This DIY Homemade Detangler recipe will cleanse the scalp and promote strong and healthy hair. It’s moisturising and soothing with enriching properties that will make your hair smell beautiful all day!
I have been making hair detangler for my girls hair ever since they were little, I used to put tea tree essential oil in it to prevent nits, but now they are older and have long luscious locks of hair, I have a new DIY Hair Detangler recipe to cleanse the scalp and promote strong and healthy hair. You could make this spray-in hair detangler with or without an essential oil for head lice prevention.
DIY Homemade Hair Detangler
My girls spray the Hair Detangler in their hair after they get out of the shower so the comb can easily glide through to prevent breakages and make it easier to remove knots. I add a variety of essential oils to it which have moisturising, soothing, and enriching properties and the bonus is their hair smells beautiful all day!
The spray bottle is kept in a tub that stores all things hair, such as brushes, combs, ribbons, hair ties and hairspray and kept in the bathroom. We used to have this set up so the girls would carry the tub to me to do their hair before school, but now they are older they do their own hair (yes I am crying inside, I loved doing their hair), but this system still keeps everything tidily together.
The ingredients I use in my homemade hair detangler
FRACTIONATED COCONUT OIL – Fractionated Coconut Oil is an absorbent and light carrier oil that will help to increase essential oil distribution while leaving hair feeling smooth and soft. Available here.
LAVENDER ESSENTIAL OIL – can help to speed up hair growth. Available here.
GERANIUM ESSENTIAL OIL – promotes healthy glowing skin and hair. Available here.
GRAPEFRUIT ESSENTIAL OIL – will help improve the appearance of healthy-looking hair. Available here.
TEA TREE OR EUCALYPTUS ESSENTIAL OIL – optional addition. Can help deter head lice. Available here.
WITCH HAZEL – “Witch hazel is a type of plant native to North America, the leaves and bark from the plant are used to make a skin-healing astringent that’s capable of naturally reducing acne, blisters, insect bites, poison ivy, inflammation and much more. The most popular use for witch hazel is on the skin since its strong antioxidant and astringent properties are perfect for killing bacteria that lives within skin’s pores, stopping cellular damage that can lead to skin cancer, preventing signs of ageing, and speeding up healing”. – Dr Axe. I purchased my witch hazel from Chemist Warehouse, you should be able to find it at your local chemist.
This DIY Homemade Hair Detangler is super easy to make, print out the recipe below to have it on hand when you need.
PrintDIY Homemade Hair Detangler
This DIY Homemade Detangler recipe will cleanse the scalp and promote strong and healthy hair. It’s moisturising and soothing with enriching properties that will make your hair smell beautiful all day!
Ingredients
- 500ml spray bottle (approx doesn’t need to be exact ml)
- 1 tablespoon fractionated coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon witch hazel
- 10 drops grapefruit essential oil
- 8 drops lavender essential oil
- 8 drops geranium essential oil
- OPTIONAL – 6 drops of eucalyptus or tea tree essential oil (reduce the other essential oils by two drops each)
- cool boiled water
Instructions
- Pour fractionated coconut oil, witch hazel and drops of the essential oils into a spray bottle.
- Fill with water and shake.
Notes
Remember to shake the bottle before each use. Shelf Life: Because it doesn’t contain any preservatives or chemicals, I personally like to replace it after 6 weeks.
Deep Hair Conditioner
I also wanted to share with you this DIY deep conditioner, this is a good recipe too that will leave your hair soft, smooth, and a bonus is it’s chemical-free. Here is a single treatment size, double or triple the recipe to make a good supply like the image below, jars like this can be found at the supermarket or cheap dollar stores.
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 drops of Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary or Geranium.
Whip (with a fork, whisk or even in your electric mixer) ingredients together and apply to clean dry hair. Comb through with wide tooth comb to evenly distribute and let sit 15-20 minutes. Rinse, shampoo and style as desired.
22 comments
Where can I buy witch hazel from?
I bought mine from the Chemist Warehouse
Hi, where did you get your spray bottle from?
Stayed tuned as I am hoping to have them in my shop soon
Can you add tea tree oil to your DIY recipe using the essential oils, or would you recommend using the conditioner/water recipe? I have little girls so am keen to include the tea tree oil to deter nits! Thanks!
Absolutely, I added Tea Tree oil when my kids were young when susceptible to nits. However i have found in their teenager years (touch wood) they don’t get it anymore
How much tea tree oil did you add to prevent head lice?
yes great addition, there are great benefits to the tea tree oil, I would reduce it to:
8 drops grapefruit essential oil
6 drops ylang ylang essential oil
6 drops geranium essential oil
6 drops tea tree essential oil
I’ve just made up the potion using witch hazel plus all recommended essential oils including tea tree for nits. I noticed though (when reading the very fine print) that the 240ml bottle of witch hazel contains 14% alcohol! Should this be an issue ? Can I leave it on my hair or do I have to rinse it out? I imagine that any witch hazel that I buy over the counter here in Australia will probably contain alcohol
Hi, how long does the deep conditioner last? Do you think you can you double/triple the recipe and keep it in a jar? Or best just to make and use straight away? Thanks ?
Because it doesn’t contain any preservatives or chemicals, I personally like to replace it after 6 weeks.
Thanks for the receipes Katrina 🙂 great timing, I’ve been thinking about making a detangler spray for my fine hair. :)))
I made the detangler spray a week ago and it seems to have formed a chunk in the bottle. I didn’t have any witch hazel, is that the problem?
Hi Ainsley, you definitely need to shake it every day, I haven’t made it without witch hazel so that could be the problem… just wanted to check, did you use fractionated coconut oil? The fractionated oil will stay liquid whereas regular coconut oil (e.g the stuff used for cooking) will solidify so that could be the problem…
Hi, just wondering what oils I can add to the hair detangler to also make it a deterrent for head lice?
I used to put tea tree essential oil in this mix when my girls where little to prevent nits
what about phototoxicity with the grapefruit?
Hi Melinda, if you’re using the detangler spray in the morning and are concerned about this, I would recommend spraying on the mid to ends of hair so as to avoid the scalp. However if you’re using the spray of an evening it shouldn’t be a concern. Hope this helps 🙂
Hi, just wondering if you could use Rosemary instead of grapefruit?
I haven’t tried this Nicole, however I have heard that Rosemary has many great benefits for hair condition and growth – so I would think it should be fine. If you try it, please let me know how it works out for you. Thanks, Kat 🙂
Please could you clarify the oils list that you use in this recipe? The ingredients list (with the links) differs from that in the recipe list (as in Lavender, Geranium, Grapefruit vs Ylang Ylang, Geranium, Grapefuit….
Narelle there are so many fabulous essential oils that can help to create tangle-free shiny hair. To be honest I switch up the oils between all the ones you’ve mentioned – depending on what I’ve got. Witch hazel, grapefruit, ylang ylang, and geranium essential oil do work really well together, and are probably my go to oils. If you have some lavender and grapefruit though, feel free to pop them in too, as they are also fabulous for hair. Kat x