Removing Silly Putty from Hair

My son has put silly putty in his hair, I don't know what is best to break it down to get it out, any ideas?

Kristie from Lakewood, CO

Answers:

Removing Silly Putty from Hair

My dog ended up with silly putty in her fur. I used the hand sanitizer. It worked the best and was the least oily. It was so fast. (04/24/2008)

By Angela

Removing Silly Putty from Hair

How to remove silly putty from African-American hair: (actually it was homemade silly putty, made from Elmer's glue and borax in a science workshop) Short answer: non-acetone nail polish remover (main ingredient is ethyl acetate).

We rubbed the homemade silly putty into pieces of fuzzy cloth and tested the various remedies recommended on the web first. We tried Vaseline, oil, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, and Goo Gone. The ethyl acetate dissolved the stuff like magic, whereas the other methods made a mess.

Procedure:

1. Assign the older brother (responsible for getting the silly putty into the hair) the job of playing cards with the puttied person, in the kitchen with the window a little bit open.
   
2. Cut a few medium-sized pieces of rag, such as an old T-shirt.
3. Dampen one of the pieces of cloth.
4. Run a warm bath.
   
5. Wrap a rag around the child's hairline as a partial turban to catch drips.
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6. Put on rubber gloves so you don't stain your fingers.
7. Pour a little nail polish remover on the silly putty. Tell the child it will feel cold, but will not hurt. Massage. Now blot or rub with the dry cloth.
   
8. Pick out hair to make sure the putty is all out, and repeat step 7 if needed.
9. Catch drips as they occur with the damp cloth. But if you are stingy with the nail polish remover, it will not drip down.
10. Pop child into bath tub. Shampoo twice.
    
11. Say yes when the older child asks if he should throw the silly putty out, and let him make breakfast for everybody. (04/27/2008)

By Melanie

Removing Silly Putty from Hair

I was getting the breakfast dishes out this morning when I heard my 11 year old daughter scream from her bedroom upstairs. I thought maybe she had seen a spider or something, but when she came down, whimpering, it was because she had green Silly Putty matted in her long hair. Unfortunately, her younger sister, who likes to sleep with her at night, had fallen asleep with it.

Finding this page was a huge lifesaver. We used the Pam cooking spray over the sink with a comb. The only thing I would add, is that it's much more effective to pull the putty out of the hair, than the hair out of the putty. I spent about 15 minutes trying to delicately pull the strands out, and while that worked, it was taking a long time and I had three other kids to get ready to go to school. What really made things happen was when I just dug the comb in (I had to press pretty hard to get it through the putty) and then slowly pulled it down through the hair. The putty came away cleanly in pieces, and we were done in about 5 minutes after that. Good luck. (05/01/2008)

By Guest

Removing Silly Putty from Hair

My son woke up with silly putty in his hair and olive oil took it right out. (05/23/2008)

By Janice

Removing Silly Putty from African American Hair

Good grief. My daughter woke with silly putty in her hair. We are African American and Ginseng oil worked wonders. This web-site was a lifesaver at 6am. (10/23/2008)

Removing Silly Putty from Hair

What's up with kids falling asleep with silly putty? My 5 year old did that tonight. She woke up screaming saying she was stuck to her pillow, and sure enough it was "the putty". She has super curly hair. I used baby oil and a comb. It came out it seconds. (01/29/2009)

By Missy