Whether you wear a wig or not, developing and sticking to a care routine that supports and maintains hair health should be a priority.

Washing your hair is a crucial part of this regime, with regular cleansing and conditioning unlocking several plus-points. Read on to discover why washing your hair is important and how you can establish the healthiest washing habits for your hair type.

What are the benefits of hair washing?

Just as skin care is essential for ensuring the health and condition of your complexion, washing your hair is the key to keeping it in tip top condition.

The moisturising properties of a good quality shampoo and conditioner delivers the hydration boost follicles need. The circular motions we use to apply our chosen product have similar, stimulating benefits to scalp massage, and actively increase blood flow and promote hair growth as a result.

Regular washing has also been linked to better hair hygiene. The build up of product and sweat can after all create a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast as well as inhibit healthy hair growth.

What about overwashing?

Washing your hair too frequently can have the opposite effect, especially if you have dry or damaged hair. Your hair’s natural oils need to be preserved, with too much sebum or too little causing its own problems. We’ll let dermatologist Brendan Camp explain why striking the right balance is vital:

“Shampooing removes sebum or oil that normally coats the hair shaft. Sebum helps keep hair soft, smooth, and pliant. But sebum is constantly produced by oil glands, and unless the hair is washed the sebum accumulates and can make hair greasy and weighed down.”

For people with dyed or chemically treated locks, overwashing and over exposure to water may cause colour to fade faster, which means more trips to the hairdressers and more money to spend. Applying too much shampoo can also result in issues, with excess product preventing lathering and stripping the moisture that your hair so desperately needs.

So, how much hair washing is too much?

As we touched on earlier, striking the right balance and adopting good hair washing habits is the key to healthy hair and unlocking all those other benefits we mentioned above. Yet, unbeknown to most, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to washing frequency.

How often you wash your hair is dictated by your hair type, with oily, dyed/chemically treated, and textured hair requiring different care.

Which hair types and textures need to be washed the most?

Straight hair types should be washed every three days as a rule of thumb, although you may need to wash more often if you have oily hair or a dry, dandruff-prone scalp.

Naturally curly locks that don’t become oily easily will find the best results when washing every three to four days. Coily or textured hair types can get away with even less frequent washing, with once every week enough to reap the rewards of washed hair and prevent overwashing.

Those with finer hair need to wash the most, with the thinner density of follicles showing oiliness more prominently than other hair types.