2d ago

Fabric softener is a scam

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'Most millennials aren't buying enough of our shit and that's a HUGE PROBLEM that all of you definitely care about!'
That's some pretty useful advice in the comments tho. But also I'm 52 years old and have literally never used fabric softener in my life and have no idea what it's supposed to be for other than making companies like Proctor & Gamble even more money.
Also, another handy tip: 'lather, rinse, repeat' is bullshit, unless you have really thick or really oily hair and don't wash regularly, you don't need to wash it twice, the shampoo company just wants you to buy more. Same with fill marks in a washing machine, unless you're doing a huge load there's no reason to fill it all the way up.
- and don’t wash regularly
  Even washing hair regularly is a scam. If you wash once a week your hair will be fine. It'll look like shit for a few weeks until your scalp gets the message that you aren't stripping away all the natural oils still and that it can cut back on oil production but afterwards your hair will be healthier.
  
  I'm sorry to have to say, but the idea of "hair training" is a myth.
  The oil glands (which are known as sebaceous glands, and produce an oil called "sebum") are controlled by genetics, hormones, and stress. Sebaceous glands don't have any sort of "sensor" to tell them when to produce more/less oil, so washing or not washing won't make a difference.
  
  Thank you. I have extra oily hair so if I skip washing it even a single day it starts to look like I'm using pomade, and whenever I tell people this they always insist I should just wash it once a week and my head will "adjust."
  
  I am the exact same, friend. My hair becomes a big oil slick after only a day without washing and it's really obvious. Which is part of why this particular myth bothers me so much.
  First, as teens, we had uninformed randos without oily skin telling us to heal our acne problems by putting nonsense like toothpaste and silly putty on our faces. Now, those same uninformed, non-oily randos tell us that our greasy hair can be solved by not washing it.
  But my dermatologist was right about the acne care they recommended, I'm inclined to trust them about my scalp care too.
  
  Yep, I had really bad acne when I was younger and the only thing that worked was isotretinoin, which is rough. My lips cracked and bled while I was taking that but when I was finished the acne was gone.
  They made me pledge not to get pregnant while taking it despite the fact that I don't have a uterus, lol.
  
  I knew /r/nopoo was a lie!
  
  This is true, but greasy hair looks greasy and makes your pillow smell bad which impacts your ability to fall asleep.
  Like sure, it's not natural to wash your hair every 2/3 days, but imo it's worth it
  
  No, your hair stops becoming greasy. That's the point. It gets that way because you're stripping the oils, so it produces more to replinish it. If you stop then your scalp eventually adjusts and stops producing much oil.
  People think greasy hair is just what happens, but no. It's what happens when you've been stripping your hair dry for years and your scalp is trying it's best to fix the problems you're causing. Stop causing problems and it'll normalize.
  I wash with water frequently, but when I really need a good clean I wash with conditioner. The oils bind and are removed but your hair will be refreshed. I rarely wash with shampoo, for years at this point, and my hair isn't greasy. It just feels healthy.
  
  I can assure you my gf and I both invalidated this assumption during the covid19 lockdown. I have a friend who has thick grey hair and he never ever washes it. I guess we are all different on that matter because I can't even skip a single day (it gets scratchy and my skin starts to fall appart), as others testified in the comments.
  
  Yeah, it's definitely different for every person. I don't think anyone's going to argue with that.
  
  It’s what happens when you’ve been stripping your hair dry for years and your scalp is trying it’s best to fix the problems you’re causing. Stop causing problems and it’ll normalize.
  Please do explain how an exocrine gland on the scalp is supposed to know how much oil is on a strand of dead hair cells, located inches away from the skin?
  
  It doesn't know. That's stupid. I assume if it's cleared by shampoo then it has an easier time excreting more. It could also be that shampoo causes it to produce more in some way chemically, or that the oil shielded it from something that causes it to produce more. I don't know the mechanics of it, and I don't think there's been any research into it. All I can say is that my scalp seems to have stopped producing as much oil when I changed how I clean my hair.
  I've seen one person post one article saying it isn't real. I read it. It doesn't have any research behind it. It only makes claims like the glands not having sensors. Sure, but many parts of our body perform differently based on different circumstances without sensors. To dismiss all the people with experience with no experience or evidence is pretty short-sighted. I'm sure that doctor is intelligent and knows her stuff to some extent, but she overreached with her conclusion without doing any analysis.
  
  I think that it's because the scalp itself gets dried out from too much washing, so the glands respond to that.
  When the scalp skin "normalizes" the hair slowly normalizes as well, since the oil travels down the strands.
  That's my guess. I went from shampooing daily to every other day and at first I would get an itchy, gummy scalp. But eventually that gummyness worked it's way out. Every time I shampooed I would get that dry, gummy scalp the next day.
  So eventually I shampooed less and less. Now I don't shampoo at all. I just rinse daily with water and massage my scalp.
  
  I'm a head-sweater so when I work out my hair gets as wet as it would in the shower. I'm not gonna leave it like that, it'll be stinky.
  
  Yes, not all advice/recommendations apply to everyone. Specifically: our bodies vary quite a bit and they also change over time.
  
  100%.
  Use a shampoo that has aloe as the primary ingredient as well. Can comfortably make it a week and half before it looks gnarly.
  Routinely get complimented on it so I know its not nasty.
  
  Huh, I didn't know that. But I mean I gotta shower every couple of days at most anyway or I feel gross, so might as well.
  
  Hair training is a myth, so take their advice with a grain of salt.
  
  Duly noted, thanks.
  
  Oh, I shower every day with soap. I just don't wash my hair every day. I also feel gross without a shower.
  
  Soap is also not great for your skin; you don't need to soap up more than your armpits and underwear area.
  
  Apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil baby. (I am not a gross hippy, shampoo dries the f out of my hair and Ive gone no shampoo for ~10 years)
  
  Your hair isn't left smelling of the vinegar after?
  
  It rinses out really well, and the tea tree oil is used to negate any residual smell
  Main reason I do vinegar is because it strips out maybe 60-70% of the oils vs shampoo
- It reduces static and leaves behind a film that makes things feel softer. It ruins towels because of this.
  
  I use dryer sheets for static. shrug
  
  Dryer sheets will ruin your towels too, just toss some wool balls in the dryer.
  
  How so?
  
  It coats your towels with a light film that makes them less absorbent.
  
  Same thing just with more waste
- Was "lather, rinse, repeat" an advertising jingle or something for you guys, or do you just all get taught to wash your hair twice?
  
  It was on the instructions on the bottles and IIRC in the ads for the major brands too.
- I gotta wash mine twice(when i do wash it), but that's because of the extra oils I put in my hair. The first wash absorbs so much of the oil it won't really even lather.
  
  Obvious solution seems to be to put less oil in your hair? shrug
  
  Then it doesn't look right. Obvious solution is to just wash my hair twice. So obvious it's what I do and it works great.
  
  I've literally never put oil in my hair in my life (tho now I say that I dunno if shampoo/conditioner has oil in it. Probably.) It's looked fine this whole time.
  
  I've probably had pretty long hair for longer than you've been alive. If you have long hair and wanting it to look not crazy without tying it up, you're putting something in it. Whether it's leave in conditioner, or fiber or pomade or gel or hairspray or some type of oil or you manage to skip all that by straightening it all the time; you're putting something in it or doing something to it. Very few people have an exception to this. Namely people who have very straight, limp hair.
- I learned that from Lizzie McGuire. Ethan Craft, the character frequently noted to have amazing hair, calls the "lather, rinse, repeat" thing a marketting trick.
- I've had a box of fabric sheets for a decade or so cause my mom got them for me when she house sat, and I didn't have any. I sometimes use em if there are sparks when I pull something out of the dryer, and i don't forget i have them.
- Cotton and mostly-cotton blends don't get that much static but nylon, polyester, and bamboo/rayon/microfiber make sparks. If you're trying to wash pet hair out of something, the softener can help it let go. Although, before you wash, try using a squeegee or a silicone bowl-scraper to remove most of the hair.

378 comments