How To Water Wash Your Hair
This may sound crazy, but it is possible to effectively cleanse your hair with just water. By working with your natural hair oils (or sebum), from the scalp to the hair shaft and then massaging the scalp underwater can surprisingly work wonders. It makes sense; you aren’t contributing to the scalp build-up, you’re simply washing it all away with water.
How To Do a Water Wash
Let your hair get nice and oily! I know it is tough, but the longer you wait the more your scalp will get the signal that it can produce less oil as it is not being stripped away.
Before hopping into the shower, massage your entire scalp with your finger tips. We’re talking light to medium pressure that shouldn’t hurt your scalp. This creates some friction to warm and loosen up oils and dead skin cells sitting on your scalp. Added bonuses: massaging also increases blood flow to your scalp which can promote hair growth, and it feels good too!
Next smooth the oils from the roots down to the ends using your fingers. Starting at the base of the roots, gently pinch your fingers together and slide your fingers down the section of hair to the ends. This “pulls” the oils from your roots down the section of hair. Be gentle, this shouldn’t actually pull out hair or be uncomfortable. If your hair is longer it might be hard to get the oils all the way down to the very ends, so just focus on getting the oils away from your roots and as far down the length of your hair as possible. Afterwards, you can also try brushing your hair for further distribution. But make sure you wash your brush afterwards or else you will be distributing old oil into your washed hair….
Time to shower. The temperature of the water that hits your hair is very important. Too hot can damage your hair or be too drying on your scalp, and too cool won’t break up the excess oils on your head. While you’re scrubbing the oils off your head, you want the water to be very warm. Using your fingertips start massaging your scalp again. You want to focus the water on the area you are massaging to maximise washing away dirt and oils. Then give your hair a good rinse with cold water to seal your hair cuticle, making it lay smoothly. A smoother hair cuticle better reflects light, giving your hair the appearance of shine.
After you shower, towel dry your hair. Comb through damp hair with a wide-toothed comb, starting at the ends and working your way up. You will notice that hair is very tangly, so be careful not to tug and pull. Be gentle with your hair! It’s more fragile while wet.
If your hair is very long, your hair’s natural oils might not be distributed down far enough to condition your ends. So you can use a small amount of coconut oil or any deeply hydrating, natural oil and rub it on the wet ends and only the ends. I recommend this especially if you have damaged or tangly ends.
For the first few washes, take your time and ensure you get your whole scalp. If you notice your hair still looks oily after your shower you may just need to tweak your method a bit. The next time you wash, try using slightly warmer water, or spend more time massaging your scalp, or try smoothing the water through your hair from root to tip. It may not work at first, but with time your hair gets used to this cleaning method and the oil buildup will eventually go away after a few weeks.
Fair warning though, washing with hard water can lead to mineral build-up over time, so it may be best to wash with distilled water or to follow-up with a pH balancing cleanser like our Chelating Shampoo.
References
https://maneaddicts.com/2015/10/02/hair-talk-aura-friedman-paul-perez/
