How Often Should You Wash Your Hair (According To Your Hair Type), A Hair Stylist Weighs In

Leah LOVES hair. So much so, she dedicated an entire website to it! One of the founders of Hair Everyday and Chief Editor, Leah enjoys reviewing all the hair products and showcasing the best. She believes her most underrated articles are her hair care tips!

How often should you wash your hair? Learn if you should wash your hair everyday and how often to clean hair if you have straight, oily, or curly hair.

In This Article:

As a hairstylist, the question I often get asked by clients “do I really need to wash hair everyday?” and “how often should I wash hair?”

When we talk about “how often”, it is really hard to put it out there that there is the “right” number of times you should wash your hair each week, because more so, it is a personal choice and based on personal requirements.

But most definitely, based on the hair type you have, research shows that you’d be required to wash your hair at least a certain number of times a week in order to maintain ideal hair health.

So all you need to know is your hair type guys, because this article will fill you in on all the rest of the details about how often each hair type would require to be washed.

How Often Should You Wash Your Hair

If you’re wondering how often you should wash your hair, I’ve got a simplified guide for you.

Just check down below what your scalp and hair type and texture is and then find out what routine suits you best!

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For Dry Scalp and Hair

When the hair is shampooed, it automatically gets stripped off its natural oil because of the harsh chemicals. Therefore, since the hair is already dry, it means that the hair’s natural oils take a long time to coat all the hair strands evenly.

So for those with dry hair, you can stick to washing your hair just once or a maximum of twice every week, so that your hair doesn’t get any drier.

For Color-treated Hair

For those with color-treated hair, remember that washing your hair too often will result in your hair color fading and over time it will lose its vibrancy. Therefore, if your hair is color-treated, you could wash your hair two to three times every week.

If you feel that your hair is getting too greasy, then you try using a dry shampoo between washes to help prevent this greasiness.

For Oily and Greasy Hair

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If you are someone with oily hair, you would be required to wash your hair every alternate day.

So while a lot of people feel like oily hair types would require washing their hair every day, I wouldn’t recommend this practice.

This is because overwashing the hair can make the sebaceous glands overproduce sebum because the hair will tend to get dry when washed. (Makrantonaki, Evgenia et al. “An update on the role of the sebaceous gland in the pathogenesis of acne.” Dermato-endocrinology vol. 3,1 (2011): 41-9. doi:10.4161/derm.3.1.13900). And this triggers the sebaceous glands to produce more sebum to replenish the hair’s lost oils.

So your hair can get even more oily and which can then lead to scalp acne, dandruff and other issues.

To sum it up, if you’ve got oily hair, you can try using a dry shampoo to go longer between washes or even try the only-water hair washing method on the days you don’t use a shampoo.

For Natural/Curly Hair Type

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I would break down “curly hair” into two types, when it comes to hair washing. So I’d like to call it curly hair and kinky hair types.

For those with curly hair types, washing your hair two times a week should be sufficient, while those with kinky hair types, even a hair wash just once a week should suffice.

Curly hair types do not need to wash their hair as often. This is because the hair’s natural oils from the scalp take longer to flow down the length of these hair types because of the curls or coils.

This means that curlier hair types take longer to get greasy.

For Straight And Fine

Well, straighter hair types are usually at a disadvantage when it comes to hair turning greasy very quickly.

This is because the hair’s natural oils can flow down the length of the hair very quickly because of the smooth surface of the hair strand. So the oil flows down and coats the hair strands in no time.

So those with straight hair can consider washing their hair every second day, or once every three days, with using a dry shampoo between washes.

When Should You Wash Your Hair Everyday?

Most often, people wash their hair around two times every week. But there are some people who find the need to wash their hair more often, like every day or even every alternate day.

Well, while I wouldn’t recommend washing your hair every day, if you really need to, you can wash your hair every second day if you have any of these hair issues.

The reason why washing hair with a shampoo on a daily basis isn’t recommended is because the scalp gets automatically stimulated to produce more oil.

If you have an oily scalp

There are some people who have a naturally oily scalp and this could be due to various reasons like scalp conditions, unhealthy eating habits, improper hair washing routine, use of hair products often, use of unclean accessories, over productive sebaceous glands etc.

Due to these reasons, the oil-producing (sebaceous) glands in the scalp tend to produce more sebum that will make the hair oily and greasy even once it has been washed.

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You workout often

Well, this is quite an obvious one. If you are someone who works out on a daily basis and you tend to sweat a lot, wash your hair everyday!

It is quite common for the scalp to get sweaty and eventually the sweat will flow down to the rest of the hair, making it feel greasy.

You use a lot of hair products

If you are someone who uses a lot of hair care or hair styling products like gels, creams, moisturizers, pomades, serums, etc., then there could be a possibility of product buildup on your scalp.

So over time, this buildup on the scalp will get mixed with sweat and oil and flow down to the length of our hair.

These are some of the main reasons you’d require to wash your hair more often as compared to the others.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does hair get cleaned if we just rinse it with water without shampooing it every day?

Yes! If you are someone who feels the need to wash their hair every day or very often, you could just try “co-washing” your hair under running water and keep the shampooing part for just a few times a week.
While it may not completely cleanse the hair like it would with using a shampoo (which is why you will still have to shampoo it from time to time), it will let the hair’s natural oil get evenly distributed onto each hair shaft.
This will also help in preventing the harsh chemicals from shampoos damaging the hair.

2. How do dry shampoos help go longer between washes?

Dry shampoos help absorb the excess oil from the scalp and avoid making the hair look too greasy. You do need water for dry shampoos nor do they contain sulfates or surfactants that strip hair color. So they increase the life of your hair color and keep it moisturized without making it greasy.

Why You Should Trust Haireveryday?

The author of this article, Leah Marie Priest has a degree in Cosmetology with years of experience in dealing with hair care, scalp care, and hairstyling. As someone who extensively deals with all kinds of hair textures, products, styling methods and more, hair Leah Marie knows what kind of products and procedures suit each hair type and person. We have also tested these hair products and processes ourselves to provide you an unbiased review about every product. Each of our articles are also reviewed by a team of medical professionals so that you get the most accurate and expert-reviewed information.