Is this normal???

[italiancouture7]

My hair is down past my waist, I know it's super long..but omg!!! I shed more than a dog!!! My husband had to clean the drain in our shower out bi-monthly and the brush roll on our vacuum every 2 months as well. This was our vacuum last night before hubby cleaned it out, it was just cleaned out 2 months ago. Is this normal?? Or am I going bald?? :(

http://i68.tinypic.com/21u42a.jpg

[neko_kawaii]

It is quite possibly normal.

Get a good strainer for your shower drain to catch the hair before it enters the drain. To clean the vacuum roller use a sewing seam ripper. These simple tools will make your long-haired life easier.

[bunneh.]

It's normal to shed about 100 - 150 hair a day, maybe even up to 200. 60 days multiplied by 100 hair is 6000 hair in 2 months, considering your length, the picture doesn't surprise me. I have about hip length hair and shower clogs a lot as well, but I don't shed that much daily, perhaps up to 50 hairs a day.

[italiancouture7]

It is quite possibly normal.

Get a good strainer for your shower drain to catch the hair before it enters the drain. To clean the vacuum roller use a sewing seam ripper. These simple tools will make your long-haired life easier.

He just cuts it out with scissors. But good idea for the drain! Never thought about that. Thank you!

[italiancouture7]

It's normal to shed about 100 - 150 hair a day, maybe even up to 200. 60 days multiplied by 100 hair is 6000 hair in 2 months, considering your length, the picture doesn't surprise me. I have about hip length hair and shower clogs a lot as well, but I don't shed that much daily, perhaps up to 50 hairs a day.

I seem to shed a lot daily, some days are worse than others. I have quiet severe stress though and I know it makes it worse. I find hairballs everywhere :( .. I keep wondering how I am not bald.

[neko_kawaii]

He just cuts it out with scissors. But good idea for the drain! Never thought about that. Thank you!

Scissors work, but the seam ripper is much faster.

[lapushka]

Definitely get something to protect your drain!!! I mean, it's odd to me that you hadn't thought of that before. I guess it's because it's so normal to me. :shrug: And maybe start wearing your hair up. That way you'll comb the sheds out at your sink and catch them there (only need to clean out the sink with some TP). And that's it.

[slynr]

Oh yes....I clean my drain cover even during my shower and then vacuum has to be dehaired often as well. Normal for me:)

[Nique1202]

Yeah, that looks perfectly normal to me, especially if you don't wear your hair up much or gather your sheds after detangling. A nice shower drain hair trap will take care of that part of the problem, and consider that most of your hair is probably 1-2 feet long, so each hair would wrap around the vacuum brush at least probably 3 to 6 times, multiplied out by how many hairs you shed and don't pick up... it adds up FAST. You may want to clean the vacuum brush every month instead of every other month just to make sure it doesn't wear out that motor any faster than it has to but if you're still happy with the hair that's left on your head I wouldn't be too worried.

[bunneh.]

I seem to shed a lot daily, some days are worse than others. I have quiet severe stress though and I know it makes it worse. I find hairballs everywhere :( .. I keep wondering how I am not bald.
Have you tried meditating or exercising more to get over stress? It could help a bit.

[lunalocks]

My lovely hair just plugged up our vacuum cleaner's metal tubes this week. Had to take it all apart. Fortunately DH was smiling the whole time. Good thing he loves me.

Through Sept and Oct I have had the worst shed of my life. I swear I have lost 1/3 of my hair and it seemed to come out by the handfulls. I believe I am nearing terminal as my growth is also slowing down. Sheds happen.

Treat your hair and yourself gently, especially through times of stress. Eat well and try to get good sleep. It all helps.

[italiancouture7]

Have you tried meditating or exercising more to get over stress? It could help a bit.

I have PTSD, I am actually in therapy now. Hopefully it will help with that :/


Definitely get something to protect your drain!!! I mean, it's odd to me that you hadn't thought of that before. I guess it's because it's so normal to me. :shrug: And maybe start wearing your hair up. That way you'll comb the sheds out at your sink and catch them there (only need to clean out the sink with some TP). And that's it.

Honestly it had not really become an issue until recently. The drain had not backed up until earlier this year for the first time. Now it's constant. But my hair is also at its longest, it has grown so much just in the last 6 months.


My lovely hair just plugged up our vacuum cleaner's metal tubes this week. Had to take it all apart. Fortunately DH was smiling the whole time. Good thing he loves me.

Through Sept and Oct I have had the worst shed of my life. I swear I have lost 1/3 of my hair and it seemed to come out by the handfulls. I believe I am nearing terminal as my growth is also slowing down. Sheds happen.

Treat your hair and yourself gently, especially through times of stress. Eat well and try to get good sleep. It all helps.

Yes! That's is what I am striving for. I know my health hasn't been so great because of my stress, so I am hoping to overcome these issues. I am honestly surprised that my hair has still continued to grow.

[Radiant]

I have PTSD, I am actually in therapy now. Hopefully it will help with that :/

I'm sorry to hear that, but glad you're getting therapy. Stress can definitely increase shedding as I'm sure you know. Looking at the photos though it doesn't surprise me one bit as my vacuum is much the same. I think most long haired ladies deal with this. Hope you're feeling better (and shedding less) soon. :)

[Anje]

My vacuum always would look like that too. (Moved to a carpetless house, so now the vacuum gets less use, which is the only thing keeping it from still looking like that.) Totally normal, even if it is a bit horrifying.

I do recommend a strainer for your shower drain. Also, you can find these Zip It (http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Products-00412BL-Zip-It-Cleaning/dp/B000BO9204) drain clearing tools at most home improvement stores, and I recommend them as a preliminary declogging method. Very useful, and not quite so gross if you use it frequently.

[littlestarface]

Yep very normal. We have to clean the vacuum roller at least once a month or else it wont suck.

[chen bao jun]

Definitely get something to protect your drain!!! I mean, it's odd to me that you hadn't thought of that before. I guess it's because it's so normal to me. :shrug: And maybe start wearing your hair up. That way you'll comb the sheds out at your sink and catch them there (only need to clean out the sink with some TP). And that's it.

It looks normal to me. There is hair all over my house and I don't even have long hair (not quite brastrap). I do wear my hair up and only comb the sheds out in one place. but they are all over the place. My husband is nice about it, fortunately.

and I am not having a stress shed, or any shed. Whenever I comb my hair around people, they are like, oh, gracious, get to a dr, you will be bald. And they start explaining to me what they did because their hair was thinning because of menopause. (I am 58) BUT my hair is not thinning. and I've always shed like this. Made my mom crazy, all the hair all over the place, when I was a kid.

YOu really need a baseline to compare to, is what my post is saying. Some people just always SHED, like some dogs just shed, and its not that there's anything wrong at all, its just normal for them.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Looks pretty normal to me. Welcome to the long haired world! Yes, use a seam ripper to clean the vacuum! I have to clean my Roomba brush every two days or it gets so clogged it stops working.

[meteor]

Yes, that's very normal. :)
I'd recommend detangling hair over something in contrasting color where you can easily pick up shed hairs afterwards and then keeping hair contained in braids/buns. Also detangling hair thoroughly to remove all sheds before washing hair seems to both reduce the tangles post-wash and reduce the clogging of the drain. I find that doing braided washes (keeping hair in say, 2 or 4 or 6 braids during hair washing) helps limit drain clogging, as well.

[Arctic]

I'm just fascinated to see, how vacuum cleaners look different everywhere on the earth :bigeyes: Never seen a round cylinder kind of thing before :eye: Is it a brush? Does it rotate? :popcorn:

[chen bao jun]

its a robot vacuum cleaner. They are popular here in the US.

Ive got an in the wall, fortunately it has no beaters just very powerful suction but it still gets clogged. that kind is old fashioned now. I usually sweep the carpet before I vacuum. I actually bought a special kind of broom once, that was supposed to sweep pet hair out of carpet especially well but I didn't find it did better than the regular broom, and it aggravated my carpal tunnel/tendinitis

ETA one of the worst places for me for getting clogged with hair is the wheels on those rolling office chairs, you know the fancy office chairs with the big backs? We have those. Mine can get so the wheels don't roll unless I clean it all the time. A seam ripper does work best.

[Arctic]

I have never even known what beater bar is, ha ha. I remember even googling it sometimes, as I've seen it mentioned on English speaking forums. Our vacuum cleaners, to my knowledge, don't have one - although I must say I don't understand much about machines. We do have robotic vacuum cleaners, but I've never seen the underside of one.

[littlestarface]

I have one with a beater brush and oh my days it gets so clogged with hair and dust its so gross and so high maintenance. My other vacuum is one with just suction with a long hose that you move around and it never gets clogged and I never have to cut out any hair, its nicer but its so tiny and doesnt have much power behind it.

[chen bao jun]

Yeah, mine's jsut the suction with the long hose connected to the basement through the walls. IN the basement there is a large central piece, which my husband cleans periodically.

the suction on that thing is like, wow, though. sometimes I feel scared it will suck me in, its that powerful.

However, if I do not sweep first, it gets clogged with hair (or other things. Memorably once my son vaccumed a sweat sock up into it which stayed there, blocking it off). the hair will jam together in the part that you put on the floor (whcih is separate from the hose, you can change attachments on the thing). And then it wont suck. If it gets bad enough, you either have to buy a new attachment, or you have to go get the thing serviced at sew-vac for $$$$. YOu can do a little something with a wire cloth hanger that you unbend, but ultimately...

You could actually buy a whole new vaccuum cleaner, and not a bad one, for what the thing costs to service.

We are planning to finally get rid of the rest of the carpet in the house, thank God.

[Pearly~91]

Yeah, totally normal. If you're not careful you can ruin your vacuum. This thread reminds me, I'm super over due to vacuum at my house. I'll probably have to stop to clean the brush a couple of times when I finally get around to it.

[littlestarface]

Yeah, mine's jsut the suction with the long hose connected to the basement through the walls. IN the basement there is a large central piece, which my husband cleans periodically.

the suction on that thing is like, wow, though. sometimes I feel scared it will suck me in, its that powerful.

However, if I do not sweep first, it gets clogged with hair (or other things. Memorably once my son vaccumed a sweat sock up into it which stayed there, blocking it off). the hair will jam together in the part that you put on the floor (whcih is separate from the hose, you can change attachments on the thing). And then it wont suck. If it gets bad enough, you either have to buy a new attachment, or you have to go get the thing serviced at sew-vac for $$$$. YOu can do a little something with a wire cloth hanger that you unbend, but ultimately...

You could actually buy a whole new vaccuum cleaner, and not a bad one, for what the thing costs to service.

We are planning to finally get rid of the rest of the carpet in the house, thank God.

Wowza I never seen that kind of vacuum, it sounds really cool!

Yes I have to sweep first too or else theyll be too much hair,, so keep that in mind too op.

[Nadine <3]

Ha, looks normal to me! We have hardwood floors here and I have to sweep daily otherwise the hair floats through the house like tumbleweeds. That, and the cats eat the hair..and then they all have dingleberries and it's really unpleasant.

[Anje]

I'm just fascinated to see, how vacuum cleaners look different everywhere on the earth :bigeyes: Never seen a round cylinder kind of thing before :eye: Is it a brush? Does it rotate? :popcorn:

I have never even known what beater bar is, ha ha. I remember even googling it sometimes, as I've seen it mentioned on English speaking forums. Our vacuum cleaners, to my knowledge, don't have one - although I must say I don't understand much about machines. We do have robotic vacuum cleaners, but I've never seen the underside of one.

Yep, it's called a "beater bar", and it's a horizontal cylinder with little tufts of bristles on it. It spins rapidly (at least when the vacuum is on a carpet setting -- many have a bare floor setting where it doesn't spin), which helps fling debris up into the vacuum and fluffs up the carpet a bit. They're pretty standard on vacuums in the USA.

Where you are, what's the bottom of the vacuum look like? I'm imagining that without the bar they're like the nozzles we have on wet-dry vacuums (http://i1.wp.com/www.wmarmory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1070763.jpg?resize=536%2C402)?

[calmyogi]

My dyson looks like this between my daughter and myself. Our hair is only about BSL so it's not quite as bad, so I am assuming when I get to longer lengths like yours it will be this bad.

[Arctic]

Yep, it's called a "beater bar", and it's a horizontal cylinder with little tufts of bristles on it. It spins rapidly (at least when the vacuum is on a carpet setting -- many have a bare floor setting where it doesn't spin), which helps fling debris up into the vacuum and fluffs up the carpet a bit. They're pretty standard on vacuums in the USA.

Where you are, what's the bottom of the vacuum look like? I'm imagining that without the bar they're like the nozzles we have on wet-dry vacuums (http://i1.wp.com/www.wmarmory.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/P1070763.jpg?resize=536%2C402)?

Thanks for the information! It's funny how common objects can be so different everywhere!

The typical vacuum cleaners in Finland are the types with a hose and nozzle. I assume they are based on the suction mostly, but I really don't know much about their technology.

The vacuum typically looks something like this:
http://api.tretti.com/images/items/250/63226.jpg

(Of course there are lot of variations, and I've even seen few American type, standing vacuum cleaners on the markets lately [these probably have the beater bar], and then there are the hand held ones, the dustbagless ones, the robot vacuum ones... which all look a bit different.)


Typical nozzle looks like the one in this link (by clicking the small pictures you will see the nozzle from different angles):
http://www.huoltopalvelu.com/Miele-lattiasuulake-S4-ja-S5-sarjat

The nozzles have "hard floor" and "carpet/area rug" modes, which that basically means that on rug mode the bristles around the underside edge of the nozzle are pulled up, where-as they are down, against the floor with the hard floor mode. You can see the bristles in one of those photos in the link above.

When I vacuum, it's those bristles that gather my hair, and if enough hair is getting stuck, they start to form a "vacuum snake" (a rope of hair that is attached to the nozzle bristles and goes down into the hose, lowering the suction efficiency), so I need to clean the bristles regularly.


ETA: I did some googling, and looks like there are some nozzles with beater bar available here after all, but they seem to be mostly sold separately (and seem to be expensive). I have never seen one IRL. The few discriptions I read suggested, that the beater bar rotates from the under pressure created by the suction, and I got the impression they might not have a motor of their own. Where-as I am under the impression that the American ones are motored?

[Anje]

Yes, our beater bars definitely are motor-driven. My current vacuum (a Dyson) has a rubber belt that drives it.

When I was growing up, my family had a vacuum that looked much like the one in your picture (a "canister vacuum" rather than an "upright vacuum") , but it still had the spinning beater bar. In that case, there was an electrical cord attached along the bottom of the tube, to power the spinning part.

[lapushka]

It looks normal to me. There is hair all over my house and I don't even have long hair (not quite brastrap). I do wear my hair up and only comb the sheds out in one place. but they are all over the place. My husband is nice about it, fortunately.

and I am not having a stress shed, or any shed. Whenever I comb my hair around people, they are like, oh, gracious, get to a dr, you will be bald. And they start explaining to me what they did because their hair was thinning because of menopause. (I am 58) BUT my hair is not thinning. and I've always shed like this. Made my mom crazy, all the hair all over the place, when I was a kid.

YOu really need a baseline to compare to, is what my post is saying. Some people just always SHED, like some dogs just shed, and its not that there's anything wrong at all, its just normal for them.

My point was that when it's up all the time, there's no way for hair to escape. ;)

[Laurenji]

So, I keep my hair up almost all the time. I literally only take it down every couple days to brush it and redo the braids. I usually get a giant pile of hair on the floor after I brush it, which I gather up and throw in the trash. And even with that, I still get small piles of hair all over the house (as Nadine said, they roll through the house like tumbleweeds :D ) Thank goodness we don't have carpet!


But yeah, that looks totally normal.

[xbanannax]

Very normal for me. The question is whether you notice a change over time.

I personally cut the hair out from the vacuum with scissors.

Also, instead of letting the hair go down the drain, I collect/place the loose hairs that come out during conditioning/finger de-tangling on the shower wall. After no more hairs come out, I gather the wad off the wall, roll it between my palms into a ball and throw it in the trash. Retrieving hair from the drain makes me dry heave.

[AutobotsAttack]

well considering the fact that you have waist length hair, i think it is normal. as someone mentioned before it is normal to shed up to 100-200 hairs daily. Not to mention since your shed hair is waist length, its going to wrap around itself, and whatever it gets on. I shed quite a bit too, and recently i found a shed hair ball i was keeping track of, that i accumulated over a time span of about two weeks, and it was about as round as a golf ball. I freaked out for a little but then i realized its shed hair that i had been collecting, so of course its going to seem like a lot. But as long as you dont have any health realted issues, or dont notice any thinning to your hair or length loss id say you are perfectly fine.

[Goatcraft]

Definitely normal. I always keep my hair up, so I shed A LOT when I get around to washing my hair.

[lapushka]

Definitely normal. I always keep my hair up, so I shed A LOT when I get around to washing my hair.

Same for me, *and* I only really detangle once a week with a comb/brush, which is right before a wash. So pre-wash and post-wash a *lot* comes out. During the week I part my hair in half, in half again and in half again, to get the sheds out (so it doesn't end up on the floor). That's it. The amount of hair my mom finds when sweeping here is minimal (less than 5 hairs total).

[cat11]

just want to add another voice to the "totally normal" camp. I need a drain cover and my vaccuum looks like that too.