Wednesday 20 February 2013

Washing hair extensions...



Someone I know who shall remain nameless wanted to know how I wash my hair when in braids or weaves since she keeps hers  unwashed the entire time they are in, only using a braid spray every now and then. So here goes…

I do a hot oil treatment first. Basically heat up my oil in a water bath; boil water pour it in a bowl then pour the chosen natural oil or oil blend in a smaller bowl place it inside the bigger bowl making sure the hot water doesn’t cover it, once it’s warm enough to touch I take it out and massage the oil into my scalp, for braids I try to get it onto the entire length of my actual hair as well, leave that on under a shower cap for anything between 15-30 minutes before jumping into the shower. I stand in the shower and let the water run through my head first to get it wet. I then take some shampoo and massage it into my scalp sort of how you would grease or oil your scalp while gently rubbing; I apply some more shampoo to the entire length of the extensions and then rinse out, if I need another lathering I just repeat the shampooing process. I don’t manipulate my scalp or extensions when rinsing out I just let the water do its job. Once fully rinsed I wring out the excess water from the extensions and towel dry tying the towel into a turban until there is no more water dripping, spray with my homemade braid spray, air dry and style. 

For weaves and tree braids I  incorporate the use of a wide toothed comb after rinsing to help detangle wavy or straight extensions, for curly extensions I use my fingers to detangle very gently so as not to mess up the curl or wave pattern. I mostly use synthetic extensions they don’t tangle as much and also find that clear shampoo is much easier to work with than creamy shampoos when wearing extensions. There you go very simple and easy process so no excuses for not washing hair when wearing extensions. 

Tip: shampoo can also be diluted with water in a spray bottle to make it easier to apply. A ratio of more shampoo than water of course the idea is to get it dilute enough to get out of the spray bottle and still get your hair clean.

Edited to add: I try to dry my braids, twists and cornrows with a blow dryer  or a hooded dryer especially in the colder months since they take long to dry and going out in the cold weather with damp hair can result in a cold or something. For weaves I usually  go under the hooded dryer no matter the weather to ensure that the tracks and my scalp are completely dry.

2 comments:

  1. Great post. Could this be done with microbraids as well? I had microbraids once ever and nevner knew how to properly clean my hair while wearing them. Taking them down was also a disaster(badly tangled hair) which is why I've only ever had them in once. I've considered trying them again now that I know a little better.

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    1. Thanks Andrea. Yes you can wash microbraids this way too. If you ever get them done make sure they do not braid too tightly especially around the hairline as microbraids tend to tug at the hair line/edges more than regular size braids resulting in a receding hairline. I have a braid taking down post coming up next so you can use that as a guideline as well.

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