You oil your hair regularly, use expensive shampoos, and avoid heat styling. Yet, your hairfall and thinning haven’t stopped. Here’s the truth: it’s not always your products or genetics. Often, your daily hair care routine triggers your hair problems.

In this blog, we’ll reveal 6 common hair care mistakes that cause hair fall and the simple changes to solve them.

Mistake 1: Using Oil Only on Wash Days

Most people oil their hair right before washing, treating it like a quick pre-wash ritual. But hair oil isn't meant to be applied for  20 minutes and then washed off immediately.  Oil works as nourishment. When you rinse it out quickly, your hair barely gets a chance to absorb the moisture it needs.

The Correct Way to Oil Your Hair

• Focus on oiling your dry ends to prevent split ends

• Avoid heavy oiling on the scalp if you are facing hair fall issues

• Use only a few drops of oil, as greasy hair attracts dirt

• Use light oil (argan/jojoba) on mid-lengths and ends, 2-3 times a week

Mistake 2: Sleeping with Wet Hair (Or Oily Hair)

Sometimes we take late-night showers and go straight to bed with wet hair. The problem? Wet hair is at its weakest point. When it rubs against your pillow all night, the friction can lead to significant breakage. 

Another hair care mistake is oiling your hair before bed. Many believe the oil gets absorbed overnight and nourishes the hair. But what happens is the pillow absorbs the oil along with sweat and dead skin cells from your scalp. This combination creates a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi, which leads to dandruff and scalp irritation.

How to Protect Your Hair

• For wet hair: Dry your hair at least 80% before bed using a blow dryer on cool or lukewarm setting

• For oily hair: Wrap your hair in a scarf or place an old t-shirt over your pillow

Mistake 3: Washing Your Hair with Hard Water

When hair fall starts getting worse, most people blame their products or genetics. But they never suspect the water. If you live in cities like Bangalore, Delhi, or Mumbai, you're likely washing your hair with hard water every day.

Hard water is filled with calcium and magnesium, which create a film on your hair and scalp. With time, this mineral buildup weakens the hair and increases hair fall. Even the best shampoos or conditioners struggle to work effectively because the root of the problem is the water itself.

How to Make Your Shower Water Hair-Friendly

So, how do you fix the water problem? Simple: install a water softener in your bathroom. At RiverSoft, our filters are specifically designed for Indian water conditions, with different options like:

• SF-15 Pro: A 15-stage filtration system designed for moderate water hardness

• Bliss-15: Specifically designed for areas with very high water hardness levels

• DIVA Filters: A filter with multiple spray modes, so you can customise your shower experience while protecting your hair and skin from hard water damage

The best part?

Our filters are DIY-friendly, so you can install them yourself without a plumber.

Mistake 4: Using Three-in-One Products

Three-in-one products claim to cleanse, soften, and repair your hair in one step. While convenient, one product simply can’t meet all your hair needs. Just like your skincare routine needs a face wash, moisturiser, and sunscreen, your hair needs separate products for different steps. Three-in-one formulas usually rely on silicones to make your hair feel smooth temporarily, but they don’t actually clean your scalp properly or protect your ends the way they promise to.

The Simple Three-Step Hair Routine

Use three different products so your hair gets what it needs at each step:

• A shampoo to cleanse your scalp

• A conditioner to smooth your ends

• A serum or light oil to prevent splits

Mistake 5: Washing Too Often Instead of Using Dry Shampoo

Many people wash their hair 4-5 times a week because their hair gets greasy quickly, and washing feels like the only way to keep it looking fresh.

Every time you wash your hair, you strip away natural oils. Your scalp produces to protect your hair. Your scalp notices this and responds by making even more oil. So your hair gets greasy faster, you wash it again, it strips more oil, and the cycle keeps repeating. And eventually, all that frequent washing leaving your hair dry and brittle.

How to Fix Oily Hair Without Over-Washing

• Wash your hair 2 times per week

• Use dry shampoo on day 2 to absorb excess oil and stretch your wash

With dry shampoo, washing drops from 15 to 10 times a month. This means all your hair products - your shampoo, conditioner, and serum - last longer because you're using them less often.

Mistake 6: Applying Conditioner to Your Scalp and Roots

A common mistake is applying conditioner from the scalp to the ends. It seems like a logical thing to do because more coverage means more nourishment. But conditioner on your scalp clogs follicles and creates buildup. Over time, that buildup leads to scalp itching and increased shedding because clogged follicles weaken hair roots.

How to Apply Conditioner Correctly

• Apply conditioner from the middle of your hair down to the ends

• Remove the conditioner with lukewarm water

Note: Your scalp produces natural oils; it doesn't need conditioner. The mid-lengths and ends are usually drier, so that's where conditioner actually helps.

Conclusion

Hair fall isn't always caused by genetics or stress. More often, it's the small everyday habits, - like sleeping with wet hair, washing too often, or using hard water - that slowly damage your hair over time. 

The good news? All of these are easy to fix.. And among them, hard water is the easiest to control. Check out RiverSoft filters today to protect your hair from hard water damage.