Vaseline Disaster!!

[luluj]

OK, My two year old grandson got his little hands on a jar of vaseline and coated his hair with it! How does one remove vaseline from baby fine hair? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My daughter is at a loss (me, I'm still giggling a little:p)

[TinaDenali]

Dish washing liquid? Dawn? That's my guess :)

[Torrin Paige]

I'd also go with dishwashing liquid. Perhaps a paste of baking soda if it doesn't seem to be doing enough?

[GeeLove]

i found this website. maybe she could give some of these a try:

http://www.creativehomemaking.com/cleaning/removing-vaseline-from-hair.shtml

[luluj]

i found this website. maybe she could give some of these a try:

http://www.creativehomemaking.com/cleaning/removing-vaseline-from-hair.shtml

What an awesome site!! Many, many thanks to you, GeeLove!!:happydance::cheer::joy:

[ddiana1979]

Like removes like. I know that sounds bizarre but it's true. I would try doing CO a couple of times with warm water (heavy conditioner & leave the conditioner on for a half an hour or so), or maybe even an oil treatment. (A lot of people on the site GeeLove mentioned baby oil.) I know when I got oil paint on my car (thanks, stupid teenagers with homemade paintballs to celebrate Halloween), my friend who's an automotive engineer recommended peanut butter & mineral oil. It worked great. :)

[Anje]

I'm going with ddiana1979 here... Try a few repeated CO washings. Go nuts with slathering on some cheap conditioner. Start with his hair dry.

If that doesn't work, you might want to work a liquid oil (I'd use a veggie oil like olive or coconut) into his hair, squeeze out the excess, and repeat a few times, to try to get some of the vaseline out/dissolved in a more readily removed oil. Then go to CO.

[luluj]

Like removes like. I know that sounds bizarre but it's true. I would try doing CO a couple of times with warm water (heavy conditioner & leave the conditioner on for a half an hour or so), or maybe even an oil treatment. (A lot of people on the site GeeLove mentioned baby oil.) I know when I got oil paint on my car (thanks, stupid teenagers with homemade paintballs to celebrate Halloween), my friend who's an automotive engineer recommended peanut butter & mineral oil. It worked great. :)

Yes, I couldn't believe it when I read that baby oil worked "like a charm" to remove vaseline! Thanks so much for your advice ddiana1979!;)

[cmnt831]

Someone here had vaseline in her hair recently and she put cornstarch on it and then shampoo-ed it.

[luluj]

I'm going with ddiana1979 here... Try a few repeated CO washings. Go nuts with slathering on some cheap conditioner. Start with his hair dry.

If that doesn't work, you might want to work a liquid oil (I'd use a veggie oil like olive or coconut) into his hair, squeeze out the excess, and repeat a few times, to try to get some of the vaseline out/dissolved in a more readily removed oil. Then go to CO.

So you would just put conditioner on his hair dry, work it through, rinse and then re-apply?

[GeeLove]

What an awesome site!! Many, many thanks to you, GeeLove!!:happydance::cheer::joy:

you're so welcome. i hope something works for her.

at least now she has a funny story to tell when he gets older.

[Anje]

So you would just put conditioner on his hair dry, work it through, rinse and then re-apply?
Yep.

JulietCapulet reported back to me (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/converse.php?u=31164&u2=9354) that it worked really well at getting a vaseline-based coconut-scented conditioner product out. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=57230)

[bluesnowflake]

Oh no! I would go with Dawn- it might be a little harsh but it's probably the only thing that would get something like that out.

[Merlin]

So glad this thread turned out to be hair related....

[rags]

I've actually done this with my own baby-fine hair (don't ask! :o) What worked for me was letting it soak with conditioner (the conditioner added to dry hair, then left to sit for 30 minutes) , then rinsing that and shampooing it out. Of course, I didn't have a large amount in my hair - only a little.

[luluj]

Yep.

JulietCapulet reported back to me (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/converse.php?u=31164&u2=9354) that it worked really well at getting a vaseline-based coconut-scented conditioner product out. (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=57230)

Thanks so much Anje!:)

[luluj]

So glad this thread turned out to be hair related....

So now I'm laughing out loud! Perhaps I should have spent a little more time thinking about the thread title.:D

[luluj]

I've actually done this with my own baby-fine hair (don't ask! :o) What worked for me was letting it soak with conditioner (the conditioner added to dry hair, then left to sit for 30 minutes) , then rinsing that and shampooing it out. Of course, I didn't have a large amount in my hair - only a little.

OK rags, I won't ask, but I "still" want to know!:p Thanks for the advice!;)

[Nae]

If the other things fail, I was the Vaseline story cmnt was talking about. I coated it in cornstarch and it washed right out.

[christine1989]

I'm curious to know what his hair felt like after getting it out- I hear vaseline is quite moisturizing. ;)

[Nae]

Okay, well I had decided to henna everything but my streak. So I didn't think things through very well and slathered my streak in vaseline and lemme tell you it was TONS of vaseline. I am not even kidding. Great gooey globs of ickyness. Then I wrapped it in plastic wrap and hennaed the rest.

It worked great but then as I rinsed the whole mess out I realized.......OMG I have vaseline in my hair!!!!! What do I do?!?!?!?!? :justy: (Yeah, I didn't think it out that far ahead, I was so focused on using it as a henna preventer I didn't think through to the logical conclusion. I have been known to do things like this in the past.:rolleyes:")

So I did some googlefu and I read all the stuff on Dawn dishwashing detergent. And I looked at my bottle, then I thought about my poor hair and decided that might not be the best idea. (Even though I remember it working for my cousin when she was a baby and pulled a similar stunt as Luluj's kiddo.) So I kept looking and I found an article about a girl who wanted to have a dreadlock look for a party and "dreaded" her TB length hair with vaseline. Her mom almost cut the whole mess out because nothing would get it out. But finally someone on the internet suggested using cornstarch and to completely coat it saying that the cornstarch would give the detergent/soap something to grab onto so that the greasy stuff could be lifted. This saved this girls hair.

So I ran to the cupboard, grabbed the cornstarch and put it on the streak nice and thick, I used a sls shampoo (suave) and it came right out. It was still a bit "heavier feeling" than the rest of the hair, but it was manageable and it was totally back to normal after the next time I washed.

It don't know if it was really good for my hair but it was certianly moisturized! The problem was all the manipulation and washing I had to do to get it out. Nonetheless it worked out pretty well. I am no longer afraid of Vaseline!!!!!!!

[luluj]

OH MY NAE! I'm sure glad your story had a happy ending! Thanks so much for sharing it here, it just may help someone! I sent my daughter all of the advice I received here, still waiting for her to report back.

This is completely unrelated to hair, but I just wanted to say that I use vaseline daily on my face. Right after I step out of the shower, while my skin is still wet, I apply a very thin coat of vaseline to my face, paying close attention to my lips (they get so dry this time of the year.) Sometimes I will take a very warm face cloth and hold it over my face until the cloth cools, this feels great! After shaving my legs (in the shower) I apply a thin layer of vaseline to them as well! I just take great care to keep it away from my hair!!:D;)

[GeeLove]

i would love to know which method worked for getting it out of your grandsons hair. i do apply vaseline to my wet/damp ends then toss it in a bun and hide my hair for the day. leaves my ends really soft.

[luluj]

i would love to know which method worked for getting it out of your grandsons hair. i do apply vaseline to my wet/damp ends then toss it in a bun and hide my hair for the day. leaves my ends really soft.

Hi GeeLove! Turns out that the BABY OIL TREATMENT did the trick!:D:cheese: Thanks again for the link, it is a super site!;) Really? Does the vaseline wash out of your ends with just a regular shampoo?? There was a thread a while ago in which the poster talked about gaining thicker eyelashes by applying vaseline to them, something I also do! It was quite an interesting thread actually.:p

[Anne~]

Oh My Gosh I remember back in 1965 when this happened to my sister and cousin my parents used gasoline to remove it. LOL Ha it worked everyone is ok still to this day. No environmental comments are needed.

[Nae]

Oh My Gosh I remember back in 1965 when this happened to my sister and cousin my parents used gasoline to remove it. LOL Ha it worked everyone is ok still to this day.

Hey we used to use gasoline to get paint off of our hands after painting the barn. I can't believe that it used to be that cheap! Yeah, we all survived it too lol.

[luluj]

Oh My Gosh I remember back in 1965 when this happened to my sister and cousin my parents used gasoline to remove it. LOL Ha it worked everyone is ok still to this day. No environmental comments are needed.

Gasoline!:shocked: Geesh, that is a first for me, honestly, never heard of using gasoline. I wonder what one would use to get the smell of the gas out of their hair:confused:

[Nae]

Gasoline!:shocked: Geesh, that is a first for me, honestly, never heard of using gasoline. I wonder what one would use to get the smell of the gas out of their hair:confused:

Actually come to think of it we used it to get paint out of our hair too.

I don't think that the scent lingered after a wash, at least I don't remember that, but I was pretty young.

[Anne~]

Gasoline!:shocked: Geesh, that is a first for me, honestly, never heard of using gasoline. I wonder what one would use to get the smell of the gas out of their hair:confused:
Shampoo pure shampoo what ever was available.. wash and wash again. 1965 I was 4 I don't remember it much but I do remember the smell and my father swearing a bit. :)

[GeeLove]

Hi GeeLove! Turns out that the BABY OIL TREATMENT did the trick!:D:cheese: Thanks again for the link, it is a super site!;) Really? Does the vaseline wash out of your ends with just a regular shampoo?? There was a thread a while ago in which the poster talked about gaining thicker eyelashes by applying vaseline to them, something I also do! It was quite an interesting thread actually.:p


i learned about putting vaseline or petroleum jelly on the ends from this lady back when I was starting my healthy hair journey:

http://beautifybitbybit-chicoro.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-strategically-seal-natural-afro.html