4 Tips For A Hassle-Free Wash Day

My wash days and I have a love and hate relationship. They either go smoothly or have me wishing I would have gone to a salon to have someone else deal with my hair.

I would become frustrated with my hair if things were not going as planned. As a result I would begin to lose ungodly amounts of hair (mostly shedding but there was breakage too), which was defeating the purpose of why I went on my hair journey to begin with. It is no secret that when you are in a time crunch, you should not take it out on your hair.

Detangle before you wash

One of the things that I am glad to have learned during my hair journey (my natural one in particular) is that it is best to detangle before you wash.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Yet another step added to the long grueling process of wash day. Trust me, this will save you time in the long run.

If you wait to detangle after the whole process, you will find yourself having more knots and tangles than what you started with.

A good rule of thumb, is to not detangle on bone dry hair. Instead, opt for a nice oil (coconut* or olive oil* will do), to make the process a less daunting task.

I like to detangle with my fingers before a wash as shedding is minimal and I can feel around to exactly where in my hair needs attention. This works better for me as compared to using a comb to start things off.

You must know that there is only ONE right way to detangle your hair. Despite, what you may have seen in salons or what you’ve seen your mama do, you need to start at the ends and work your way up.

Do not start detangling from the top, or in the middle of the hair shaft. That’s just begging for your hair stands to snap left and right. Starting at the top or middle will only create bigger knots in your hair at the end. Now who wants that?

Deep Condition

In my experience, deep conditioners take a while to work their magic. It is for this reason I choose to leave mine on my hair overnight and wash it out in the morning.

Now, I understand some of you ladies do not have a lot of time so using heat with your deep conditioner* is an option as well.

Deep conditioning* before the washing process also helps loosen some of the tangles that are still caught in your hair. Your hair will thank you when you do it this way! (Not to mention the much added moisture your hair is craving especially for us natural divas).

It will be as if your tangles melted away completely leaving you with soft manageable hair. Whatever you do, do not skip out on your deep condition treatments.

Start at your roots and work down (Shampoo & Oiling)

Believe it or not there is a proper way to shampoo. You do not want to pile all your shampoo on the top of your hair and scrub. Nor do you want to apply the shampoo to your strands.

Instead, the shampoo is meant to be applied to your scalp. Massage your scalp during this process to remove any dirt and the water will work the rest of the shampoo down your hair. You will be surprised at how much shampoo you will save!

This same technique applies when you are doing hot oil treatments or just oiling your scalp in general.Your roots are what need the nutrients and a clean environment for the rest of your hair to flourish.

Conditioner is your friend

My ‘conditioner-holics’, you have nothing to be ashamed of! Keeping your hair moisturized is vital to its success. Now, I am not saying you have to go through a bottle every wash day.

That can get ridiculously expensive. However, you don’t  have to be shy when it comes to using it. Conditioner is the best thing that will help you detangle your hair while in the shower, in turn causing you less breakage.

I’m not saying every conditioner out there is a holy grail – you have to find one that provides good slip for your hair. Some of my favorites are: Tresemme  Naturals, Nexus Humectress, and V05 Moisture Milks (very budget friendly).

If your conditioner does not provide the slip your hair needs, you can find yourself running into more problems than what you started with.

Your wash day should not be a dreadful event. I know it can get discouraging, but you have to try to make it as easy on yourself as possible.

For me, the most dreaded part of my wash day is seeing the amount of hair shed after I have my hair in a protective style for two weeks at a time. It is very annoying, but finding ways to minimize those hair strands down the drain is what keeps me motivated. What is the hardest part of your wash day?