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Four Ways to Wash Your Natural Hair Without Shampoo

A popular misconception amongst many women is that you shouldn’t wash your natural hair too often, especially if you have a hairstyle on. And so, lots of women will try as much as possible to stay away from water. The reason why they do this is that they don’t want to mess up the style their hair is in.
So, they’ll choose to walk around with a “nice-looking” hairstyle that stinks and is visibly dirty. When the scalp starts to get irritated, they’ll hit themselves on the head instead of listening to what their body is telling them about personal hygiene.

I mean, you would rather hit yourself on the head in public just because you don’t want to mess up your weave? This is a pet peeve to me and I think it’s just plain weird.

I once had a lady advise me to “pat” myself on the head whenever my scalp starts to feel itchy. I smiled, nodded and washed my hair that same weekend!  I’ll rather have a “messed up” hairstyle that is clean than to embarrass myself in public by itching or hitting my head!

How often should you wash their natural hair?

I think however often your scalp feels like it needs to be washed, i.e when it starts to feel itchy, flaky and stinky. Particularly when you have dirt build up in your fingers when you itch your scalp. Please note that flakiness on the scalp might be due to dandruff or dry scalp which can be tackled with an Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse. I personally wash my hair with shampoo about once or twice a month. However, in between these wash days, I might do a co-wash where I will use a moisturizing conditioner to wash my hair.

Personally, I recommend washing your hair at least once a month, making sure to follow up with a moisturizing deep conditioning treatment. Even if your hair will be covered under a weave for a month, your scalp will still need to be cleansed. Especially if you sweat easily and/or grease your scalp often. If you don’t use a lot of products, the natural oils on your scalp will build up and harden over time, which can clog the follicles and stunt hair growth.

READ THIS ALSO: When to know it’s time to wash your hair

Simply washing your hair once every 30 days isn’t enough. To promote moisture and a healthy hair growth, you will have to cleanse your hair in-between shampoo washes. You could do this by using a co-wash conditioner to co-wash your hair every week, every 10 days or every two weeks.

This helps to hydrate your hair, remove product build-up and gently cleanse your hair without completely stripping away all the natural goodies in your hair.

Now to the main reason why you visited this blog post, here are four ways to wash your hair without actually using shampoos. I have even broken it down into a four week regimen you can incorporate into your hair regimen.

Four Ways to Wash 4c Hair Without Shampoo

In case you’re wondering how to create a hair wash regimen, let me share a sample monthly regimen with you.

Week 1: Sulphate Free Shampoo Wash

You can choose from one of these shampoos to wash your hair.

Week 2: Co-Wash

Use one of these co-wash conditioners to cleanse your hair.

Week 3: Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) Rinse

If you would rather not use any type of product to wash your hair, you can use diluted apple cider vinegar to wash your hair. Simply rinse your hair with diluted (1 part vinegar, 2 parts water) ACV to remove build up, cut grease and kill bacteria on the scalp. If you’re like me, you probably want to do a follow up with a conditioner to remove the smell of vinegar and restore moisture to your hair.

Week 4: Clay Wash

This is when you would use bentonite clay to cleanse your hair to remove toxins and other impurities from your hair. Bentonite acts like a shampoo, except it’s all natural. Bentonite clay has also been known to help improve the overall texture of the hair and add some shine. Clay washes can be drying on the hair, so be sure to follow up with a deep conditioning treatment.

For more information about other products you can use to wash your hair in between shampoo washes, please read this post, 10 Ways To Wash Your Natural Hair.

To conclude, healthy hair starts with clean hair, and so instead of postponing your hair washes, it’s best to spend a few minutes washing your hair to relieve of any discomfort such as itchiness, flakiness or strong odour. Also, a clean scalp will be free to produce clean hair that grows long.

How often do you wash your natural hair? What does your monthly regimen look like? Which products do you use aside from shampoos?