Best shampoo for greasy teen boy hair?

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, Kanin said:

Ha. I'd think so, too!

If you honestly - kindly - tell him that his hair looks greasy, would he be offended?

Sadly, no. Believe me I’ve told him! He really doesn’t care. 😞 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Your son is a bit older than my kids, but I have to re-instruct hair washing about every 6 weeks.  Otherwise, they do a very good job of washing the topmost layer of hair and get nothing underneath.  Sometimes the roots underneath are still basically dry!!!  I make them put on swimsuits and I show them how they need to take their fingertips and LIFT their hair from underneath, massaging their scalp all the while.  I tell them to rub about half the shampoo onto the tops of their heads, then take the remainder, and go from the nape of the neck and LIFT and scrub with finger tips, not palms.  Then move hands to behind ears and temples, and LIFT the hair and scrub with fingertips.  

Then, for rinsing, they must do the same thing.  Rinse for a while just by standing in the shower stream, then begin LIFTING the hair from the nape of the neck, then temples.  They should be able to hear their hair squeaking when it's really clean.  For my long-haired girls, they then apply conditioner to just the length, then I have them rinse until they think it's rinsed out, then DOUBLE that amount of time.  😂

If we don't do this little washing tutorial every six weeks or so, their hair just gets gradually greasier and greasier as their technique deteriorates.  

For your much older son, you could demonstrate this "dry".  If you don't actually watch how hair behaves while washing (moms get this experience by washing kids' hair), you don't see how that top layer of hair naturally mats flat down onto the head and actively prevents both water and shampoo from reaching deeper layers.  I'm sure this is evolution's attempt to keep our brains warm, but a kid/teen/young adult who has never spent a lot of time washing other people's hair may be oblivious.  

ETA:  At his age, he can also learn to flip his head and wash with his head hanging upside down.  My kids can't do this as it inevitably leads to screaming and hysterics with soap in the eyes...  

Edited August 26, 2020 by Monica_in_Switzerland

[Kanin]

3 hours ago, MEmama said:

Sadly, no. Believe me I’ve told him! He really doesn’t care. 😞 

Bummer!

[Pen]

On 8/26/2020 at 7:59 AM, MEmama said:

Sadly, no. Believe me I’ve told him! He really doesn’t care. 😞 

 

If he does not care, Why does it matter?  Seriously, not rhetorical.

  Is it causing problems for others or health problems for him? 

If he cares and you are looking for a product to help, that can go a long way.  

If he truly does not care and or is enjoying grunge, it is hard to achieve.

If he cares about acne or long term acne scarring that might be a way to get some buy in about hair grease.

If he does not have the skill set to properly wash his hair even if he wanted to, then he does need to have that skill taught as a basic thing before adulthood.   Doesn’t care could be substitute for not able, but embarrassed to seek help at his age. 

 

If he has very mild aspergers like situation he may need more instruction also

if he has post viral fatigue that could also be causing difficulties 

if all his peers who influence him also have greasy hair that could be another reason - maybe he actually prefers it to fit in with his group - rather than “not caring” 

 

If there is an underlying problem like depression causing not caring, that would probably be more important to address than the hair. 

A buzz cut could help him if longer hair is too hard to wash and he wants his life efforts to be spent on calculus not hair care.  If he really doesn’t care at all about his hair, but you do, buzz cut might be a compromise while he’s living at home. 

Or, not naked in shower, but with use of a sink,  while he is dressed, maybe you could wash it for him like at a salon. That could be another compromise.   It could also tell you how long it stays clean after a really thorough washing. 

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Pen

[KungFuPanda]

Does he rinse and repeat? It sounds so basic but can get overlooked. I never needed to repeat because I have dry hair that looks best with no shampoo. I thought it was a conspiracy to sell more shampoo. It was a surprise to me that, once puberty hit, my kids needed to rinse and repeat to get their hair clean.  I’d try that first with the products you have on hand. 

[MEmama]

I switched out DS's shampoo with Dawn, because it’s what I had on hand. I’m happy to say there’s been immediate improvement!

Never would I have thought to try dish detergent lol. I’ll probably try the other suggestions when I go to the store just so his hair doesn’t get too dried out, but until then Dawn is working much better than anything else I’ve tried. Thank you, all knowing hive! 

[Ottakee]

8 hours ago, MEmama said:

I switched out DS's shampoo with Dawn, because it’s what I had on hand. I’m happy to say there’s been immediate improvement!

Never would I have thought to try dish detergent lol. I’ll probably try the other suggestions when I go to the store just so his hair doesn’t get too dried out, but until then Dawn is working much better than anything else I’ve tried. Thank you, all knowing hive! 

Glad it is working for him.   It sure worked for us in our teen years 

[Pen]

 

??? https://www.practiganic.com/2014/05/dish-soaps-good-bad-and-toxic.html. 🤷‍♀️