May 2018 we stopped washing our locks and so far, for both of us, scalp, new hair growth and the locks, have never been healthier, look or felt better.

The first 3 months was about breaking the cycle of washing, which to be honest, wasn’t difficult.  The first 3 months both heads went from dry and itchy to oily.  The 4th month, everything calmed down and balanced out, scalps and new hair growth began to look and feel healthy.   Jumping forward to the present day, Philip’s and my locks look and feel great, we are happy with the result and will continue, not washing.

We didn’t do any research or follow any guidelines, we simply used common sense.

• We both have active jobs. Philip works outside in a dusty, dirty environment.  I have a physical job and again a lot of my day is outdoors.  Philip uses a head-tube to protect his locks, I tie back and put my locks up and out of the way.
• Sweat.  When not at work, we allow the locks be free so air can circulate.  It is necessary to regularly maintain the locks stopping them from matting and clotting together.  It is important we check each other’s scalp and locks regularly, to make sure that the scalp is healthy and the locks do not smell, so far they haven’t.
• It rains a lot in the UK, we live on a boat, moving every 14 days, come rain or shine.  We have to chop wood, carry water plus other jobs to do with sustainable living.  Living day to day, we do not let our locks get wet or damp, especially in the winter.  Philip’s and my locks are very long and dense, takes all day for both heads of locks to dry, so to prevent them from getting musty and mouldy, we protect them from rain and the damp outdoors.
• When we go swimming, we rinse the locks in clean water only.  Obviously only swim in the warmer season, locks dry much quicker and thoroughly from the sun.
• We do not put any oils on our scalp.  After almost 24 months of letting the scalp and hair do it’s natural thing, we don’t need to.
• From day one, at no time, did Philip’s or my locks smell!

Why did we do this?  We wanted to at least give it a go, worst case scenario, we would have to wash our locks again.  Not being fans of cosmetics, we began to feel passionate about letting hair self clean, results are amazing.  We do believe ,for us that is, that the washing with soaps, was more of a contribution to itchy heads, dry skin and oily hair.

This blog entry is by no means an effort to persuade peeps, to stop washing their hair, this is simply, Philip’s and my experience, and we would like to share it with you.