# "Oh, I can't tonight, I have to wash my hair." What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376 "2009-07-27T01:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/21 "2009-07-27T15:41:03Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > In the beloved 1956 teen novel Fifteen by Beverly Cleary, Jane washes her hair before her big date with Stan, and her mother remarks, “Why, Jane, I thought you washed your hair the day before yesterday.” Yeah, washing hair once a week used to be considered quite enough, and for some people, more than enough. Another popular line was “I just washed my hair and I can’t do a THING with it!” Women were used to having a lot of styling product and grease build up in order to style their hair. Clean hair that’s not conditioned tends to be very flyaway, and I don’t think that conditioners were marketed to the consumer back then. I remember that my parents didn’t think that it was necessary, so I bought my own using my allowance and babysitting money. In the early 70s, my father was horrified to learn that all three of us kids had washed our hair that day, and in fact usually washed it every day. My mother had (and still has) very dry hair, and she usually got it washed and set once a week at the beauty salon, as did most women of her age and class. Nowadays she washes it daily, in the shower, but she’s still likely to set it with hot rollers if she’s going out. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/22 "2009-07-27T15:48:25Z")
To concur with everyone else, my mother (now 83) tells me that washing hair was a big production number and you would set aside one evening a week to do it, mainly because of the time it took to dry/style it (which seemed to involve sitting in front of the fire with rollers in). You would always do it on the same evening because any more often and your mother would think you were being wasteful (and you would butt into your siblings hair washing time) and any longer and your hair would be a disaster. So to say you couldn’t go out on Thursday, for instance, because that was your hair washing evening was deemed a reasonable excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/23 "2009-07-27T16:24:33Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > How is that a reasonable excuse? Granted, I have short hair and it takes me all of 60 seconds to wash my hair, but how long does it take to wash a two-foot, flowing mane? My mane is closer to 2.5 feet right now (butt-length, if you must know) and it takes 15-20 minutes to thoroughly wash _and rinse_ it. I find it takes longer to rinse the soap out than to put it in. But that’s not all - if I don’t blow dry it (and I usually don’t, as repeatedly blow-drying damages hair which makes growing it long difficult) it takes 2-4 hours to dry completely. I don’t recall home, handheld hairdryers becoming a household staple until the “Farrah Fawcett” hairstyle became fashionable (late 70’s?) so in the 1960’s someone washing long hair pretty much was not going out that evening. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/24 "2009-07-27T17:22:45Z")
I \*am \*blessed with curly, long, thin hair. The thin part is the only part that makes it manageable. And I am far from high maintenance but even in this day of modern products, it still takes a little time to wash my hair. If I do it the “right” way, it’s wash-condition-comb out all of the snarls-apply gel-scrunch just so. Generally I use 2-in-1 shampoo and it’s quicker. But I always thought it was just a condescending “no” - as in, I don’t enjoy washing my hair, but I’d rather even do that than date you. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/25 "2009-07-27T18:20:15Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > \- even in winter, our dorm rooms were heated hot enough to run around in a T-shirt and shorts \ Tell us more about this part, please. 😉 [QUOTE=ZipperJJ] My mom had thick hair down to her butt in the 60s. She lived in a house with no shower, just a bath tub - and also has 4 sisters. She was in to “big” hair. After washing it in the sink, she’d curl it around empty orange juice cans (you know, the concentrated stuff) and go to bed, so she could do a bee-hive in the morning. [/QUOTE] Wait- she actually \*slept \*with them in? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/26 "2009-07-27T18:26:10Z")
Man, I can’t imagine not washing my hair every day. Or at LEAST every other day. I know that people often say it’s good to go a few days without it, but I tried that as an experiment earlier this year and you could literally see the grease on my hair. I felt like the Fonz but with fewer STDs. Does anyone else get majorly greasy when they don’t wash as often? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/27 "2009-07-27T18:26:32Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Tell us more about this part, please. 😉 > > Wait- she actually \*slept \*with them in? Absolutely. Most women slept on rollers back in the day. I did it as a kid in Jr. High. You put the pillow under your neck so your head is kind of suspended off the mattress and try not to move around and don’t think of sleeping on your side and if you’re lucky, everything’s dry by morning. And don’t forget the Dippity Do. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/28 "2009-07-27T18:41:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Most women slept on rollers back in the day. And those were not soft foam rollers, either. They were metal mesh, with spiky bits sticking out to hold the hair better. Trying to get me to sleep in rollers was yet another of my mother’s failed attempts to get me to act like a little lady. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/29 "2009-07-27T18:43:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > And those were not soft foam rollers, either. They were metal mesh, with spiky bits sticking out to hold the hair better. > > Trying to get me to sleep in rollers was yet another of my mother’s failed attempts to get me to act like a little lady. To be fair, considering the smells of sulfur and eggs coming at my hair dresser’s last week, I don’t think people have stopped doing horrible things to themselves to achieve desired results. And from what I hear, people do (or pay to have done) some damaging stuff–not in the name of curls anymore but in the name of straight hair. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/30 "2009-07-27T18:54:42Z")
“Or maybe she decided that an evening with your old tutor would be blisteringly dull and opted for the more exhilarating course of washing her hair instead. Dear me, I know what I would have done. It’s only lack of hair that forces me to pursue such a hectic social round these days.” - Professor Chronotis, in ‘Dirk Gently’ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/31 "2009-07-27T20:01:36Z")
I actually got that excuse when I was dating. It was in June of 1971 (Yes, I remember the date, since we met at the US premiere of **Jesus Christ Superstar** ). She called back about ten minutes later and said that she could wash her hair the next day, so it had a happy ending. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/32 "2009-07-27T20:01:38Z")
I think the fact that in these days it’s easier than it used to be makes the excuse unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) ironic. Like, I care so little about you or what you think that I’m not even going to _try_ to make a plausible excuse. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/33 "2009-07-27T21:38:17Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Absolutely. Most women slept on rollers back in the day. I did it as a kid in Jr. High. You put the pillow under your neck so your head is kind of suspended off the mattress and try not to move around and don’t think of sleeping on your side and if you’re lucky, everything’s dry by morning. > > And don’t forget the Dippity Do. Yeah, I think my mom used to sleep on her face, pretty much. (Then the 60’s happened when she was in college and she went for long hippie hair, and still has it.) But it seems girls mostly slept in rollers. Otherwise you’d wake up with horrible bedhead and no way to fix it. My MIL claims that _wigs_ were pretty popular when she was in her 20’s, and I think this is why. It was easier! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/34 "2009-07-27T21:47:34Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > My MIL claims that _wigs_ were pretty popular when she was in her 20’s, and I think this is why. It was easier! Wigs made a brief comeback in the 70’s. I don’t know why, or what started it, but they were very common. Mom would take hers to the hairdresser for cleaning and styling. I slept on rollers for years, the wire/sticky ones. You could get little pink foam pads to put under them, and that made it bearable. _Tame_ might have been one of the first conditioners. I remember being jealous when a rich girlfriend bought some. It was a concentrate. You had to mix it with water and then pour it over your hair. Prell and Tame and Jergens lotion – 60’s cosmetic icons. ETA: I read that wrong. I thought it was “in the 20’s”, not “in **her** 20’s”. Was your MIL in her 20’s in the 70’s? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/35 "2009-07-27T22:56:55Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > …RE the 1920s hair dryer. I think that means that weird looking bag apparatus that was attached by a hose to the dryer, not a hand held blowdryer… According to Wikipedia it [was](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_dryer) the handeld blowdryer for home use that was invented in 1920. The big salon dryer was invented in the late 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/36 "2009-07-27T23:13:10Z")
I liked rag curls - nicer to sleep in. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/37 "2009-07-27T23:16:59Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > According to Wikipedia it [was](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_dryer) the handeld blowdryer for home use that was invented in 1920. The big salon dryer was invented in the late 19th century. Handheld dryers available in the 20’s? Why did it take so long for them to become common? I don’t remember them until at least the late 50’s, early 60’s. I don’t remember them in movies from that period either, although scenes of women drying their hair probably wound up on the cutting room floor. Seriously, my rich friend would have had one, and she dried her hair under one of those bonnet thingies. Then again, I was raised in the Midwest, and it takes forever for new stuff to get here. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/38 "2009-07-27T23:37:26Z")
My mother still has one of those bonnet dryers. I don’t know how often she uses it, but she does ‘set’ her hair with curlers. She has a regular blow-dryer, too. I remember my sister getting a blow-dryer when she was in high school - must have been early-mid 70s. It was metal, and incredibly heavy. Loud, too. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/39 "2009-07-27T23:52:15Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > But that’s not all - if I don’t blow dry it (and I usually don’t, as repeatedly blow-drying damages hair which makes growing it long difficult) But it’s the heat that does the damage, isn’t it? So what you should really do after washing your hair is go up in a plane that has an open cockpit for the ultimate blow-dry. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/40 "2009-07-28T00:58:17Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Tell us more about this part, please. 😉 > > Wait- she actually \*slept \*with them in? I - we - did, yes. For varying values of sleep, of course. When I was in high school in the late 60’s and terribly concerned about my appearance, I would wash my butt-length hair every afternoon after school, roll it in the OJ cans and leave 'em in until the next morning (more than 12 hours). We had one of those hair dryers with the plastic cap and I’d sit on my bed with the thing running for bleeping _hours_ while I did my homework ;). Then I’d “sleep” with the rollers in. Damn, I feel old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376.md?page=3)