How Often to Wash Textured Hair | Kelly Beauty Supply

How Often Should I Wash Textured Hair?

Once a week suits most textured hair, with every two weeks reasonable for hair that is very dry, coarse or in a protective style. That is a starting point rather than a rule, and the useful skill is reading what your own hair and scalp are telling you rather than following a schedule someone else set.

Why textured hair washes less often

Natural oil travels down a straight strand easily and reaches the ends within a day or two, which is why straight hair looks greasy quickly. It cannot travel around the bends of a curl or coil, so it stays near the scalp while the ends stay dry. Washing that hair daily removes the little oil that has made it partway down and leaves the ends drier still. The tighter the curl pattern, the further apart washes can sensibly be.

What pushes it more often

Exercise, particularly anything that leaves your scalp sweating regularly. Heavy product use, since gels, creams and oils build up whether or not your hair looks dirty. An oily scalp, which is a scalp condition rather than a hair type and does not care what your curl pattern is. Summer heat. If any of those apply, a weekly wash may need to become twice weekly, and a co-wash between full washes is a reasonable way to do that without stripping.

The signs you have it wrong

Washing too often shows as hair that feels rough and straw-like after washing, ends that stay dry however much conditioner goes on, and a scalp that feels tight. Washing too rarely shows as an itchy scalp, flaking that is buildup rather than dandruff, hair that will not absorb product, and curls that refuse to clump. Itching is the clearest single signal, and it almost always means wash rather than oil.

Building a rhythm

Most people land on a gentle shampoo weekly or fortnightly, a co-wash in between if they need one, a deep conditioner after every wash or every other, and a clarifying wash monthly to clear buildup. Adjust one variable at a time and give it a few weeks. Hair responds slowly, and changing three things at once tells you nothing about which one worked.