please reply back responding to my name Ashley.
    and im 12 years old soo yea i love my hair and i dont want to damage it!! lolzz
    PLEASE REPLY! 🙂
    thankxx

    Reply
  12. READ THIS ONE!!!
    Hello every1 I left a few questions on here but no1 really gave an answer.
    So I was wondering if any kind of product under like 10 dollars thats either at walmart or sallys beauty salon. Also I dont use a heat protection spary whenever i flat iron my hair bcuz the 1 I have just makes my hair worse so what can I use 4 that?? Another question is that I dont have thin hair nor thick hair so its in between and my hair is a little shorter in the back and longer in the front but not a big diff betwwen the length,but anyway my hair tends to always flip up just in the back,anything i can do 4 that??
    So please reply back responding to my name Ashley.
    and im 12 years old soo yea i love my hair and i dont want to damaged it!! lolzz
    PLEASE REPLY! 🙂
    thankxx
    srry bout so many posts but this 1 is the 1 i fixed!

    Reply
  13. Hi all.

    I’m black and I’ve gotten relaxers for years so my hair is mostly straight until I need a perm. At first I only washed every two weeks, even though my hair would get pretty greasy and yucky after like a week but I couldn’t afford to go to the salon that often (I was a teenager w/no job), and washing it myself is a major hassle and very time consuming (Think rollers and sitting under a hooded dryer for an hour for those who don’t know. Imagine having to do that every few days!). Now I wash every 6-7 days (at the salon) and I’ve noticed a major improvement in my hair, especially after I do a deep condition. There is absolutely no way I’m going back to washing less frequently than that. Actually, I wish I could wash it when it gets greasy, which is after about 3-5 days, but like I said washing it myself takes so much time and I think I end up doing major damage b/c I can’t be bothered to sit under the hooded dryer for an hour or more at home so I end up blow drying to finish. But if I did wash it that frequently, I would probably end up drying my hair out anyway…

    I wonder about other black women. How long does it take before your hair starts getting greasy? For women who are natural vs. those with relaxed hair, is there a difference in the time it takes for your hair to need washing?

    Reply
  14. Please don’t spam lol

    You need to know that if you want good quality hair, you’d at least need to spend over $10s. $10s for a good shampoo/conditioner isn’t expensive to be honest, but I live in New Zealand so that might not be a lot to me… /shrug..

    I recommend you use TRESemme brand hair products, its amazing, for me and a lot of other people; not everyone because they have their own preferences.

    I have very dry hair because of oratane tablets and I swim everyday. I still wash my hair everyday since the chlorine gets into the roots abit at the back of my neck ( yes I wear a cap) so what I do is I shampoo it on the areas where I have chlorine on, then I wait for 1 minute with a shower cap over it and then wash it off.

    The one I use is called Moisture Rich TRESemme ~ its lite enough for daily use, its very moisturizing, but if you have really oily hair then I don’t recommend you to use this type but another type of the same brand.

    As long as you have sufficient necessary oils in your hair, it doesn’t matter if you wash your hair everyday or not. If you use bad shampoos/conditioners then it would defnitely make it dry, but if you use shampoos/conditioners that is able to nourish and fulfill what your hair needs, then it’s not a problem. i don’t actually apply shampoo or conditioner to the top of my sculp but the ends of my hair if its got chlorine on it, and after a few days if my hair gets oily at the top then I’ll shampoo it there.

    You’re only 12, don’t bother to use anything fancy on your hair i.e. curling or straightening. You’ll realize your hair will seem to ‘age’ before your own maturity… I really don’t get why you’d need it at your age.. I’m coming up to 19 this year and its only this year I actually bothered about curling or straightening my hair… accept the way your hair looks, just make sure its healthy. Using hair spray or heat products (even blow dryers) can damage hair and if you want healthy nice hair then don’t do it. It’s not necessary at all, you’ll still look beautiful the way you are without them.

    Reply

Leave a Comment