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Wash with a shampoo bar

For washing with a solid shampoo while keeping it from catching in your hair. Choose the application method on your bar’s label, then rinse your hair and leave the bar to drain.

Step by step

  1. A woman wets her scalp with a handheld sprayer, opening the hair with her free hand before applying shampoo.
    STEP 1 OF 8

    Wet your scalp and hair

    • Place the bar, draining dish and towel within reach. Set the water comfortably warm before leaning over the basin.
    • Hold the sprayer or filled cup in one hand. Move hair aside with the other so water reaches the crown, sides, nape and inner lengths.

    Choose one application option below: Step 2 for palm lather or Step 3 for direct contact, as your bar’s directions permit. Then continue at Step 4.

  2. A woman rubs a wet shampoo bar between her palms to make lather over a home basin.
    STEP 2 OF 8

    Option A: lather the bar in your palms

    • Wet the bar and both hands. Put the sprayer or cup down, then rub the bar between your palms as its directions describe.
    • Set the bar on the draining dish before touching your hair. Take the lather on your hands to your scalp and continue at Step 4.

    Use this option only if the bar permits palm lather. Skip Step 3; the two application options are alternatives.

  3. A woman makes a light shampoo-bar pass at the roots while her other hand holds nearby hair aside.
    STEP 3 OF 8

    Option B: apply the bar directly

    • Wet the bar, put the sprayer or cup down, then hold nearby hair aside with one hand. Use the other to make a light pass at the roots.
    • Follow the label’s amount or number of passes, lifting the bar between areas. Stop if it catches, then set it on the dish before using your fingers.

    Skip this option if you used Step 2. Do not drag the bar through hanging lengths. A switch to palm lather still needs the label’s permission.

  4. A woman massages lather over her scalp with finger pads while the shampoo bar rests on its draining dish.
    STEP 4 OF 8

    Massage gently over the scalp

    • With the bar resting on its dish, use your finger pads to work the lather over the front, sides, crown and nape.
    • Move hair aside to reach underneath. Keep the lengths loose and follow any waiting time on the label.
  5. A woman rinses her scalp with a handheld sprayer while her other hand opens the wet hair over a basin.
    STEP 5 OF 8

    Rinse your scalp and hair

    • Hold the sprayer or filled cup in one hand and open the hair with the other. Guide water over each scalp area and down the lengths.
    • Keep rinsing underneath thick sections until visible suds are gone. Do not rub the lengths together or keep rinsing for a squeaky feel.

    Refill a cup with clean water as needed. Repeat the wash only if the product calls for it. Follow its aftercare directions, including rinsing out any rinse-out conditioner before blotting.

  6. A woman briefly rinses a used shampoo bar under the tap, supporting it with both hands over the basin.
    STEP 6 OF 8

    Rinse loose suds from the bar

    • Put the sprayer or cup down. Hold the bar securely over the basin and briefly rinse away loose suds under the tap.
    • Turn off the water. Do not leave the bar soaking in the basin while you finish your hair.
  7. A woman sets a damp shampoo bar on an open slatted draining dish on a dry bathroom counter.
    STEP 7 OF 8

    Leave the bar to drain

    • Place the bar on a dish with open drainage holes or slats, on a stable dry shelf away from the tap or shower spray.
    • Empty any water collected beneath the dish. Leave air around the bar; wait until it is dry before closing it in a travel case.
  8. A woman gently presses a towel against her wet chin-length hair after rinsing.
    STEP 8 OF 8

    Blot drips and clear the basin

    • After your hair’s final rinse, gently press a clean towel against it to catch drips. Avoid rubbing or twisting.
    • Rinse product from your hands and basin, turn off the water and wipe slippery splashes from the floor before moving away.

About 4–7 minutes hands-on for wetting, one application method, scalp washing, rinsing and bar cleanup. Add any label wait, repeat wash, rinse-out aftercare and hair drying. The bar dries unattended.

Practical editorial estimate, not measured. Making lather adds a little time to one ordinary shampoo; density and water flow change rinsing time.

You’re done when…

Your scalp and inner lengths are rinsed with no visible suds. The bar is draining away from pooled water, any rinse-out conditioner has been rinsed out, and the wash area is clear of slippery spills.