Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Tue., December 3, 10:55 AM
This is a rather silly entry – I realize even as I write it – but it was inspired by something equally silly: Male Logic.
Have you ever heard some man start ranting about the instructions on a shampoo bottle? “Why does it say repeat? It’s not necessary. They’re just trying to sell more shampoo!” There are, of course, no shampoo police to monitor whether you repeat, but that doesn’t faze him. Undoubtedly, this is a man who never washes dirty dishes, for example, and never had occasion to wash off the top layer so he could get to the real dirt… But this isn’t about washing dishes.
I will give you some facts about the chemistry of soaps and detergents, as well as a method of using the least amount of shampoo necessary. Men consistently use too much shampoo. If you live with a man who regularly “borrows” your shampoo, leaving barely a few drops for you, then you know what I mean.
Here is how soaps work:
- Each molecule of soap has a section that matches up with a similar area on the dirt, kind of like a lock and key.
- When the soap has locked onto the dirt, it becomes a water-soluble compound and is easily rinsed away.
- Soap molecules that are attached to dirt molecules no longer will form suds. (You could say they’re occupied.)
There are some products, like bubble bath, that are meant to form bubbles with or without dirt present. They are different from soap – and usually they don’t clean particularly well, either.
Nearly forty years ago, when I was finishing college and living on a student’s salary, I devised a method to get the most cleaning possible for my shampoo dollar. Those were the days of big hair and lots of hairspray, and it was also a time when one could not go to work without styling your hair. So I developed the following routine.
- Wet your hair thoroughly
- Add shampoo a drop at a time, keeping track of how much you use. You want your hair to feel soapy all over, but that’s all. If you work up a lather, you’ve used too much, and you’ll have to start over on another day.
- Work the soapiness all through your hair, then rinse.
- Add the exact same amount of shampoo you used the first time. This time it will give you lots of lather, because most – if not all – of the dirt was washed out already. You like the feel of lots of lather? You like a scalp massage? This is the time to do it.
Let’s say the amount of shampoo you used the first time was ten drops. (That’s excessive; it’s the amount I needed with long hair and lots of spray.) Then twenty drops is more than enough to get your hair clean. You can divide it into two washes, or you can use it all at once. Nowadays, with my hair very short, I use so little that a tiny bottle can last a couple of months.
I’ve been using this method ever since I worked it out, even though I no longer have to pinch pennies. When Son lived at home, I bought shampoo by the quart. Since he moved out, I haven’t bought any – husband doesn’t have much hair, y’know. When we got married, he didn’t have much more than he has now, but he usually used my shampoo…
Now you can share this precious information with the man who uses up your shampoo. I can guarantee he won’t pay any attention. He’s sure it doesn’t apply to him. After all, you are the one who uses it, not him. Male Logic.
