# Poll: Do you EVER lather, rinse and repeat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764 "2001-10-16T18:01:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/1 "2001-10-16T18:01:06Z")
I have repeated maybe twice in my life. It strikes me that this might be a more universally ignored instruction than the speed limit. What say you? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/2 "2001-10-16T18:06:12Z")
Very, very rarely. I don’t know why shampoo manufacturers even bother. I doubt they even rinse and repeat in fancy-ass salons. ---
**Author:** ![Special\_Kay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Special\_Kay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Special_Kay)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/3 "2001-10-16T18:07:09Z")
I think that may be true, but my shampoo says repeat if desired. I desire about once a week or if I get really nasty. I do find that if I don’t repeat occassionally, I run out of conditioner before shampoo, so… what the hey! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/4 "2001-10-16T19:01:00Z")
…and you shouldn’t **need** to re-lather. I think they wrote that just to sell more shampoo. If I feel a “build-up” in my hair, I use a clarifying shampoo. Also, and I don’t know how true this is, I read in an old GQ mag that us guys lose enough hair as it is, why lather twice and risk losing more? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![TexasSpur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@TexasSpur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexasSpur)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/5 "2001-10-16T19:10:42Z")
I do. I also shower at least twice a day. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/6 "2001-10-16T19:14:30Z")
You bet. Usually, though, it’s just for fun. Rarely because I need to wash my hair the second time. ---
**Author:** ![TheOtherOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@TheOtherOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOtherOne)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/7 "2001-10-16T19:15:06Z")
I followed the “Lather, rinse, repeat” suggestion just last week, since I had just installed a starter on a friends Rodeo. I wouldn’t have bothered, but there were still chunks of things stuck in my hair after I washed the first time. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/8 "2001-10-16T19:19:43Z")
Since I have The World’s Oiliest Hair, I have been known to “Lather Rinse Repeat”. But only rarely. You can’t take these things literally. As I have noted before on the SDMB, “Lather Rinse Repeat” is an endless loop. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/9 "2001-10-16T19:26:56Z")
Lather, rinse, repeat _as needed_. I find that the second round of lathering is much more satisfyingly lathery. The bubbles seem to come up so much nicer once the first round of schmutz is removed from your funkified hair. ---
**Author:** ![Special\_Kay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Special\_Kay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Special_Kay)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/10 "2001-10-16T19:33:48Z")
I agree. You get much nicer foam the second time and it feels cooler. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/11 "2001-10-16T19:41:16Z")
Yep, I have hair down to my waist, and I often repeat the lather and rinse part. If I have been swimming in the ocean, I sometimes do it _three times_ (yes, I know, I’m a wild woman) to get all the salt and sand out. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/12 "2001-10-16T19:46:35Z")
I tried “Lather, rinse, repeat” once, but then I found myself in an infinite loop. I’m never trying that again. ---
**Author:** ![lather\_rinse\_repeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@lather\_rinse\_repeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lather_rinse_repeat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/13 "2001-10-16T20:01:29Z")
\<------ Yes 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/14 "2001-10-16T20:34:00Z")
OK, first of all I think the instructions were put on the bottle just to make people use more shampoo. I actually remember when they started putting this on the bottle. Obviously people who need to shampoo twice can figure this out for themselves. The instructions are just to put the idea into the heads of people who don’t need to shampoo twice. Still, having said that, a lot of times I do need to “repeat.” I have very oily shoulder length hair, and sometimes I have to wash it twice to get it clean. When it was waist length, I ALWAYS had to wash it twice. ---
**Author:** ![bigneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@bigneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigneck)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/15 "2001-10-16T21:08:56Z")
i’m bald. ---
**Author:** ![Slartibartfastt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5e9695/32.png) [@Slartibartfastt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slartibartfastt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/16 "2001-10-16T21:58:58Z")
Due to a very thick head of hair and the nature of my job(rancher/farmer), after some jobs one pass just isn’t enough. The worst I can remember is replacing the power steering box on a 1975 F-700 truck. First of all the old box and most of the engine compartment had 20 years worth of leaked and spilled oil. Second, we were replacing it mainly due to not working right but also because it was leaking pretty good. We had to undo the motor mount bolts and jack the engine sideways to remove and replace it. The part in question weighs about 50 pounds or so and you had to get right up against it to get any leverage. After the new one was in we also replaced the hoses going from the pump to the box and that was a minor feat of engineering in itself using various elbows and lengths of hose that of course leaked when we tried it the first time. The only way to see where it was leaking was to lay almost directly under it. We managed to kill the whole day on this job and by the time we were done the stuff in my hair added about five pounds to my weight. It took at least three passes to get all the layers soaked through and scrubbed off. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/17 "2001-10-16T22:03:48Z")
After hiking and climbing in the mountains most weekends, I lather, rinse, and repeat to get out all the dirt, and oil. It’s even worse after a week or two in the woods. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/18 "2001-10-16T22:09:36Z")
I rarely lather, rinse and repeat but when I _do_ I can tell the difference the second time around. The lather quotient is much higher and my hair generally feels softer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/19 "2001-10-16T22:11:04Z")
i’ll do the repeat once or twice a week, but i got long ass hair and do lots of dirty stuff, so it generally needs it. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764/20 "2001-10-16T22:17:16Z")
After a weekend of camping I’ll lather up at least twice. Usually, it’s just once though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-ever-lather-rinse-and-repeat/87764.md?page=2)