Every Indian child has heard it at least once: "Sit. Let me oil your hair before your head bath." Amma would warm a little coconut oil, work it into our scalp, and make us wait before we were allowed near the bathroom.
That wait had a name in most homes: champi. Today, people call it a prewash.
So what is a prewash?
A prewash is anything you put on dry hair before you shampoo, then leave on for a while. Usually it's an oil or a rich cream. It goes on first, it sits for 20 to 30 minutes, and then you wash your hair as you normally would.
It is not a conditioner. Conditioner goes on after shampoo. A prewash goes on before it.
Why put something on hair you are about to wash?
Shampoo is made to clean. It lifts dirt and oil off your scalp, and it doesn't stop at the scalp. On long, dry or coloured hair, it can leave the lengths feeling rough and stripped.
When you put a cream or oil on first, the lengths are already coated and soft by the time the shampoo arrives. Many people find their hair feels less dry after washing, tangles less and is easier to comb.
That's all a prewash promises. It doesn't grow hair or stop hair fall, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.
The 30-minute prewash, step by step
- Start with dry hair. Wet hair doesn't take in a cream or oil the same way.
- Apply from roots to tips. Use a little more on the ends, where hair is oldest and driest. If your scalp gets oily quickly, go light on the scalp.
- Massage your scalp for a minute or two. This is the champi part, and it's the part you'll start looking forward to.
- Leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes. Make chai, read the paper, answer emails.
- Wash with a mild shampoo. If your hair still feels coated, shampoo a second time.
Do it two or three times a week, on the days you wash your hair.
Cream or oil?
Both work. Oil is the traditional way and suits people who like a proper weekly champi. A cream is easier on a weekday because it is less messy and washes out faster.
Our Damage Repair Prewash Cream was made for exactly this. It has aloe vera, coconut oil, onion seed (kalonji) oil and kapur kachri, and more than 1,100 customers have bought it since 2025.
Shop Damage Repair Prewash Cream →
Who should try it
- Dry or frizzy hair
- Hair that has been coloured, smoothened or keratin treated
- Anyone who loved their Sunday champi and misses it
Read next: How to do a champi at home, the way Amma did
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