How long can you go without washing your hair, without your hair getting oily?

Same here.

everyday, but im a dude.

I have to at least rinse mine every day, but I only shampoo every other day. My hair is very thin, and it doesn’t really get oily per se, it just feels really heavy and I can’t do anything with it.

every 4th day

I wash mine every other day as well. My hairdresser always tells me not to wash my hair every day so that you let your hair and scalp produce and replenish their own natural oils.

Every day. But when if I go a day or two without washing it (usually when I’m sick or wallowing in laziness) it always looks incredibly good when I do get around to washing it.

Mine begins to get yicky pretty much 24 hours after washing it. And I know I should do it every other day or less but I just feel dirty if I don’t shower (and wash my hair) every day.

I wash my hair every day so I wouldn’t know. Though I might be doing a disservice to the environment.

With all of the product that I put in it; every day.

Every two days.

I used to wash my hair every day, but it got really irritated, and the doctor said to cut back, so I went to three times a week. Now I’m having real severe scalp problems, probably due to some medications I’m taking, and I just want to see if I can get rid of it, maybe by washing everyday, or maybe by washing once a week. Who knows what will work?

I have to wash mine every day, because it starts to get oily right away. Kind of annoying, but my hair is healthy because of that, so oh well…

I have literally gone a week without washing my hair (while I was very ill) and it only started to get oily right at the very end. I put it in a ponytail and you couldn’t even tell. It felt awful though.

On a regular basis, I wash it every other day at the most.

about 1.5 days

Ugh, I used to be able to go 3 or 4 days without washing it, but now that I run, I have to wash it at least every other day (ie anytime I run) because otherwise it looks naaaaasty.

Every day, but I’m a guy.

I stopped using shampoo all together about three months ago, I rinse my hair very thoroughly and I’ll only use shampoo if something messed up gets in my hair.

The first month was pretty rough, it got pretty gross at times but a good vigorous rinse in the shower and it’s good to go.

I can go a few days without washing my hair. It’s too short to hide any life forms and nothing would want to live on my head anyway.

That “oil” is naturally produced by your scalp, and is good for you hair. When you wash your hair too much your scalp works overtime to produce more of the oil that you just washed away.

I wash mine every couple of days. It’s long, so I just put it in a ponytail if it gets oily. I try to brush it thoroughly to get all the oil through it and my hair is really healthy. They say French women go a week between washings. I don’t know how true that is, but I find it interesting.

I was just having a conversation about this with the girls I work with…weird.

I have really thin, long blond hair. So when I try and go more than a day of not washing my hair it really shows. My hair isn’t dry nor damaged or anything else so I don’t know how people go 4 days without washing their hair. I tried not washing my hair yesterday and by the end of the day it looked limp oily and stuck to my face.

I have to wash it every day otherwise it just looks dirty.

If I don’t wash every other day, I get dandruffy. So I wash it every other day, and I alternate dandruff shampoos (because I also have dry scalp. Go figure.) I alternate between Target brand T-Gel and Target brand Head & Shoulders. It seems to work to keep the dandruff away, but the second day my hair is impossible to do anything with.

@poofandmook – having a dandruff and a dry scalp not weird at all. Dry scalp is one cause of dandruff for many people. (from the Mayo Clinic)

I used to wash my hair in the morning and it would be a greese ball by night time. Now, (post menopause) I wash my hair every second or third day wheather it needs it or not.

@Chica: Oh, I know. But when I don’t wash my hair and it gets oily, I get dandruff… how? It’s over-oiled! lol… but if I wash my hair every day, I get dandruff from dry scalp. It seems weird that I can get the same thing from “too dry” and “not dry enough”.

@poofandmook – I think that’s pretty common, actually. You probably just have the yeast-like fungus malassezia, which everyone has, and a dry scalp. When it’s too dry, that causes it to flake off, and when it gets too oily, the oil feeds the malassezia, and then it causes dandruff too. And the whole system perpetuates itself, of course.

yeast-like fungus? Eew :(

Pro-biotics for your hair?

@poofandmook – everyone has malassezia. Everyone. Some people just have more than others. Dandruff shampoo weakens them.

(kind of like how everyone has yeast on their body all the time, but a lot of men get totally grossed out about a “yeast infection”. it was always there! just less of it. and they have yeast too!)

I haven’t washed my hair since 1996. Before you go “Eeeew gross!” remember, I started shaving my head in 1996 and have done so ever since.

my hair will usually get oily/flat within like a day or 2 of washing it, but the weather in south florida contributes to that. so when it’s less humid, i don’t need to wash it as often. if i’m not actually in need of a shower though, sometimes i just use baby powder to make my hair less greasy, it really works wonders.

I try to wash mine every second day, but I end up washing just the roots very lightly every night. Sometimes I’ll wash my hair good then not wash the next night the start the cycle all over again. I wish I could wash it every 2nd night but it gets too greasy.

I have curly hair, so I don’t need to wash it as much. In fact, I’m not supposed to, because it gets dry. Every beauty magazine will tell you you only need to wash your hair twice a week. Some people with straight, thinner hair will get noticeably oily, so they do need to wash it more. But I generally wait 4–6 days between washes. I condition it every day, though. My hair simply doesn’t get greasy lol. At least not to a point where it’s visible.

I usually wash my hair about twice or three times a week, less if I can.

My hair has a tendency to be greasy, but since I did a course of Accutane and stopped using conditioner, my hair is fine, now, and only gets greasy if I leave it for 5 or 6 days without washing.

Also, I never leave my hair down, because I get sick of having hair in my face. :(
So that probably helps stop the grease (or at least the appearance of grease). I also don’t use product, so that helps too.

It’s been two days since I washed my hair, and it feels like…hair. I might take a shower tonight, though, because I have some seriously delicious smelling soap.

@evegrimm – Hee, that’s funny. When I was a wee gel, there was a shampoo on the market in the US called Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!

@aprilsimnel I remember that!

Every other day, with a good conditioning product for men, Brylcreem.