My hair hates winter!!

[PiroskaCicu]

Seems my hair just hates winter! I've tried everything to battle my hair which is completely charged with static electricity; deep oil treatments, conditioner only, and recently the movie star washing method. All of them made my hair very soft and shiny, particularly the movie star oil shampoo method (I loved it, there are photos of my results in my hair album).

While these treatments were great for my hair, they didn't change the fact that my hair is so full of static that I look like Einstein. :D Hair just everywhere, flying, sticking to my clothes, etc........every time my SO kisses my cheek he gets zapped... Poor DBF :o

What should I try next? Will anything soothe the static or is it just how it is in winter? I've resorted to simply braiding my hair to keep it from zapping people. :P

[Anywhere]

Thats interesting, oil seems to make my hair static resistant. I don't have any advice for you... fabric softener sheets? A girl at my school used to rub one of those on her hair whenever it got static-y. Not sure about if its damaging or not.

[LittleOrca]

I am not sure if this would work, or if you have tried it or not, but I have a spray that Sunsilk made that was meant to cut down on static in the hair during the winter time. That might help, but given what you have tried that has not worked, your safer bet might be just to braid it or bun it for the winter, which I see you have done. :)

I like having my hair up in the winter,and though the extra "blanket" is nice when it's cold, I want to make sure it looks good for the spring when I can wear it down easier. :)

[phylsgyrl]

When my hair gets really full of static, I run a minuscule amount of olive oil through the length (I'll sometimes keep a little bit in a spray bottle with me during the winter for just such a purpose) and it helps de-static my hair. Also, do you use a wood brush or a plastic one? Maybe try switching to wood and see if that helps, if you don't already.

[PiroskaCicu]

Thanks , I probably will just stick with keeping it up I guess. :P My hair is just starting to "feel long" in a long time so all of this static is new for me.

Edit: I do use a wood brush. It is a bit better than plastic but I think all of the warm clothing really contributes to the static. A lot of my sweaters seem to cause the static. Against bare skin there is no static.

[Artsy]

Oiling dry hair exaggerates the static problem for me in Winter. I carry a dryer sheet in my purse and keep a few in my bathroom to remove static.

[ravenreed]

Static usually implies low humidity. Get yourself a humidifier and run it in your home. It might help, at least at home.

[PiroskaCicu]

The humidifier is a good idea. I can't afford one right now but would boiling some water on the stove and leaving it out in my room help? My mom sometimes does this when someone has a dry cough or cold

[Panth]

Static is generally due to dry air.

When at home I had really bad trouble with static (luckily, I was only there about 2 weeks over the holidays). I tried coconut oil, the temperature was too cold and it went kinda tacky when on my hair. I tried aloe gel ... bad, bad, bad idea. It's a humectant - as the air was drier than the hair, it pulled the moisture from the hair into the atmosphere.

I only could try stuff in my kitchen as I was snowed in. I tried keeping everything in braided buns - helpful, but it got to be that combing was impossible due to the static. My last resort was fingercombing lukewarm water and small amounts of extra virgin olive oil into it before braiding. The water tamed the frizz enough so that I could comb it. I put oil only from about chin down, thick enough to make it quite greasy looking. It only looked acceptable as it was braided and bunned - and that the upper bits were grease-free.

...can't really recommend that as anything except a last-resort treatment as when I finally got back to my house I had masses of split ends. Oil shampoo and lots of S&D has mostly fixed that.

[Panth]

The humidifier is a good idea. I can't afford one right now but would boiling some water on the stove and leaving it out in my room help? My mom sometimes does this when someone has a dry cough or cold

Another option is to put wet towels/tea towels/dishcloths/etc. on your radiators and let the water evaporate.

Be careful not to go to OTT on getting things humid, especially if you're in a rented house. Mold is not nice to deal with, though I have to deal with it due to the climate and we have to use DEhumidifiers.

[PiroskaCicu]

Thanks Panth, yes I noticed that combing seems to irritate the static even more and make it look crazier. Fingercombing with water helps a bit.

[PiroskaCicu]

Thanks, I will try that


Another option is to put wet towels/tea towels/dishcloths/etc. on your radiators and let the water evaporate.

Be careful not to go to OTT on getting things humid, especially if you're in a rented house. Mold is not nice to deal with, though I have to deal with it due to the climate and we have to use DEhumidifiers.

[ravenreed]

Yep, I have done this too. Don't forget you have water boiling on the stove, though. I have done that.


The humidifier is a good idea. I can't afford one right now but would boiling some water on the stove and leaving it out in my room help? My mom sometimes does this when someone has a dry cough or cold

[whisper]

a little hair spray always worked for me - even if you do a little spray on your hands and then just run them over your hair.

[missfortune9335]

A little aloe vera gel seems to work well for me. :)

[leoninnu]

We get the zaps too, though it's BF's hair that is all over the place, not mine. One trick to this is for him to touch your face with his hand before kissing. Yes, it feels a bit awkward but the zap doesn't feel half as bad on the fingers than it does on the lips :D I just poke my index finger on his cheek... I also gave him a bottle of my night facial moisturizer to put on his hair when it gets electric since it seems to keep the frizzies away for a while. I don't know if it's any better than oils though. But you could try it too.

[Tia2010]

I'm not sure if my hair hates winter but it sure hates the dry heat the pellet stove in the family rooms blows out ! I get so much static if I touch anything or anyone they get shocked. :p I usually use coconut oil to try and tame static in my hair and put a kettle on top the stove to try to add some water to the air.

[PiroskaCicu]

Thanks! I'm going to try the suggestions and trying jojoba oil for the first time today :D

[Nyghtingale]

May I ask, what is the movie star washing method?

[rose.grace]

Humidifier was my first choice too. I usually keep a pan of water (dutch oven) on the stove on low (about 2 or 3 on my stove) heat and that just sort of evaporates into the air. The last humidifier I got, I returned because it put white powder all over my furniture. Weird. So, I took it back.

Have you tried sea-salt spray?

[ravenreed]

I started using the humidifier more for the fact that our kitties get REALLY annoyed when they come up to us and we pet them and they get zapped. They take it very personally! Also, our older kitty has asthma and it acts up in the winter. Keeping the humidifier on keeps her from wheezing. The side benefit is that my hair has no static.

[PiroskaCicu]

Cool, it's great that it helps your kitties! :)

I bought jojoba oil yesterday for the first time and it really reduced the static! I did a pre-wash oiling and then washed this morning. It's almost dry now and seems, for now at least, to be static free :)

[TiaKitty]

What is sea salt spray and how is it made... i mean, it sounds pretty self-explanatory, but is there a recipe for it, and why does it work?

[anachronic]

Same problem here for me in winter