When my daughter was younger and I helped her wash her hair, using conditioner wasn’t a problem because I was able to apply it for her. But since she has outgrown needing my help, I’ve found that she can wind up with greasy looking hair from using too much conditioner or using it too close to her scalp. I found that to be a waste, because she could quickly go through a whole bottle of conditioner. At almost $7 for an 8-ounce bottle just for her, that didn’t thrill me, as she could easily go through two bottles a month!
The remedy to this problem was to make a homemade detangler spray. Not only does it save money, allowing her to apply it herself doesn’t result in greasy looking hair. Because my daughter has a lot of hair, we go through about one bottle every other month. If you have thick, wavy or curly hair, you might use more. If you have fine, thin hair, you will probably use less.
So how do you make Conditioning Detangler Spray? It’s so simple I’m embarrassed to say. 🙂 In a spray bottle, combine 1 cup of distilled water with 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons of your preferred conditioner. Shake thoroughly. That’s it!
Commercially-purchased detangler: $9.99 for 8 ounces for Sparkleheart’s Peace-Out No Knots through iHerb
1 cup distilled water: 8 cents
2 Tbs organic conditioner- $6.79 for 8 ounces: 85 cents for Griffin Remedy Daily Conditioner from Green PolkaDot Box
Total cost for homemade detangler: 93 cents
Savings per bottle: $9.06 per bottle
Approximate savings per year: $54.36 if you use 6 eight-ounce bottles a year.
If you like the smell or the properties of certain essential oils, you can certainly add them. Rosemary and lavender are two essential oils you will commonly see used in haircare for adults. When I use an unscented conditioner, I usually add two drops of lemon and one drop of grapefruit to the recipe above to make it child friendly for my kids.
Love this idea! One quick question, do you just apply this after shampooing while your hair is damp? Or do you just shampoo, let hair dry, and then spray? Or just condition normally and spray this in as well? Thanks! I will definatly try this!
Zoe, we’ve used it on wet, freshly washed hair that wasn’t conditioned, and we have used it on dry hair. I’ve never tried it on conditioned hair.
Great! Thank you! I will try this tomorrow.
Great idea! I try to limit the chemicals I apply on my body, but it is so expensive! I will try this out. I have started washing my face a few times a week with baking soda – so cheap and it does a really good job.