How To Wash Your Hair Once A Week

Oftentimes, I only wash my hair once a week. Does this sound crazy? Well, I’m here to tell you that washing your hair less is totally possible! It just takes a couple (simple) hair tricks. Read on to discover how you can wash your hair once per week, plus all the benefits of washing your hair less frequently.

How many times a week do you wash your hair? If you’re looking at this post and thinking you could never wash your hair once a week, I totally get it. There was a long time where I thought there was absolutely no way I could ever get away with washing my hair once a week!

And guess what?

I’m sitting here with hair that hasn’t been washed in 4 days, and there’s a good chance I’ll be letting that go for a couple more days.

Not sure how to wash your hair once a week? Listen up: I’ve got all the tips for you so you can start washing your hair less frequently.

First, though, if you need a little convincing, I want to share with you why you should wash your hair less, and the benefits that I’ve seen with my own hair since washing it only once a week.

The benefits of washing your hair once a week

Most notably, there are three major benefits that I have found from washing my hair once a week:

1. It’s way less work/saves time

   If you’re someone with long hair who doesn’t enjoy spending a ton of time in front of the mirror in the morning, you’re going to greatly benefit from washing your hair only once a week.

   These days, not only can I get away with not styling my hair at all and having it still look nice (!!), but when I do style it, it doesn’t take as long because my curl holds better.

   Not to mention, the curls from the pervious day are still somewhat in place.

   Major time saver.

   Note: When I don’t style it, I get these natural, beachy waves that are way more wearable and less frizzy than they use to be when I washed my hair daily. Here’s an image showing what my hair looks like when I’m washing it infrequently. This image was taken when I was travelling in Rome. I wasn’t using any heats tools, like a blow dryer, straightener, or curling iron.

   

   Also, if you’re looking for some more beauty tips to help save you time, feel free to check out my simple makeup tips for hectic mornings.

2. Your hair will look better/healthier

   Plain and simple, my hair just looks better and way healthier when I’m actively trying to wash it less.

   At the time of writing this, I haven’t had it cut in 2 months, and my ends still look perfectly healthy, or at least much more healthy than they use to when I was constantly washing it.

   Normally I would have dead ends galore between cuts, but I’ve seen a major improvement in that since washing my hair less.

3. You’ll have more hair volume and texture

   I think we can all agree that having voluminous hair is the goal, and when I’m washing my hair less, I have significantly more volume.

   Essentially all these benefits work together to motivate me to keep washing my hair less.

   My hair looks better because I have more volume and texture, and my hair takes me less time because of that same volume and texture.

   It’s a win-win all around! Plus, I haven’t had to pull my blow dryer out in months, which is a real bonus.

   

How to start washing your hair once a week

So did I convince you to wash your hair once a week?

If so, read on and I’ll share you with the exact steps that I took to start washing my hair once a week.

Please note: This post does contain some affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through one of my links, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

My approach to wash my hair once a week

First things first, in the name of full disclosure: I’ve read a couple different articles on how to wash your hair once a week, and to be honest, I think a lot of them overcomplicate the process.

In this post, I’m not going to tell you to invest in fancy shampoo and treatments. In fact, there’s really only two extra products that I think you need if you want to start washing your hair less.

Point being: I’m no expert when it comes to haircare, so these haircare tips are completely based on my own personal experience with my hair (I have pretty average hair; it’s not overly thick or thin, and it could probably be considered “wavy” if we had to classify it as something).

If you want to invest in fancy haircare products, I’m sure your hair stylist will have much more professional tips for you.

But, on the other hand, if you’re like me and you’re all about those simple beauty tips, give my approach a try and you should be well on your way to be able to wash your hair once a week.

Here are my best hair washing tips:

1. Start slowly with washing your hair less

When most people start washing their hair less, it’s not as if they go from washing everyday, to washing once a week.

Or, if they do, they likely have quite the greasy head of hair.

Instead, you need to start slowly and train your hair to get use to being washed less.

Start with going every other day and then work yourself up to longer stretches of time without washing.

You might have more greasy hair than you would like during this non-washing time, but try your best to schedule it out so your “greasy” days land on days where you’re going to be out-and-about less (i.e. if you know you don’t have anything planned on Sunday, wash your hair on Friday evening and see if you can get to Monday morning without washing it).

Keep increasing the days between washing gradually, and eventually your hair will start to get use to the longer period between washing.

2. Try dry shampoo to increase the time between washing your hair

I’m all about dry shampoo.

I know some people don’t like the white residue it can sometimes leave, but I find if I only use a couple sprays and then rub the product into my hair vigorously, I don’t really have this problem.

Even after working out and sweating quite a bit, I’ll let my hair dry and then load up on dry shampoo and I’m good to go.

Having said that, if you had a particularly sweaty workout and you’re worried about your hair smelling and all that sweat lingering, you can always simply wet your hair with water. This will refresh it without actually washing it. (I’ve never found this necessary; dry shampoo always does the trick for me).

You can also try out some of these hair hacks to help make your hair less greasy after a sweaty workout session.

What dry shampoo should you use?

I use the Pantene Original Fresh Dry Shampoo.

Last month, when I went full force with only washing my hair once a week, I almost invested in a more expensive dry shampoo from Sephora, but honestly, when I can get dry shampoo from the drugstore that works well, versus a $30 bottle from Sephora, I’ll go with the cheaper option (especially because I go through dry shampoo pretty quickly and don’t want to spending an arm and a leg every time I need a new bottle, ya know).

Do you have a dry shampoo that you really like? Do you find a major difference between drugstore brands and high-end brands? Let me know!

If you’re like me, though, I would honestly just pick the most budget-friendly option 😉

3. Hair oil/serum is also helpful when trying to limit hair washing

This might sound counter-intuitive, but the other hair product that I’ve started using frequently since I started washing my hair less is hair oil.

Yup, hair oil.

I know that sounds scary when you feel like your hair is producing all the oil that it can get, but hair oil is necessary for my ends.

I’m not sure if it’s because my hair is long, but the ends of my hair need a little extra attention in order to look hydrated when I’m not washing it frequently.

And so, everyday, I’ll take just a small amount of hair oil and rub into the ends of my hair.

This prevents my hair from looking dry, and it saves me on days where I don’t feel like styling it.

Just be sure you’re only applying the hair oil to the ends of your hair. If you’re not washing your hair often, your roots likely don’t need that extra oil.

Also, keep in mind, if you plan on styling your hair with any heats tools, make sure you’re applying the oil AFTER you use heat. If you first apply oil and then heat, you’ll fry the ends of your hair (not ideal).

What hair oil should you use?

Once again, I’m pretty cheap with my haircare, and I’m simply using the Garnier Anti-Frizz Hair Serum.

For the exact same reason as mentioned above, I just haven’t found that spending that extra $20 on my hair products is really worth it, so I tend to go with whatever is cheapest at the drugstore.

In other words, a simple hair oil is really all I need to keep my ends looking fresh between washes, so if I were you, I would, once again, just pick the most budget-friendly option.

Pro Hair Tip

If you’re a lady who enjoys clean beauty products, a simple coconut oil will work wonders on your hair. Just be sure to use a very small amount and only put that small amount into the ends of your hair. Too much coconut oil can have your hair looking very greasy, so I would suggest doing this the day prior to hair washing so you can wash it out ASAP.

4. Use shampoo and conditioner properly to limit hair washing

This is a pretty basic tip, but it really does make quite a difference in the look and feel of my hair.

Basically, when I’m washing my hair, I concentrate the different products into different parts of my hair.

In particular, with shampoo, concentrate the majority of the product into your scalp. This is where your hair oil is concentrated, and therefore this is the area that you want to wash and get squeaky clean.

On the other hand, you won’t find as much oil towards the ends of your hair. Instead, your ends are likely going to get more dry, which is why you want to concentrate conditioner on the ends to help hydrate them. 

Obviously don’t worry if you get shampoo on your ends, or conditioner in your scalp. The point isn’t to exclusively concentrate the product into one or the other. Rather, it’s to ensure that your optimally using the product so you can go longer between hair washes.

What shampoo and conditioner should you use?

No surprises here: I don’t get fancy with my shampoo and conditioner.

My two favourites and what I’m currently using is the Dove Nutritive Solution Daily Moisture Shampoo and Pantene Sheer Volume Conditioner. 

This combo has never failed me, and it keeps my hair looking and feeling its best all week long.

5. Hair accessories are life savers when washing your hair less

When desperate, or when you’re just starting out with washing your hair less, hair accessories will become your best friends.

In particular, I love a good headband for hiding any unwanted greasy hair.

Plus hey, it helps that hair accessories are majorly in style right now (I’m wearing a cute bow style headband as I write this).

6. Sleep with your hair in a braid to help limit greasiness when washing your hair once per week

This is something that I’ve done for the past couple years or so, even before I started washing my hair less, but it’s a trick that works even better now.

I always sleep with my hair in a braid.

First off, I find that doing so keep my hair from looking like a crazy wild mess in the morning.

But more importantly, it keeps my hair contained, which prevents any of my hair oils from spreading.

I don’t actually know if there’s anything to this, but on the rare occasion where I’ve slept without the braid, my hair always looks and feels greasier in the morning.

Just ensure it’s a relatively loose braid so that you don’t wake up every morning with crimped hair.

Will you start washing your hair once a week?

So, as you can probably tell, when it comes to washing my hair once a week, I’ve taken a pretty basic approach to it.

I don’t do any fancy treatments and I’m not spending a lot to buy products that tend to work just as well as a lot of drugstore brands (in my opinion).

If you want to save yourself some time when getting ready in the morning, and you’re tired of your hair looking dead and limp, I highly recommend at least trying to wash your hair less.

It might be hard at first, but once your hair starts adjusting, you’re going to wonder how you were ever washing it multiple times per week to begin with.

If you want to give it a try, these are the two specific products that I recommend picking up for washing your hair less:

1. Pantene Original Fresh Dry Shampoo
2. Garnier Anti-Frizz Hair Serum

If you’re interested in haircare tips and product recommendations, check out these articles:

1.  My favorite hair tutorials that are perfect for hot weather

2. My favorite Sephora products that are worth their price tag (there’s a haircare product in here that’s more pricey than I typically buy, but I actually think it’s worth it!)

3.  All the best simple beauty hacks (includes haircare, makeup, and skin)

And that’s it! The above haircare tips should give you a better idea about how you can wash your hair once a week without the need to purchase any fancy treatments or products.

Let me know in the comments below: what are your favourite hair products, and how many times per week do you wash your hair?