Help - Hair gel glued my hair into a giant stalactite - how to get out?

[icekitten]

I just removed a huge knot complex from my hair. To go out in public and keep the free hairs separate, I washed them then applied hair gel. Unfortunately the hair gel was too strong for my hair or something, because now all the hairs are stuck together in a huge sticky mass.

The hairs come from multiple places on my head, think sort or like a spider web. So they collected together in a tube with the hair gel in the middle and then the end folded over. The hair ends are still free,but I can't unwind the fold or the hair because all the sticky hair gel sticks it together. If it gets stick on other hairs it will just pull them into the mess. I should never have used this gel - removing the residue which fell on other hairs tore a whole lot of them out. (well,I'm never using hair gel again after this.)

So how can I clean out the hair gel without permanently knotting the folded end of my hair um stalactite. I know I can't just wash it straight down because it will collapse into itself and knot into an impossible matt - I had the same thing happen once before. Any idea how I can wash/clean it out without making the folding a permanent knot or getting gel on my other hairs? It's very important I get the hair free because a lot of my hair was involved in it, and i'll have a strange thin section which will look very bad. Please help.

[SimplyViki]

I think I'd just rinse it for a long time. Then maybe glob some conditioner on it and start to gently work the knotted areas apart.

[trillcat]

I am wondering if a mermaid soak would help?
If you could sit in the bathtub and let your hair soak in the water, you could maybe remove the outer layers and work in as the gel dissovles?

[SHELIAANN1969]

I was thinking to put conditioner straight on your hair, let sit for awhile (10, 20, 30 minutes or more) then get into the shower with warm water, letting it rinse.

I would use more conditioner in the shower as well, while rinsing and detangling.

If you want, you can then wash with your shampoo and I would use conditioner again afterwards.

Good luck, don't get frustrated, take your time, it will come out eventually. :flower:

[spidermom]

I would just lay back in the bathtub for awhile, then fill my hair with conditioner and very slowly and carefully comb it out.

[elina333]

Conditioner, conditioner, conditioner! Just slather it on and then soak it in the tub and try to (gently) detangle it.

[Fractalsofhair]

Rinse, with tons of conditioner in your hair, and gently comb it out.That's how I untease my hair when I've used loads of hairspray on it.

[florenonite]

What about rinsing upside down? That might help with the tangling.