Looking for signs that you don’t wash your hair often enough? It’s not always that simple.
Is there a better feeling than freshly washed hair? Probably not. But as much as we all love having clean hair, washing it can be an exhausting and time-consuming task, more of a chore than a treat. The simplest solution is to bridge the gap with heaps of dry shampoo. But as it turns out, that’s not always such a good idea. If you wash your hair too infrequently, you risk scalp problems that can even lead to hair loss.
As for how often we should shampoo? It depends on a few factors. If your scalp is dry and you don’t use many styling products, it may be enough to wash your hair once a week. Some people on TikTok claim to go a month without washing (which we don’t recommend). However, it depends on each individual’s hair type, lifestyle, and various other factors.
So ask yourself the following: Do you style your hair a lot? Do you use a lot of dry shampoo? Do you have dandruff? Is your scalp oily? These are all factors that might mean you should be washing your hair more often, perhaps every two to three days. While washing your hair too often can damage it, washing it too infrequently can also have less-than-desirable consequences.
It is difficult to generalize how often you should actually wash your hair. If you experience one or more of the warning signs below, try experimenting with how often you wash your hair. Or if in doubt, consult a dermatologist.
Either way, keep reading for five signs you don’t wash your hair enough.
You might not wash your hair enough if…
1. You have greasy hair.
The most obvious sign that you are washing your hair too infrequently is having greasy hair and roots and little to no volume. If you don’t regularly wash the excess sebum from your scalp, hair will become stringy and heavy. For some people this happens as little as one day after washing. For others it takes longer. Incidentally, oily hair not only looks bad, but it can smell too—the mix of dead skin cells and sebum on the scalp actually forms an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, which can lead to an unpleasant “head odor.” Yikes.
2. You’re developing dandruff.
Dandruff is not necessarily a sign of infrequent hair washing, but our scalp continuously produces sebum, an oily secretion that protects and moisturizes the skin and hair. If the hair is washed infrequently, sebum can accumulate on the scalp.
At the same time, skin cells die and are constantly renewed. When hair is washed infrequently, these dead cells remain on the scalp for longer, leading to a build-up of dirt, oil, and skin particles. This accumulation creates an ideal environment for the proliferation of microorganisms, such as the yeast fungus Malassezia, which lives naturally on the scalp. Increased sebum production and a lack of cleansing can cause this fungus to multiply, since it feeds on the fats in the sebum.
