Please help with waxy buildup in my hair!!

[shanenchar]

I have had a waxy buildup in my bangs and crown area of my head now for about a year. I have tried the apple cider vinegar rinse and some clarifying and chelating shampoos (ion from sally beauty supply, paul mitchell 2, and neutrogena) and nothing is touching it!! :( We have hard water which is treated with culligan water softener; however, there is still some red iron build up in my shower head and it builds up in my humidifier too. I'm guessing it is iron, but I am not 100% for sure. Has this ever happened to anybody else? Could someone please help me with this problem? My hair looks greasy, but I know it is not grease because my hair looks the worst right after I wash and dry it. :(

[Agnieszka]

what about shower head water filter. Some of them remove iron, chlorine etc. I know you have water softener but they won't remove iron and chemicals.

[PetuniaBlossom]

This may sound a little far-fetched, but it has worked for me. Whenever I do a good scalp massage, it seems to stir up and distribute the sebum down the hair shafts. And I notice then the sebum doesn't turn all waxy and funky-smelling like it does when I skip the daily scalp massage. It's easy to remember when I'm watching TV or sitting at the computer, just give my scalp a 2-minute massage and then comb or Tangle Teezer it - feels wonderful.

[shanenchar]

This was going to be my next move, so I sure hope it helps! I am just about out of options :( Does anybody know if the baking soda treatment would work for this? I have already tried the apple cider vinegar rinse twice last week, plus I used a chelator twice last week, so I'm afraid I'm going to dry out the part of my hair that doesn't have the waxy buildup :(

[shanenchar]

The shower filter that is..........

[Agnieszka]

I was thinking something like this http://www.air-n-water.com/product/aps3-gt.html
but I'm sure there are better looking ones, this is just a random one, but it says that it removes a lots of impurities from your water also iron

[renia22]

I agree with Agnieszka, a filter is probably your best bet. Not sure if what you are using to try to remove the build-up will help if you are rinsing with the unfiltered water? My well water is 'soft' and when the filter needs to be changed it gets really gross, my hair is nasty, and not much helps until the filter is changed..in the meantime, maybe rinse with distilled/ bottled water until you can get a filter?

[jacqueline101]

Id check your water filter maybe it's needing changed. If not it could be the stuff in the water causing it,

[shanenchar]

Thanks so much guys!! That makes sense and I plan to get a filter right away!! I do have another question though. Hypothetically speaking, let's say that the clarifying shampoo and/or the apple cider vinegar rinse actually worked to get rid of the buildup...............are you guys saying that by rinsing it with my water, that the same buildup will build right back up in one rinse?? Thanks again :)

[renia22]

Thanks so much guys!! That makes sense and I plan to get a filter right away!! I do have another question though. Hypothetically speaking, let's say that the clarifying shampoo and/or the apple cider vinegar rinse actually worked to get rid of the buildup...............are you guys saying that by rinsing it with my water, that the same buildup will build right back up in one rinse?? Thanks again :)

I don't know the scientific ins & outs of it, but I can tell you when I had problems with my water tank & filter, not one thing I used helped until I got the tank and filter problem fixed. You could even see the water had this orangey tinge to it and I do believe it was redepositing whatever minerals were in there back in my hair. Not sure if that is what is happening in your case or not, but if nothing is helping I would suspect that might be the problem. Maybe grab a gallon bottle of water from the grocery store tonight & rinse with that after using a clarifying shampoo and see what happens?

[jeanniet]

I doubt it's iron in your water that's causing the problem. I have iron in my water (we have an iron filter, but it doesn't get all of it), and if I don't use citric acid rinses my hair will be more tangly and brittle, but not waxy. That almost sounds like a soap residue issue due to hard water or something similar. ACV won't remove buildup, BTW. It's good for removing some surface minerals, but not buildup. But if you've used a clarifier and a chelator and are still having the same problem, it's very unlikely to be the iron (not that the iron is good, just that I'm not sure it's causing your problem).

If you want to try citric acid, I use 1/4 tsp. per gallon of water as a final rinse. It's really saved my hair from my well water.

[KittyMeowMeow]

I know this problem all too well. I had serious, serious wax buildup in my hair that clarifying didn't remove. After lots of research, trial and error, I now have the answer. I believe certain people are "wax sensitive"- meaning, waxes stick in our hair and do not come out. For others, they used a "hard wax" that stuck in the hair, and they can't get it out.

CAUSES OF WAX BUILDUP
- Any ingredient with "wax" in the name eg. beeswax. These are the "hard" waxes- avoid at all costs.
- Emulsifiers- these are waxes that glue water and oil together in conditioners. They are in almost all creamy conditioners.
- Jojoba oil, sebum (natural scalp oil)- these are less troublesome, and easier to remove.

REMOVING WAX BUILDUP

- Oil is the ONLY thing I found to really remove the wax. Olive oil, specifically - it's the most cleansing oil. Do a hot oil treatment with EVOO on the wax spot, cover head with a plastic bag & a towel for heat, leave on 30 minutes. Clarify. Repeat until it is out.

KEEPING WAX BUILDUP AWAY

- If this is a one time occurance, you might have just used a product containing a hard wax. If so, just avoid anything that says "wax" in the ingredients from now on.

- If you keep getting buildup, consider that the emulsifiers in your conditioners are a problem. Switch to a con that uses different emulsifiers, or cut out conditioners with emulsifiers completely, as I did. The best cleanser/clarifyer is Terressentials mud wash. This, esp. in conjuncion with an oil prepoo, is awesome for detoxing hair without stripping, leaving it soft and clean.

HTH

[shanenchar]

Wow!! That was VERY informative and VERY interesting!! I have been trying to figure out what this could be and maybe this is it!! We have lived in this house for over 10 years and I just started having this problem for the past year...............now granted, I used to dye my hair up until a year ago with natural instincts and every time I dyed it, it got rid of all my buildup problems, whatever they maybe. So, after a few months after I stopped dying it, I got this nasty white, dust-like looking buildup in my bangs which was probably from all the hairspray I use in only my bangs to keep them in position (I have a nasty cowlick). So, I started using a clarifyer to get rid of that buildup and that worked wonderfully to get rid of that particular buildup. About a month after I started using a clarifyer and got rid of that problem is when I started getting this waxy buildup problem. I have been racking my brain trying to figure this out!! I will try both options to see what the deal is. I do plan to get a water filter, but in the meantime, I'll try this EVOO hair treatment and see what happens. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all of this :) Do you know the names of any elmusifiers? I use Pantene conditioner and there are no waxes listed as an ingredient. Thanks :)

[KittyMeowMeow]

What may have happened is when you clarified, it uncovered the wax that was hiding underneath layers of conditioners, plastics & buildup. This is what happened to me- I first felt the wax after clarifying. The wax could be from something you used a long time ago, although, it kinda sounds like it is from a regular product since it has been in the same spot in your hair for a year. I also found the same with the wax- certain areas were reeeeaaalllly suseptible (hard wax spots). Others just didn't agree with waxes/emulsifiers, and others are fine.

Alas, emulsifiers are in just about every creamy conditioner (the ones that don't most likely have a shea butter base which can give a creamy look). Eg Cetyl Alcohol, Ceteryl Alcohol. Assume that if it's a creamy conditioner, there are emulsifiers. There are some conditioners with emulsifiers - Suave, Vo5, Elucence and Keracare were ok in that they didn't give me really horrible hard buildup. My hair just took on new life when I got those things out of my reggie.

I stopped using conditioner altogether- I do an oil prepoo for moisture & cleansing. Then I wash with Terresentials (nice b/c it cleans very thoroughly, doesn't strip- this got me out of the buildup/washout cycle). On my wax sensitive areas, I use a homemade shealoe mix and moisturize with water & oil through the week. Other options would be moisturing rinses like catnip, honey, aloe, etc. I have naturally dry hair, and I found without the drying shampoos, my hair stays pretty well balanced with just water, oil/butter, and natural ingredients.

[shanenchar]

Awesome!! So, when you do the EVOO hair treatment, do you wet your hair first? Thanks :)

[KittyMeowMeow]

Teehee, I just popped back in to give specifics on the EVOO treatment which i forgot ;)

- I spray a tiny amount of water on my hair before applying the oil. This helps create a greenhouse effect in the baggie.
- Better than the baggie/towel, use if you have a heating cap if you have one. Stay under it for maybe 15-20 mins.
- When rinsing, rinse in very warm water (helps keep the wax soft). Rinse for a little bit with just the water (basically, oil rinse), and move your hands down kind of pulling & smoothing through your hair to help manually move the wax/oil out. Really get in there throughout your layers and whatnot. You can also try gently stroking down your hair with a washcloth.
- Then, wash with your clarifyer of choice (Ion from Sally's is a good option). "Natural" brand clarifiers didn't really work/were drying. I have heard of a stylist doing this treatment with an ACV rinse. Didn't work for me, but might work for you if you like to clarify w/ ACV. If it doesn't work though, use Ion, or other "real" clarifying shampoo, or mud detox treatments.
- If the wax isn't all out from the first treatment, you can try just adding in more EVOO & rinsing/washing again before actually getting out & doing the baggie thing again.

[shanenchar]

Great!! Thanks so much!! I will try this tonight and let you know how it works!!

[KittyMeowMeow]

Yea! Keep me posted!

[renia22]

Very informative, kittymeowmeow, I am curious to see how this turns out myself!

[shanenchar]

Well, I have good news and bad news. The EVOO got most of that waxy build up out of my bangs and crown area!!! Yaaaayyyy!! Thank you so much!! The bad news is that even though I used a clarifying shampoo and did so twice, my hair looked oily when it was dry. So I guess I didn't get all the olive oil out?? Do you think it will come out with the next shampoo? I could tell right away that it worked, cuz I dry my bangs first and they are almost back to normal, so I was soooooooooooo excited!! Then, when I dried the rest of my hair, it seemed like it wasn't getting dry, but really it was dry, it was just oily :( My hair looks wet when it is oily and kind of sticks together. So, my bangs and crown area were good, but now the rest of my head hung onto that olive oil!! Good grief :(

So, now I'm wondering..............how often will I need to do this olive oil treatment? And, is there any way to make sure the olive oil gets out of my hair completely? Do you have this problem when you do the EVOO treatment? Maybe I should have only put it on the problem areas? I put the EVOO on my whole head and my hair is down to my bottom, so I used about 1/4 cup of olive oil or so. It is interesting that my problem areas don't look oily, LOL!!

Thanks again for sharing this with me!! I am happy that something has finally worked to get that build up out!! Yaaayyy :)

[KittyMeowMeow]

Woohoo!!! Wax, be gone!

Yes, the olive oil will come out with clarifying. Try like 2 or 3 washes in a row with the clarifyer, maybe even leaving it in for a minute. They call that OOS (otter in an oil slick) on this board if you wanna look for solutions to that! I actually have dry 3c/4a hair in the area where I have wax problems, so I had the opposite problem of my hair being dry when I used clarifying shampoo! But at least the wax was gone, lol! I have gone OOS many times on the other part of my hair which is 3a/b and fine. A good clarify will take care of it!

I am now remembering hearing something about Pantene building up badly on people. I wonder if just switching to something else would work? Hopefully you can find something that doesn't cause this and won't need this treatment anymore! If so, just do it on the areas that need it. And imo, you don't need to use a lot. You can pin back the rest of your hair so it doesn't get the oil as well.

I prepoo weekly w/ EVCO and just use the EVOO as a treatment. I feel that any oil (other than jojoba) has cleansing properties. EVCO or other light oil as a prepoo just on trouble areas could help maintain if you use a condish which doesn't build up badly. I did this for a while, and it was fine.

I am basically not removing wax anymore from my hair because i'm not putting it in. If I would have been able to find a conditioner that didn't build up on me, I'd probably be using it, ha ha. I finally got so fed up after discovering that every conditioner I tried, in addition to wax, were building up on me that I just threw my hands up and went conditioner free, lol. It was scared to do that because I have dry hair, and I thought I needed conditioners- I never would have done it if I didn't absolutely have to. I am actually kind of thankful this happened because my hair feels and looks better than it ever has- just clean, soft hair without the stuff on it.

Good luck!

[shanenchar]

Wow!! Thank you so much for all this info!! I didn't wash my hair today, so I will try clarifying it tomorrow to see if I can get all the oil out. Plus, I am going to try a different conditioner. Do you have any good suggestions? Thanks so much!! :)

[KittyMeowMeow]

Anytime, my friend! :) Hmmm, I didn't get those big globs of wax with Suave, Vo5 moisture milks line, Kenra, or Elucence. Good luck!

[shanenchar]

Thanks again friend :) I am definitely going to try one of those you mentioned. Probably something I can find at Wal-Mart first. I did want to mention that I thought the OOS term was pretty funny!! I had no idea that it had a name, LOL!! Also, you used some terms that I have no idea what you were talking about (3c/4a). I know that is something describing what kind of hair you have, but I'm not sure what that means and now I'm wondering what kind of hair I have and what the significance of this is. Thanks again :) Charlene

[shanenchar]

Thanks again friend :) I am definitely going to try one of those you mentioned. Probably something I can find at Wal-Mart first. I did want to mention that I thought the OOS term was pretty funny!! I had no idea that it had a name, LOL!! Also, you used some terms that I have no idea what you were talking about (3c/4a). I know that is something describing what kind of hair you have, but I'm not sure what that means and now I'm wondering what kind of hair I have and what the significance of this is. Thanks again :) Charlene

[shanenchar]

Also, I just realized something. I have been using a pantene shampoo for the past month or so that also has conditioner in it. Then, I use a regular pantene conditioner after I shampoo with that!! So, I should probably get a different shampoo too, ha? Do you have any good recommendations for that? Same brands as mentioned above? Thanks :)

[shanenchar]

Hey girl (KittyMeowMeow)...........I lost you :( Are you still out there??

[shanenchar]

Hey KittyMeowMeow, I just wanted you to know that I now finally have my hair back thanks to your advice!! It is soft and light again and even my color looks better!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I never would have guessed in a million years that I needed oil to get out wax!! I wasn't even for sure that my buildup was wax! I have no idea where it came from, but if it does come back, now I know how to get rid of it thanks to you!! I really appreciate the time you took to share your experience!! I wish I could give you a BIG ((((HUG)))))!! :) THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :) :) :)

[denisereneec]

I have had a waxy buildup in my bangs and crown area of my head now for about a year. I have tried the apple cider vinegar rinse and some clarifying and chelating shampoos (ion from sally beauty supply, paul mitchell 2, and neutrogena) and nothing is touching it!! :( We have hard water which is treated with culligan water softener; however, there is still some red iron build up in my shower head and it builds up in my humidifier too. I'm guessing it is iron, but I am not 100% for sure. Has this ever happened to anybody else? Could someone please help me with this problem? My hair looks greasy, but I know it is not grease because my hair looks the worst right after I wash and dry it. :(

One thing that I do weekly is mix a little (about a tsp) of baking soda in my shampoo (in my hand) and wash my hair. The baking soda is an excellent clarifyer. It's also cheap and a NATURAL ingredient. I've really tried to scale back on all the chemicals I put in my hair and on my skin.

[Ayra]

Wow great advice! Thanks KittyMeowMeow. I have tried everything under the sun and all sorts of "clarifying" things and ACV rinses so many times and nothing :shrug: It just doesn't get better. No matter what I do it has this "heavy" awkward feel to it. I am going to try the olive oil thing tonight or tomorrow, I'm very hopeful! I've actually almost given up and just thought this is how my hair is now. Also, just received my soap shampoo bar samples but after reading this I think my hair would not be a good candidate for those.