Does leaving your hair greasy help it grow? (2023)

Does letting your hair get greasy help it grow?

The bottom line is that dirty hair doesn't grow any faster than clean hair, so you may as well have a clean scalp and fresh tresses. Your strands will look better, feel better, and be healthier, too.

Prolonged periods of not washing can cause cause buildup on the scalp, damaging hair and even impeding its ability to grow, Lamb said. Grime from dirt, oil and hair product can show up within four to six days for people with finer, straighter hair.

A clean, healthy scalp promotes hair growth. The bottom line is that dirty hair does not grow faster than clean hair, so you might as well have a clean scalp and fresh hair. Your hair will look better, feel better, and be healthier as a result.

The main hormones responsible for hair growth are testosterone and DHEA. These hormones are characterized as male hormones or androgens because they are found in higher concentrations in men. Yet androgens are still present in the female body. Moreover, the higher your androgen levels, the faster your hair will grow.

Oily and fine or thin hair types should wash every one to two days. This schedule allows for removing buildup and the natural oils to stimulate hair health and growth. Wavy or curly hair and dry or damaged hair types should wash in the range of once every four to seven days.

Oils and grime can be trapped, creating odor

When you don't wash your hair, oils may accumulate on your scalp. This can cause odor on the scalp and hair. If you use hair care products, these can also build up on your scalp and create odors, even if the products themselves smell good.

How often should a person wash their hair? People with oily hair or who use hair care products daily should consider washing their hair once every 1–2 days. People with dry hair can wash their hair less frequently. Those with textured or coily hair should only wash it once every 1–2 weeks.

Most hair strands grow at an average rate of about 0.3 to 0.4 mm a day. So, this means it may grow up to one-tenth of an inch or a little more in a week.

Can you train your hair to grow a certain way?

Myth: I Can't Train My Hair to Do Something

Hair can totally be trained to grow a certain way—but it's going to take some time and consistent manipulation, says Reslan. “The follicles in our scalp are typically angled in a position influenced by gravity, making the hair grow out and down,” she explains.

No matter how much you wish for your hair to grow, it's only reaching two to five millimeters per week, says Dawn Clemens, hairstylist and Founder of LarweHair. And this is on average.

Hair can stop growing or grow slowly for a variety of reasons including age, genetics, hormones, or stress. You may notice your hair stops growing in one spot or seems to be growing slowly on one side. There are plenty of treatment options for slow-growing hair, including: medication.

Ignoring these perceptual differences, human hair grows at a fairly consistent rate of about half a millimeter per day, or about half an inch each month (more specifically, the study says hair grows at 0.44 mm per day). Depending on your age, hair may grow faster or slower.

Many hair follicles stop producing new hairs. Men may start showing signs of baldness by the time they are 30 years old. Many men are nearly bald by age 60.

We'll cut straight to it: On average, hair grows at a rate of about half an inch per month, or six inches per year. Each hair on your head grows from an individual follicle. At the base of the follicle is the bulb from which new hair grows.

"There is no evidence or scientific data that cold water has an impact on hair growth," Longsworth said. "Instead, using properly pH-balanced products to wash and condition the hair is far more important. Ideally, hair products should have a pH between 4.5 and 5.5 to mimic the scalp's natural pH."

Your Hair Will Become Healthier

Your hair produces it's own natural hair oils or sebum which helps to keep it smooth, moisturized and prevents breakage. Excessive washing strips hair of its natural oils and can lead to hair that's dry and brittle.

Yes, just like on a baby's head, you can start to feel that super soft, fine hair growing where there was none.

What are the benefits of not washing your hair?

The primary reason that second and third-day hair is better has nothing to do with styling and has everything to do with hair health. Skipping a shampoo day lets your scalp relax, and it stops working overtime to produce protective oils. Your strands also breathe a sigh of relief and soak up that valuable sebum.

Asian hair grows the fastest at about 411 µm (micrometers, equal to . 001 millimeters) per day. That growth rate results in around 0.48 inches of hair growth per month in Asian hair. African hair has a slower growth rate at about 280 µm per day, or about 0.32 inches per month.

— but on average, hair grows about half an inch over the course of a month. That being said, it's not unusual for hair to grow as little as a centimeter or as much as an inch in a month. A number of factors can influence hair growth, some of which you can control and others you can't.

One you've probably heard growing up, is that cutting your hair shorter will make it grow longer. Sounds counterintuitive, right? Turns out, it won't make your hair grow faster (knew it). But, it will make your hair grow healthier.