Hair Washing Trouble

How old is she? Maybe she is not using enough shampoo for her long hair and not working it in long enough before rinsing. We used to use pantene leave in conditioner.

If she swims in a highly chlorinated pool, you need to buy a swim and sun shampoo. Suave makes a nice kids inexpensive one. It is the ONLY shampoo that gets the chemicals out. Neutrogena also makes one that takes out the "build-up" but no idea how old she is or if it is appropriate.

Clean her hair with Nutrogena clean rinse (lather and rinse clean twice) then lightly condition her hair. Then get a good two in one shampoo - L'Oreal Kids Shampoo in the fish shaped bottle is fun and smells and works great if they still make it. Have her use that when she does her own hair. I suspect her problem is that she does not rinse the shampoo thoroughly enough to get it completely out of her hair, and when you put conditioner on hair that still has soap in it you just get glue. ( Kids tend to use WAY too much shampoo and fail to suds it up enough.) The chemicals in the two products react badly. A good two in one product without a lot of extras eliminates the problem. My two girls both had long thick heads of hair and we had this problem transitioning from Mom the hairdresser to do-it-yourself hair care.

Another tip - kids are short! The distance from the shower head to your daughter's head may prove problematic for her. Installing a hand-held shower head (easy and inexpensive to do) that she can hold at head level and really get a good rinse would probably be a big help. It will also make it possible for her to bend, flip her hair forward and rinse from underneath - a good method for making sure you get all the soap out.

Redken makes a "Clarifying Shampoo" that is wonderful. You can purchase it at Ulta.

Is she using product in her hair (other than shampoo)? How about conditioner. If she does use conditioner, have her put it in the ends only...not up near the roots, she only needs a nickel size drop of it. Poor kid.

You know, when I was younger I used Biolage (it was for normal to oily hair) and I loved it. You may want to spend a little more money to help her for a while. Or, go to a good salon and have them diagnose what she needs. Best of luck! It is rough being a girl isn't it?

I don't know how old she is, but try baby shampoo..........one bottle should take care of it...........and it's good for kids hair........other than that, just keep trying.........

I would tell her that you need to make sure her hair is rinsed before she gets out of the shower, or maybe she is putting in too much leave in conditioner....you can try doing that for her....or watch her to see if she is over doing it..........

If all else fails, tell her if she is causing it by not doing what she should be doing, that she may have to get her hair cut..........not that you would, but if she thinks she might have too, that might make her make sure she rinses her hair better..........

I have long hair too and it's hard sometimes, but she's young.....she can do it.

Good Luck and take care.

I would try Selsun Blue shampoo with moisturizer a couple times a week and a leave-in-conditioner.

I have really long, thick, and curly hair and I have this problem too. It takes me about 5 minutes of straight rinsing to get soap out of my hair! One trick I learned was to get a wide tooth comb (a big one... think pick, but a comb. lol) and brush through my hair while rinsing out conditioner. (make sure she does it carefully if you decide to try this, or it will cause breakage...) I do this about every other shower, and just finger-comb it otherwise.

She is prob not getting all of the shampoo out.
I know you said she doesn't want your help but you need to inist that until she can get it all out herself you have to check her hair before she gets out of the shower.

I think you might have to wash/rinse her hair for her under the sink after her showers. Try taking her to the salon, She might feel that it is fun and they will wash her hair out and get that gunk out.

Aveda Detox Shampoo is great! Maybe the leave in conditioner is too heavy for her hair type!

I have been having this problem with my oldest son, he kept insisting that he WAS washing his hair but it always looked dirty. I explained to him that he needs to really make sure he is massaging the shampoo in all over his head, and then rinse rinse rinse and rinse some more! He finally 'got it' and his hair looks much better :)

Sorry if this sounds preachy, but I'm just wondering...why is she 'getting to the age where she needs to shower daily'? Showering (and especially washing hair) daily can actually cause one to produce more oils to compensate for those that are washed away, creating a vicious cycle. If your underarms are stinky, it's not necessary to wash the whole body-just the underarms. If she has recently been washing her hair more often, this could be the cause of her hair appearing dirtier. Showering daily dries the skin and hair (increasing oil production), showering every 2-3 days and washing hair 2-3 times per week is actually healthier. BUT if a person has been showering and washing their hair daily for any amount of time and decides to switch to less regularity, they will experience a transitional period in which they feel more oily than usual while their ph re-balances.

Is she using a shampoo & conditioner PLUS the de-tangle spray/leave-in conditioner? I would only use either the conditioner OR the de-tangle spray/leave-in conditioner, that will make the hair over use of products and even with a good shampoo it will never all come off.

I find that switching shampoo ever 6 months helps get rid of build up of the previous shampoo. I like Tresemme (warmer months) and RedKen (colder months), switching between those two ever 6 months. make sure she is only using a little conditioner (pee size) because using more could make the hair look greasy/gunky.

A dry shampoo is to be used ONLY if not showering that day. I use it when not showering that day, or not showering till mid afternoon. It "drys" up the oil and it does freshen up the hair but it not ment to solve anything if wanting to use it daily.

Second vote for Neutrageona's clarifying shampoo. I use it 1x a week to get rinse of gunk of regular shampoo and styling.
Does the trick nicely.

I would try the Paul Mitchell Clarifying Shampoo. It will remove product buildup, chlorine buildup and well water build up too! A dry shampoo still leaves hair feeling a little gunky. As a cosmotologist, I sometimes use dry shampoo to add texture to fine or thin hair...so it probably would make the situation worse! As for conditioner... It does not need to be in her root area! Only apply it to the ends for tangle removal! Maybe tell her to only condition from the nape of her neck down, let it sit the three minutes and then rinse completly!

Christina W. mentioned using a comb in the shower - I've been using a firm-bristled brush in the shower for years now to both untangle my hair and help evenly distribute the conditioner after I rinse out the shampoo. My 7-year-old daughter recently began showering without my help, and at first she was having similar "hair issues" as you have described, but then I had her start using a brush in the shower as well, and her hair is doing much better now.

Neutrogena shampoo is good for cleaning build-up and also have your daughter comb our her hair while rinsing. I have a son who was having the same issue, and kids want their privacy when they take their showers and don't want you to help, but I used to stick my arm only, around the edge of the curtain and into the shower and just feel my son's hair to make sure it felt rinsed - I couldn't "see" him and he was okay with it. Not now, he's a tween, but he has finally perfected the rinsing! Good luck!

I believe if you swap shampoos every month it should stop the buildup. Also, make sure she rinses it out all the way. Suggest she wash once, rinse twice.

You don't mention her age, but why couldn't she just use a regular conditioner instead of something leave in or spray on? I would think this would help in preventing the build up by not creating it in the first place....

Whatever you do...dont use that dry spray from Tresemme....(its a new product of theirs) That stuff dries your hair out like no ones business!!!!!

Perhaps a trip to the salon for a good shampoo would work?

M :)

I think everyone else has had great suggestions. My suggest would be to go to Ulta or somewhere like that and buy a salon quality clarifying shampoo. A bottle should last quite a while since she really wouldn't need to use it every day, maybe just once or twice a week. And just make sure she's getting the shampoo really rinsed out.