Although it mostly comes down to not washing your hair properly, other factors such as damaged hair and hard water may cause your hair to feel waxy even after washing it.

If you have noticed that your hair feels waxy after washing, like it hasn’t been washed for several days, you might want to read on and find out the cause.

Why does my hair feel waxy after washing?

Damaged hair

If your hair has been damaged by chemicals or heat, it may appear dull and feel waxy.

This may be caused by the fact that your hair cuticles have been damaged, hence making the hair vulnerable to further damage.

Damaged hair also tends to be difficult to manage and doesn’t respond well to hair products.

Product buildup

The products you use to style your hair may remain creating product build-up.

This is especially true if you tend to style your hair a lot and you don’t wash it as frequently.

These products include hair oils, leave-in conditioners, heat protectants, hair creams, and even styling gels.

The ingredients, such as silicones, oils, and polymers present in these products cling firmly to your curls as they are water-resistant and they don’t wash out properly when you shampoo your hair.

Using the wrong products

You may also be using hair products that are not right for your hair type. You may be using a shampoo that contains oil, instead of cleaning your hair; it creates a waxy coating over it.

Not washing properly

Several things could go wrong when it comes to washing your hair in the wrong way.

First is the temperature of the water that you use. If you use very hot water, it will end up drying your hair, causing it to overproduce sebum.

Second, you may not be cleansing your hair in the wrong way, focusing on the wrong areas, not getting rid of the dirt and product build-up, and probably not carefully rinsing out the shampoo and conditioner you use.

Thirdly, you may be lathering conditioner over the scalp instead of on your hair shaft.

Hormonal imbalance

Hormonal imbalance refers to when there is an excessive or inadequate amount of hormones being produced in your body.

This causes several problems in your body including your hair feeling waxy after washing it.

Hormonal imbalance may cause the sebaceous glands to overwork themselves, producing an excessive amount of sebum that leaves a waxy feeling on your hair.

Hard water

Another reason for hair feeling waxy is using hard water to wash your hair. 

Hard water contains dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium. The mineral content of this type of water is often very high.

When used to wash hair, the minerals present in water may accumulate on your hair, leaving it dry and creating a waxy film.

Stress

Increased levels of stress, believe it or not, may cause hair to feel waxy.

An increase in the levels of stress, causes the body to produce more of the hormone cortisol, which is the stress hormone.[1]

High levels of cortisol in your body cause the sebaceous glands to produce a lot of sebum, creating a waxy coating over your hair.

Environmental causes

Your hair and scalp may have been exposed to various environmental pollutants. These environmental pollutants include car emissions and smoke.

Your hair, in a bid to protect itself, produces lots of sebum and causes your scalp and hair to become oily.

Some of the substances present in these pollutants may also go as far as causing a waxy film to develop as they become fixated on your strands.

How to Fix Waxy Hair

Use a clarifying shampoo

The first thing you can do to fix waxy hair is to buy a clarifying shampoo.

A clarifying shampoo is a shampoo formulated to get rid of dirt and product build-up and residue from your hair.

They contain strong ingredients that fully remove all the dirt in your hair. While this may be good news, it also means that they can be stripping.

As such, it is advisable not to use it too frequently and when you do, follow up with moisturizing products to prevent your hair from drying out.

Inspect your products

As you stock up on various hair products, ensure that you check the ingredient list as you purchase them. Try as much as possible to limit the number of hair products that contain silicones

Don’t get us wrong, silicone is beneficial to your hair, it gives your hair a silky texture. But if used in excess, it spells doom to your hair.

Another practice that you might want o include is to use just the right amount of product for your tresses and not overload them with excess product.

Use soft water while washing your hair

Soft water is water that is free from any dissolved mineral substances in it. To achieve this, you may want to install a filter in your showerhead.

The filter will help trap the dissolved minerals in your water so that you don’t have to worry about the mineral build up.

Wash your hair properly

If you’re a person who uses a lot of hair products, you might want to be more thorough when washing your hair to get rid of all that product.

Even if you are not a product junkie, you still need to be thorough while washing your hair.

Another thing to consider is ensuring that you completely rinse out the shampoo and conditioner that you have used to wash your hair.

Have your hormones checked

If your waxy hair is caused by hormonal imbalance, you may want to visit your healthcare provider to get medical help.

Consult

If you have relaxed your hair before, or tend to use heat to style your hair you might want to visit a hairstylist and have your hair checked for hair damage. 

If you have colored your hair recently or bleached it, you also need a hair checkup. Damaged hair may be difficult to spot on your own.

After finding out whether your hair has damage and the type of damage (heat damage or chemical damage) then he/she will give you recommendations on how you can repair your damaged hair.