An essential part of keeping your hair healthy and in a good position is to keep it clean.
That means having some type of hair wash routine that suits your hair and your schedule.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that you should include in your hair wash routine.
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What Are The Steps In A Good Hair Wash Routine?
If you are planning on washing your hair there are a few steps that you need to take, especially if you have natural hair.
1. Section Your Hair
If you have quite a lot of hair sectioning your hair will help you out a great deal. It will make it much easier to have control of the different areas of hair on your head.
It will also ensure that you are better able to make sure your hair is thoroughly washed properly.
Have you ever finished washed washing your hair only to realise that you didn’t rinse a spot properly?
Well, sectioning helps you with all of that and will reduce the number of tangles that you get too.
Related post: Why you should wash your hair in sections
2. Prepoo
Prepooing is a great way to start your wash routine because it will help to loosen up any dirt or product build-up on your scalp and hair.
It will also help to provide you with a protective layer before you wash your hair with shampoo because as you may already know shampoo can strip a lot of oils away from your hair.
To prepoo your hair you can mix oils and apply them to your hair and scalp. Leave the oils to sit for a little while before you begin the rest of your hair wash routine.
Related post: How to correctly prepoo
3. Shampoo
Next, it’s time to shampoo your hair.
Take your first section of hair and unravel it.
Apply the shampoo to your hair at the root and gently massage it with your fingers. Do not use your nails in this process otherwise, you could create tiny cuts on your scalp.
I personally like to let the shampoo run down my hair itself as I wash it off. I feel it’s a little gentler on my hair doing it this way but you by no means have to do that.
You can also shampoo the hair itself too especially if you feel your hair has a lot of product buildup on it and not just your scalp.
Once done rinse the shampoo away use clips like these ones.
Repeat for all the sections of your hair, remembering to twist each one back up after you have finished.
4. Condition
Conditioning your hair after you have shampooed it is a non-negotiable. Shampoo can be quite harsh and will strip away a lot of the protective oils that your hair has.
Shampooing alone will leave your hair feeling very dry so in order to replace some of that moisture we need to make sure that we are also conditioning as well.
5. Detangle
Detangling your hair is an important step in this process.
I find detangling my hair whilst the conditioner is still on helps to add slip and make the process much easier to do.
You can use your fingers to detangle (this is actually a much gentler method). Or you can use a wide tooth comb like this one.
Detangling your hair is an important step because when you have too many tangles in your hair it very easily leads to breakage.
Detangling on wet hair is a lot easier than trying to do it with dry hair.
Aren’t you glad you still have your hair in sections?
6. Rinse With Cold Water
For those of us that have high porosity hair, this is a very important step. As tempting as it is to rinse your hair with warm water rinsing it with cold water has a lot of benefits that we simply can’t ignore.
If you have high porosity hair you will know that your cuticles are too wide open. Rinsing with cold water will actually help your cuticles to close and retain some of that moisture.
Even if you don’t have high porosity hair, rinsing with cold water is still a bonus because when you do so it helps to prevent frizziness and adds shine to your hair making it look incredibly healthy.
7. Moisturise
Moisturising your hair after washing is another key step. Relying on the conditioning process alone is not going to be enough especially if you have a tighter curl pattern like 4b or 4c hair.
You will need to use a leave-in conditioner to help your hair with added moisture. I personally like this one.
Apply it to each section of your hair thoroughly from root to tip, making sure to concentrate on the ends of your hair as they are the oldest and therefore need to be well treated.
8. Style
Once you are done with the above steps you can move on to styling your hair.
How Many Times A Week Should You Wash Your Hair?
This really depends on your own hair.
Some people tend to produce a lot of natural oils very quickly from their scalp which can lead to getting scalp buildup quite quickly.
Others are heavy-handed with products which leads to product build up.
If you fit into these categories then it may be best to have a more frequent hair wash routine.
One a week may suit you otherwise every other week should be sufficient.
Related post: How often should you wash your hair
Additional Steps For A Good Hair Wash Routine
Here are some additional steps that you can take to wash your hair. These do not need to be done weekly or even every other week they can be done monthly or as and when needed.
Hot Oil Treatment
Hot oil treatments you can ideally do once a month. It helps with adding moisture, strength and shine to your hair.
The great thing about doing a hot oil treatment is that you can tailor the oils to what your hair needs.
For example, if you have a dry scalp you can use an oil like coconut oil which is known for its moisturising properties.
You can read more about how to do a hot oil treatment here.
Clarify
Clarifying your hair is a little different to shampooing your hair. When you clarify your hair you are giving your hair a complete reset.
Clarifying your hair is different to shampooing it because it is a lot more intensive. If you live in a hard water area or have been using products that contain silicones then a clarifying shampoo is the way to go.
Clarifying your hair regularly is not something that you want to do all the time because it is quite harsh on your hair.
Deep Condition
I personally love to deep condition my hair. There are so many good benefits to doing it.
- It helps to penetrate moisture into the core of your hair strands
- It helps to soften your hair
- It adds shine and lustre to your hair
- It can help to reduce frizziness
- Keeps the elasticity of your hair intact.
Recommended: Deep conditioner
Steam Your Hair
Steaming your hair every now and again is a good idea. It will help to open up the cuticles of your hair and allow the conditioner to penetrate.
If you are struggling with dry hair or would just like to give your hair an extra treatment them steaming your hair with a steam cap like this one is the way to go.
Final Thoughts On A Hair Wash Routine
Having a good hair wash routine is imperative to keeping your hair healthy.
The steps given above are great for doing just that. You can adjust the frequency of how often you wash your hair to suit your personal needs and schedule.
Would you add anything to this list?
Let me know in the comments below!
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