Washing Hair with Just Water?
I finally got fed up with the damaging effects of shampoos and decided to take my hair to the next level by going shampoo-free. It was the greatest decision I ever made for my hair! I tried various No Poo methods, and later transitioned to the Water-Only hair washing method, where I use only warm water to wash my hair. I’ve loved it so much that I’ve been strictly water-only for over a month now. Update: I’m still going strong with this routine after 13 months! – And my hair has rewarded me with the best quality it’s ever been in. :)
When I first heard about using only water to wash hair, I assumed it’d be a pretty grungy ordeal, but for me, it has been an incredibly effective, simple, and rewarding method – if done right. There are a few essential techniques that I follow that help enormously in managing the oils on my head, getting the most out of my hair washes, and keeping my roots looking oil-free and my ends hydrated. Once I got the techniques down, (and my scalp’s oil production calmed down), this hair care routine became almost effortless for me. If this is something you’re interested in trying, I’ve included some easy and effective techniques below that can help achieve the ultimate water-only hair, including while still going through the initial oily transition phase (like I was in the pictures throughout this tutorial).
What is the water only hair washing method?
The Water-Only (WO) hair washing method simply uses warm water (in place of shampoo) to cleanse dirt and excess oils from our heads, while utilizing the hair’s natural oils (like a conditioner) to protect and nourish the hair, making it soft, silky, and hydrated. My hair can look just as clean as if I used shampoo when I use the following tips and techniques.
The best part about this method compared to other “no poo” or shampoo-free methods is that there are no external chemicals that can damage, dry out hair, or wreak havoc on the natural scalp pH. The only “product” necessary is free of harsh chemicals, completely natural, totally free, and designed by nature specifically to nourish and protect our hair– the hair’s natural oils.
In my opinion, water-only is the final step to take in a shampoo-free journey. It’s self-sustaining, it can help get the scalp’s oil production under control, and it is a viable long-term hair washing method. It is also a zero waste, sustainable, and eco friendly hair washing method!
What is my hair like after one month?
My hair has never been more hydrated, voluminous, soft, silky, bouncy (the elasticity is through the roof!), manageable, fast-drying, or breakage-free as it is now. My hair looks just as clean as if I used shampoo, without any of the negative shampoo side effects, and it smells fresh. I can wash my hair way less often, because it doesn’t start to look oily until day 7. My hair no longer requires a boat load of styling products to look nice, and air-drying is a real life thing for my previously unmanageable hair.
To see the long-term results I got from this method, check out my 3-Month Update! (And after 13 months, I’m still loving this routine! No more oily hair, even after 10 days between water-washes.) I get even cleaner hair washing results now, but I’ve kept the original pictures on this tutorial from when I was still going through the “oily transitional phase” that many of us experience when starting a no shampoo method, just to show how clean my results are from the “before” and “after” pics at the oiliest part of my No Poo transition.
Before starting the Water Only hair washing method
***For quitting shampoo for the first time and switching to a no-shampoo method, I highly recommend checking out my other post how to start a no-shampoo method to avoid silicone buildup. Please also know that if you have previously been over-washing with harsh shampoos, and your scalp produces excess oils, there can be an initial oily phase when starting any no-shampoo method. See this post for how to get through the transition phase and encourage your scalp to slow down natural oil production. You may need to gradually transition to no-shampoo / water only while the natural oil production slows down, explained in this post. These things are crucial to know before starting any no-shampoo method.
The Ultimate Water-Only Hair Washing Routine
Let’s be honest, anyone can stop using hair products, stand under a shower head, and call that “water-only hair.” But let’s be real, we want hair that looks and feels great– not an oily mess sitting on top of the head! This tutorial is a guide for how to distribute & utilize the natural oils on the hair to give the look and feel of clean roots & delightfully hydrated ends.
What is needed to wash hair with just water:
- a boar bristle brush (BBB)
- wide-toothed comb
- very warm water
- cold water
- optional: a couple of drops of nourishing hair oil (e.g. coconut, argan, or olive oil) — helpful for dry ends on long hair
Step 1: Start with dirty hair!
When natural oils exist on the scalp & hair, it results in two awesome things:
- The scalp will take the hint that it’s not being stripped of all of its oils anymore, so it can slow down excess oil production.
- If natural hair oils have been distributed down to the ends of the hair, the nourishing oils are coating the hair shafts keeping them conditioned and hydrated between washes. (Like a free hair mask, woohoo!).
**The key to getting through the beginner’s initial oily transition phase and stop hair from getting excessively oily too quickly, is to try stretching the time between hair washes, so it can get used to not being stripped of oils. This means that a full water only hair wash likely doesn’t need to be performed every single day. (FAQ: “What if I like to wet my hair every day?” or “How do keep my hair clean between washes if I workout every day?” See this post for the solution.) Need more help with oily hair? Read here.
Note, that when I took pictures for this post, I was still going through the initial oily transition phase, and I intentionally waited six days since my last wash, which at the time, was a long time for me. The initial oily phase lasted a couple of weeks for me, and then my hair stopped getting excessively oily between washes. Note that no one has to let their hair get super oily for water-only hair washing. If this method doesn’t get your hair clean or the transition takes longer for you, please try out another no-shampoo or low-poo hair washing method in combination with water only until you get this routine down, so that you are getting your hair clean on a regular basis!
Here’s a link to my excessively oily before pics – for science. I hadn’t even brushed it yet because I want to show how well the brushing in Step 2 works. I think it’s okay though, because now you can compare these super oily transition pictures to the end result to see how well water-only works, even for a beginner who still gets routinely oily. Check out my 3-Month Update post for more info. I just wanted to clear that up so you don’t think anyone ever has to look this oily with the water-only method!
Also in these pics, sometimes my camera brightness is over-compensating because my hair is quite dark, so it’s automatically beefing up the contrast, making my hair look like it shines harder than it really does and making my skin glow like I’m an astral being or something. Thanks, camera. But don’t worry, I took the pictures you see in this post on the same day, in the same lighting, with the same camera, to keep consistency throughout this tutorial (for science).
Step 2: (Pre-Shower) Distribute natural oils!
The following are three very important techniques that should be done right before hair washing. These three techniques will help loosen up the natural oils on the scalp and will distribute them to the rest of the hair. The result will be less oily roots and added hydration for the ends— and they’ll make water washing in the shower a whole lot easier!
A. Scritch
On dry, detangled hair, rub fingerpads (not nails) in relatively quick, yet gentle motions all over the scalp. It’s similar to scrubbing the head in the shower, but without water. We’re talking light pressure that shouldn’t hurt the scalp. This creates some friction to warm & loosen up oils and dead skin cells sitting on the scalp. (Added bonuses: Scritching also increases blood flow to the scalp which can promote hair growth, and it feels soo good!) Section or part the hair if necessary to reach all areas of the scalp.
Once the oils have been loosened on the scalp, you might notice that all the oils are sitting at the roots. The next two steps will help distribute the oils down the hair shafts to nourish the rest of the hair.
B. Preen
On dry, detangled hair, take small sections of hair (I like to take wide, yet thin sections), and place two fingers on either side of the section. Starting at the base of the roots, gently pinch fingers together and slide fingers down the section of hair to the ends. This “pulls” the oils from the roots down the section of hair. Be gentle. Preening shouldn’t actually pull at the scalp or be uncomfortable. If hair is longer than 6 inches (mine is more than double that in these pictures), it might be hard to get the oils all the way down to the very ends, so just focus on getting the oils away from the roots and at least 6 inches down the length of the hair.
For long hair, this can be a time-consuming step to water-washing, but it still works well for many people. Pro Tip: I find it’s quicker to preen while brushing in the next step. (One hand to preen, one hand to brush.)
C. Brush – DON’T skip this!
A boar-bristle brush (BBB) is an essential tool for happy hair, and it is absolutely essential for practicing water-only washing. From my experience, a BBB is the BEST at pulling the natural oils down from the roots to the ends of hair, and it’s great to do after scritching and preening to pull the oils from the mid-shaft all the way down to the very ends of the hair.
After scritching and preening, brush a clean BBB through hair to reduce tangles and distribute the oils down to the very ends of hair before showering. Section or part the hair so the boar-bristle brush can reach all areas of the roots and hair. Once done with each section, brush the ends for a while to get all the oils off the BBB and onto the ends. Ends need lovin’, too. :) And make sure the brush is clean before using it, otherwise it isn’t soaking up oils, just moving last week’s oils around on the head with this week’s oils. (How to clean a boar-bristle brush tutorial.)
In addition, these techniques can be used daily between washes! A boar-bristle brush can replace a regular, daily hair brush. Brushing oils through the hair is really the only upkeep needed between water-washes to keep hair looking clean and oil-free. Just a little brushing every day or every other day can really keep the oils from building up into a greasy mess at the roots. After my scalp’s oil production slowed, I noticed I don’t have to brush the oils through my hair as often anymore.
***For wearing hair naturally curly, brushing will un-define curls, so below are some options for managing oils:
- Curly hair has an advantage since curls hide oily roots better than straight hair. So if roots don’t look oily, scritch regularly, but wait to preen and brush the hair until right before washing it. Note that if natural oils aren’t being moved down to the ends of hair regularly, the ends are at risk of getting dry. Follow step 6 (below), which is to add a small amount of a natural oil (like coconut oil or shea butter) to the ends to give them some hydration between washes.
- If roots look oily and skipping daily brushing isn’t an option, try using the BBB daily to distribute natural hair oils throughout the week. Then dampen hair with a spray bottle filled with water to squish, style, and redefine curls.
- Or try a wooden-bristled brush instead, since wooden bristles are typically much further apart, and wood distributes natural oils through hair similar to a BBB.
Just by scritching, preening, and brushing, my hair already is starting to look a bit better compared to the way my hair looked when I started this tutorial. The most important thing is that we distributed our natural oils down to the ends which conditions our hair, and we loosened up oils from our scalp to make washing with only water a lot easier.
Step 3: Time to water-wash hair!
Temperature: Time to shower. The temperature of the water is very important. Too hot can damage hair or be too drying on the scalp, and too cool won’t break up the excess oils on the head. While scrubbing oils off the head, the water should be very warm… a comfortable temperature between hot and lukewarm. The water temperature can be lowered over time as the scalp’s oil production slows down since there will be much less oil to wash away (this happened for me).
Technique: Wet hair, then use fingerpads (not nails) to gently scritch the scalp in relatively quick motions (just like scritching before). Focus the water stream directly on the area being scrubbed so it can wash away dirt and oils while scritching. For long or thick hair, part the hair in sections while washing to easily access all areas of the scalp/roots. While going through the oily transition phase and/or noticing roots are getting clean but the next few inches aren’t, try preening the water through the length of the hair, just like we did earlier in Step 2B. The warm water loosens up hair oils, and preening while the water runs through the hair will help the water break up the hair’s natural oils further down to give an overall cleaner wash.
Be Patient: Make sure to get all areas of the scalp. I honestly had to spend quite a bit of time doing this when I was going through the initial oily phase, but I also only had to do it only about once per week, so it was worth it for me. (It takes me much less time to do it now.) If hair still looks oily after showering, try tweaking the method a bit. For the next wash, try using slightly warmer water, or spend more time gently rubbing fingertips on the scalp, or try preening the water through the hair from root to tip. This routine only gets easier and requires less steps as time passes and the scalp’s oil production normalizes. It took me a few washes to get the hang of it. Feel free to leave a comment with questions below, and I will try my best to help.
Hard Water? I have low to moderate water hardness and find water-only is successful for me. Some people have issues getting their hair to feel clean with very hard water. So hard water is something to check for if hair isn’t get clean. Test water hardness or look it up on the city’s website. There are ways to soften water at home. Many people have much better results after installing a shower head filter (which is also much cheaper than an entire water-softening system). I’ve actually even heard people say that their hair looks too clean and poofy with soft water so they prefer harder water.
Step 4: Rinse hair with cold water
This is my least favorite step, but rinsing with cool water helps the hair cuticles lay flat (after the warm water lifted them up), which helps hair look smoother.
Pro rinsing tip: After flinging the shower temperature handle to cold, take a giant step back out of the water stream. Bend over forward, flipping hair over the head, and stick only the head & hair under the cold water. Try not to think about every tiny molecule of freezing water hitting the shower floor and jumping back up onto legs. In fact, practice mentally checking out for a moment while the shock of 7 seconds of cold water attempts to ruin a perfectly zen shower moment. Just visualize being on an island standing under a beautiful, crisp, cool waterfall, overlooking the greatest scenery ever. …I do.
Okay in all seriousness, don’t slip and get hurt. But that may or may not be what I actually visualize. (It is.)
Step 5: Dry with a T-Shirt and Detangle
After showering, pat the hair dry with an old t-shirt or microfiber towel (instead of a bath towel) to reduce frizz and flyaways. Using a t-shirt or microfiber towel for this step actually does reduce frizz for me (unlike a bath towel), and I wish I knew about this tip forever ago.
Comb through damp hair with a wide-toothed comb, starting at the ends and working up. Be gentle as hair is fragile while wet.
Step 6: Hydrate Ends (Optional)
If hair is long, it may take some time for the natural oils to be distributed down far enough to condition the ends. Until then, I recommend applying coconut oil or any deeply hydrating, natural oil to the ends (and only the ends) of the hair as a substitute for the hair’s natural oils. Especially if ends are damaged or tangly. It will help smooth out the ends so they don’t dry frizzy and so combs/brushes don’t get snagged in them while detangling… plus it gives hair some added hydration. I prefer coconut oil, and unrefined, cold-pressed version of coconut oil makes a world of a difference to me, but any natural oil will worko including jojoba and argan oil. I stopped having to use oils after a few weeks, as they eventually became unnecessary. :)
Caution! Be careful with the amount of oil and where it being applied! Slathering a bunch of oil on the hair or roots will lead to excessively oily hair. I just rub one or two drops of oil between my finger tips and glide it onto the very ends of my hair while damp. My hair seems to look a bit oily if I apply the coconut oil to dry hair, but using it on damp hair seems to fix that for me. Then I thoroughly wash the oil off my hands before touching any other part of my hair so I don’t spread any extra oil to my roots.
Step 7: Air dry hair! or style as usual
My hair actually air dries SO fast now (and many others report the same with water-only). It’s literally ridiculous how fast it dries, but it’s so wonderful. I just gently twist it to the side like this until I’m ready to style it.
Products? I actually stopped needing to use any styling products since switching to water-only. With shampoo, I HAD to use styling creams, waxes, smoothing serums, volumizers, hair spray… Now my hair just does whatever I want it to without any product. Manageability levels are through the roof. Thank you, natural hair oils.
Heat? When I used shampoo, I had to use heat to style my hair every day to get it to look presentable. But now I only use heat on it maybe twice per month and just let it air dry the rest of the time. It’s incredibly low maintenance. any additional styling products for that matter,
If using any products, ensure they are silicone-free products or ones containing water-soluble silicones to avoid silicones building up on hair!! More on the importance of avoiding silicones here.
I didn’t use anything else in my hair for this tutorial. I just let it air dry & then lightly used a flat iron on it And that’s what you see in the pictures below.
***Important note: While myself and many others have followed Water Only and many other “no-shampoo” hair washing methods for years with positive experiences, I cannot encourage that anyone with a pre-existing scalp condition follows this routine. I am not a doctor, and I have only had positive experiences with “no poo” methods, so I can only speak to my own situation. If any undesirable symptoms arise, please take care of yourself and check with a professional. Thanks for listening!
DONE! Water Only Hair Washing Results Below
This is actually about 14 hours after I washed it :) Same lighting & angle as all of the above pics. So much volume! — NO styling products necessary. There is NOTHING in my hair except water, my hair’s natural oils, and a couple of drops of coconut oil on the very tips of my hair.
Have you tried this method? Did it work for you? Leave a comment below! :)
Questions? I’d love to answer them. Check out my other hair posts for fast answers.
Check out my 3-Month Water-Only Update to see what the future holds with water-only!
This is the best water only method I’ve read. I truly appreciate this. I’ve been water washing for about a month and this post answered several questions for me. I had a feeling that I was washing my hair too often (daily to be exact). I have afro curly hair and my scalp doesn’t get very oily. So the tip of only washing when hair needs it was right on point. Great job in breaking everything down. Awesome post!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m so glad this post is helpful to you! I appreciate you taking the time to write this. :)
Wow fantastic info, so great of you to put it all together for us, so helpful.
I have two questions if I may :) I’ve read some people do it the other way round, meaning they first lightly brush and scritch in shower, then air-dry hair, And only then they brush with BBB+scritch+preen, then tying hair to rest and absorb overnight and go to sleep – so i’m a bit confused, do you personally find any logic in this ^ order?
(I think the logic behind it is that you rinse sebum in shower, then out of the shower and skull produces new sebum with the help on scritching, then we preen it and brush and go to sleep for it moisten washed hair, so confusing?)
and all in all i’m trying to figure out if basically less = more in this method? should I just let my hair be for as long as I can without stimulating my skull by scritch/brush/preen/massage etc’ or should I try and pay attention to it to some degree every evening or so?
Thanks! I’ll try to answer your questions as best as I can.
You should definitely scritch (aka scrub) your scalp in the shower to loosen up oils, dead skin cells, dirt, and sweat, and let the warm water wash through your hair to break up the oils and wash it all away. But people brush in the shower? I don’t recommend brushing in the shower. Your hair is very vulnerable when it’s wet; It soaks up water which makes it swell up and heavy, putting tension on your strands. It’s easy to break wet hair when you brush it, which leads to uneven breaks in the hair strands and makes it more susceptible to split ends. It’s bad stuff. You should detangle your hair before you wash it, and then again after you wash it and have patted it dry with a t-shirt. Detangle it very delicately with a wide-toothed comb and adding oil to the ends of your hair if necessary to make your comb go through the (typically less healthy) ends easier and without snagging. Air drying is great! I only recommend detangling in the shower with a wide-toothed comb if you’re using a conditioner that makes hair silky smooth and easy to detangle, but that isn’t something you can do with water-only.
Scritching after you shower will only stimulate the blood cells on your head and promote sebum production which makes hair look oily. If you have an overly oily scalp, I don’t recommend doing this as you’re just going to look oily sooner than you probably want. If you have a drier scalp, washing can be pretty drying to your scalp since you’re washing away all the excess oils, so scritching your head after a shower can help relieve the dryness. If you have a drier scalp though, I recommend washing with lukewarm or cooler water (instead of very warm water) so it doesn’t break up as many oils on your head, so your scalp is less dry after a wash.
Scritching and preening helps move oils away from your roots and through the hair, but if you just water-washed your hair, there shouldn’t be a lot of oils on your roots to move around anyway. I don’t see how scritching and preening immediately after a wash is helpful, unless someone has a very dry scalp and hair. I recommend brushing, scritching and preening -before- a shower since there are a lot of oils built up on your scalp by then, and it’s easier to wash your scalp/roots after they’ve been scritched/preened/brushed. It loosens up the oils and dead skin cells on your head prior to the wash, and makes washing oils away with water easier and more effective. It also helps move the oils down to the ends of your hair before you wash all the oils away at your roots. That way you aren’t left with dry hair that hasn’t been “conditioned” by your scalp oils before washing oils away at your scalp.
You can scritch and preen the oils through your hair as much as you want throughout the week. You can do it every day if you want to. Some people find that their roots are very oily, and once they move the oils down to the ends of their hair, their hair can look overall more oily. So I recommend scritching and preening before bed to let the oils soak into your hair throughout the week. You can also scritch and preen the night before a shower (8-12 hours before) to let your hair soak up the nourishing scalp oils before you wash a lot of them away (like an overnight hair mask).
I hope I explained that correctly. Let me know if I need to clarify anything.
OMG skull=scalp, mega oops :D
Thanks so very much for explaining it all so thoroughly, you are so nice and great :)
I now can see the logic behind your order, it’s like broom sweep is always prior to a wet soapy mop :) that totally make sense now !!!
I will also scritch & preen before bedtime from now on.
I am a total newbie at no poo and WO and have curls and a fairly dry scalp so I do find it really challenging to dry-brush but i’m sure it’ll balance with time and practice.
so glad I found you and will try to follow as much tips as I can
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your experience and the very detailed tutorial. I’ve heard of this method some time ago and you made me want to take the next step! I used to be low-poo but I moved to Brazil two years ago and it was long before I found suitable, non homemade products again. So I got kind of lazy, though always trying to minimize the silicon amount in the products.
I was wondering, do you have a specific way to treat your hair when exposing it to swimming pool/sea water, if you do?
Hi, I’m glad you’re going to take the next step and try water-only! I hope it works out for you. Sea water isn’t as bad as a chlorine pool. Sea salt doesn’t really strip your hair of its natural oils, but it does wash a lot of the oils away, so with prolonged exposure your hair can start to feel dry. However, sea salt can be great for people with dandruff, and many people love the texture it gives their hair. I would say the less exposure the better, but I wouldn’t be too afraid to go in the ocean.
Just be sure to hydrate your hair afterwards by either 1) putting oil just on the length of your hair, avoid putting oil near your roots, and just use water only to wash it out. Oil is hard to wash away with just water, so avoid your roots and only use a little bit to hydrate the length of your hair. Or 2) Put oil all over your hair and scalp like an oil mask, and then rinse it out with a silicone-free conditioner only (co wash). Or 3) Put an oil mask all over your hair and scalp, then use a low-poo to wash it out, and then follow up with loads of silicone-free conditioner afterwards. I would opt for 1 or 2, but it’s up for you.
Chlorine pools? I would personally keep my hair up and out of the water. If you can’t keep your hair out, then I would co-wash or low-poo the chemicals out of your hair afterwards, to reset your hair. A swimming cap is a good idea if you want to avoid the chemicals from reaching your hair.
Thanks for the advice. Well it’s going to be my challenge of the moment, if anything works better than the rest I’ll let you know!
I read once that a mixture of soda water and lemon juice neutralizes the chlorine. I used to take a spray bottle after my kids swimming lessons, spray their hair let it sit for a bit then rinse it.
I can’t remember the ratio, but you can probably find it online.
I have a question too…
I every time after I wash my hair just with water (and scrubbing and trying my best to wash it away) its getting oily or it its still oily (I’m not sure at this part)
As I have found you post only las week (and yes it is far more helpful as other posts I read) I didn’t now much about that scrubbing part and that’s good to do it shortly before the shower.
So will it be better if I start the scrubbing my scalp before I even step in the shower? (and only light scrubbing in the shower?) I always have the feeling that the water does not reach the scalp very often. Probably a problem with my amount of hair. It always in the way. So maybe that’s one of the reason my hair/head is oily after washing.
Or could be the problem that I wrap it in a towel before I let it air dry? (I for myself noticed it is easier to comb my hair after it is dryer. I use a wooden brush instead of the boar bristle because of the damage)
I was thinking about (once again) putting dry shampoo in my hair and wash it out (its impossible for me to comb it out) without scrubbing as that helped a week ago. But I dont like the idea to do it always that way.
I will try out the getting greasy/oily part (maybe I should start wesring a ponytail again….) but I#M afraid not getting it out again… *sigh* this is rather challenging. I wonder if my hair will every thank me for that lol
And thank you for reading and that great post! :) I hope a lot of people will find it so they know what to do except “wash your hair with water”
Hi Lexi, Yes should experience better results if you scritch/preen/BBB before showering. You can also scrub your scalp really well in the shower, too. Just don’t scrub so hard that you are damaging your hair or anything. I have a lot of hair, too, and I recommend parting your hair into sections in the shower and focusing the warm water at the roots of each section. That is how I get the water to reach every area of my scalp and hair roots, especially the underneath sections of my hair.
A wooden brush is perfectly fine! But it may not distribute the oils through your hair well enough. If you use a wooden brush instead of a BBB, I highly recommend preening (explained above) before you shower, too.
Let me know if these tips work for you or if you have further questions. Good luck!
Thank you so much for this amazing blog!
I considered no poo in september last year, but I realized I would rather go low poo. And by that I mean washing my hair with Rhassul or egg yolk (combined with lemon) twice a week.
Today – when I read your blog – I decided to give no poo one more try. And its amazing what scritching does to my scalp. After my shower my hair didn’t look oily at all! And that has always been my main problem. I didn’t even need my BBB caus I justed cleaned it (thanks for your article about how to clean a BBB).
I have bangs and I have always had a problem getting rid of the oiliness – but I must say I’m amazed by the results. So once again – thank you so much for sharing this information! And sorry about my english, it’s not fluent – I’m from Denmark. ;-)
And also – if I do not find the preening any good – will that be awfull for my hair? I will continue to use my BBB. :-)
Hi Malene, I’m so glad to hear my post helped you get a better water-only wash! Scritching is the best! And it can feel sooo pleasant. :) I don’t preen very often, as it is time consuming, and my hair doesn’t get excessively oily anymore. I find BBBing works well enough for me so I can skip it. But many other people have success with preening. If you are noticing your hair is very oily, you should preen, but if you aren’t having any issues with oiliness, you can skip it! Scritching is very good for your scalp– it lifts dead skin cells and promotes blood flow / hair growth– so don’t skip scritching! :) I hope you continue to have success with water only… let me know if you have any other questions in the future!