It all began last evening when my daughter moaned that she couldn’t find a doll with manageable hair to practice braiding on. With all the years of playing, her Disney Princess dolls lay in a pail with terribly matted, knotted, what-seemed-to-look-like-unloved, hair.
How to untangle matted hair on a doll: Best Hack Ever!
Naturally, the easiest solution would be to pull out a pair of scissors and give each doll a summer-do, right?
Ha! I wish.
So to ensure Dottie’s dolls kept their long tresses we had to find a solution. And pronto!
Everything from fabric softener, shampoo with conditioner, oil, and the whole 9 yards can be used, but we chose to go with what we had available…
half-filled conditioner bottles leftover from hotel stays, a hairbrush, and water.
I wasn’t sure it would work, so I tried it out on her Ariel doll first.
After washing the hair with water and lathering in the conditioner, I washed out the doll’s hair again and then tried running the brush through.
Whew! A successful outcome!!
So Dottie then took charge of the rest of her dolls. She patiently worked through the 6 step process, easily, without a hitch.
I should have grabbed the camera for better pictures but the phone was closest, so please forgive the lack of crisp clarity!
Step 1: Pick the doll with matted, untangled hair. Look at the tousled mess on her head for the last time, take a deep breath and get to work.
Step 2: Wet the doll’s hair with a little water. Don’t run it under the tap and cause the hair to drip with the excess. Just wet it enough to work with the hair.
Step 3: Take about a quarter’s size dollop of conditioner in your palm. (Use what you have available or any inexpensive conditioner)
Step 4: Work the conditioner into the hair, yes lovingly. (The latter instruction emphasized but a certain little girl!)
Step 5: Slowly begin brushing out the hair starting from the bottom and working your way up.
Step 6: Ta-dah! Now that the doll’s hair is tangle-free, set it aside and allow it to dry.
What a difference!
And yes, you can do this for your American Girl dolls too.
Update 4/22/2020:
My youngest has gorgeous curly hair but that does come with challenges on days she has slept funny. Untangling knotted hair is not something either of us enjoys dealing with.
Last night we encountered a knotted patch that seemed determined to stay put. 
We tried everything from gently trying to brush it out to lightly oiling it. I can’t believe I totally forgot about the conditioner and water trick to start with!
Thankfully about 20 minutes in, I remembered, and within no time, that patch was no longer existent. 
So yes, this works on your little one’s hair too!
Talking about hair, have you considered coloring your hair at home, using a more natural alternative with Madison Reed?
Read more about why Hubs and I color our grays away with the Madison Reed monthly kits.
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Tammi @ My Organized Chaos says
I’ve heard of this before, yet have never tried it. We have so many dolls with messy hair, I could open up my own doll salon here! lol
Amy Desrosiers says
My gosh, my kids dolls have dread locks! I so need to try this hack out! Thank you!!
Tracey says
This is a smart idea. I remember having dolls as a kid with the messiest hair and this would have been a great trick to help!
Mama to 5 BLessings says
I do the same exact thing and it works like a charm. My daughter loves her dolls but treats them horribly!
Marina says
Lol!! Same story here!
Rosey says
Ha! I remember these days. My daughter would get so frustrated trying to untangle doll hair that she’d cut if all off. -_-
Kristin Wheeler (@MamaLuvsBooks) says
We need to do this with our AG dolls!
Janel says
That is sincerely awesome!!! I hated tangled doll hair as a kid, too!
krystalskitsch says
That is such a cool idea. Thanks for sharing!
Rena McDaniel-The Diary of an Alzheimer's Caregiver says
Ha! What a great idea! It’s been many years since we’ve seen Barbies around here but I remember those days of tangled messes. I have to save this for the grandbabies, I am hoping one at least is a girl!
Trista says
WOW! This can work on my kids hair, I sometime use water to detangle the dolls hair.
Chrystal @ YUM eating says
I started doing this a few years ago when kiddo was still playing with toys in a bathtub. We also picked up a baby Tinkerbell and he hair was fried but kiddo still wanted her. So we tried this. Worked out fairly well.
Carly Bellard says
Impressive! I normally just help those find their way to the “big dollhouse in the sky!” Now I can give them a second change!
Christie says
I’m sure this will be us soon! My daughter is going to be asking for Barbies!
Pam says
I so wish I had known about this hack when my daughter was little. Her solution was just to cut all the hair off her poor Barbies.
Lori says
I need to do this tip to about 100 dolls in my home! With 3 daughters, we have a lot of unruly doll hair!
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
I have all boys, so no dolls here, but I could have used this back in the day.
Lisa says
Barbie stylist is something I never thought I’d be. I have know found myself in that position many times. 🙂
Marielle Altenor says
This reminds me of when my little cousins use to bug me to untangle their doll hair for them. lol Great tips for the day I have a daughter!
Toni says
That is a great tip. What does the hair look like when dry?
Marina says
Untangled but not silky the way our hair looks after a good condition and wash. 😉
Brett says
This is great to know! We’ll have to start brushing. Thanks for sharing.
Theresa says
Great tip! My daughter has quite a few dolls that have matted hair like this. We need to get to working on them!
Elena says
How clever! It seems so obvious but is one of those things that never cross your mind until you hear it from someone else. Dolls can have silky smooth hair again. Hooray!
Marina says
Not necessarily silky smooth, Elena, but definitely untangled! 😉
kristin says
That is a huge huge difference!!! Now we know, I’ll have to do it next time my girls ask for their to be brushed.
Tough Cookie Mommy says
I wish I would have known about this when I was a kid. This happened to my dolls all the time.
Dawn says
This is so cute and such a useful hack! When my daughter was younger, she played with Barbie’s 24/7, I remember spending hours trying to comb the hateful knots out of their hair, only to find I was actually ripping the hair out!
Amanda says
This is awesome! We have Anna and Elsa toddler dolls that have a rat’s nest in their heads! Thanks for the tip!
Mommy2Jam says
WOW that is so cool. I will pass on to my girlfriends for their daughters. I remember when I was a little girl how tangled my dolls hairs would get.
[email protected] says
What a great idea to fix the dolls hair. I have some friends that could on their kids dolls to help for sure.
Megan @ C'mon Get Crafty says
Not an issue for my boys, but will definitely pass along to my BFF for her THREE girls. Lots of doll hair to manage!
Cassie @ Southeast by Midwest says
This is such an amazing idea! We need to do this to ALL of my niece’s dolls.
Danielle @ We Have It All says
This is great! I never thought to do this and we have a bagillion dolls around here!
Nancy @ Whispered Inspirations says
How does it look when it dries is my question! This is great, my littlest’s dolls look like that.
Marina says
The after picture is of the hair after it had dried 🙂
Jessica (Savory Experiments) says
Great idea! As a kid, I used shave Barbie’s head to get the tangles out and then get really upset that all my dolls had no hair.
Marina says
Lol!! Love that!
Brandy says
Now that is awesome! I will have to book mark this for my daughter to see, she has some barbies and dolls with matted up hair that i swear I am going to throw out soon if we don’t get their hair fixed 😉
Julie says
Apart from the fact I wish I had known this about 10 years ago I am so happy to have found this tip!
My daughter had a shocking bunch of scary haired dolls when she was little and used to resort to giving them haircuts. This resulted in even more scarily haired dolls!
I have a bunch of little nieces who NEED to have their wise Auntie teach them how to detangle their dollies hair, thank you!
Lauren says
I love this!! I am going to pin for later when my daughter is a bit bigger!
Deborah @ Mommy Crusader says
Wow! We’ll be opening a dolly salon tomorrow thanks to your post! Thanks so much!
Ashley Candelaria says
Just tried this on our $30 target horses. It actually worked! Took me forever because of how tangled it was.