What are the problems with sulfate-free shampoo?

​Just because you've given up sulfates,  doesn't mean washday becomes a haircare utopia. Sulfate-free shampoos come with their own set of problems.

​Here's how to spot the biggest ones and how to choose the best sulfate-free shampoo for your hair.

​What are the problems with sulfate-free shampoo?

Since the backlash against sulfate shampoo began, sulfate-free formulas have become more and more popular. At first, they seemed like the solution in the  search for gentle but effective cleansing alternatives. But one major problem reared its head almost immediately: the grease.
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Does sulfate free shampoo makes hair greasy?

If you could swear your new sulfate-free shampoo made your hair greasy, seconds after you washed it, you're not alone. A lot of sulfate-free shampoos do leave hair greasy. Why, exactly? It depends on what is in that shampoo  - and what's on the hair.

​Many sulfate-free shampoos are formulated with ultra mild cleansing agents like decyl glucoside or coco glucoside. These are great for not stripping delicate scalps and hair, but their mildness is also their weakness. Since they're so gentle, these cleansers are simply not strong enough to remove the product buildup many people have on their tresses.

Ultra mild cleansers found in some sulfate-free shampoos are not enough to remove heavy product buildup. Image by Demorris Byrd.

They also require more work in terms of lathering to remove dirt, oil and grease. If you're accustomed to the easy sulfate cleansing experience, you might not realise you now have to put in that work. That's one more reason why going sulfate-free can leave hair greasy.
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Another reason for the oiliness is that to make up for this lack of strength, a lot of manufacturers like to up the surfactant concentration. This can defeat the purposely of using mild cleansers  since higher concentrations are harsher on your hair. The overcleansing causes your oil glands to overreact, spewing tons of sebum to remoisturise your panicking scalp - hence the greasiness.

One more thing you may have noticed: many sulfate-free shampoos also contain tons of conditioning ingredients. This is to create a shampooing experience that feels less like you're shampooing and more like you're conditioning your hair. All too often, this leads to crazy buildup. There's a fourth, more sinister reason, too...
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Sulfate-free shampoos can be harsher than sulfate shampoos

Most people think that sulfate-free automatically = gentler for your hair, but it isn't that simple. Lots of sulfate-free shampoos are made from milder, gentler ingredients, but many aren't. One of the most common ingredients in sulfate-free shampoos is a cleansing agent called olefin sulfonate. Olefin sulfonate's role is to replace the cleaning function that sulfates play in conventional shampoos - and it does a very good job of it.

Some sulfate-free cleansers are just as harsh as the strongest sulfates. Image by Pimthida.

It's so good at what it does that olefin sulfonate actually cleanses better than the sulfate most commonly used in shampoos today, sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). But that's not a good thing.

Sodium laureth sulfate has all but replaced sodium lauryl sulfate in sulfate shampoos.

​The 'eth' in its name is the clue; sodium laureth sulfate is chemically modified, 'ethoxylated' to be milder than the harsh sodium lauryl sulfate which sparked the whole sulfate backlash.

​Olefin sulfonate is every bit as harsh as the original sodium lauryl sulfate.
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​The level of clean delivered by both olefin sulfonate and sodium lauryl sulfate is unnecessary for cleansing hair, even if you use tons of greasy oils and butters or hard-to-remove silicones like cyclopentasiloxane.

​Sodium laureth sulfate is enough to get these out without completely stripping your hair. Sodium lauryl sulfate and olefin sulfonate, on the other hand, are so eager to remove oil and grease they burrow into your strands after them, leaving holes in your hair shaft.
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Sometimes, sulfate-free manufacturers load shampoos with emollients to cloak the harshness of this cleansing agent. For some hair, these emollients are enough to buffer the worst effects. But on more fragile hair types, olefin sulfonate can lead to dryness, brittleness and problems with length retention. These extra ingredients can also leave oily or waxy residue on the hair, storing up buildup problems for later.

Many sulfate-free shampoos contain high levels conditioning ingredients. Image by Ian Dooley.

​And while all the added oils and fatty alcohols can stop your hair from feeling frazzled when you're using your olefin sulfonate-based shampoo, at a strand level, this ingredient can still do all the damage that sodium lauryl sulfate does, can since its molecules are around the same size.
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Point blank: Just because a shampoo says sulfate-free doesn't mean that it's milder or gentler or better for your hair. 

Are sulfate-free shampoos bad for your hair?

Don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom if you do decide to go sulfate-free. Choosing a milder cleanser makes sense if you have delicate hair and are not using products which require a strong cleanser every single time you wash your hair.
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Baba de Caracol Sulphate Free Shampoo cleanses effectively yet gently.

​There are sulfate-free shampoos out there which  clean hair well without overloading it with grease or overcleansing it - Halka Baba de Caracol Sulphate Free Shampoo is one of them.
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​Keep this in mind: the only way to tell if a shampoo, sulfate-free or otherwise, is good for your hair is to look at the whole formulation. At the very least, that means a)making sure that key drying ingredients aren't there, so no sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, olefin sulfonate, or salt (sodium chloride) on the ingredients list, and then b) trying it out and seeing what it does to your hair.

Formulations work as a whole, and the exact amount of each ingredient is not stated on the ingredients list. So don't just rely on a lack of 'bad ingredients' on the back of the bottle. Trying it out will give you a feel for how concentrated or potent the shampoo actually is.
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Sulfate-free shampoos are suited for which hair type?

Most sulfate-free shampoos aren't designed for a particular hair type; they are offered as a gentler cleansing alternative to sulphate shampoos, suited  for all hair types. That said, you can find specialist shampoos out there for particular needs; some sulfate-free shampoos are designed for curly hair, or damaged hair. You can even find a sulfate-free shampoo for hair loss or hair growth.

Sulfate-free shampoos work best if you do not use a lot of product on your hair. Image by Mike Fox.

Having said that, some hair types do tend to do better on sulfate-free shampoos than others. People with oily hair often find sulfate-free formulas less suited to their hair, as do many people who use a lot of styling products.

​Since many sulfate-free shampoos are based on gentle cleansing agents, they might not be enough to remove buildup for some people - especially people who tend to use a lot of product, or whose product options include styling butters and creams, which tend to leave difficult residues. Few sulfate-free cleansers can remove non-water soluble silicones, either.

Additionally, the high levels of conditioning ingredients in some sulfate-free shampoos, and the kinds of conditioning ingredients used, can also be a problem for people with oily or low porosity hair. These ingredients can create a lot of residue for oily hair or low porosity hair both of which are more sensitive to buildup.
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Are sulfate-free shampoos expensive?

Even when you look at sulfate vs sulfate-free shampoos in the same brand, the sulfate-free formula is often more costly. This is because the ingredients are often more expensive and the R&D required to make a sulfate-free shampoo that works, balancing effective cleansing and mildness could be very costly - all of that will show up in the price.

Sulfate-free shampoos can also work out to be expensive just for the fact that they are not as powerful. Often this means that people have to use a lot more shampoo to get the same results they would get with a sulfate shampoo. 

​But if you've found your ideal sulfate-free shampoo, and it takes your hair right to that equilibrium between cleansed and not stripped - it may well be worth it.