The water-only washing method eliminates the use of Shampoos and Conditioners that we have been using since decades. It is a common practice followed by many people across the world.
Rinsing your hair with water every day helps cleanse your scalp and hair, while allowing the natural oils to protect and nourish your hair and scalp. This process is a stop to washing your hair with chemically treated products in order to avoid pumping out the natural oils from your hair.
How Rinsing Hair with Only Water Works?
The scalp produces a natural oil called sebum that helps in lubricating the hair. Shampoos effectively strip off all the natural oil making your hair look dull, brittle and dry, and that is where conditioner comes in to hydrate.
The idea behind this is that our scalp enters a continuous cycle of excessive sebum production, which can cause hair to feel (and look) greasy. Water is effective at removing dirt, dust, and other water-soluble hair residues from that sebum.
Benefits of Rinsing Hair with Water-Only
Pure water washing method has its many advantages. A clear advantage? It’s a natural alternative to chemically loaded shampoos. Excessive washing of your hair with these shampoos can not only deprive your hair of its natural oils, it can also cause product build-up and toxins into the bloodstream, leading to myriad health problems.
Rinsing hair with water every day only removes the use of sulfates, a common additive in shampoos. Sulfates are extremely effective at removing dirt and cleaning the hair and scalp, but many claim they make hair dry and brittle. If your hair tends to become tangled, it can be an advantage to wash your hair only with water and a deep conditioning mask.
With more natural oils lubricating the hair, just by washing it with water, the hair shafts slide over one another, resulting in less tangles. Skipping the shampoo can also spread the sebum in your hair and this can make your hair appear shiny and less frizzy.
A quick note though: conditioner build-up can actually create tangles, so avoid heavy silicone-based conditioners. After all, the No Shampoo method is extremely inexpensive and can help you save money that you would otherwise spend on daily hair care.
What to Expect from Every Day Hair Rinse with Water?
As with any other hair care routine, there are keys to making this work successfully for you, and if you find that the habit of using only water isn’t working on your curls, there is certainly no shame in going back to what it used to be will your hair. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Taking a pure water regimen will be a journey. The initial stages of not using products will feel uncomfortable, but the growing pains will eventually go away.
- Your hair might feel greasy to the point of possible embarrassment after a few days or a week depending on production.
- While you may be tempted to toss in the towel, know that your hair doesn’t look as greasy as it might feel. Don’t overdo it with water.
- While you might be tempted to rinse your hair longer with lukewarm water to dissolve some of the natural oils, you need to resist the urge. The goal is to let your scalp do what it does naturally without interfering too much.
8 Steps for Every Day Water-Only Hair Rinse
1# Motion
To make cleaning easier, rub your fingertips (not your nails) all over your scalp of dry, detangled hair in quick, gentle motions. This creates some friction to loosen dead skin cells and oils and increase blood flow to the hair follicles.
2# Sectioning
Section out your hair strands between two fingers and gently slide your fingers through the strands of hair to the tips. This “pulls” the oils from the roots and down the strands.
3# Brush
A boar bristle brush is essential to wash your hair with just water. After scraping and grooming, use a clean brush to reduce tangles and further distribute the oils on the tips. Reach all root and tip areas while brushing.
4# Temperature of Water
The temperature of the water is very important. Too much heat can damage your hair or scalp, and too cold won’t dissolve excess oil. A comfortable warm to warm temperature is ideal. When your scalp’s oil production decreases, cool down the temperature. The temperature of the water is very important. Too much heat can damage your hair or scalp, and too cold won’t dissolve excess oil.
Wet your hair, then use your fingertips to gently rub your scalp as you did before. Aim the water jet directly at the wrinkled area. If you notice your roots cleaning up but not the next few inches, then try the maintenance as in step 3 or try a little warmer water. Take your time and be sure to care for all areas of your scalp.
5# Rinse
Rinsing with cold water will help close the cuticles after warm water opens them, making them look lighter and retain moisture. When the temperature drops, toss all your hair over your head and just glue it under the creek. If you weren’t awake before, you are now blow-drying and untangling.
6# Detangle & Dry
After you shower, pat your hair dry with an old t-shirt or microfiber towel to reduce frizz and loosen hair. Using a wide-tooth comb, comb through damp hair, starting at the tips and working your way up. Be gentle as the hair is brittle when wet.
7# Moisturize
Hydrating moisture after washing with water is important to keep your hair healthy. When you have dry or damaged ends. Apply coconut, jojoba or argan oil sparingly (unrefined, cold-pressed) only to the tips, especially if you are new to the water-only rinse method and your natural oils have not yet conditioned your strands of hair so much.
8# Styling
Once you begin rinsing your hair every day with water, you will hardly need any styling products since switching. Regardless of your experience, you should stay away from hair products that are less soluble in water, like waxes and anything that contains silicone that doesn’t wash off as easily, especially without regular shampoo, and that’s the point, right?
Hope this article helped you understand why rinsing your hair with water-only can be beneficial and an ideal choice for healthy growth of your hair if you feel the need to rinse your hair every day!
,