Make a Spray Detangler
Do you dread unraveling your labyrinth of knots? Does your little girl cry with the sight of a brush? A homemade detangler spray makes this much easier, without breaking your wallet.
Contents
Steps
Making Detangler for Curly Hair
- Start with storebought or homemade conditioner. Leave-in or rinse-out conditioner will work for this purpose. A quality conditioner adds oils to your hair, helping them slide past each other without tangling.
- To Make-Hair-Conditioner, try ½ cup (120mL) Greek yogurt, 3 tbsp (45mL) honey, and 5 tbsp (75mL) natural oil. A light or medium oil such as grapeseed or olive oil works best, since you'll leave this mixture sitting in your hair.
- Mix in more oil. Although you can use conditioner on its own, oil gives the mixture more "slip," which makes curly hair much easier to detangle without breaking. Add the oil about a tablespoon (15mL) at a time, mixing well. Test it on your hair after each spoonful, detangling with your fingers. Keep adding oil until the hair strands glide past each other seamlessly.
- While you can use any type of oil, a heavy oil can leave your hair feeling greasy and limp. Try grapeseed oil or olive oil instead.
- Each person's hair requires different amounts of oil. If you rarely have issues with dry hair, you may even be able to skip this step.
- Bottle your mixture. Look for a heavy-duty, reusable spray bottle, or rinse out another bottle and attach a spray top. Cheap spray bottles wear down quickly, making them more expensive and tiresome in the long run.
- Detangle-Curly-Hair. Spray your hair with the detangler. Gently detangle with your fingers, a wide-toothed comb, or a rubber-bristled brush. When finished, just leave the spray in your hair. This will keep your curls shiny and bouncy, and avoid damage from excessive rinsing.
- If your hair feels too greasy after detangling, try making the spray with a lighter oil.
- Adjust the amounts. Depending on the length and thickness of your hair, you may need more or less detangler spray than you bottled. Homemade conditioner goes bad within one or two weeks. If using it as the basis of our spray, only make enough to last one or two sittings.
Making Detangler for Straight Hair
- Fill a spray bottle halfway with conditioner. This can be rinse-out or leave-in conditioner, as long as it Pick-a-Hair-Conditioner-for-Your-Hair-Type.
- A sturdy, reusable spray bottle is more cost-effective in the long run.
- Add water. Fill ¼ of the bottle with water. Put the top back on the bottle and shake it gently.
- If you have damaged or very dry hair, you may want to skip this step and use plain conditioner.
- Add sea salt for a beach spray (optional). This is not necessary for detangling, but can easily be added to the spray. Shake in a little sea salt and you'll have a texturizing spray that gives beachy, wavy hair.
- Skip this step if your hair is severely tangled.
- Detangle. Spray your hair and detangle with a brush or comb. Work from the ends upward. When finished, you can leave it in or rinse out the excess spray. Rinsing is recommended if your hair tends to get greasy easily.
Tips
- The first squirt of the nozzle can be messy. Spray into your sink until all the air is out of the nozzle.
- Regular spraying is a wonderful way to avoid single strand knots in curly hair, which can be a beast to deal with.
- To make the straight hair detangler less greasy, spray hair spray into the bottle for four seconds.
Warnings
- Water can increase friction in curly hair. Do not use the straight hair detangler spray on curly hair.
- The detangler spray for curly hair can make straight hair feel greasy, but it will not cause damage.
Things You'll Need
Curly Hair
- Spray bottle
- Conditioner (regular or leave-in)
- or make your own conditioner:
- Greek yogurt
- Honey
- Grapeseed oil, olive oil, or preferred natural oil
Straight Hair
- Conditioner
- Water
- Hair spray (optional)
Related Articles
- Make Conditioning Spray
- Make the Most of Your Wavy Hair
