Paige Lewin spent 14 years fighting her natural texture — relaxing, weaving and wigging — until, aged 28, she shaved her head and started over. Now the London-based podcast host has turned what she learned rebuilding her hair into a book, How To Love Your Afro: Your Natural Hair Care Companion (Bloomsbury, £11.85), and her wash-day method is its practical core.

Lewin, 33, launched her podcast Texture Talks in 2023 to tackle the realities of caring for Afro and curly hair. She had her first straightening treatment at 14, booked regular relaxing appointments, then lost hair and turned to weaves and wigs — which, she says, continued to destroy the integrity of her natural hair. Shaving it off brought freedom but, she realised, was just another way of avoiding her natural texture.

Her advice on washing Afro, curly and textured hair, from the book:

How often should you wash Afro hair?

"Start with a baseline of once a week. Or, at a push, every ten days to two weeks at the very latest," Lewin said.

Why does detangling come first?

"Detangling correctly is one of the most important elements of a successful wash day. A lot of our natural hair is shed and broken from either skipping this step or doing it too aggressively," Lewin said. She adds a caveat: hair loss in clumps should be assessed by a dermatologist immediately.

Her method:

• Finger detangle first. Work slowly through tangles "with the help of your product of choice."
• Follow with a tool. Shed hair that has disconnected from the scalp but not left the head can tangle at the roots.
• Choose the brush carefully. A brush that bends with the hair glides through knots and reduces breakage. Avoid bristles with tiny balls on the ends — Lewin warns these snag on tightly coiled hair.

Which shampoo should you use?

Lewin ranks the main shampoo types from strongest cleanser to weakest:

• Chelating shampoo. The strongest category. Removes oil, dirt, debris and product build-up, plus minerals, metals and chlorine deposited by hard water.
• Clarifying shampoo. Targets build-up from products, debris and pollutants. "Use on an as-needed basis. Most people shouldn't need to clarify more than once a month," Lewin said.
• Conditioning (moisturising) shampoo. Cleanses with weaker surfactants; contains humectants that attract and retain moisture and emollients that coat the strands.
• Sulphate-free shampoo. Formulated without sulphates, which some in the natural hair community find harsh and drying. Lewin cautions that alternative surfactants "can be even stronger than the sulphates you're trying to avoid."
• Co-washing. Conditioner washing, used between shampoos for extra moisture — Lewin has done it on holidays to Jamaica — but "co-washing should never replace cleansing your hair and scalp with shampoo."

What does the wash itself look like?

1. Soak the hair first. Water activates the shampoo's surfactants and ensures even distribution. "If it takes five minutes, so be it."
2. Emulsify in your hands. Lathering shampoo between wet hands activates the cleaning ingredients, especially in thicker, more natural formulas.
3. Double cleanse at minimum. After heavy product weeks, Lewin shampoo three times — an all-purpose shampoo twice, then a conditioning shampoo.
4. Always follow with conditioner. Shampoo lifts the cuticle and swells the strand; conditioner reduces the swelling, lowers the cuticle and leaves a protective layer.

Lewin's wash-day product picks

• K18 Peptide Prep Detox Shampoo, £39 — deep-cleanses the scalp without stripping and eases finger detangling.
• Aveda Be Curly Advanced Shampoo, £30 — a second-cleanse pick that hydrates without weighing hair down.
• Felicia Leatherwood Detangler Brush, £17 — flexible, glides through curls without snapping strands.

The book signals a broader shift: textured-hair care advice is moving from social media forums into mainstream publishing, with wash-day routines — long the pain point for Afro hair — as its most codified territory yet.