Stringy hair?

[motormuffin]

What causes this? My daughter has fine blond hair and she swims 3x a week. I don't shampoo it and just condition. I've tried different conditioners and some leave-ins. Soon after we brush it, it kind of clumps back together again and looks stringy. It feels soft and looks nice when it's brushed but doesn't stay and seems to tangle easily. She's 5 so some of the tangling is from rolling around on the floor but...:) Any suggestions?

[manderly]

It may be buildup from only conditioner as well as pool chemicals. Stringiness generally comes from too much moisture buildup.

I would give it a good diluted shampoo every now and then and see how that works.

On the other hand, what 5 year old doesn't have a stringy mess of tangles withing minutes after brushing :silly:

[countryhopper]

My fine hair has the tendency to look stringy, too. I think it's a common thing for fine haireds. Maybe the condish is weighing it down as the PP said? You can try a dilluted baking soda wash ( 1/2 tablespoon baking soda in about a cup of warm water) followed by an acidic rinse ( dilluded vinegar, like just a teaspoon in water; tea; lemon juice, etc). This will close the cuticle and make the hair shine. The baking soda is clarifying so it should remove any buildup.

This works for me... I haven't used S&C in five months now.

[juliaxena]

I'm laying my hopes into a boar bristle brush for the sime life long problem.

[Finoriel]

Stringyness can be product related as others already mentioned, but also hair-type related. Especially fine and thin hair just tends to be like that and children hair usually is fine and thin before hormones kick in. I had seriously stringy hair as a child and I think that´s the reason why I had it above shoulder-length at that age to make it less obvious and easier to detangle. But eventually as I got older the issue resolved itself and I got thicker and more hair.
I´d say don´t worry about it for her. Children usually don´t care about how they look and as long as it does not bother her it´s a bliss. :wink: It´s soon enough when teenagers get insecure about their appearance and worry about perfect skin / clothes / hair / image whatever.

Oh and I´d not use baking soda on a child. It´s a very reactive chemical and could do more harm than good. Baking soda and acids are not pleasant to get in ones eyes and bad early childhood experiences can seriously spoil the fun of experimenting with this kind of things for the rest of ones live. (Ha :p don´t ask why I´ll never eat sourgrule ever again. Ick.)

[julliams]

I was wondering if you don't shampoo because you don't like SLS for your daughter? Or maybe you find it too drying? I'm wondering if the conditioner is maybe a little heavy for her hair at the moment? It could just be her hair type.

My daughter had hair like this when she was little. The tangles used to drive us both nuts. I ended up keeping it at a chin length bob which meant that she could wake up in the morning and head out without so much as a brush if we didn't want to. Once it got to her shoulders it would tangle so bad. I know this kind of goes against the forum here but she was at an age where her hair length was more important to me than to her so it made sense for her to be more comfortable even though I liked long hair better. She sure did look cute sporting that bob!

She is 11 now and her hair is about BSL and has been waist length. It is nothing like it used to be in that it is much thicker now but it still tangles.

I bought a Tangle Teaser which you can buy from the UK and that has made a big difference for both of us.

[Tutti_Frutti]

I also think it's hair-type related, because for a period of time I just washed my hair with shampoo (without the conditioner that could weigh it down) and I still had stringy hair. Guess it's a part of having fine hair.

[countryhopper]

Oh and I´d not use baking soda on a child. It´s a very reactive chemical and could do more harm than good. Baking soda and acids are not pleasant to get in ones eyes and bad early childhood experiences can seriously spoil the fun of experimenting with this kind of things for the rest of ones live. (Ha :p don´t ask why I´ll never eat sourgrule ever again. Ick.)

True! Thanx for bringing that out :D! Children's hair is different from adults hair.

You could try WO in between CO washes. Her hair is probably not prodicing a lot of sebum yet, and it could cut down on the conditioner buildup.

[Bethie]

My daughter had hair like this when she was little. The tangles used to drive us both nuts. I ended up keeping it at a chin length bob which meant that she could wake up in the morning and head out without so much as a brush if we didn't want to. Once it got to her shoulders it would tangle so bad. I know this kind of goes against the forum here but she was at an age where her hair length was more important to me than to her so it made sense for her to be more comfortable even though I liked long hair better. She sure did look cute sporting that bob!


I am the same way. My daughter is now 8 and finally wants to grow her hair out, so we are. But since she was about 4, she was sporting a chin length bob, because it was easier up keep. She doesn't like tangles and in the summer her hair doesn't look as stringy.

[dropinthebucket]

Mine always gets stringy, too - i always thought it was because it's so thin and fine, but then i started noticing it was worse in certain weather - if it's very humid, my hair waves a bit and clumps (not frizz, just clumping) - in very dry weather, it just sits there limp and altogether in a sheet! :) - maybe some humidity control product? not sure if hers will be the same cause, but hth. :)

[Anje]

Oh and I´d not use baking soda on a child. It´s a very reactive chemical and could do more harm than good.

True! Thanx for bringing that out :D! Children's hair is different from adults hair.
Actually, I wouldn't use baking soda on my adult hair either. I know BS washing works for some folks, but most of us find it harsh and nasty on our hair. Hair generally doesn't like higher-than-neutral pH.

As far as stringiness goes, I don't have much to add. Buildup and oil can be culprits, but I think slightly wavy hair (particularly when it's fine) has a tendency to string. Mine certainly does, and requires frequent combing if I'm wearing it loose and don't want it to look that way. Super-clean, slightly over-dry hair seems to string less, but I don't like that alternative.

If you can wrangle your daughter long enough, why not put it in a braid? Containing hair stops stringiness better than anything else I know.

[Finoriel]

Actually, I wouldn't use baking soda on my adult hair either. I know BS washing works for some folks, but most of us find it harsh and nasty on our hair. Hair generally doesn't like higher-than-neutral pH.
:agree: Exactly.

:wink: I just didn´t want to go on about that pet-peeve of mine again. Before I get :hatchet: you know. :p

[countryhopper]

:agree: Exactly.

:wink: I just didn´t want to go on about that pet-peeve of mine again. Before I get :hatchet: you know. :p

:D Funny how hair reacts differently! Many treatments members commonly do here (heavy oiling, vinegar rinses) do NOT work for me, and BS apparently has been doing very well for me!! go figure...:rolleyes: But to each his own... we all have the same goal, right?

Anyway, sorry to get off topic!

I love the suggestion of braiding! Loose hair is just begging to hang in all its stringy-glory, but braiding looks cute and keeps tangles at bay! There's all sorts of braids you can try so you won't feel she's wearing it the same everyday.

[motormuffin]

I just CO because it seems to be dry from the chlorine from swimming. She's not really dirty so I don't usually shampoo or soap wash her...just nooks and crannies. Her skin get a little dry so I try to go easy on the washing.
As she's getting a little older, I'm able to get her to put it up a little more. She's a 'let it fly' type of kid. If I send her to school with it up, it comes home down. I need more ribbons. It seems like if I 'girl' her hair up more she leaves it in a little longer.
I'll try the clarifying and see if that helps. Do you have any suggestions for combating chlorine?

[manderly]

There was some talk a while back about rinsing hair with club soda after getting out of the pool, which neutralized chlorine. I believe ktani is the one with the 411 :)

As for removing what's already built up, I think those swimmer's shampoos get decent reviews.

[countryhopper]

Do you have any suggestions for combating chlorine?

I've heard that some people wet their hair first with plain water, then go in the pool. This way, the hair can't soak up as much chlorine.

[xoxophelia]

I swam daily for well over a decade and know for sure, if I didn't shampoo my hair it would be stringy. I don't know what it is but the chlorine would dry out my hair, rough it up or something it and it would get clumps. If I didn't shampoo even once I would notice a definite difference.

The important thing to do is to not let your hair dry after swimming before washing it with shampoo (so shampoo her hair 3x a week). Also, before getting in the pool wet the hair and have some leave in conditioner in it.

[embee]

As far as I can tell, some hair is just stringy. Mine was (and is) always - young or old, short or long, clean or dirty, chlorinated pool water or sea water or clear lake water - unless it was within moments of brushing. The Updo is my friend. :)

Baking soda made *my* hair into a tangled matted mess which took a long time and a lot of work to sort out. NEVER again, thank you very much! ;)