As parents, it’s difficult enough keeping your child still and being allowed to brush their hair, let alone spending torturous time getting playdough out. While removing playdough from your toddler’s hair is no fun, it is made a bit easier with the below tried and tested methods!
Table of Contents
How To Get Playdough Out Of Hair
There are a handful of different methods for getting playdough out of your kids hair, each best for different circumstances. These methods have all been tried and tested by the My Toddler Life team to save you the hassle:
Method 1: How To Get Dry Playdough Out Of Hair
If you’ve left it too late to get out, or your child comes home from daycare or school with dried dough in their hair, this is the method for you.
You need: wash cloth, hot water, bowl, soap
The idea with this one is to dampen the playdough to simply soften it and wiggle it out with the power of the soapy water!
Simply fill a small bowl with warm water and soap and dampen the wash cloth. Pick up handfuls of hair and gently dampen the hair and playdough with the wash cloth. Twist, pinch and slide down until the dough comes out. And repeat, repeat, repeat.
Method 2: How To Get Soft Playdough Out of Hair
Soft playdough is also quite difficult to get out of hair. The best way to counteract the stickiness is with the smooth silicone of hair conditioner.
You need: shampoo, conditioner, wash cloth, bowl
Massage in conditioner to the whole head of hair (more than you would normally!) and leave a minute or two. Slide playdough out of the hair by grabbing, twisting and gently pulling with the washcloth. Rinse conditioner out & give the hair a good shampoo to get rid of all the excess.
Method 3: How To Get Sticky Playdough Out Of Hair
Like the conditioner above, olive oil is a great solution to removing sticky playdough from hair.
You need: olive oil, damp wash cloth, bowl
Massage in olive oil to the whole head of hair (yep!) and leave a minute or two. Slide playdough out of the hair by grabbing, twisting and gently pulling with the washcloth. Rinse oil out & give the hair a good double shampoo to get rid of all the excess.
Method 4: What To Do When Playdough Won’t Come Out
This bad boy is only for if you are desperate and none of the above methods work, as baking soda can seriously dry out fine childhood hair.
You need: water, baking soda, bowl, wash cloth
Stir baking soda and warm water together (at about a 30/70 split – how much you will need depends on how much hair your little one has and how much playdough is stuck in there!).
Massagemixture in to the whole head of hair (yep!) and leave a minute or two. Slide playdough out of the hair by grabbing, twisting and gently pulling with the washcloth. Rinse mixture out & give the hair a good shampoo to get rid of all the excess and double condition to heal damaged hair
Good luck! .
Playdough Recipe That Doesn’t Stick To Hair: Cloud Dough
Also known as Moon Dough, Cloud Dough is the new homemade playdough on the block – that i’m guessing some genius school kid developed when bored at home – but hey, it works. While not as long-lasting as traditional play doh, this cloud dough recipe will not stick to your child’s hair. Made from 3 simple ingredients – hair conditioner, corn starch and food dye, this recipe is inspired by the legends over at Southern Plate.
Next time your child wants homemade play dough, give this recipe a go and avoid the sticky hair situation!
Cloud Dough Ingredients
- 2 Heaping cups cornstarch
- 1 Cup Scented Conditioner I love Suave Coconut or Strawberry
How To Make Cloud Dough
- Measure and add your cornstarch to a large mixing bowl.
- Measure your conditioner and pour into your bowl of cornstarch.
- Use a long spatula to mix your two ingredients until it gets hard to mix.
- Use your hands too finish kneading the dough together. One way I do this is to put it all in a gallon zipper seal bag and continue kneading it.
- Now it’s ready for play!
Gluten-free playdough Recipe
We like this gluten-free playdough recipe from One Creative Mama
Gluten-Free Playdough Ingredients:
- 1 cup of white rice flour
- ½ cup of cornstarch
- ½ cup of salt
- 1 Tbsp cream of tartar
- 1 ½ tsp of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of water (hot, but not boiling)
- Food Coloring, as desired
How To Make Gluten-Free Playdough
- Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium pot.
- Add the vegetable oil, then the water, and continue to mix until thoroughly combined.
- Heat the mixture on the stove over low heat for about 3 minutes. I like to stir frequently with a silicone spatula.
- When the dough starts to pull away from the sides easily, dump the dough onto parchment paper. Let it cool briefly until you can work it with your hands.
- Knead food coloring into the dough until you get the color you desire.
Additional Notes:
- Don’t overcook the dough. It shouldn’t need more than five minutes.
- To add food coloring, I use the method I’ve used since I was a kid: Using your thumbs, make a well in the middle of the ball of dough and drop the food coloring into the well. Close up the well with the outside dough, keeping the food coloring in the middle of the ball. Then, carefully begin kneading it until the color is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- You don’t have to use the parchment paper. The dough shouldn’t be sticky. I use the parchment paper to simply keep residue and food coloring off my countertop. Wax paper or a plate would work just as well.
- If needed, adjust the texture with a small amount of cold water (for dry, crumbly dough) or cornstarch (for sticky dough).
- Makes about 2 cups of play dough, or about 2 baseball-size balls of dough.
- Store in tightly sealed plastic bags or containers.
Why Trust My Toddler Life
My Toddler Life is run by mama’s, for mama’s. All information provided on our site is thoroughly researched and takes in to consideration our lived experiences and the opinions of industry professionals.
How are we different from other sites doing the same thing? We have fun while doing it (often with a glass of wine in hand) and don’t take ourselves too seriously! We may use affiliate links in this post – rest assured, these do not cost you, our dear readers, any additional money to use – phew!
References
