We he’ve all heard the horror stories about gum getting stuck in your hair. However, did you know that other sticky and squishy foods can also get trapped in your strands? Marshmallows are a prime example of sticky foods that can easily latch onto your hair and create a complete mess.
Surprisingly enough, this marshmallow conundrum is a lot more common than you may think. And before you begin to say, “oh, this won’t happen to me,” think again; you’ll never know what’s around the corner and what hair tips will come in handy.
How do you get marshmallows out of hair? Thankfully, numerous methods can remove marshmallow from your hair like vegetable oil and vinegar, hot water, shampoo, and more. So, if you find yourself in this circumstance, you’ll want to follow along with these tips.
However, you should avoid treating the marshmallows the same as you would gum at all costs. This can be counterproductive and make the marshmallow even more difficult to remove from your beautiful strands.
Marshmallows are delicious, but they can cause a nightmare if they ever end up getting caught in your hair. Thankfully, with the tips we share below, you won’t ever have to panic. Instead, you’ll know how to remove them without damaging your hair.
How To Remove Marshmallows From Your Hair
It’s more likely that children will involve themselves with food messes than adults. But, regardless of who ends up getting a sticky mess in their strands, you’ll want to have a few tricks up your sleeve to remove marshmallows from your hair safely.
Thankfully, dealing with marshmallows in your hair is uncomplicated, and working with gum can be much more challenging. One of the reasons why gum is worse to remove from your strands than marshmallows comes down to their ingredients.
Marshmallows are made of simple ingredients like corn syrup, sugar, and gelatin. Most of these ingredients can easily be dissolved by various liquids and, in turn, make these puffy snacks easier to remove from your strands without ripping them out.
On the other hand, gum has an entirely different makeup, and techniques to remove gum can allow marshmallows to turn into a bigger goopy mess. So let’s dive into how you can remove a sticky marshmallow situation from your or your kids’ hair.
1. Hot Water
The first way to remove these yummy puffy desserts is simply with warm or hot water. This is also the most accessible technique to remove marshmallows from your hair. With gum, you would typically use ice, but hot water is all you need for this snack.
As stated earlier, marshmallows are made of sugar, gelatin, and a whole lot of air to get its lightweight texture. We know that both sugar and gelatin can easily be dissolved by hot water, which can also break down any marshmallows in your hair.
According to Natural Hair Insights, “hot water makes marshmallows turn to goop fast.” So, removing any marshmallows from your strands can be a lot easier than you think. In addition, it’s the least time-consuming method to rinse the goop from the hair.
How to remove marshmallow from your hair with hot water:
- Boil some water and add it to a mug or heat-safe container.
- Take the section of hair that has a marshmallow trapped on it and dunk it into the hot water.
- Wait a few minutes for the water to melt the marshmallow slowly.
- Once you’ve let your hair soak in the water, you’ll want to grab a damp cloth and slowly glide the cloth down the strand of hair to wipe away the melted marshmallow. After a few swipes, the mess should completely disappear.
Also, if you aren’t into this method, but it’s time to wash your hair, you can easily repeat these steps in a hot steamy shower. The hot water should quickly dissolve all remnants of the marshmallows. However, patience is key with this method.
Next time you’re caught in a sticky situation after eating s’mores, and you have limited resources, grab a cup of hot water and soak away!
2. Shampoo And Conditioner
If you’re in an extreme marshmallow mess and hot water removes the chunks from your strands but not the sticky feeling, it’s time to wash your hair thoroughly. Of course, washing your hair will become more time-consuming, but you’ll feel brand new.
Surprisingly enough, your regular shampoo and conditioner can work wonders to eliminate marshmallow gunk from your hair. These products are already formulated to cleanse and nourish your hair and tend to impurities.
According to Lippie Hippie, “shampoo under warm water will help gradually take the marshmallows out of your hair, but there might be tangled and knotted hair after that. This is when your conditioner works.”
If it’s a really massive gooey mess, you may have to shampoo twice, but at least your scalp will be happily cleansed. In addition, this is the perfect opportunity to apply a deep conditioning mask on your ends to get rid of stickiness and add moisture.
The most important takeaway from this method is working slowly and being gentle with your hair. The last thing you want to do is rip out your hair unnecessarily. The shampoo and conditioner method is excellent because you don’t need additional or new products.
Here’s how to remove marshmallow from your hair with shampoo and conditioner:
- So to ensure all that marshmallow goop is gone and dissolved, start your shower with a good steam and get the biggest chunks out.
- Then, shampoo once or twice, and watch for tangles. You may want to gently comb your hair to make sure all the chunks and tangles are out.
- Finally, deep condition to remove any other tacky residues.
- Rinse very well, and follow up with your regular styling products.
Now you can finally live effortlessly without marshmallow goop hair.
3. Vegetable Oil Or Vinegar
Another method to dissolve marshmallows from your strands is using products straight from your pantry. Surprisingly enough, vegetable oil and vinegar can break down marshmallows with ease and without extra effort.
Vinegar and vegetable oil are a no-fuss and accessible method to remove marshmallow goop. They can be used as a final resort to eliminate extremely gunky and gooey messes. However, they can leave the hair with even more residue.
Natural Hair Insights say to “slather any type of vegetable oil on the hair and let it soak…this makes the marshmallow less sticky and easier to pull off.” Oil can be beneficial to wipe off large globules of marshmallows, but it can also leave you greasy.
Unfortunately, vegetable oil can be a nightmare to rinse and cleanse from the hair, but it is worth a shot in these sticky circumstances. If you feel greasy afterward, you can opt for a clarifying shampoo or shampoo twice to remove the oil.
Vinegar is another simple way to dissolve marshmallows, but it can over strip the scalp and hair if you aren’t careful. This method should also be one of your last resorts to remove tacky leftovers from marshmallows.
Here’s how to remove marshmallow using vinegar:
- Dilute the vinegar with water. Straight vinegar can be too harsh and strip your hair, making it dry.
- Rub the vinegar solution into the spots in your hair that are covered in marshmallow. If you can avoid lathering all your hair in vinegar, this will help prevent dryness and damage.
- Rinse your hair thoroughly with water, then follow with shampoo and conditioner.
While these cooking essentials effectively remove marshmallows, they should be used as a last resort. Both of these items can make your hair feel damaged and uncomfortable, or it can take forever to shampoo the residue they leave behind.
What To Avoid
These methods above are suitable for all hair types, so you can easily remove any marshmallow mess. However, there are some things you should avoid at all costs if you want to remove marshmallows safely and without excess hair damage.
1. Brushing
Whatever you do, never reach for a hairbrush. Trying to brush out marshmallows from your hair is just asking for a whole lot of trouble, especially if your hair is dry. You’ll end up making a bigger mess, and you will definitely feel the pain.
In addition, if you dry brush marshmallows out of your hair, you can expect a chunk of hair to rip out, especially if you are using force. So, avoid brushing your hair (especially when it’s dry) at all costs.
2. Pulling
Another major no-no is trying to yank out the marshmallow immediately. This won’t do anyone or anything good. You’ll be causing yourself unnecessary pain and discomfort. In addition, you’ll put your hair at risk of becoming even more tangled.
So no matter how tempted you are to pull that white gooey mess from your strands instantly, think again. Patience will be your best friend in these situations, and you’ll be thankful you followed the correct removal tips.
3. Using Gum-Removal Methods
As mentioned earlier, don’t treat marshmallows like gum. Don’t reach for the ice or peanut butter because they will cause more harm than good.
You’ll want the marshmallows to glide off your strands easily, and ice will only make it more concrete.
In addition, peanut butter won’t do anything productive for you unless you need a quick snack while you’re removing the marshmallow properly. So unless you want an additional mess haunting your hair, don’t try to remove marshmallows with it.
Up Next: Why Does My Hair Feel Waxy? – And How To Fix It
