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Mane Talk: How to Remove Hairspray Buildup from Your Hair
Find out how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair with the help of natural ingredients in easy steps, plus a few stronger solutions for complex buildups.
For a flawless hairstyle, use your hairspray well and also know how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair. This should be a significant part of your hair care to restore hair health because hairspray buildup on the scalp can damage hair in the long term.
Hairspray is a great product for hairstyling. However, when you use hairspray, it settles down on your scalp and leaves behind white flaky sediments. With repeated usage, these buildups increase and cover the scalp, block the pores and make it difficult to manage your hair (1).
Hair buildup may look flaky, like dandruff, and even like white tiny hair strands that get stuck on your hair brush while combing. Also, when you run your fingertips over your scalp, you may counter tiny ball-like structures.
This is the part that you must deal with and prevent. Let's see how to tackle this issue.
How to Remove Hairspray Buildup from Your Hair?
You might not notice when the super easy and friendly hairspray starts damaging your hair unless it’s significantly visible. The pictures of hairspray buildup that you have seen and felt eerie about it are real. You surely won’t want that on your scalp, so get hold of the right ways to remove hairspray buildup from your hair.
Since you are using hairspray, which is a cosmetic hair product, it would be good if you use a natural ingredient for removing hairspray buildup on the scalp. Natural ingredients are often considered to be friendly to the skin and are a safer option for treating such issues (2).
1. Apple Cider Vinegar to Remove Hairspray from Hair
As you use hairspray, besides causing buildup, it damages the hair cuticles and disturbs the pH balance in your hair strands (3). When you apply apple cider vinegar on your scalp, you add acid back to the hair, which helps in closing the cuticles. It also helps in detangling the hair, controls fizziness, and makes them look lustrous.
Follow these steps to use apple cider vinegar to prevent hairspray residue from remaining in your hair:
Step 1: Take a cup of water and add 1/4th cup of apple cider vinegar to it.
Step 2: Now pour the solution into a spray bottle and store it in a cooler place.
Step 3: Wash your hair with a mild shampoo and condition it well with your choice of conditioner.
Step 4: Spray the solution over your washed hair; you can also pour the solution over your rinsed hair if you are in a hurry.
Step 5: Gently massage your scalp with your fingertips.
Step 6: Allow your scalp and hair to absorb the solution for a minute or two.
Step 7: Thoroughly rinse your hair with running water.
2. Aloe Vera to Prevent Hairspray Residue
Secretion from the sebaceous gland makes the scalp oily (4). Aloe vera has salicylic and amino acids, besides being a rich source of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins (5). When you apply aloe vera on hair damaged by hairspray buildup on the scalp, it may help repair the damage at a cellular level, nourishes hair shafts, detangles them, and thus breaks the buildup on the scalp. The gel may also help remove unwanted oil from the scalp, which can prevent further buildups (5). So, no more losing sleep over thinking about how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair.
Step 1: Get an aloe vera leaf or some spoons of organic aloe vera gel.
Step 2: Peel the skin from all sides and blend the pulp if you are using raw aloe vera.
Step 3: Gently apply the gel all over your head and the entire length of your hair and roll your hair in a bun.
Step 4: Allow it to dry at room temperature.
Step 5: Wash your hair with a mild shampoo. Since aloe vera gel is a natural conditioner, so you won’t need to apply any other conditioner.
3. Treating Hairspray Buildup Issue with Lemon Juice
In the case of hairspray buildup on the scalp, the issue is clogging. So to break this buildup and unclog the roots, you need deep cleansing. Lemon juice works very well for such a purpose. Its citric acid content disperses the buildup, deeply cleans the scalp, and leaves behind a refreshing fragrance. Interestingly, lemons are a very good source of vitamin C which multiplies the production of collagen in your cells and may help improve hair growth and ensure good hair health (6).
Step 1: Take a glass bowl and add 3 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to it.
Step 2: Stir the solution well and allow it to rest.
Step 3: Wash your hair with a mild shampoo of your choice and rinse it thoroughly.
Step 4: Stir the solution again and pour it slowly all over your head. Ensure the entire length of your hair is properly rinsed with it.
Step 5: Allow your hair and scalp to absorb the solution for about 5 minutes.
Step 6: Rinse your hair with regular water.
Step 7: Apply your regular conditioner and let the hair dry naturally.
Note: After rinsing your hair with this solution, avoid your exposure to the sun because as per anecdotal evidence, lemon juice tends to lighten hair color due to the presence of vitamin C (7). You may step out once the hair has dried up naturally and the concoction has settled well in your scalp and hair.
4. Hibiscus Flowers and Leaves to Remove Hair Product Buildup
Your worries about how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair ends here. Hibiscus contains mucilage, a sticky substance that may help cleanse the scalp (8).
Step 1: Take some hibiscus flowers and leaves and sun-dry them properly.
Step 2: Grind those dried flowers and leaves. It is best to use their powdered form because then you can store it well and use it for a longer time.
Step 3: Take as much of the powder as you need according to the length and density of your hair and add water to it. It must turn into a fine paste.
Step 4: Take the paste and gently massage it on your scalp and hair.
Step 5: Allow it to rest on your scalp for about ten minutes.
Step 6: Wash the hair with a mild shampoo and let it dry naturally.
5. Take Baking Soda for Hairspray Buildup-free Scalp
To free your scalp from hairspray buildup, you must clean it well and thoroughly. Baking soda, a readily available ingredient, may help. While there is a lack of scientific studies to prove the efficacy of baking soda, anecdotal evidence suggests that it can act as a gentle exfoliant. Therefore it may be effective in breaking the hairspray buildup on the scalp and may help clean dead cells, excess oil, and dirt from the surface.
Step 1: Take a glass bowl and put 2 to 3 tablespoons of the shampoo that you use and 1 tablespoon of baking soda in it.
Step 2: Stir them well to form a fine solution.
Step 3: Pour the solution on your scalp; ensure covers your entire scalp and the entire length of your hair.
Step 4: Dip a wide-toothed comb into the solution and run it through the dry hair strands.
Step 5: Allow your scalp and hair strands to absorb the solution for 5 to 7 minutes.
Step 6: Wash thoroughly with water and condition it well with your regular conditioner.
Step 7: Air-dry your hair.
6. Using Clarifying Shampoo for Treating Hairspray Buildups
A clarifying shampoo is a specially made shampoo for treating buildups. However, it is not a natural ingredient but contains chemicals essential for treating stubborn buildups. If you need to use hair products on a regular basis, then you surely have reasons to worry about getting buildup out of hair, and a clarifying shampoo works best for it. If you use clarifying shampoo after a considerable gap of days or weeks, then it might not damage your hair that much.
Clarifying shampoos are composed of SLS; it’s a chemical that breaks up buildups created by hair product residues (3).
Step 1: Apply clarifying shampoo all over your scalp and hair.
Step 2: Gently massage and scrub your scalp with your fingertips.
Step 3: Wash your hair thoroughly with running water.
Step 4: Apply your regular conditioner and allow it to remain for 4 to 5 minutes.
Step 5: Rinse your hair and allow it to get air-dried.
7. Micellar Water to Remove Hairspray Buildups
As hair product buildups form, they trap moisture within, and combined with the scalp’s secreted oil, it forms and becomes greasy. Micellar is a great agent for deep cleaning, toning, and nourishing the skin. If you are wondering how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair, then you must try this one.
Micellar is a very smaller cluster of molecules that stick to the dirt and wash those away (9). Their granular nature helps them to effectively break the buildups and deep clean the scalp. Interestingly, micellar is found in hair products, but they contain friendlier oils as well. Thus, they are gentler and friendlier for your scalp (9), (10)
Step 1: Take a clean applicator bottle and fill the micellar water in it.
Step 2: Before going for a shower, spray it on your scalp and all over your hair.
Step 3: Gently massage your scalp and rub your hair.
Step 4: Wash it off with regular water and apply your conditioner.
Step 5: Rinse your hair properly and let it get air-dried.
Easy And Effective Tips to Deal with Hairspray Buildup
If you aren’t too willing to go through the detailed processes, you may try to prevent such buildups. That works as well.
- Use the right hairspray for your scalp
- Keep your scalp clean
- Take your time for proper hair wash
- Wash your hair at regular intervals
It’s truly impossible to say no to hairstyling every time. However, it will expose your hair to unwanted elements and hazards like hairspray buildups. So, instead of worrying about how to remove hairspray buildup from your hair, try any of these remedies and take time out for a haircare routine to avoid such issues.
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