5 Tips To Achieve A Quicker Wash Day After A Wash & Go

Wash day can be a dreaded day especially if you’ve been wearing your hair out in a wash and go, but even more so if you let a whole week or more go by. Yes, the style is easy to achieve and lets you see your curls in their full splendour, but what we forget is that out curls intertwine and create lots of tangles that make our wash day a very long day. So, how can you achieve a quick wash day and not have to give up on your wash and go’s?

 

 

1| Detangle The Day Before

Surprised to see this tip first on the list? Thought detangling could only happen in the shower with a conditioner? Well, don’t be so surprised, it actually makes lots of sense. Let’s make a little analogy here so you can see my reasoning. Know how you throw a party at your house, everyone shows up and the music is good, the drinks are good and the food is even better? Yeah, you know what it’s like.

 

Well, the party went well, it was a huge hit, but there’s really no surprise here. You can throw a mean party when you want to, right!?  But now you’re left alone to clean everything and everything is a mess, you’re tired and wanna go to bed and cleaning up is not high up on your list (especially when it’s gonna take a while to tidy all up). On the other hand, you don’t want to leave the house as it is and wake up in the morning to all that. What’s the solution then?!

 

You simply take the bulk of the mess out (plates, glasses, bottles of wine, …) and do the rest (wash dishes, mop, …) the day after. It makes sense, doesn’t it? You see, it’s the same reasoning for detangling. Your beautiful curls were partying hard in a wash and go all week and now you have to put them in order and detangle all that, but you don’t want to have an hour-long session in the shower. Detangling beforehand can cut through the time you take to wash your hair. How can you do this and not risk losing and breaking a handful of hairs you ask? Just hop over to the next tip on the list.

 

 

2| Pre-Poo

Yes, you need to pre-poo. I know I’m a bit biased about pre-pooing because I love it so much, but trust me it’s A-MA-ZING! No, really pre-pooing will protect your hair from excessive sebum depletion when shampooing, minimise hair breakage, facilitate detangle and, well I’ll just let you read about it here so you know why you should do it.

 

I like doing an oil pre-poo but, to get through all the partying curls locked into each other and to make your wash day quicker I would apply the oil first and then a cheap conditioner with slip and work through the tangles and knots. Or, you can do a mix of both and work it on your hair. Remember, you don’t need to exhaustively seek and take down every little tangle, just as with the party analogy, you only need to take down the bulk of it, leave the rest for when you are actually in the shower. You don’t want to cause unnecessary breakage, this is just to ease your wash day.

 

 

3| Section Your Hair

Next stop on the express train for your wash day is to section your hair into twists or braids to avoid having all the detangling work going to waste. Yes, you wouldn’t want to break a glass or spill some wine on the floor having cleared up the majority of your party mess, would you? Right, this is how it works too. Twist/braid your hair as you detangle it, then put a plastic cap over them and sleep on it. Your hair will be very conditioned and soft.

 

Special note! I don’t like the use of a conditioner/deep conditioner overnight because it can cause hygral fatigue on your hair. The reason I am now suggesting this is because you apply the oil first (which creates some kind of barrier for the conditioner to penetrate but still allows it to melt your tangles) and second because, this is only supposed to be your last resource for really badass tangles and knots when you were super, super lazy.

 

 

4| Detangle While Rinsing

Ok, so the sun is out, another day as began and wash day is finally here. Yay, and the good thing is you don’t actually need to bite your nails thinking about it. In fact, you can show some enthusiasm remember?! A great big chunk of your work is done, wash day will be a breeze. You’ll be in and out in under 20 or 25 minutes, you’ll see.

 

Now, before you start cleansing your hair rinse it under running water to remove the pre-poo mix you did the day before and, more importantly, also take this opportunity and rake your fingers through your hair and release the remaining tangles and knots.

(Please continue to work in sections while you finish your washing routine. Don’t undo all your work!)

 

 

5| Use A Conditioner With Lots Of Slip

The final tip from my bag of tricks is for you to use a conditioner with tons of slip. Don’t just use that conditioner you don’t really like but need to finish or the one you need to put in a little bit of arm work to make it work better. No. I’m talking about the mother of all conditioners, I’m talking the heavyweight, destroyer of all tangles and knots, the only conditioner you’d use if your only other option was to cut through the tangles. (Yes, I know I’m exaggerating here a bit. I actually might have a flair for the dramatic. Umm, go figure!).

 

With this conditioner and all the work you did beforehand detangling is hardly what you would call the work you’d be doing. It’s gonna knock your socks off how easy it will be!

 

 

Well, I hope these little tips will help make your wash days easier when you sport a wash and go. If you don’t want to sleep on your pre-poo mix you can also apply it on your wash day before you wash your hair, work through the tangles and knots and continue with cleansing, conditioning, and deep conditioning your hair.

 

Let me know in the comments section below if you try this method and how it went or let me know what do you do to achieve a quicker wash day.

 

Featured Image: Hawkrising_natural gold on Flickr (license).