Wash day is a ritual for Black women who are natural, those who wear their naturally curly/kinky hair. It is the very long and very intensive process of washing our hair. The reason why it has “day” attached to it is because it basically takes an entire day to wash! Why is wash day so annoying for Black women naturalistas you ask? Why would it be any worse in the dorms, excuse me, residence halls?
Before looking at the basic steps of what a wash day consists of, it is important to note that this process does not occur every day! This process occurs anywhere from two times a week to once a month. Despite what many might believe, this is completely hygienic. We have unique hair textures and the timing between our wash days depend on a variety of factors. If you have questions about this, please do a Google search.
Now, let’s look at the basic steps of wash day. For the most part, a lot of people follow these steps when washing their hair. It is all very relative and not everyone follows the same steps every time.
The first step is prepping your hair for the wash. I do this by splitting my hair into four sections. Then, I put my hair in a plastic cap while it soaks in a hot oil treatment for thirty minutes. At this point, my roommate is probably wondering: what the hell is she doing? The purpose is to help with a dry scalp because our hair does not produce as much oil as everyone else’s . . . but, I don’t even want to explain.
Then, I walk to the shower with my hair sectioned in four parts and soaked in oil – yeah, it’s not a pretty sight and the stares from the women in my section show this too. I go into the stall with every intention of listening to the entire ANTI album because that’s how long this next part will take.
I shampoo my hair and follow up with a rinse out conditioner (from this point forward, the word conditioner will be used a thousand times.) Then, I immerse my curls in a deep conditioner and leave it in for thirty minutes to an hour. At this point, I have completed a full arm workout, everyone is trying to figure out why I am in the stall for so long, and the next album up is Ctrl.
After getting in the shower a second time, I rinse out the deep conditioner. Then, I put in leave-in conditioner to retain the moisture in my hair. I finally style my curls using a million and one products that moisturize and define my curls. After I am done, I want to take a nap, but my hair is still wet and will likely remain wet for 20 days if I don’t dry it with a t-shirt or a diffuser.
In all seriousness, it can be very uncomfortable to wash my hair in the dorms and I am not alone in this. I already feel different, but wash day exacerbates these differences.
Also, it is already an intensive process, so there are no meetings being had or homework getting done because I am booked and busy girl! Additionally, a lot of girls in the dorms can get away with leaving their hair on the ground. I cannot do this because I am the only Black woman in the entire section. They are clearly going to know the hair on the ground is mine.
For all the naturalistas: I understand why it’s a struggle, but at least we don’t have to wash our hair every day! Also, our curls are GORGEOUS afterward.
If you want more information, check out Naptural85’s YouTube channel and her updated simple wash day routine.
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