How Long to Wait to Wash Hair After Bleaching? A hair stylist reveals it to you

 

Have you bleached your hair and now want to know when you can finally wash it?

Be prepared to wait at least 2 to 3 days with your hair unwashed.

Otherwise, if you don’t have the patience to wait that long, you run the risk of weakening your hair to the point of breakage.

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Help! My bleached hair breaks apart when wet! What Can I do?

 

Yes, just as you read it.

 

 If you don’t wait between 48 and 72 hours, all the effort of bleaching your hair and taking care of it will be useless. 

Don’t you believe me?

 

I’ll make it easy for you with an example.

A few days ago, a woman came into the salon with one wish: to be blonde.

Of course, to color her blonde, we had to bleach her hair because her natural hair was a light brown 5.

 

After evaluating her hair, which was healthy, I arrived at the final diagnosis: we could bleach her hair because it was healthy and hadn’t been washed for three days.

Perfect conditions for bleaching! Because in addition to her hair being healthy, her hair was protected by natural scalp oils.

 

Once the process was over, her hair looked the color she had always wanted. She had an even blonde with no unwanted tones.

Before she left the salon, I gave her some very important tips:

 

 The client came back after seven days very angry.  

Her hair was so tangled that it was impossible to see the color she had wanted so much.

What had happened?

 

She had almost completely ignored my instructions. She only respected the rule of not using the flat iron.

That same day, after leaving the salon and as soon as she arrived home, she washed her hair. To top it all off, she used a shampoo containing sulfates.

Also, she continued to wash her hair every day. Three days later, her hair was a mane difficult to untangle. And the color?

 

Well, thank you. A garish yellowish shade greeted her impertinently.

While her hair had withstood the bleaching, it had also become more sensitive. And it hadn’t been given the time to recover.

How does it recover?

 

By producing natural oils, which nourish it from root to tip.

How long does bleached hair need to produce natural oils?

 

At least two days.  When you bleach the hair, you remove the natural pigments and, unfortunately, you also break disulfide bonds, cyst bonds, and hydrogen bonds,  i.e. the entire hair structure.

Do you get the picture?

 

A perfect bleaching job had been destroyed by impatience.

And the result was dehydrated hair to the point of breakage.

So, if you bleached your hair, you MUSTN’T WASH IT FOR AT LEAST TWO OR THREE DAYS.

What should that first wash look like?

That’s what I’ll talk about next.

 

Three days after bleaching your hair, the water temperature and the products you use are the most important thing

 

You have taken a very important step because you resisted the temptation and waited three days to wash your bleached hair.

Now comes the crucial moment: your bleached hair will face the water. But it won’t do it alone. It’ll have you to pass the test.

How can you help?

 

And the explanation is very simple. Hot water opens the cuticles of the hair. At that moment, your hair loses more moisture.

If you can’t resist warm to cold water in the shower, there’s a solution: wash your hair first and, afterward, put on a cap to cover your hair and take a shower.

 

If you use products that contain sulfates, all you’ll do is strip your hair of its natural protective oils. Then, the effort of waiting three days to wash your hair after bleaching will have gone down the drain.

 

After applying it, gently comb your hair from roots to ends to distribute the product.

Styling creams or leave-in conditioners add extra moisture to bleached hair.

 

Don’t forget that even if your bleached hair resisted bleaching, it’ll always be more prone to breakage.

Microfiber towels prevent breakage in bleached hair, and this is very important.

 

That’s it. Breathe easy because you’ve passed the test: washing your bleached hair for the first time.

But your work doesn’t end here. There’re more washes to come. And for that moment, I’ll give you some recommendations.

How to wash bleached hair after the first wash

The first thing I will tell you is to wash your bleached hair less frequently. Think that it needs to regain the moisture it lost during bleaching.

Therefore,   you should wash it every three to four days  If you can’t tolerate such a long time without washing your hair, you can use a dry shampoo. It’ll restore shine and give you the feeling of clean hair.

 

Detergents are the worst enemies of hair dehydrated by bleaching.

 

Bleached hair is much more fragile and breaks more easily. Use flexible combs and keep in mind that bleached hair is more fragile when wet.

For this reason, the microfiber towel is still your best ally to dry it when you finish washing it.

 

You can even use a product that contains a Plex.

 

Finally, apart from washing, you should trim the ends regularly, as they open more easily. When you trim the ends, you prevent the hair from thinning too much.

Also, avoid going to bed with wet hair when it is weak.

 

Conclusions

After bleaching your hair, you should wait at least 48 to 72 hours to wash it for the first time.

Afterward, use sulfate-free products, microfiber towels, and maintain a weekly deep moisturizing routine.