# "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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/62 "2015-02-27T20:47:56Z")
I’m a guy with short hair, and it gets to be 10 W40 in 12 hours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/63 "2015-02-27T23:42:35Z")
Just wanted to point out the date of the OP. Before someone uses the Z word. That really bugs me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/64 "2015-02-28T01:44:27Z")
If I’m not going anywhere, it doesn’t take me that long to wash and dry my hair, which I do every night. But if I have plans? I wash my hair the night before, and put volumizer in when it’s wet, then when it dries comb it out. THEN the next morning I’ll curl it with a curling iron, and set it with sponge rollers for about an hour. I have baby-fine, stick-straight hair. If I don’t do that, it won’t have any body whatsoever. (And mind you, my hair’s only shoulder-length!) ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/65 "2015-02-28T02:43:33Z")
> [@sudont](#): > > Do you have long hair? You didn’t go long enough. Try it for at least two weeks. It does tend to look a little greasy the first week. > I rarely shampoo my long hair more than once per month, although it gets a rinse everyday in the shower. If you have short hair, there’s probably no point to going without shampooing, except to save some time and water. You cut it off before it can get too damaged, anyway. I haven’t used shampoo since October 2014 and it’s in the best condition of my life. All that stripping of oils from daily shampooing tends to increase oil flow into overdrive. That’s why your hair gets greasy so fast. Then you need conditioner to put some “grease” back in your hair after you just washed it. It doesn’t make sense. The oil on my scalp slowed considerably after a couple weeks of no shampoo. I held off for as long as I could, then would use baking soda with a diluted vinegar rinse. Now I rarely have to clean my hair at all. It’s full of body, soft, easy to comb, smells nice and looks clean. Shampoo/conditioner is a big scam. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/66 "2015-02-28T03:26:15Z")
zombie or no when you can’t shampoo, minipoo. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/67 "2015-02-28T04:19:25Z")
I use real poo. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/68 "2015-02-28T04:42:11Z")
As opposed to sham poo? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/69 "2015-02-28T05:46:00Z")
So shampoo dries your hair and makes it brittle. So don’t use it. Duh. My hair is past my butt (last haircut was in 1992) - I use conditioner as others use shampoo - apply, work in briefly, and rinse. Surprising how much crud comes off with ANY wet, slippery product. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/70 "2015-02-28T13:39:03Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > The mind boggles. I have the same question as **AuntiePam**. Why did it take 50 years for them to “catch on”? I remember the Revlon model being advertised on TV–a sexy blonde dressed in a white cowboy outfit, the handheld dryer was her “gun”… > > Farah Fawcett and Cheryl Tieg were the ones who started all those hair styles that needed the blow dryer. Maybe the handheld didn’t catch on because of the beehives and the whatever-the-40s-style-of-the-flat-hair-except-for-the-end-curls-close-to-the-face-was-called? I know I am answering a six year old question, but: A handheld blow drier from the '20s era would be bulky, heavy, and very expensive. The impact of strong, lightweight, and cheap plastics on the consumer manufacturing sector is hard to comprehend, from today’s viewpoint. Also, in the 1920s the typical family would not have had the disposable income to afford even an inexpensive drier. The average wealth of our society has increased enormously in the last 70 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/71 "2015-03-01T02:49:51Z")
It wasn’t the stone age before conditioner. We used creme rinse, which got out the tangles and stopped the frizzies. Tame was the first one I remember using, but even that was around before I was born and that was a very long time ago. Easy Comb, Easy Set was another one. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/72 "2015-03-01T02:56:10Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I know I am answering a six year old question, but: A handheld blow drier from the '20s era would be bulky, heavy, and very expensive. The impact of strong, lightweight, and cheap plastics on the consumer manufacturing sector is hard to comprehend, from today’s viewpoint. > > Also, in the 1920s the typical family would not have had the disposable income to afford even an inexpensive drier. The average wealth of our society has increased enormously in the last 70 years or so. Not really, I had a vintage one from the 1920’s in my vintage bathroom. It still worked and came in the original box with the price on it. It wasn’t very powerful. It was heavier than the ones today (obviously), but it wasn’t insanely heavy. It was called Hannah something. Very cool looking. I don’t remember the price but it didn’t make me gasp when I did the math. Not everyone could afford it, but if you could afford an iPhone 6 plus today, you could afford this then. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/73 "2015-03-01T21:35:15Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > It wasn’t the stone age before conditioner. > > We used creme rinse, which got out the tangles and stopped the frizzies. Tame was the first one I remember using, but even that was around before I was born and that was a very long time ago. Easy Comb, Easy Set was another one. Actually, I still use an old family recipe for a hair rinse in lieu of conditioner or creme rinse… among other things, vinegar-based rinses where used because they helped get the soap out of the hair. This was especially useful back when you washed your hair with actual soap because shampoo hadn’t hit the market yet. ---
**Author:** ![pdxlara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@pdxlara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdxlara)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376/74 "2018-02-07T00:45:16Z")
Ok, I’m a little late to this thread, apologies if I duplicate any info. I find this topic pretty interesting for some reason. I’ve done research over time for my own personal info and I think what’s missing from this story is the actual history of shampoo itself. There’s a pretty high-level view [here](https://www.hairstory.com/stories/2017/3/24/the-history-of-shampoo/). Shampoo has often been made of detergents, especially in the past 100 years or so. Detergents strip the hair of oils along with the dirt. Much like putting dishwashing liquid on your hair, detergents strip all the natural oils and damage the hair shaft, making it more difficult to comb, dry, and style the hair. This is one of the reasons people shampooed infrequently; it would take time to restore the natural oils, making it easier to manipulate and style. “I just washed my hair and can’t do a thing with it,” is a common saying from this era for that reason. This is why now it’s very common for shampoo lines to produce accompanying “conditioners.” Fun fact: conditioners were originally intended to soften men’s facial hair. In the past few decades, conditioners have been developed first with polymers and now silicone to fill in the bumps caused by damage from the detergents, which help make it a lot faster to dry and style hair right after washing. Another issue, as also mentioned, are the types of hairstyles women used to wear. Hairdryers weren’t common and were more of a luxury. Also, women tended to “set” their hair in curlers or rollers after it was washed. Depending on the length of hair and desired style, the rollers could be anything from tiny, less than an inch in diameter, to giant (like the orange juice cans someone else mentioned). A typical type of hairdryer would include a bonnet or helmet type hood to blow the air on the set hair, similar to those used by beauty shops, which not everyone had at home. Most women let their hair air dry in the rollers, often overnight (so they would not want to leave the house with their hair set). Girls were more likely to have to improvise, because spending money on lots of products was not as common. There were also quite a few less products to purchase. So they might have a can of hairspray and a bottle of shampoo, but many were doing things such as drying their hair on orange juice cans. After the hair was set and dried, they would take it down and (again, depending on the era), begin an arduous process of brushing, teasing or back-combing, and spraying, to get the desired look. If they were planning a date, it would probably be at 7 or 8pm, and even if they started right after school (say 4pm), their hair would not likely be ready in time for the date. Another factor, as others have mentioned, is that households usually shared a single bathroom among all its members. Showers were not as common; getting clean more likely meant a bath, which also takes time to fill and use, and then drain. One bath could empty the hot water heater, which would take hours to reheat. And usually dad, as the “bread winner,” had the top priority for bathing. So, bathing, and shampooing, might happen 1-2 times per week, be scheduled with other family members, and be more involved than what we’re used to. Scheduling hair washing and styling for a teenage girl would probably be pretty strategic. She’d want to take a time that was available in her house. She’d want to have plenty of time to style her hair. (She might want up to 24 hours to completely dry, set, and allow some of the natural oils to come back for styling.) She’d want it to be fresh for socializing over the weekend, but she wouldn’t want it to be too dirty for school the next week. Friday night could be a logical time to fill all these conditions. So, although it could provide a convenient excuse for someone who didn’t want to go out, in most cases it was very likely a woman was telling it straight that she had to stay home and wash her hair. Here’s a [fun post](https://www.metv.com/stories/shampoos-of-the-1960s) full of ads for hair products from the 1960s. I like the copy from “Mini-Mist:” “Aren’t there times when you have better things to do than wash and set your hair?” Just like today, we were seeking short cuts to make more time in our schedules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-i-cant-tonight-i-have-to-wash-my-hair-what/504376.md?page=3)