Vaseline is water soluble, and it can make your hair into a clump of locks, making it challenging to remove the wax buildup. Different ways to help get the Vaseline out of your hair include baking soda, corn starch, egg yolk, apple cider vinegar, baby oil, adhesive remover, and even dish soap. The best way is to blot the excess Vaseline out of the hair using blotting paper by carefully dabbing with it. Instead of regular shampoos, use a clarifying one coupled with warm water and repeat it. Repeat this process after a day, as shampooing more than twice at once can ruin your hair. No matter how greasy, don’t forget to use conditioner. When drying hair, dab hair with a towel and don’t rub it violently.
When it comes to using Vaseline on your skin or hair, it has numerous benefits in healing and repairing.
It makes it a popular item to use on hair for several hair treatments, such as repairing dry hair and helping hair grow.
Due to it being inexpensive, many people jump at the opportunity to use it in hair and massage it or apply it on the dry ends of the hair but face a problem when trying to remove it.
As easy as it is to use on hair, removing it can be tricky due to its nature.
Indeed tricky to remove but not impossible. The Vaseline in your hair can be removed by following a few rules and using some surprising household items. Let’s take a look!
Using Vaseline on hair
According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), petroleum jelly has multiple skincare uses.
It works as a protective barrier that coats the hair and protects it from breaking away by sealing the existing moisture. It also helps heal the dry hair and become moisturized over time.
It also has another great use for someone suffering from dry scalp or dandruff issues as it helps combat the dryness. For certain hair types, it also helps reduce frizz.
Using it as a night mask or even for a few hours can benefit some people, but the real struggle for first-time users is finding a way to remove it.
How to remove Vaseline from your hair
The property of petroleum jelly, which makes it so good for your hair, is also the one that could cause trouble when trying to remove it.
Vaseline has natural waxes and mineral oils, which help create a protective barrier on the hair, sealing existing moisture. These natural waxes and mineral oils are trickier to remove.
Using a normal shampoo and cold water will only seal in the Vaseline. The moment you use cool water is when your hair will turn into a greasy clump of oily hair.
1. Hot water and clarifying shampoo
When using hot water, it’s much better to remove Vaseline from the hair than in cold water. Hot water dissolves dirt, grime, product buildup, and any form of other scalp buildups.
Using water at a hotter temperature helps open up the scalp pores and enables the shampoo to get in there to unclog the follicles. It helps break down the greasy wax used in Vaseline.
A clarifying shampoo can help remove the petroleum jelly faster with hot water. Stronger shampoos advertised for oily hair would be much better in this situation as the vital ingredients of the shampoo can help break the waxes and natural oils of the Vaseline coating your hair.
It depends on how much product you’ve applied to the hair.
Shampooing your hair one time might do the trick, but if it doesn’t and you still feel your hair is greasy, repeat the process. Don’t shampoo more than twice at one time.
Even though you’re trying to remove the greasy product from your hair, applying a generous amount of conditioner is still necessary to prevent your hair from drying out. After a day, if you still feel Vaseline hasn’t come out, you can shampoo again.
Avoid using hair dryers or other styling tools and let your hair air-dry to prevent further hair damage.
2. Blotting paper
If you’ve got a thick layer of Vaseline applied to your hair, usually washing it won’t do the trick. Before trying to clean it, you’ve to use other means to get the excess out of your hair.
Blotting paper is one thing you can use to remove excess petroleum jelly, and these extract oil and sweat on the face when you’ve makeup on. But using it here would do the same trick.
You can even use a paper towel or tissue paper, but the blotting paper could be more helpful as it has extra-absorbent material, made to absorb excess oil at a time.
When using, try not to rub the paper but press it on a lock of hair at one time. You can ask someone to help you with this task, especially when removing it from the hair on the back.
3. Cornstarch or baking soda
Cornstarch or baking soda on hair are great kitchen tricks for removing Vaseline from your hair. People even use it to add thickness to their hair and make it gain more volume when applied to the scalp.
Corn starch sucks up the grease from the hair making it clean and fresh smelling. Just sprinkle some corn starch on a lock of hair, rub it in as much as possible, and then blot it with a paper towel.
It won’t altogether remove the Vaseline, but enough to make it easier to get the rest out by shampoo.
Baking soda works as an excellent cleanser for oily or greasy hair when mixed in water. Continuous use isn’t proper, for it might damage your hair over time, but it can work in your favor once in a while.
The paste shouldn’t be too thick or too watery. Gently massage it onto your hair, leave it for about 15-20 minutes, then rinse it and shampoo your hair.
4. Oiling your hair
Reading it won’t make any sense unless you try it. Even though it seems you’re making your hair greasier by applying more oil to it, removing wax means making it oilier.
Massaging oil will help break down the wax buildup of the Vaseline. When mixed with Vaseline, the oil will be much easier to remove from the hair by shampoo when washing hair.
You can use any oil you wish to use, such as baby oil, olive oil, or almond oil.
But heating oil for a few seconds and then using it makes it easier to break apart wax buildup of Vaseline and easier absorption.
5. Adhesive remover and dish soap
It would be best to keep these as a last resort to cleaning your hair with Vaseline. The removers are easily able to break down the oil in the petroleum.
Even the dish soap used to remove the oil stains from the dishes in seconds would easily remove Vaseline from hair. But the damage that follows can make you avoid using these.
Though using them once wouldn’t completely ruin your hair. But if there’re better options, try using them instead.
FAQs
Can vinegar remove Vaseline out of hair?
Vinegar is acidic, which can remove the greasiness and wax buildup of Vaseline from the hair. You can use it on your hair by mixing it with some water to make a solution.
If you have a spray bottle, mix some vinegar with warm water and spray on your hair until they’re absorbed with the mixture.
Just use a towel to dab the hair dry, which will help remove the excess Vaseline from the hair. Follow it with clarifying shampoo to get the remaining of it out of your air.
Can egg help remove Vaseline out of hair?
Using whisked egg mixture could help remove the buildup of Vaseline, but it can be a messy thing to deal with, not to mention the after smell that lingers.
It can help break apart the greasiness of Vaseline, but you’ve to be okay with the smell that stays. Leave it on for 15-20 minutes, then wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo afterward.
Does Vaseline dissolve in water?
Vaseline is water-soluble, so however much you try to get it out with plain water, it won’t disappear. It might move around and form in clumps but won’t dissolve or get off.
You’ve to use soap, clarifying shampoo, dish soap, or other kitchen tricks to help break down the wax buildup and remove Vaseline. With cold water, it becomes even worse compared to using warm water.
To summarise
Trying out Vaseline as a hair mask for your hair is an inexpensive way to help your hair nourish and maybe even help it grow. The real issue is to remove this wax buildup from your locks which becomes a clump as soon as water touches them.
It’s not so easy to get the Vaseline out of hair, and it becomes even more difficult if you’ve applied generous layers of it all over. But trying out any of the effective methods I’ve mentioned above can help you get rid of it soon enough.
Though you can use stuff like baby powder, egg yolk, or liquid dish soap, it’ll only create more difficulties for your hair by making it smelly or dry because of the weird things used.
Use blotting or paper towels to get the excess Vaseline out of your hair, and then use a clarifying shampoo with warm water to clean your hair. If nothing works, you can always visit a salon near you to get professional help.
