• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Measuring Flower

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Healthy Living
    • Healthy Home
      • Cleaning
      • Organizing
      • Sewing
    • Health & Beauty
      • Body & Beauty
      • Diet & Weight Loss
      • Home Remedies
      • Essential Oils
      • Fashion
    • Blogging
      • Blogging Binder
      • Blogging Articles
    • Close
  • Healthy Family
    • Cloth Diapering
    • Homeschooling
    • Close
  • Healthy Food
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • What is Real Food?
    • Menu Planning
      • How to Menu Plan
      • Menu Plans
    • THM
      • What is Trim Healthy Mama?
      • THM Recipes
      • THM Menu Plans
      • Free THM Binder Printables
      • TJ’s Taste (My Recipe Website)
    • Close

DIY All-natural Hair Detangler

Affiliate Disclosure

518 shares

So, hair detangler. Never imagined myself making some. Oh, sure, my hair tangles. Like a LOT. But my scalp possesses super hero-strength pain resistance. I could yank my head BALD and not blink an eye. So I myself don’t really need it. But, see, there’s this ADORABLE little 2-year-old baby girl that calls me Mama. She doesn’t have a ton of hair to start with, but the little she does have is thin and very tangly {especially since she rolls it around on the floor}. And she’s so sweet and little that I don’t want to hurt her {or make her hate me} by just yanking away at her tangles like I do with my own hair.

DIY All-natural Hair Detangler

So I decided I needed to make her some hair detangler. I COULD have just bought her some I suppose. But I don’t like the bad things in the vast majority of hair detanglers available. I want all the good things for my babies. So I made my own so that it would be healthy for her.

DIY Hair Detangler

Ok, time for a breakdown of the ingredients I chose. Each was selected carefully and intentionally.

  • Water. Duh. This is the body of the detangler spray. Makes it wet and sprayable and stuff.
  • Marshmallow root. This is an herb, but I don’t think you can make *real* marshmallows with it {maybe you can…something I must Google later}. But in this application, it is used for its mucilage. Sounds awesome, right? Well, typical detanglers have a polymer {such as silicone} which makes the hair slippery. Trouble is, it can also block good nutrients from getting in. So marshmallow root adds that slipperiness without blocking good stuff.
  • Apple cider vinegar. Store-bought detangler also contains an acid. This lowers the pH to smooth and tighten each strand of hair. So my acid of choice is apple cider vinegar {I used some with the mother of course}.
  • Oil. I’ve used fractionated {liquified} coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil. I haven’t really noticed a difference among the oils. They just help to moisturize the hair and make it more pliable.
  • Aloe vera gel. This acts as a natural conditioner and thus it also softens the hair and adds shininess. Ooh…shiny…
  • Vitamin E oil. Honestly, I just added this because it makes the mixture more shelf stable.
  • Essential oils. I like to add 25 solid drops or so of Young Living Grapefruit essential oil. Mainly because it smells SOO good. Other oils you could add are Lavender, Tea Tree, Orange, Lemon {just note that Lemon can cause the hair to achieve natural blond highlights…which is a pro or a con depending on what you’re going for}, and Chamomile.

marshmallow-root

Some Notes

  • My mixture filled up two of these glass spray bottles, but if you don’t have spray bottles yet, you could just buy these larger ones to hold it all.
  • I have ONLY used this detangler {successfully I might add} on my daughter’s hair {which is very thin, hardly any there because she’s two and her hair just hasn’t all come in yet, and it’s pretty much straight} and on my own hair {which is also pretty thin but lots of it and somewhere between wavy and lightly curly}. So yes, on just white people hair. I have no idea how well it would work on curly hair, thicker hair, or ethnic hair. Hopefully awesome! If you try it on any of these hair types, please share how it did in a comment below. 😀
  • TO USE this detangler, do as you would any. Spritz it lightly to generously over the hair {depends on how tangled it is and how much hair there is}, let it set in for 20 seconds or so, then, working from the bottom up, gently yank away. I might suggest putting a detangling hairbrush to work as well to make it a tad easier.

DIY All-natural Hair Detangler

5 from 2 votes
PRINT RECIPE PIN RECIPE SHARE RECIPE

Ingredients
  

  • 1 c. distilled water
  • 1/4 c. marshmallow root
  • 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. fractionated coconut oil, sweet almond oil, OR jojoba oil
  • 1 tsp. aloe vera gel
  • 1/2 tsp. vitamin E oil
  • 15 to 25 drops Young Living essential oil{s} of choice, optional

Instructions
 

  • In a small saucepan, bring the water just to a boil {when big bubbles just begin to form}.
  • Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the marshmallow root.
  • Allow the marshmallow root to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Some of the water will have evaporated, so measure the marshmallow root tea to equal 1/2 cup. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  • Whisk in the remaining ingredients. Pour into a glass spray bottle.

Notes

TO USE: Spray lightly to generously over the hair. Allow to soak in for 20 seconds or so then brush gently from the bottom up, possibly with the help of a detangling hairbrush.

Popular on Measuring Flower

Honey-Molasses Brined Pork Chops
20 Uses for Wet Bags {Beyond Cloth Diapers}
How to Pop Popcorn Healthfully
25 Real Food Snack Ideas for Toddlers
518 shares
TJ's Taste

Visit My THM Friendly Recipes Website

Previous Post: « How to Quickly and Easily Peel Hard Boiled Eggs (Moved to TJ’s Taste)
Next Post: Real Food Chicken Bruschetta {Gluten Free, Sugar Free, & THM Friendly} »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen says

    December 5, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    5 stars
    Works great on my daughter’s coarse hair! Thanks forr the recipe!

    Reply
  2. Nancy A says

    December 31, 2016 at 11:09 am

    5 stars
    So this at Simply Natural Saturday 12 31 16 and am intrigued. Where would I get matrshmallow root? I’m willing to give this a try. Does the mixture condition hair as well? Nancy A

    Reply
    • TJ says

      December 31, 2016 at 7:01 pm

      Hi, Nancy. I have where I got the marshmallow root linked to in the post. I got it via Amazon. 🙂 And yes, it conditions as well!

      Reply
      • Nancy A says

        January 2, 2017 at 4:11 pm

        Thanks TJ. Now I see it. Be well and let’s have happy untangled hair in the New Year.

        Reply
  3. Working Mommy Diaries says

    February 19, 2017 at 7:36 am

    This is great, thanks for sharing! I enjoy making my own natural products also, will have to try this one.

    Reply
  4. Lauryn says

    February 24, 2019 at 3:10 am

    Hi! The link for the marshmallow root isn’t working – should it be in powder form? Liquid extract? Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Lori says

    July 24, 2020 at 11:46 am

    Can you use marshmallow root extract?

    Reply
  6. Brittney says

    August 10, 2020 at 10:51 pm

    Hi, I was just wondering where you got the information about the Marshmallow root adding slipperiness? I’m trying to figure out why it does it and how it works before trying the recipe. I’d love to read the sources you have! Thank you!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Trending Now

  • Homemade All-natural Castile Laundr...
  • 32+ Healthy and Eco-friendly Easter...
  • DIY All-natural Wax Melts {To Use i...
  • Homemade Coconut Oil and Shea Body...
  • DIY Laundry Soap {Fels-Naptha &...

Footer

Copyright © 2010–2023 · MeasuringFlower.com · Privacy Policy