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In professional salons, hairdressers wash their clients' hair in special sinks made just for shampooing. These sinks are shaped to comfortably hold a person's head while giving the hairdresser easy access to shampoo, running water and the client's hair. If you are styling hair from home or someplace else without a shampoo sink, you can still effectively wash someone's hair.

Select a comfortable office chair for your client to sit in. The ideal chair will have an adjustable height and back so that it is suitable for several different people and different positions. It's important that the back of the chair is not too tall so that the person can lean back and rest his head comfortably on the sink. If you don't have access to an adjustable office chair, you can use different chairs depending on the person's height. If you are shampooing a shorter person or a child, you can stack dictionaries and phone books for the person to sit on.

If you have a sink with a separate spray nozzle in your kitchen, use that one. It will make wetting and rinsing the hair easier. In addition, kitchens tend to offer more space than bathrooms. You should be able to move around more easily and you'll have more space to hold your supplies. If your sink doesn't have a spray nozzle, a pitcher or a measuring cup with a spout will also work.

If shampooing in the kitchen isn't an option, you can still shampoo in the bathroom. Bathroom sinks tend to be a bit shorter than kitchen sinks, but if you can't find a chair that's the proper height, you may want to have the person kneel on the floor facing forward so he can lean his head into the tub. If you choose to shampoo in the bathroom sink, you will need to use a pitcher.

Wrap the person's neck in a towel to protect her from water and make her more comfortable. You can even place another towel on the sink to prevent water from spilling on the floor and to increase your client's comfort.

Have the person lean back while you gather her hair in the sink. Wet the hair completely with warm water.

Apply a quarter-sized amount of shampoo to the hair and massage it in for several minutes. If the person's head doesn't rest comfortably on the sink, you should let her raise her head while you are shampooing since it can get a bit uncomfortable.

Rinse the hair with either the spray nozzle or the pitcher, making sure to get every bit of suds out of the hair. Follow with conditioner and rinse again. End the whole process with cold water since this will seal the hair's cuticles, giving it a nice shine.