Kayla Young
Thanks to its delightfully goopy texture and amazing ability to transform itself between a solid and a liquid, slime is one of the most popular toys amongst children ages 3 and up.
It’s colorful, gooey, mushy, and very sticky. Once slime gets into your hair though, merely taking a bath or shower is not going to do much to get slime out of hair.
So before you grab the scissors, read on to find out how to get slime out of hair with everyday household items you have around the house!
Contents
What is Slime Made Of?
Slime was first introduced by Mattel in 1976. At that time, it was made primarily of guar gum. Slime has recently seen a huge resurgence in the last decade, which has seen a lot of other manufacturers developing their version of slime.
And of course, the Pinterest DIY-set has caused many to make slime at home.
There are different recipes for slime, both store-bought and homemade.
The ingredients differ, but most recipes include at least two of the following ingredients
- Borax
- Liquid laundry detergent
- Contact solution
- White school glue
- Cornstarch
- Shaving cream
- Shampoo
- Glitter
- Food coloring
The problem with slime is that the ingredients that give it its fun, slimy squishiness are not water-soluble.
The Borax and baking soda make it hard to use traditional cleaners to remove, while the white glue makes it stick to everything.
How To Get Slime Out of Hair
The secret to removing slime from hair is breaking down the chemical composition of the sticky, non-water-soluble ingredients. The best way to do this is to use an oily product.
There are different household items you can use to remove slime from hair. Among the following methods, one might work better than another. This will depend on the kind of slime that is stuck in the hair.
Method #1: Hair Conditioner
Though you may be tempted to jump in the shower and try to shampoo it out, this method has you using conditioner first. Conditioner that’s been formulated for dry hair usually works best.
- Using as hot water as is comfortable without scalding, wet the hair. Hot water is the first step to breaking down the sticky ingredients.
2. Apply a generous amount of conditioner to the slime-affected areas and use your fingers to break up any slime. The oils in the conditioner will break down the slime.
3. Use a fine-tooth comb, starting at the end of the strand, combing down. Work your way upward, a little bit at a time. Periodically stop to remove the slime from the comb and rinse it, as you work your way to the top.
If you ever had long hair that was tangled, you know that if you start from the top and work your way down, you are just tightening your knots. It’s kind of the same premise for removing slime.
If you work from the top down, you’re just combing it into a clump that will be harder to remove.
Once you’ve removed the slime, shampoo the hair and rinse.
Now if you tried this and the hair is still sticky, we have a few more options to try.
Method #2: Mayonnaise or Peanut Butter
Don’t do both – try one or the other. Both peanut butter and mayonnaise are rich in oils that will break down the slime to make it easier to remove from the hair.
They are so effective in fact, that mayonnaise or peanut butter should be your go-to for chewing gum stuck in your hair.
For this method, apply a generous amount to the affected areas. By generous we mean a tablespoon or two, not the whole jar! Otherwise, you will be googling “how to get mayonnaise or peanut butter out of my hair”.
Like the conditioner method, apply, then try to break up the slime with your fingers and then use a fine-tooth comb, as above.
Once you’ve removed the slime, shampoo, and condition as you would normally.
Method #3: Oil
When it comes down to it, it’s the oil in the above ingredients that really breaks down the slime. Though conditioner, mayonnaise, and peanut butter may be easier and less messy to work with because they’re more solid than liquid, if you have particularly sticky slime, best go for the oil.
It doesn’t really matter what oil you use. Whether it’s olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oil, etc. they will all work equally well, so save the expensive stuff for cooking.
Work the oil, a teaspoon at a time, into the slimed areas to avoid dripping it everywhere. Use your fingers to break up the slime and then use the fine-tooth comb in the same way as above to remove.
Once you’re done, thoroughly shampoo.
Food colouring stains on lighter hair
Ok, you’ve removed the slime. But what if it happened to be neon pink or purple, and it left food coloring stains on lighter hair?
There are two ways you can deal with this:
1. Use a color stripping shampoo.
2. An anti-dandruff shampoo – also surprisingly works.
3. Rubbing alcohol and a paper towel.
Soak the paper towel in rubbing alcohol and wipe the hair from top to bottom to avoid tangling.
Take Away
Using an oil-based product will break down the slime’s stickiness to allow you to take it out, without having to resort to getting out the scissors. A color stripping or anti-dandruff shampoo, or rubbing alcohol should work to get any staining from food coloring.
