At the best of times, I am doubtful about Dry-cleaning my clothes. Ever so often, when I go to the cleaners and show them a stain, they examine it carefully and tell me that they can’t assure me that it will really vanish.

Similarly, when I ask them if the colour will fade or if the gold zari work will tarnish, they again refuse to give any guarantees. So gthen, I ask them, how do I really know whether you have actually cleaned or attempted to clean the garment? How do I know that it is not just refreshed with some fragrance and ironed?

‘Well, madam, I’m told, ‘in that case you had better clean it yourself!’

While I’m a strong believer in keeping things well and looking after my clothes, I also feel that nothing ventured, nothing gained. After all, cleaning materials have changed from the harsh detergents of yore. Advanced cleaning solutions at least promise a cleaner and safer wash if used correctly. Some things need to be preserved for generations, like the hand-woven saris that are slowly becoming extinct. But others can be experimented with.

Anyways, this is not about dry cleaning clothes but dry-cleaning my hair. Now I don’t wear a wig. I’m talking about my real hair on my head.

post cataract care

Recuperating from a cataract surgery, I realised that the post-operative care is more tedious than the actual procedure, which, thanks to my very competent doctor, took all of eight minutes.

So while I could deal with the drops at regular intervals, wearing protective eye glasses, taping up the operated eye at night with an ‘eye cage’, sleeping on my back (very difficult indeed), not bending, no cooking (my favourite restriction), no lifting or bending ( a bit difficult but manageable), no mobile or screen time for three days ( MAJOR self control and withdrawl symptoms), staying at home for a minimum of three days post surgery ( B O R I N G ), minimising pulling clothes over your head ( a huge fashion headache), bathing only below the neck, no brisk walking or heavy weight lifting, what really got to me was NOT washing my hair for at least ten days.

For someone who washed hair frequently, this is as bad as telling an alcoholic that he can’t have a drink.

After much soul searching, asking friends who’d had their cataract surgeries how they’d coped and asking Dr. Google for more free advice, I finally hit upon a solution: wipe down my hair with WET WIPES. If wet wipes are good enough for tender bottoms, they are definitely good for my hair. The main reason for not washing hair was to prevent water and toxic/irritating chemicals from entering the eyes.

So this morning, I took out some wet wipes and rubbed them through my hair, especially the scalp which was decidedly happy to feel some moisture other than sweat.

So, ladies and gentlemen, that is my hack to dealing with no hair wash – dry clean with wet wipes .

Ciao.