Wax
is finding its way into more styling products today because of its ability to hold a style and add shine. Removing this wax can take a little extra effort to prevent build-up. Oops! Get candle wax in your hair? We’ve got a solution for that as well.
Removing Styling Wax
You Will Need:
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Warm water
Steps to Wash Out the Wax:
- Begin by wetting the hair completely with warm water.
- Apply a quality conditioner and work it in with your hands. The conditioner will work to remove the wax.
- Rinse off the conditioner and apply a quality shampoo.
- Work the shampoo in with your fingers.
- Rinse and repeat if necessary.
Removing Candle Wax from Hair
You Will Need:
- Paper towels
- Hair dryer
- Conditioner
- Comb
- Shampoo
Steps to Remove the Wax:
- If solid wax had gotten in your hair, it will need to be melted to be removed.
- Begin by wrapping the waxed section of the hair in paper towels.
- Use a hair dryer on high heat to heat the wax through the paper towel. As the wax melts, it will be absorbed by the paper towel.
- Remove the paper towel and replace with new, clean towels.
- Repeat until the wax is removed.
- If any wax remains, wet the hair with very warm water and apply a conditioner. The warm water will soften the wax, and the conditioner will lubricate the strands so it can be removed.
- Comb through the hair to remove the wax.
- Once removed, wash the hair with shampoo.
Additional Tips and Advice
- Some hair waxes, such as hair relaxers, will need to be removed professionally. Talk to your hairdresser for removal options.
- Some shampoos contain wax in them as well. Choose one that will remove the shampoo without adding more to your strands. Sunsilk is one brand that has been found to successfully remove wax for others.
- For regular build up, a clarifying shampoo should do the trick.
If styling wax is difficult to get out of your hair, get your hair thoroughly wet first with very warm water, then work in shampoo and let it set for a minute. Rinse and repeat. Shampooing twice should get it all out. If getting the wax out on a daily basis makes your hair dry out, you may need to do a hot oil treatment once or twice a week.
If the wax really won’t move, use olive oil. Work olive oil through the waxed hair as much as you can, really rub it in until you can run your fingers through it. Now you have oiled waxy hair, eww. Rinse the oil out with hot water, then wash through your hair with a little bit of Dawn dishwashing liquid (do NOT use automatic dishwashing liquid gel, it will burn you). You’ll probably need to use the Dawn twice to get all the oil and stuff out. Once your hair doesn’t feel greasy or waxy, take a shower and wash and condition your hair like normal. You’ll need to use the conditioner, because Dawn will really dry out your hair.
What kind of wax are you people using?!? You should just be able to shampoo it out, just like any other hair care product.
If you’re buying your hair stuff at the salon, don’t take it home unless the stylist can tell you exactly how to get it out. Some of the colored ones can also stain light-colored hair, so be sure to ask about that too.
You should just be able to scrape the wax off with your fingernail, but if your hair is curly or coarse, you can loosen the wax with a hair dryer on low and then remove it with a hot, wet washcloth. Shampoo when you’re done to get any wax remnants that are left.
My dog, only 15lbs., rolled into melted wax…I was making candles and my attention wasn’t on her until it was too late. ???? What can I do???? Help please?
Don’t even bother using wax. It wrecks your hair entirely.
My hair dresser would wash my hair once with a dish washing liquid like Dawn, etc. That really strips your hair of the oils and gets it really clean. Then he washes with a regular shampoo and conditioner. It really works. Hope this helps.
Can yous please help me.
I want to get out all the cream in my hair, I’ve not creamed it for a long time and it’s still stiff. What do I do?
(Nothing like using certain shampoos or putting a food powder in my hair.)
Thanks! 🙂
I used the Pureology Powerdressing – it’s a wax product and it’s stuck in my hair! I only used a little bit! Awwww.
Hey, someone once told me to try baking soda to remove the hair wax (I hope ya’ll are talking about the dry wax) or any hair-styling product build-up. I haven’t tried it… yet, but I might try the dish liquid instead.
I tired the dishwashing soap, but it did not work at all. I guess I’m going to try the baking soda, but I don’t know if the wax was dry or wet. So I hope nothing happens to my hair. 🙁
I tried everything, shampoo, washing up liquid, hair dryer, hot water, soap, olive oil and nothing is working. The only thing that got it off in the end was to shave it off! (Never using wax again – ahhhhhhh!)
This story is too embarrassing to tell, but I have BEESWAX ALL THROUGH my hair! As I’ve been browsing here, it seems like the best suggestions are: Dry Shampoo for dogs (above), baking soda, heating with a hair dryer first and working in clarifying shampoo really well before lathering with water. I’ve been hearing some suggestions of oil (olive or baby oil), but that sounds less promising. I’ll let y’all know what works!
I was desperate and REALLY searched…
There may have been more than one suggestion that might have worked—but one was all I needed and I’m SO thankful!!
Mine was a really bad situation, as a beeswax/mineral oil product was spread pretty heavily all through my long hair! What I tried that did NOT work was Dawn dish soap, clarifying facial wash I happened to have, tried apple cider vinegar on a strand, and Tide detergent with HOT water — none of these things did a thing. (No way to get water hot enough to melt the beeswax without burning your scalp – 146 degree melt temp I’ve now learned!).
A couple people suggested to ice it and then comb out — that seemed a HUGE project with as much as was all through my thick hair; didn’t try it. Someone mentioned peanut butter (or mineral oil or other oil base product) — that would’ve been my next try (though I wasn’t very optimistic). The “dry” solutions (baking soda, sand, dry shampoo) sounded possibly more promising (maybe because I hadn’t tried yet?—no way now to know if they would’ve worked).
Here’s the suggestion that worked!! Orange citrus cleaner/solvent in a soy oil base (a bee seller suggested I get it at a health food store.)
When I read the labels, I found one that said it was a solvent for wax (and other stuff) AND was gentle on skin — that sounded worth trying — and it worked!! It took a few “latherings,” but I could FEEL the dissolving wax as I poured it full strength profusely and rubbed it into my scalp and hair!! Smells good too (though I wasn’t careful and got some in my eyes, which really did irritate, but I seem to be recovering from the soreness (after 7 hours now). (The name is: Biokleen Soy Blends “Citrus Soy Solvent” clean/degrease/dissolve). My hair’s a little drier than usual, but really not bad considering what I’ve just put it through!
Finally, someone suggested a canadian tire product called “Goo Gone.” It’s a cheap little bottle with lemon scent for removing those stains and waxy, sticky substances.
I’ll bet that would have worked too—but maybe not as gently? (Also, someone said there was a beeswax remover solution, but it’s possibly not safe for the scalp).
Bless y’all! Val
Do you rinse? If you shampoo and don’t rinse with water, that would cause wax and other stuff from the shampoo to dry and harden on your hair. Giving the hair a hard wax build-up feel to it. I rinse every time I shampoo to avoid this situation. Also, I only use conditioners if I am going someplace special and need to look shiny; my skin is already too oily. But, for the most part, I avoid them too. (Remember to rinse the conditioners with water too; might give a buildup, but I’m not sure.) ~Bonne
Used Herbal Essences All That Shine- just supposed to be a kind of glaze, I’ve used one by Natural Instincts with no problems before, so I thought I’d try this one. Yeah, my hair was shiny, it was also piecing really badly like I hadn’t washed my hair in 2 days. Tried repeated washing, then tried washing with Neutrogena’s residue-removing shampoo (probably 5 times), then the one that finally worked: Soak dry hair in olive oil, then massage oiled hair with clarifying shampoo, no water- rinse. Wash again with clarifying shampoo. Then I used my Mario Badescue enzyme cleansing gel (probably 1/4 the bottle- money down the drain) & rinsed. Washed again with clarifying shampoo. Then washed with regular shampoo & conditioned. Hair is shiny, a little heavier than normal, but no longer WAXY!!! I’m never buying the cheaper brand again!
Not quite sure, but think it works because it is designed to cleanse oily skin? BIORE REVITALIZE 4-IN-1 SELF-FOAMING CLEANSER. 6.7 FL OZ PUMP BOTTLE.
One day, when using on skin in the shower, had the wild idea to try it on my hair. Noticed later that day that my hair felt soft and fluffy, with no waxy-buildup-feel. I like the way it smells too, like sweet green tea.
I don’t know about damages or such, but I like it. Have not noticed any side-effects, three months using as hair shampoo.
Sometimes, when I go out, I fix-up my hair. After shampoo, does not seem to affect styling.
After six washes, bi-carb soda, baking powder, dishwashing liquid & soap, I still couldn’t get the bee’s wax out of my hair. The company that made it suggested baby oil and a time consuming process that involved hot towels, but still this didn’t work! I ended up going to the hair dresser who had experienced this problem herself and the only solution she knew of was a bleach wash. After two bleach washes and two shampoos, finally my hair is free of bee’s wax! It came out an awesome color and is softer than ever before. My advice – STAY AWAY FROM BEE’S WAX! IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE WITHOUT VISITING THE HAIRDRESSER AND SPENDING MORE MONEY! Never again will I use wax! Good luck to all.
Paul Mitchell Shampoo 3 is what I use on all my guys that wax up their hair. I have one guy who uses a product called Fudge. I have to shampoo him three times at least!
For getting wax off the counter Tracie, try either laying a wax stip over the wax and hit it with a hairdryer to warm up the wax and yank the strip off… or buy “Wax off for surfaces” made by GiGi.
So I bought this product called Sportin’ Waves Pomade for my hair. I like to slick it back and from time to time I’ll pomp it. Normally I get Axe’s Clean Cut Pomade, but the store I was at didn’t have any so I settled… that’ll learn me.
Upon using said product, I could tell it wasn’t a pomade, it was a wax, and this infuriated me because I’ve used Beeswax before and I know that it doesn’t come out easily.
After three showers, shampooing eight times and using body soap three times, it felt like I just put that product in. So I tried most of the solutions here (save the natural products and salon stuff). Finally, after I couldn’t get any of them to work, I tried the olive oil trick and oddly enough, it worked. I’m happy, my hair is mostly normal again, and I’m boycotting anything made by that stupid company… pomade my butt!
I got a HUGE clump of wax in my hair, I lathered my hair up with shampoo and then used a fine tooth NIT comb. Eww! I combed through my hair, and it worked! Nothing else I tried worked. I used a very good brand of wax as well called “Sherbet” and I paid $40 for it! Grrr!
A while ago I chucked my toys about commercial shampoo and hair products (mostly the amount of SLS and other so called Organic ingredients present in tiny amounts). Anyway, I started using goats milk soap and Burt’s Bees conditioner. Your hair feels a bit icky for a couple of weeks (3-4 washes with the goats milk soap) while the residue from shampoo is being removed, but after that the condition of my hair went from being dry and brittle to soft and in great condition. I also made a hair product out of shea butter, beeswax, cranberry oil and jojoba oil and the goats milk soap has no problem removing that at all. Give the goats milk soap a try – persist with it for a few weeks, using a good conditioner (I love the Burt’s Bees stuff), give your hair time to adjust – you’ll love it!!
Try using azulene oil. Then shampoo and shampoo. That will get rid of the waxy feel of the wax in the hair, it will make the hair soft again.
I’ve spent the entire day trying to get wax out of my hair that I put in 3 days ago. Each morning I have washed it at least 5 times over. On the third day, I used washing-up liquid. Still no joy! Having become desperate, I looked to the net for advice thinking that I must be the only idiot to put so much ‘GUNK’ in my hair, but no, I was relived to know I’m not alone in my quest to find a solution to the problem generated by my own vanity.
I started by testing different solutions that have been recommended on this forum and some that were not. Vinegar, baking powder, olive oil, white spirit. I tested each on a sample of the wax product I’d used and found that the vinegar sat on top of the wax, the baking powder seemed to absorb the wax, the olive oil emulsified the wax and the white spirit seemed to dissipate the wax. However, when I tested this on some wool fabric I found that the best result came from the vinegar mixed with shampoo. Eureka, I thought, and so mixed up a 50:50 solution of vinegar and shampoo and duly washed my hair approx. 5 times over. Although I could still feel some residue in my hair, I was hopeful and went to dry it with a hair dryer. To my horror, I found I had made the problem worse. The wax seemed to glue even more hairs together and it looked like I hadn’t washed in weeks… back to the kitchen.
This time drastic measures were to be taken and I cut a chunk of waxy tresses out of my hair to experiment with to be sure of a more accurate result. I really did not want to resort to putting white spirit in my hair and so thought I would have a crack at the baking powder and tried it on my sample. It seemed to have the kind of effect as that of dry shampoo and remembering that another commenter had mentioned that their dogs’ dry shampoo had had a positive effect, I thought I’d try the baking powder. Initially I put liberal amounts into my dry hair working it through with my fingers and this certainly separated the sticky strands and made it feel almost normal. I then rinsed it through with water, towel dried it and then put in more baking powder on the damp hair. It seemed like a good idea at the time and probably did the trick, but I was not prepared for it reacting with the moisture in my hair and so when it started to burn my scalp and irritate the inside of my nostrils and throat, it was time to rinse it out. A thorough shampoo later and the wax was at last out, leaving me with the cleanest hair I’ve ever had and a slightly stingy scalp.
My recommendation for removal of wax from hair is simply JUST DON’T put it in in the first place unless it says in big letters that it is water soluble.
Straight vinegar. Tried almost all the other suggestions but nothing worked. It cleans my windows of grease, so why not my hair. Was so frustrated. Will let you know if all my hair falls out
More than likely what you used was a sugar wax. Some baby oil on a cotton swab should take that right off.
Someone attempted to give me dreads and they failed BIG time. After hours of grueling pain from my hair being pulled and shredded, I was left with waxy hair strands, NOT dreads.
So with the dreads a failure, I had to figure out how to get the globs of wax out of my tangled hair. I tried to blow dry and wipe off what I could with a paper towel. Lots of time wasted, little success. I read about someone using orange degreaser cleaner when all else failed so I decided to try this also. Again, no success. My dear and wise grandma suggested that I use liquid Tide detergent. I had no idea where she got that idea, but I figured I had nothing to lose (other than wax). 🙂
Well I hung my head over the tub and wet my hair under the faucet and poured about a 1/4 cup of Tide into my hair. I massaged it VERY thoroughly, then added shampoo. I later learned it was easier to rinse the Tide out of my hair BEFORE adding shampoo. When you are using the Tide, try to work the tangle out of the wax slowly. After just a couple of minutes you will notice a difference.
When you use the shampoo, massage thoroughly again. Ahhh, another important step: CONDITIONER. Massage thoroughly for at least two minutes after you rinse out the shampoo. Repeat these steps until your hair is noticeably WAX FREE and there are only a couple of tangles. Any kids detangler spray should do. When brushing my hair, I used a fine-tooth wire comb to get out the little raining wax. Comb slowly and gently. Be PATIENT!!! When I was finished, I noticed a slight waxy feeling in my hair. I took a shower later that night and now the waxy feeling is GONE. So are the knots of hair, thank God. The wax I had in my hair was from a kit for making dread locks. Pretty serious stuff. I ended up using about 1 1/2 caps of detergent, but my hair is 5-6 inches long. Longer hair may require more detergent. Good luck. Oh, one more thing. I called a salon and they told me to use nail polish remover. I tried it on one section of my hair and it works very well, but the smell is VERY strong. If you use fingernail polish remover, be sure not to get it in your eyes and open a nearby window. I was going to try putting some in a clean spray bottle to help cut back on the strength of the smell.
Dear all, I had all the nasty hair products on my hair last Saturday due to a performance: a lot of hair wax, spray and glittering glue!!! So you could see it was a pure nightmare! I thought I could get rid of all of them by washing my hair with hair shampoo, but after five times of washing and cleaning, my effort went astray. My hair still stayed waxy and yucky after five days of washing. So, I googled the solution online and tried all the recommended solutions to get rid of this nightmare. I purchased everything recommended and decided to try the following things in just one day (my housemate was watching me with wide eyes when I piled all these things in the bathroom):
1) Shampooing (Pantene, for dry hair type) my hair up to five times in one go, followed by conditioner. Blow dried my hair. Results: Wax stuck to my hair even stronger after conditioner, my best guess was the ingredient in Pantene called Pro-V, which help to strengthen the hair while maintaining the hair moisture.
2) Soaked my hair in olive oil for 10 minutes, followed by shampoo. Blow dried my hair. Results: No effect and my hair get even greasier.
3) Three times used Morning Fresh concentrated dish washing liquid with baking soda (some recommended Dawn detergent, but I couldn’t find the product in Safeway). Blow dried my hair. Results: My hair was getting less greasier/waxy, but the waxy feeling was exactly the same as before I tried the Pantene shampoo and olive oil. At this stage, I was so scared that if I couldn’t remove all the wax, I would be left with no choice but to call in sick tomorrow.
4) Finally, halfheartedly, I tried my Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash. I could feel the difference after first time of washing my hair. Checked the information at the back of the bottle and it said the acne wash could remove dirt, OIL, bacteria and unclog the pores. Excitement kicked in and I washed my hair with it for another two times. Voila, the wax was G-O-N-E!!!! At this stage, my hair was completely clean and very, very soft (Sorry for the bad grammar, but this was exactly how it felt). As I was scared my hair would be very dry the next morning with all the detergents poured onto my scalp, I use a very tiny amount of Herbal Essences conditioner on the lower half of my hair (Drama Clean, green colored bottle), put it on for less than a minute and washed it off. Blow dried my hair. Results: I could feel the immediate result and satisfaction while blow drying my hair.
Seriously, what you heard from me now only happened a few minutes ago and I was so excited that I couldn’t wait a minute longer to share my successful story with you all.
I guarantee it will work for you!!!! Neutrogena Acne Wash Rocks!!!
Cheers
OK, I had rather foolishly put half a tub of wax on my head to make it stand up for a dare. When I tried to wash it out, it just wouldn’t. So I looked on the internet and I found a good suggestion of washing up liquid. I tried that and it helped reduce the wax after the third go, but it still had not gone so I tried another idea of olive oil. I wasn’t looking forward to putting that in my hair, but it WORKED.
Tip for use:
-Massage into hair.
-Use a comb and run it through (a lot).
-Leave in for 2 minutes.
-Wash out with shampoo.
-Rewash.
-Condition. (Leave in for 5 min.)
-Wash out.
This should work, but if not, redo from olive oil onward.
Yes. If you have an inventive child, this may come in handy. The wax covering on those miniature cheese rounds is an ideal styling tool for young future special effects make-up artists. Unfortunately, it causes a great deal of concern among passersby at the grocery store when your young one parades around with an apparent bullet wound to the head!
Soak a wash cloth with water and heat it in the microwave for a minute. Cool it to a point where it is comfortably warm and hold it to the wax until it becomes more pliable. Add a little olive oil. Then, use a thick comb to reach down to the scalp and pull off the big chunks, followed by a rat-tail comb to get the rest of the goo still clinging. Wash the hair with Dawn and follow with conditioner.
Make sure that this process is lengthy and takes up all video game and TV time! It’s not likely to reoccur.
I went to get my hair cut, and without my knowing, the stylist sprayed wax into my hair. Despite having washed it five times, I could not get the product out before going to bed. In the morning, I discovered a foolproof way to remove it. I mixed dish liquid with baking soda and washed my hair two times. Most of the wax had come out of my hair, but there was still some residue that weighed it down. My mother told me to use vinegar to wash the excess residue out. I poured about a cup of white vinegar on my head and waited 20 minutes. I rinsed this out and shampooed and conditioned my hair as usual. Now my hair is as clean as a whistle and as light as a feather. Your hair will be a little dry afterward, but it will return to normal once your scalp starts to produce more oils during your daily washings. This cannot fail, I assure you! You have nothing to lose.
Wow, found myself in that circumstance and looked up everyone’s advice. Tried peanut butter — the kind that’s natural with oil on top. Stir in the oil, loosely, and then massage lots of the peanut butter into your hair. Then rinse with fairly hot water. Do it twice if needed. Then shampoo after it seems the wax is out. WORKS!
I use beeswax in my hair also and more then once, so I have enjoyed reading your comments, from what I have read, everybody is on the right track, but with only one thing missing in your process and that is a hand towel. When I use a lot of wax, I first get out my hair dryer and while heating up the wax, use my hand towel to soak up the hot wax. When ready to shampoo, same thing – use a towel or bath mitt to wipe out the product. I found these methods work very well, because our hands alone don’t give enough traction to help get out the wax and a towel does. If you have some one hold the hair dryer while you towel out the hot wax with a bigger towel, the process will be faster. If you have a shower or not, you can stand over your tub to shampoo – use lots of bubbles and a big towel or two small ones, when finished, well, you know best what your hair will need. I hope this helps and best wishes.
I recently used Paul Mitchell’s FirmStyle Dry Wax.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE.
It took me 3-4 DAYS to try and find a way to get it out, I finally did get it out with DAWN.
What I Did:
1. Rinsed Hair with HOT water in shower.
2. Washed Hair out with Dawn Ultra Concentrated ( original Scent ).
3. Got out ( left shower running ).
4. Dried Hair.
5. Put Dawn Ultra Concentrated soap into my hair and lathered it through. ( dry Hair ).
6. Got back in shower and rinsed it out.
That is all I did to get Paul Mitchell’s FirmStyle Dry Wax out of my hair. Of course after that I used regular Hair Soap and some Conditioner
I would not recommend Paul Mitchell firm style dry wax to anyone!! I have read all remedies— shampooed several times & contemplating wasting several more hours to try to get this “mess of a product” – which has no label warning — out of my hair!!!! ????
Just mix detergent and baking soda; worked like a treat!
Deep condition for one hour.
Wash out with very hot water (as hot you can handle).
Shampoo twice.
Repeat as needed, but you should not have to.
I put lots of wax in my hair and then tried to get it out with water and shampoo about three times; when that didn’t work, I used washing up liquid. This started to get the clumps of wax out. I then used my fingernails to get the rest out, pulling from the roots all the way down to the tips. Then, I got a really fine comb and combed from my roots downwards to the tips again. Then, I washed the washing up liquid out and shampooed it and conditioned it because washing up liquid makes your hair really dry. Then, dry as normal and if you have the spray-in shampoo or talcum powder, use that and massage it into your head and brush through. It will take about 2-4 days to get it out and back to normal, but there we go. :/ :L
Never thought about it until I saw it in organic/natural shops. We used “EnviroClean Fruit & Veg Wash” made to remove chemicals, soiling, waxes, dust and pesticides on the outer skin of fruit and vegetables. It sounds very safe to use on hair/scalp and worked without effort!
If you are using Dax, then it will take ages to get it out. First, you will need to buy any shampoo and conditioner, then wet your hair with hot water and put the shampoo in; you will need to run it all in and leave it for a minute, then wash it out. Repeat a few times every night for about a week, but don’t put more in because it will damage your hair after a while and it will pull it, which is painful.
I am an 18-year-old female that was having the waxy hair crown problem.
This problem just arose for me about a week and a half ago. I had no idea why my hair felt to waxy and why everything I had tried was not fixing it. I kept thinking I was over conditioning so I stopped using conditioner as I washed my hair every night. As I’d wake up in the morning, I still had the waxy problem so then I tired blow drying my hair every time after I got out the shower, yet the problem was still there. It wasn’t until today that I started to Google this problem only to find that no one had a solution. My boyfriend explained to me that every time he had dandruff, he would wash his hair with APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, which he called “A miracle in a bottle!” He suggested that I try using it and so I did. The waxy junk came out with such ease. All you need to do it buy one bottle and massage it all throughout your DRY hair. LET IT SIT FOR 10 MINUTES BEFORE WASHING! After doing that, take your shampoo of choice and wash the vinegar out of your hair and then wash it one more time with your shampoo of choice. I used Head & Shoulders. I hope that this works for anyone who tires it because it really did work for me. The only down-side to using apple cider vinegar is that it does stink, but with just a few washes your hair will eventually lose the smell! ENJOY! & GOOD LUCK!
Just mix some baking soda and water together into a paste and use it to clean your hair and scalp. It will take the wax out without drying out your hair.
What really worked for me was Palmolive Ultra. I just gave my hair a good lather with the liquid soap and let it soak for a few minutes, then I rinsed it off with warm water. Viola! Problem solved.
I had my face waxed today and the esthetician dropped a glob in my hair. I found no solutions on the web, but my theater-education major daughter suggested Goo Gone. Got the job done easily.
Use washing powder, then shampoo; it works.
You NEVER USE CLOTHES WASHING POWDER OR LIQUID ON YOUR SCALP, HAIR NOR SKIN.
Hairdresser had used a good brand of spray wax. I used conditioner before shampoo. It worked a treat. Thank you for tip to remove spray wax from hair.
It finally got out; it will get out if you use a deep conditioner. I user Garnier or Aussie.
Hi! I chemically straightened my hair and washed my hair the next day. After washing, my hair became sticky, tangled and clumped together…but after it dried, my hair became normal and soft again!!! What happened to my hair?!? My mom told me that it’s the wax problem…Is that true?? Or is my hair damaged already!? I have just chemically straighten my hair for the first time! Please help and tell me what should I do! Don’t tell me that my hair is damaged please; I will cry!!!! :'( BTW, the day before yesterday, my mom helped me with a hair mask and my hair was better, but still had that sticky and tangled thing; what is the problem? Wax or hair damage?
I too found myself in the predicament of trying to figure out how to get the waxy residue out of my long hair after it mysteriously appeared after using Clairol Nice n’ Easy color conditioner. I had used this before and never had a problem so, like so many others, I figured I hadn’t rinsed it completely out of my hair. Seven shampoos later (including regular, clarifying, weave-glue removing, etc.) and the waxiness had just moved from my crown to the back of my head. I tried the olive oil treatment, as well as the Dawn dishwashing detergent and nothing helped. I then decided that it wasn’t a waxy buildup – which all the grease cutters should have been able to remove, but rather I had to approach it was true WAX.
That started another round of GTS’ing (Google That Sh**). I found a bunch of discussions that talked about NOT using water, which makes perfect sense since the water will just run off the wax or create a barrier to whatever product you are using. Then I found Val’s entry above (July 2009) and I felt the end was in sight. The only problem was I couldn’t get the Biokleen Citrus Soy Solvent anywhere in my neck of the woods and I didn’t want to wait for an online order to arrive. So I went to Whole Foods and looked for a similar product. I found CitraSolv instead. It does not have the soy oil base, but rather an orange peel oil base. It does have a caution on the front that it is an eye and skin irritant, but on the back states that prolonged and repeated contact with skin should be avoided. I figure a short exposure might be ok and I was desperate, so I decided that I would chance it. IT WORKED!!!
I put the CitraSolv in an applicator bottle and put it on my dry hair. I thoroughly combed it through, massaged it a little and let it sit for about 5 minutes (10 total). I then rinsed it out very well (another 10 minutes) and did NOT shampoo or condition. I just finished blow drying my hair (on warm not hot and no products at all for fear they might react with any residue left behind) and aside from being a bit dry, my hair seems to be wax free and ok. I’m ecstatic. I’m not sure I needed to leave it on for the extra 5 minutes and my scalp is burning a tiny bit, but not enough to bother me. I think it probably has a very low pH due to the orange peel oil and that is why it is an irritant. The BioKleen product is probably much gentler due to the soy base.
My plan now is to not do anything for a few days and let the natural oils replenish themselves because I’m sure they were all stripped out as well (hence the dryness). I really need to color my roots but I’m not going to until I’m positive everything is ok.
I hope this helps anyone else who finds themselves in this awful predicament.
First, you should use soap and then rinse your hair with warm water. After that, wash your hair with shampoo.
Wow! The conditioner worked when five shampoos didn’t! Thanks!
I put a coconut oil and probably candle effing wax-based product on my hair to give it a kind of deep conditioning treatment. I warmed it in the microwave and put it on my hair and covered with towel. Besides my poodle perm, this was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. Wow, I washed it 7 times, then that didn’t work at all – soaked in pure lemon juice and washed the lemon juice out with dishwashing liquid. NOTHING is working!!! I’m still stuck with this grease ball hair and I had to come to work today. I don’t know what to do. Next attempt I will go get some citrus-based stripper (if you get such a thing) at the pharmacy and comb that out with baby oil. I’m starting to think warm water is the enemy with removing any type of wax. I’m so annoyed with myself.
Good luck everybody; I didn’t even think I’d get a hit on Google with my dilemma, but apparently there are a few of us in the same boat LOL. Sitting at work with a head full of dry shampoo, now I look like a granny with this grey hair. =/
I put coconut oil in my hair, followed by dish washing detergent, and mixed it in well, lathering it and adding some more detergent. Washed it out, then used a good conditioner. Worked brilliantly!
Thanks to the following suggestion, my hair is now beeswax free!
“If the wax really won’t move, use olive oil. Work olive oil through the waxed hair as much as you can, really rub it in until you can run your fingers through it. Now you have oiled waxy hair, eww. Rinse the oil out with hot water, then wash through your hair with a little bit of Dawn dishwashing liquid (do NOT use automatic dishwashing liquid gel; it will burn you). You’ll probably need to use the Dawn twice to get all the oil and stuff out. Once your hair doesn’t feel greasy or waxy, take a shower and wash and condition your hair like normal. You’ll need to use the conditioner, because Dawn will really dry out your hair.”