Static cling is one of the most common problems for hair during the dry winter months. It can be uncomfortable and outright embarrassing to boot. Who really wants to sport a weird Einstein hairdo the entire winter season?
Static can make your hair wild and uncontrollable. Any attempt to make your hair behave is usually just frustrating, making the whole situation even more irritating. The hair strands stick to your face, your neck even your clothing if it is long. If you try to tame your hair by hand, the charged strands will stick to your fingers.
Your hair becomes charged by static electricity due to friction and lack of moisture. An electric charge ends up making hair strands repel each other. In order for the charges to get as far away from each other as they can, your hair appear to stand on end, temporarily giving you that wild hairstyle.
Funny how grade-school science problems are still making life difficult! However, the solution also comes in the form of science. Keeping your hair well-hydrated and moisturized can effectively help you get rid of and prevent static cling in your hair.
Here are six easy home remedies to keep away that electrocuted hairstyle this winter.
Contents
Method 1: Using Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets, which are used to prevent static cling in laundered clothes, can also be used to remove the static cling in your hair. The dryer sheets contain positively charged ingredients that are released with the heat and tumbling motion (friction) in the dryer. This extra positive charge neutralizes the negative charge accumulated on the fabric surfaces, preventing static cling in clothing.
Similarly, you can use the dryer sheets to prevent static cling in your hair. It’s a great on-the-go solution. Just keep a few dryer sheets handy, at your house and in your purse when you go out.
Whenever you feel your hair charging up, give it a rub down with a dryer sheet. The friction will release the positively charged particles from the sheet and neutralize the charge in your hair, instantly taming it. In a pinch, you can even utilize dryer sheets that have gone through the wash to remove static cling from your hair.
To stop it from one source, you can keep your hairbrushes and combs wrapped up in dryer sheets to prevent static buildup in them. For convenience, you can try to insert a dryer sheet in your hairbrush before brushing your hair to prevent static cling.
Things you’ll need:
- Wooden hairbrush
- Dryer sheet
Cover a hairbrush with a dryer sheet and brush your hair
- Attach a dryer sheet to the base of your hairbrush, preferably wooden, by pushing the bristles through it.
- Push the dryer sheet down to the very bottom of the bristles.
- Brush your hair with the dryer-sheet-covered hairbrush.
This will nip any static buildup in the bud, and you won’t have to deal with flyaway strands from static cling in your hair.
Method 2: Using Moisturizer
The better you keep your hair moisturized, the less you’ll need to grapple with static cling. An easy way to do this is with a moisturizer. While you need to make up for the loss of moisture from harsh weather and indoor heating, you don’t want to end up with greasy hair. Needless to say that a little goes a long way when it comes to using moisturizer in your hair.
Things you’ll need:
- Moisturizer – 1 or 2 drops
- Water in a spray bottle – 1 ounce
Make a moisturizing spray
- Squirt a couple of drops of moisturizer into a small spray bottle containing 1 ounce of water.
- Close the bottle and shake well to dissolve the moisturizer completely into the water.
This thinned out moisturizer will make for a great moisturizing spray to combat the static cling in your hair.
When your parched hair starts getting charged up, mist the hair strands with this moisturizing spray. You can easily keep this portable spray with you in your handbag.
Method 3: Using Hair Spray
Using hairspray is another effective way to combat the static cling in your hair. The hairspray will make the hair stick together and prevent them from scattering everywhere with static. You should look for a good brand that suits your hair.
Be sure to choose an alcohol-free option, as the alcohol in hairspray can dry your hair out further, making the problem worse over time. If you’re not a fan of hair sprays, you can easily make this homemade version that gets the job done.
Things you’ll need:
- Vegetable glycerin – 1 teaspoon
- Rose water in a spray bottle – 1 ounce
Make homemade hairspray
- Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable glycerin to a small spray bottle containing 1 ounce of rose water.
- Close the bottle and shake well to diffuse the glycerin completely.
The glycerin in this homemade hairspray not only helps keep your hair in place but also acts as a humectant. The rose water will hydrate the hair and make it fragrant.
Apply the hairspray to keep it in place and prevent the strands from going haywire. Use a fine mist and don’t drench your hair. Apply moderately as you would any hairspray.
Method 4: Misting with Water
All you need to do to prevent static-induced frizz is keep your hair hydrated. So, why not deal with the problem at its root?
This is a one-ingredient solution that you can carry with you wherever you go. The extra electrical charge is neutralized, and cannot easily accumulate on wet hair. Spraying hair with a fine mist of water can prove to be a very efficient way to keep your hair free from static.
Things you’ll need:
- Water in a small spray bottle
Mist it into your hair
- Fill a small spray bottle with some water. Be sure that the nozzle of the spray bottle emits a fine spray.
- Mist your hair strands with a fine water spray.
You only need to coat them with a little water. So use the water sparingly, you don’t want to end up drenching your hair in frigid weather.
Doing this whenever you feel static cling in your hair should help immediately.
Method 5: Use a Wooden Comb or Hairbrush
Plastic is your worst enemy when it comes to static cling, in your clothes or your hair. Using a plastic comb or a plastic hairbrush can increase the static charge in your hair.
Whenever you use a plastic comb or hairbrush in dry weather, numerous flyaways erupt with every stroke of the comb or brush. That’s because plastic is a non-conductive insulator and increases the imbalance of charges in your hair, giving rise to untamable strands.
The solution to this problem is as easy as changing your hairbrush. You can switch to a wooden hairbrush to prevent static cling in your hair. For even better results, you can use it along with dryer sheets.
Choose a wooden hairbrush with natural bristles rather than synthetic bristles. Natural bristles, such as that of a boar-bristle hairbrush, are less likely to produce static than their synthetic counterparts since synthetics usually contain plastic.
Method 6: Using a Humidifier
Dry and harsh winters are a bane for hair and skin. The arid air readily strips your hair and skin of moisture. With lack of moisture in your hair and skin, your body becomes easily charged with minimal friction. Any static charge in your body can travel to your hair, resulting in flyaways.
While essential to your survival through brutal winters, indoor heating can make static problems worse and wreak havoc on your hair. While there is nothing you can do about the dry winter weather, you can tip the scales in your favor by using humidifiers in your home and office.
A humidifier will help maintain moisture in the air, which will keep your skin and hair hydrated and make them less prone to static. Setting the humidity level at 60 percent should be enough to prevent static cling in your hair.
Tips for managing static cling in hair
- You can also use hair gel to keep your hair together during the dry season when the problem of static in hair is at its peak.
- When your hair goes crazy with static, run a metal wire hanger over your hair. This should conduct the electricity and help remove the charge from your hair.
- You can also use a metal hairbrush to remove the accumulated charge in your hair.
- An inexpensive way to mimic humidifiers in your home is to place a couple of bowls filled with water in each of the rooms in your house. This will increase the humidity level in your house even in the dry season and prevent static cling in your hair.
- Keeping your hair well moisturized in the winter is a great way to keep that static cling at bay.
- Minimizing the frequency of shampooing your hair and avoiding blow drying as much as possible can both help prevent the loss of moisture in your hair. If you cannot avoid blow drying your hair, avoid drying the hair completely, leave it a little damp.
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