You don't really need to wash your hair at all.

LoveCareThinkDo · Apr 14, 2020

I haven't washed my hair at all for a couple of months now. At first is seems as if it will just keep getting more and more greasy. But it doesn't. Eventually, it levels off and ends up being a little greasy but not that anybody would really notice. Now it is softer and more healthy than it has been most of my life. I always wondered why my hair was so dry like Straw during the day but greasy as hell when I woke up in the morning before I took a shower. Now I know it was just constantly trying to save itself after I'd been stripping all the natural oils off every damn day.

Here is a nice video about this guy who hasn't shampood in his hair in 2 years and nobody can even tell:

skyl4rk · Apr 14, 2020

Are you washing it with water, or not washing it at all?

crofter · Apr 14, 2020

Personally I do like clean washed hair, the shorter the better. Had long locks for years & so much weight off with it gone. Wash & wear style is easiest for basin barh washups.

I prefer natural type soaps with some tree oil in it to keep bugs away, like tea tree oil, or even peppermint oil soap. Don't forget the mosquitoes & ticks are coming.

-crofter

Tony's Dream · Apr 14, 2020

As you look back in history you will find that washing your hair or even taking a bath was not a daily thing or even a weekly thing.

maki2 · Apr 14, 2020

Just remember books don't always get things right.

Romans bathed quite often, they occupied much of Europe and brought their cultural influence with them.

vanbrat · Apr 14, 2020

I am not so much worried about history.

I have no desire to snuggle up with someone who is greasy or stinky. I am pretty sure hubby thinks the same. That said it might not be needed everyday, but certainly every other day at least a goods wipe down or spitze bath. My hair does not like daily washing, but at least 2 times a week. Just 'cause it is nasty if I don't, maybe not to anyone else but I count too. That said if you don't want long hair keep it short if you don't want to wash it don't unless you get a problem with critters or such (I know critters get in clean scrubbed hair too.) But if you plan on being around folks you want to be closer then 10 feet from --- BATH.
Hand washing is a many times a day thing just cause we are human and not able to deal as well with that kind of stuff. As I look at my stained and grubby fingernails from working in the garden, even with gloves on.

crofter · Apr 14, 2020

Ever get a mosquito bite on your head? I hate that.
-crofter

nature lover · Apr 14, 2020

its an old one but - "I take a bath once a month weather I need it or not." So now not joking I grew up in a house with no plumbing by we bathed every day and washed our hair once a week. We called our basin baths "bird baths" I don't remember anyone telling me I had BO. So when I am in the van I do the same - a basin of hot water - a cake of homemade goats milk soap every day seems to be enough to stay clean. Then I wash my hair 3 - 4 times a month. (including my long beard) Now that I am older and my hair is thin and dry and in one spot gone; that seems to be enough. Since none of you have met me I can't ask if I need more.

I do like to get a shower or soak in a tub when I can because it feels good. I used to be a member at the YMCA pool so I got a shower every time I went in. You can keep clean living in a van but you have to make it a daily habit. You may be tempted to skip because you are alone but the basin bath keeps you clean if you do it daily without skipping. Campfire smoke only covers some of the ---

maki2 · Apr 14, 2020

The basic thing is that greasy hair is OK if you are boondocking solo and not going into towns or interacting with others. But in today's society you will not be all that welcome in the presence of other people if it looks like you have poor hygiene practices.

But putting on a hat helps with that.

trailer-t · Apr 15, 2020

To each his/her own on how they deal with this personal stuff. I think-- I personally need a full soaping of some sort every 2 days-
or so-- including my balding head--especially if in smoke from campfires or cigs. But just my personal opinion based on my own smells,
and not based on history etc.
t

Oldwolf · Apr 15, 2020

My grandmother, RIP, told me stories about how she would comb corn meal into her hair,,,it would absorb oil and then she would brush it out. This was during the cold winter months back when rural homes were heated with wood stoves.

Spaceman Spiff · Apr 15, 2020

LoveCareThinkDo said:
. . . this guy who hasn't shampood in his hair in 2 years and nobody can even tell

How does he know?

Your head sweats just like the rest of your body and after a couple of days that sweat begins to smell. How much sweat and how smelly is individual. And most people are too kind to tell you that you smell. Environmental smells are also captured easily by hair (if you clothing smells, your hair does too).

I know people who have sensitive noses and can tell when someone hasn't cleaned in a couple of days.

As to shampooing: I get by with washing my hair once a week. The other days I just rinse to remove the sweat. Works for me.

WanderingRose · Apr 15, 2020

I can easily manage not having a full bath or shower every day, but my head is a different story.

I have thick hair, and my head sweats with any exertion whatsoever.

The sweat dries, then it stinks, even if I’m the only one who can smell it.

I bought a can of Dove dry shampoo several years ago, and if there is absolutely no water for a shampoo I will use that. It is better than nothing, the worst part being it makes my head smell as if I’ve doused it in perfume.

Still, better than stale sweat.

I carry a couple of 2 1/2 gallon solar showers, and when I am going to be boondocking and need to really conserve water, one of these will thoroughly wash and rinse my hair plus leave enough leftover for a sponge bath.

It’s not my hair that requires washing, but my scalp.

ByeBye · Apr 15, 2020

Don't really need hair but I would take it if it'd grow on top again.
Now hair has gone rogue...it'll grow anywhere it's not supposed to.

user 423 · Apr 15, 2020

If you keep 6 feet away from other folks at all times then you may get away with having smelly hair.

LoveCareThinkDo · Apr 15, 2020

skyl4rk said:
Are you washing it with water, or not washing it at all?

I just don't wash it at all. I've been cutting my own hair for about a year now. But I have been trying to maintain about 3-4 inches on top. Recently, I just decided to put on the 1" guard and go over my whole head. (Then 1/2" for the sides and back.) Anyway, it's fine. Does it look as if I have bed-head all day? Yes. Does it look like I have super greasy hair? Not really. Besides, I wear a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes.

My point is not that I would be featured on the cover of GQ. But that I look perfectly acceptable and no one treats me as if I am a homeless man.... which I kinda am.

LoveCareThinkDo · Apr 15, 2020

slow2day said:
If you keep 6 feet away from other folks at all times then you may get away with having smelly hair.

I don't really appreciate the implication that my hair is smelly.

As best as I can tell, it doesn't smell at all. Remember, not smelling like artificial scents is not the equivalent of smelling bad.

LoveCareThinkDo · Apr 15, 2020

vanbrat said:
But if you plan on being around folks you want to be closer then 10 feet from --- BATH.

I don't think you need to worry about me wanting to be anywhere near you. I don't, personally, like to hang out with people who like to make arbitrary, negative assumptions about other people just so they can feel like they are better than them, and then try to tell those people what to do. But that's just my personal preference. If you like to hang out with people like that, feel free to do so.

user 423 · Apr 15, 2020

LoveCareThinkDo said:
I don't really appreciate the implication that my hair is smelly.

As best as I can tell, it doesn't smell at all.

The comment wasn't directed at you specifically. Just a generality. As Spiff says, you can't smell your own odor as others around you might.

highdesertranger · Apr 15, 2020

we really don't need to argue about this. highdesertranger

You don't really need to wash your hair at all.

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