new thread
Just finished 10 glorious days camping in the woods. However
with no chance to wash or really provide normal hair care. It
seemed like as my hair got dirtier every morning after sleeping
in a sleeping bag it was tougher to comb out the tangles. It
seemed that there was more snap crackle pop as I combed.
So I was just wondering if anyone else noticed more tangles with
unwashed hair?
I noticed the same thing while camping this summer. My hair collected a lot more dirt than usual while hiking around the mountains (which is of course to be expected) and by the time I got home, I couldn't comb my hair at all.
It isn't so much the not washing, as the accumulation of lint and dust and stuff. I know, if I keep my hair covered, I can go more than a week without having any problems with detangling/combing...which I verified this summer, on a week long backpacking work trip...hair stayed in a ponyscrub virtually the entire trip, and when I got off the trail, I took it off, and finger combed with very few tangles. Far better than a ponytail or exposed bun.
On less strenuous trips, I'll use the pony scrub sometimes, let my hair down at peaks or lunch, have it down in camp, bun it and put a sleep cap on overnight (oh, yes, very very stylish, but better than tangling my hair up in the sleeping bag).
If weather conditions allow, a water rinse (aka swimming in a clear lake) will wash out the sweat and some of the dust/lint and will help things be a bit more manageable, but probably won't do much for the accumulated oils which are attracting and holding onto more dust and lint.
Sleeping is particularly bad...since any nighttime movement will make any existing tangles worse...in the confines of the sleeping bag...if you use a down bag, the bits of down that escape are complete tanglemonsters. Braids will help, if you aren't ready for a girly pink sleep cap (I just haven't gotten around to buying the manly red or black one online, I'll do almost anything to avoid tangles and damage).