Co-Washing

Co-washing: washing your hair with conditioner.

Sometimes people opt to co-wash their hair instead of using shampoo, including me, Co-washing is less abrasive on the hair and leaves the hair feeling more moisturized as opposed to shampooing.

Shampoos and conditioners have substances called surfactants in them,

These surfactants clean your hair. But how? Surfactants are both hydrophilic (attracts water) and hydrophobic (attracts oil). The hydrophobic part is attracted to the oil in your hair, and it is washed away with water,

There are products labeled as cleansing conditioners, and they contain surfactants to help clean your hair. However, these surfactants are very mild and do not cleanse your hair thoroughly, which is why I occasionally use sulfate-free and clarifying shampoos to prevent product buildup. These shampoos contain more effective cleansing surfactants.

Below are two tables that will help you identify the types of surfactants that are generally present in shampoos and cleansing conditioners.

Table 1

---

Table 2

---

Table 3

---

Here are a few examples of the surfactants that I found in some cleansing conditioners. The links to these products are posted below, (Except Devacurl)

Table 4

---

Notice that most of these co-washes contain cationic surfactants, which are poor cleansers, according to Table 2. Shampoos with amphoteric or anionic surfactants clean your hair better.

Click the photo or title to get the link to the product

As I Am Coconut Cowash

SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Co-Wash

EDEN BodyWorks Coconut Shea Cleansing Cowash

Keracare Moisturizing Co-Wash