When I grew up we were dirt poor. I was made to wash my hair by kneeling over the tub and sticking my head under the water faucet. That way I wouldn't use as much water as a full shower. Needless to say I hated doing that and now wash my hair the traditional way - facing away from the shower. My hair is long - it needs the shower beating on it.
Usually I do the shower but face away from the water. (We have always had a shower door or curtian so it doesn't go all over the bathroom. Still splashs about the same in either case.)
I will face toward the water when I am dying my hair and need to get all the stuff out. When I had a bigger tub, I would also wash my hair by dunking under the water while taking a bath.
As a child, when spending the night at either Grandmas', my hair would get washed in the kitchen sink. Short hair, so not that big of a deal.
Both grandmothers got their hair "done" once a week. Though, I think both also would wash it after church on Sunday. Generally, with the one grandma (I don't recall going with my other grandmother) she had a standing appointment for Thursday afternoon/or Friday morning to "set" her hair. In the summer, she would keep it until church and then wash her hair in the sink every other day to help keep cool.
Now I wash it in the shower, facing away from the water.
As a kid I got chronic ear infections. I couldn't get any water in my ears or I would be in terrible pain and get an awful infection. I could not take showers. Until I was 11 years old I had to take baths and my mom would wash my hair while I stuck my fingers in my ears. I hated it.
I'm a "shower facing away from the water" person too. My grandmother to this day gets her hair done every Saturday morning and does not wash in between. By Friday, things are looking pretty dicey.