Hair everywhere - DH is complaining

[Carolingian]

Hi folks.

I've been coming here for best practices for a year now. Been growing and am holding at brastrap length until I have the rest of the damage out. Using henna glosses for a hint of colour too. Thanks for all the hints!

Problem is, my hair is everywhere! I keep it up and it STILL ends up in my MIL's spinach salad, stuck to my baby's clip-on pacifier, and all over the floors everywhere. It clogs the roomba, (so I don't use it much anymore) and the drain.

I try to wear it up usually, about 70% of the time.

Any suggestions as to how to keep my hair where it belongs, OR easy ways to clean it up, are most appreciated. Thanks!

[Carolingian]

Oh, and I dreamed last night that hubby made me a peanut butter and HAIR sandwich of my own hairs, because he was so annoyed with the continuing onslaught of hairs everywhere. When I told him my dream, he chuckled and said: 'good idea.'

[Brat]

I haven't figured it out either. I would brush it every day if it wasn't curly. Think it might help, but not worth the frizz!

[neko_kawaii]

I find that brushing/combing/finger combing my hair outside really helps. I've been brushing inside since the mosquitoes came out for the summer and there is hair EVERYWHERE and there hadn't been before. When my mother comes to visit me, she brushes her long hair out on the porch too.

As for clogged drains, we have a little screen that fits over the drain and catches most of the hair and is really easy to clean. Ask at any hardware store. We got ours at ACE.

[HairFaerie]

I was going to say brushing it two/three times day might help. Maybe other people have some other ideas too....

I remember when my hair was BSL. Vacuuming was horrible because I had to cut all of the long hairs out of the roller/beater brush. What I started doing was what I called "mowing" the carpet first before I vacuumed. I put on my hard soled slippers and ran my heel around the whole span of the carpet to get most of the hair up first. It really was a pain in the butt!

Maybe a hairnet while you are cooking? Or bandana?

[princessp]

Lol, yeah I've got a hirsute-house myself. I don't have answer I just do lots of cleaning and luckily I also have an understanding man. :)

[sandybug36]

Isn't shedding the worst? What I do is keep my hair up basically 24/7 and then 2 or 3 times a day I will do a serious brushing session in the bathroom where shed hairs can be easily swept up. I comb it upside down and every which way to manipulate all of those shed hairs out and I use both my comb and BBB. I also do sort of a scalp massage at this point (also helps get those shed hairs out). As long as I do a good brushing session at least twice a day, I don't have problems with my hair all over the place. I hope I could be a little bit helpful! Good luck :):):)

[emelnd]

I shed less on henna... Not sure if it has the same effect on everyone though.

[Sunshineliz]

No real advice but I understand. When I was a teen and my hair was at hip, my hair was everywhere! My mom (who had a pixie) actually thought I was cleaning out my brushes and throwing them on the floor from the amount of hair she'd get in the vacuum. Really, she kept accusing me of it! (And I brushed my hair probably six times a day during that time period.)

[teal]

PP have great suggestions. I'd try to keep it up more often if you can. Right now my 'up' rate is almost 100% and there aren't too many stray hairs outside the laundry and the shower.

[Madora]

Brushing every day, right when you get up. Be sure to detangle with a wide tooth comb first!

Protect your drains with strainers to catch those pesky fallen out hairs.

I see you wear your hair up, which is a good idea.

[spidermom]

My husband has forbidden me to be in the kitchen with my hair down. If I forget, he's quick to run in behind me and gather up my hair, saying "put this away!" haha We don't like hair in our food. If I'm getting ready to prepare a meal and my hair has been down, I put it up plus use one of those sticky roller-thingies to get the hair off my clothes.

I comb/brush my hair outside as often as possible. Otherwise I do it in the bathroom so that it's easy to pick up fallen hairs.

I wash my hair at the gym as much as possible to save our drains (then pick the shed hairs off the strainer with a paper towel). We have the pop-up stoppers at home, so a strainer is not an option. I'm the one who has the responsibility of cleaning the drain; have hemostat - will travel! haha

[Pierre]

I comb my hair in the shower, putting the hair on the wall. Once it's dry enough, I braid it and put it up. It stays up for the next several days. I pick up the hair, which has fallen to the floor of the tub because I ran the fan to dry the clothes, and add it to the rat. I take my hair down, get in the shower, and start the cycle again. A little hair tries to go down the drain, but it takes several weeks to accumulate enough to clog; almost all the shed hair ends up in the rat. And yes, I keep it up while sleeping.

[emelnd]

This thread makes me remember that Seinfeld episode where he makes the joke about hair. You fondle hair, you smell and kiss the hair... But should one strand fall out and make its way into soup, "ew, its gross"... Lol

[Dragon Faery]

I shed a lot, too. I haven't solved it completely, but the things I do that help are:

1. I pay attention when I fingercomb (I don't brush due to frizz). I try to do it in the bathroom, and the hairs which lace themselves around my fingers as they fall out get put in the sink. I tend to comb with one hand and run the other behind it, along the outside of the hair to pick up any sheds I missed with the first hand. (I don't know if that makes sense, but I'm not sure how else to describe it.) When I'm done, I gather all the hair up out of the sink (usually I use a damp piece of toilet paper or paper towel for this) and throw it away.

If I'm not in the bathroom, I'll spread a few tissues or paper towels over my lap before I fingercomb. All sheds go here, and that makes it easier to gather them up and throw them away later.

2. Whenever I'm done combing, I check the floor for any sheds I missed. There are usually a lot (but mostly not mine, since DH has long hair and doesn't really care about shedding). I swipe these up with my hand (if it's on the carpet) or a handy-dandy toilet paper (if it's in the bathroom).

3. I pay attention throughout the day. If I notice a shed, or notice hair on the floor, I pick it up right away and throw it away. If I can't throw it away at that moment, I'll tangle it into a little knot and put it in my pocket to throw away later.

4. When I'm washing my hair I fingercomb thoroughly, which seems to help the rest of the day. The more I lose in the shower, the less I seem to lose throughout the rest of the day, though there are always a few. (The hair gets stuck to the side of the shower, not washed down the drain.) ;)

5. I go on "missions" to search out as many hairs on the carpet as I can find, swiping them up into a ball and throwing them away.

There are still a lot that I miss, but these things help me some. I hope you find something that works for you!

[Delila]

I use a broom to sweep the hair out of the rug before vacuuming.

It really does help.

[mathnerd]

I've been having a problem with this as of late as well. I usually only brush/detangle in the bathroom, but the hairs still seem to migrate to other rooms of our apartment. Today my bf found a group of them on the back of his shirt (he was wearing it at the time, lol), and he even found some in the stopper of the pot in our coffee pot....I really have no idea how that one happened, since I haven't been the one to make coffee in days. If it wasn't cold here 80% of the time, I would start brushing outside, but that isn't much of an option for me.

[archel]

OMG. I so feel ya. My hair winds up in wads in the dryer from getting matted together in the washing and drying cycles, so I guess it is all over my clothes. It gets in the beaters for the vacuum. It's all over the shower, it's making it's way into my BFs house, and it's even in my car!

What's worse is I have 2 cats. Welcome to Hairville

[agoddess2die4]

I comb my hair in the shower, putting the hair on the wall. Once it's dry enough, I braid it and put it up. It stays up for the next several days. I pick up the hair, which has fallen to the floor of the tub because I ran the fan to dry the clothes, and add it to the rat. I take my hair down, get in the shower, and start the cycle again. A little hair tries to go down the drain, but it takes several weeks to accumulate enough to clog; almost all the shed hair ends up in the rat. And yes, I keep it up while sleeping.

Ha ha. I put my loose hairs on the wall too so it doesn't go down the drain. I finger comb while washing and conditioning so I can catch as much as possible. Pulled a horrible clog of hair out of the drain a week ago though. Nasty.

I don't have any great suggestions for shedding. I don't seem to have too much of a problem, and I don't really brush often. Sometimes only before I shower so I detangle before washing, and that's maybe twice a week. Maybe my wave tangles trap all the loose hair? I know that since I cut back on brushing, the amount of hair I lose in the shower has increased exponentially. I also usually keep my hair up in a messy bun so that probably helps a lot.

My poor boyfriend always seems to find my rare stray hairs though. Possibly TMI: They get all wrapped up around his nether regions. :D

[Chromis]

I comb outside when possible. If I can't do so, I put the trashcan on top of the toilet seat and comb while standing right over it. I used to comb into the sink and then scoop the hair out (super easy as long as the sink is bone dry) and that worked even better until my hair got too long for that. After I comb, I sweep my hand along the floor to catch the missed hairs.

I wear my hair up most of the time and braid it for sleeping. I have less damage this way and fewer sleepy hair strangulations! Gets in the way less in bed in general when braided, so this is win-win.

I disagree with combing frequently. I have much less hair around if I comb once and then put it up.

Also a damp mop or sponge is great for getting hair off of surfaces. We also have mostly wood and some vinyl flooring which is much easier to pick up any clumps of hair hiding under things and in dark corners.

[<3OnHerSleeve]

My hair used to shred terribly, and I mean REALLY badly. Taking MSM supplement tablets has stopped most of the shedding, plus brushing out the hairs which will inevitably come out and putting hair up helps a great deal too.

[jasper]

I find that brushing/combing/finger combing my hair outside really helps. I've been brushing inside since the mosquitoes came out for the summer and there is hair EVERYWHERE and there hadn't been before. When my mother comes to visit me, she brushes her long hair out on the porch too.

As for clogged drains, we have a little screen that fits over the drain and catches most of the hair and is really easy to clean. Ask at any hardware store. We got ours at ACE.

I was going to suggest this: brush, comb or whatever you do to detangle outside.
And doing the brushing/combing/detangling in right advance of showering should cut down on the number of shed hairs headed for the shower drain.

[Venefica]

Problem is, my hair is everywhere! I keep it up and it STILL ends up in my MIL's spinach salad, stuck to my baby's clip-on pacifier, and all over the floors everywhere. It clogs the roomba, (so I don't use it much anymore) and the drain.

Get used to it. Here in the house there are long, black hairs everywhere. My mother even found a long black hair on her dog the other day and it is a month since I last visited her, it drives my robots (I collect robots.) crazy as the hair get into their engines and gears and they stop working properly until I go to work with pliers to get the hair out. If you have long hair you will get it everywhere, it will end up in your food, in the door and be a bother while it is attached to your head, and once you shed it, still it will end up everywhere. :P

[EdG]

Get your DH to grow his hair too. Then, he won't complain about your hair being everywhere. ;)
Ed

[Yame]

My hair is everywhere too, and just recently our vacuum cleaner broke because of it.

I am seeing if castor oil will help reduce the shedding, and if not I will see a dermatologist. Aside from that, I've been trying to just brush on the bathroom sink and then clean it up (I have no option of brushing outside). I can't say I've been doing that all the time, but I try to force myself to do it by keeping all my brushes in the bathroom ;)

This should help, along with the fact that I now wear my hair up 4 or 5 out of 7 days of the week.

[Rusticular]

I can't say I've ever really had that much of a problem. The only place it ever seems to turn up is in my underwear every now and then(and how in the world does it get there?!). Otherwise, it just kind of blends into the carpet.. I never have my hair up, bar for work, even when cooking.

Speaking of clogged drains, I should probably deal with that right now..

[Carolingian]

My poor boyfriend always seems to find my rare stray hairs though. Possibly TMI: They get all wrapped up around his nether regions. :D


Last year there was a day my baby was just CRANKY. Next day I gave her a bath and noticed a hair wrapped around two little toes. It had actually cut through her skin - I needed tweezers to ensure I got it all out.

Thanks for the hints, people!

[Lostsoule77]

We have the same problem here and it's a matter of normal shedding and long hair. I brush or comb my hair in only one room of the house. Lately I've been finger combing in the bathroom. I just take all the hair wrapped around my fingers and put it in the trash. When I'm done I sweep the hair on the floor together and discard it. I also finger comb in the shower and collect it on the wall. We do have a screen on the drain as well. Once I'm done in the shower I just scoop up all the hair off the drain and wall. Even with all this we have to use drain cleaner a couple times a year.

We mostly have hard wood or tile flooring in our apt. For the area rugs my DH tends to sweep the hair (mine & our 3 cats) with his hand before vacuuming. That and vacuuming daily. It still gets caught on the brushes, but he cuts it off before it can do damage.

Even with all this my hair ends up in the laundry & all. My DH even finds it in the filter of our reef tank! Shed hair everywhere is a fact of life with long hair. You just do your best to minimize it. :)

[MinderMutsig]

Last year there was a day my baby was just CRANKY. Next day I gave her a bath and noticed a hair wrapped around two little toes. It had actually cut through her skin - I needed tweezers to ensure I got it all out.

Thanks for the hints, people!
I heared a similar story from someone else except it was a baby boy, the strangled body part was in his diaper and in this story it turned blue and required a doctors visit to make sure there wasn't permanent damage. That poor kid.:(

[FrozenBritannia]

Have you tried a different shampoo/conditioner (if you use those?) I find as soon as I use anything with sulphates in I shed like crazy (and have a freak out, I swear I've never babied my hair so much as the last year)

[Carolingian]

Have you tried a different shampoo/conditioner (if you use those?) I find as soon as I use anything with sulphates in I shed like crazy (and have a freak out, I swear I've never babied my hair so much as the last year)


I"m pretty good with sticking to my Suave Naturals. I stock up like crazy when it's on sale - four bottles of conditioner to one bottle of shampoo.

I was doing scalp washes until I started using henna earlier this summer... I found the henna provided such an improvement re: hair texture and tangling that I didn't HAVE to scalp wash 2/3 of the time to avoid damage. I guess I could start that up again.

[Alex Lou]

I only buy vacuums that don't have the rollers in them, then I use a brush, like those used for scrubbing floors, to get the hair up off carpets. But if you have wall-to-wall carpet that would be a bit much.

I run my fingers through my hair when I have conditioner in it in the shower and that's when I do most of my shedding. Most of it stays wrapped around my fingers instead of going down the drain. I grab the balls of hair off my fingers and stick it on the wall. I usually wait till it dries before I throw it away because that's when it comes off the wall best without leaving any stragglers.

Plus brushing several times a day helps. I actually used to get mad at my husband (who has collar-bone length hair) because he wouldn't brush his hair before bed and he would shed in bed.

[teal]

Get your DH to grow his hair too. Then, he won't complain about your hair being everywhere. ;)
Ed

I like this idea best! :D

[FrozenBritannia]

I"m pretty good with sticking to my Suave Naturals. I stock up like crazy when it's on sale - four bottles of conditioner to one bottle of shampoo.

I was doing scalp washes until I started using henna earlier this summer... I found the henna provided such an improvement re: hair texture and tangling that I didn't HAVE to scalp wash 2/3 of the time to avoid damage. I guess I could start that up again.

Worth a try, and sometimes the scalp/hair gets used to the product and it stops working the same way, so maybe a clarifying treatment too? (I'm still learning about those so I could be wrong)

[BlazingHeart]

For people who have bathtub drains that don't allow for typical strainers, you might try what we have to do when we wash my service dog - we pop one of these http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=205672278&sellerid=21200627 on upside-down so it sticks up like a dome. It's imperfect but it catches a LOT of hair - I'd say we catch 90&#37; of the hair he sheds while being bathed.

My hair ends up everywhere, but the dog's hair is much worse than mine. Fortunately, both my fiance and our roommate are okay with it, and my aide vacuums a lot with our Dyson.

~Blaze