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... I was out for a hike in a wildlife manangement area here in Upstate New York. I don't know how it happened, but suddenly I had a wad of what I think must have been some kind of tree sap in my hair! I really do not know if it dripped on me or somehow I got it on my hand and didn't know it, but suddenly I discovered that a section of my hair near the neck on the right side was a sticky mess. It was awful - my hair was matted and it was sticking to my hands.
(I for some reason thought of that awful Full House episode where John Stamos get a chunk of his long hair snipped off accidently by one of the kids and returns from a quick fix at the stylist with a short haircut.)
I was not far from a small lake so I rushed down to it and soaked the problem area in water. It came off my hands but the section of my hair affected was still sticky and matted. It was better - but not good. (There I was laying face down next to the lake's edge with one side of my head in the water - no one was around so lucky I didn't have to explain.)
It was a 50+ mile drive home so that gave me time to think of my options to try and get whatever it was in my hair - out of my hair. Using some spit on the way seemed to help more than the lake water did. Once home I saturated the area with Borden's Sticky Out (it's like Goo Gone) and that did the trick. The bottle even mentions it can be used on hair. Then I shampooed and condition ... and though I did lose and break some hair through out the ordeal it was not as horrible as it could have been.
I'm not going to let the incident deter me from enjoying the outdoors - just gotta take a bit more care and carry some "Sticky Out" in the jeep should something like this happen again.
Karsten
Hi Karsten,
I'm glad it went well in the end and you didn't seem to lose any significant amount of hair. Sometimes we do get "greetings" from above in forests, and, for me, that's one of my reasons for wearing a hat on such outings.
Hope your phantastic hair keeps growing even better.
Best wishes,
Hans-Uwe
I'm very glad it worked out in the end! That's the one thing that I'm always a little worried about, is getting something sticky in my hair and having to cut the part out. I'll remember the Goo Gone!
The first thing I thought of after reading the thread title was that photo of you with your camouflaged hair draped over a tree trunk. Good thing nothing happened then too!
As a teen ager in FL we cut down a lot of Brazilian Pepper trees in our yard (an unwanted import) They are very sappy and we used gas to clean our hands and tools-.29 cents a gallon back then- We were playing baseball when a buddy leaned up against a tree and the same thing happened. Knowing gas would burn his skin and scalp I used rubbing alcohol and washed it out followed by a touch of shampoo and conditioner. I'm sure any petroleum based product would work followed by shampoo and cond. cause alcohol dries out skin and hair. Next time try a beer.
Mine was pine sap, and on a backpacking trip. Goo-gone got it out eventually. Then I used camellia oil (any oil that you would put in your hair would work) to get the Goo-gone out and replace the oils stripped out of my hair. The oil rinsed out with my usual water only routine...no apparent ill effects on my hair.
You would be amazed at what kids can get in their hair. My standard tough-glob remover is peanut butter. I have used it on gum, sap, and a couple of unidentified masses of sticky crud. It takes a little while to work it in, but evidently the natural oils from the peanut breaks down the sticky substance.
Makes you kind of wonder what it does to your stomach, doesn't it?
Big George