Best shampoo for removing hair product?

December 28, 2017 12:45 PM

I have thick, coarse hair and use pomade or cream to style it. What's a good shampoo I can use to clean out hair product buildup? It seems I have to shampoo two or three times for my hair to feel clean again. I generally shampoo every two or three days, but regardless of frequency, it's hard to wash hair product out.
posted by jroybal to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

The keyword you're looking for is clarifying. Clarifying shampoos are designed to do just this. BUT if you put a scoop of baking soda in your hand to mix with your normal shampoo when you wash your hair you can achieve a pretty similar result.

Make sure you condition your hair well after you use clarifying shampoo (or the baking soda hack) though, because it just strips to hell all the good, healthy oils from your hair.
posted by phunniemee at 12:54 PM on December 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Hey OP, you sound like me. Aren't the hair frustrations just *awesome*. I still have faint blue hair from a round of Manic Panic almost 3 months ago. It's just that thick and product-holding.

I use & recommend Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Shampoo. I find it gets out all but the most stubborn of heavy duty greases in one go, and those fall to a second round of shampooing. I wash pretty much every day, but I find the products tend to break down after even a day, so they should be easier to wash out after 2-3 days.

Good luck!
posted by RhysPenbras at 12:55 PM on December 28, 2017

I used to mix about a quarter teaspoon of Dawn dishwashing liquid with about a tablespoon of shampoo to remove pomade from my hair. Eventually I started using water-soluble products because anything petroleum based was just too hard to wash out.
posted by corey flood at 3:24 PM on December 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I got a sample of DevaCurl's Buildup Buster and it's really good stuff - I ended up buying a full size version.
posted by mogget at 3:35 PM on December 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is my theoretical two cents. Use a light oil like grapeseed or olive oil, enough to get through all your hair. Rub it in well, let it sit for a couple of minutes, like while you shower. Then use a regular clarifying shampoo to get after everything. The heavier oils in a cream, maybe hydrogenated might be melted by the light oil. Regular shampoo will take that out. If it doesn't work, OK no biggie, but if it does work, then it is inexpensive, and OK for your skin, and all.
posted by Oyéah at 4:31 PM on December 28, 2017

Was gonna mention DevaCurl’s Buildup Buster too. It’s like micellar water for your hair. It doesn’t foam like shampoo, but leaves it very clean.
posted by matildaben at 5:16 PM on December 28, 2017

For clearing residue from products and Re balancing pH, rinse with vinegar. Thanks, high school chem teacher!
posted by leslievictoria at 10:18 PM on December 28, 2017

My trick is to use Irish Spring soap, the green kind.
posted by stormyteal at 11:13 PM on December 28, 2017

I’ve been using Neutrogena for this for a couple of decades. My stylist also recommended it to use the day before coloring, to make sure there was no product residue.
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:17 PM on December 28, 2017

I like Bumble&Bumble's Sunday Shampoo when I have, or feels like I have, a lot of product in my hair. I've even used it to hasten getting rid of a temporary color I just didn't care for.
posted by porkygrrl at 8:08 AM on December 29, 2017

Try a rinse of 1 part apple cider vinegar to ~2 parts water.
posted by kylej at 9:08 AM on December 29, 2017

Baking soda. Make a paste with water and slather all over your hair, wait a few minutes then rinse off. Or make a half baking soda/water solution in a large bowl, dunk your hair in a few times and marvel at how discolored the water will be!!
posted by ramix at 5:11 PM on December 29, 2017