Apparently Dental Floss Can Tame Frizzy Hair, But Will It Cause Wax Build-Up?

Whether your hair is long, short, or mid-length, frizz affects us all at one point or another. What's even more frustrating is when you have styled your hair perfectly and then step outside only to have it be ravaged by wind, rain, and humidity that ruins your hard work. If you have often wondered about how to smooth frizzy hair during humid summer weather or just suffer from frizzy hair regularly, you may be sick of wasting money on products that don't work.

From using a toothbrush to smooth down frizz to spraying hairspray on your comb, there is no shortage of hair hacks for frizz-free hair. However, the latest frizzy hair hack hair will cost you hardly anything. Instead, it requires a common everyday household ingredient — dental floss. It may sound odd, but several TikTok users swear by this hack for calming a frizzy mane. Even better, the hack can be done on the go, with no other products or even a comb needed.

A TikTok posted by @mattloveshair explains that this frizzy hair hack involves taking dental floss and using it to smooth down your hair. Super simple to follow and only requires one thing (the floss, obvs); you simply need to start from the top of your head and gently pull the floss string down your hair until the section is smooth. Repeat wherever needed, making sure to hold the string tight against your hair each time (but not so tightly that the string snaps or your hair feels brittle).

Note that the dental floss will need to be waxed, as it's the wax that will smooth your hair and the movement from the string. Plus, it's best to use unscented wax unless you want your hair to smell like cool mint mouthwash. It may sound amazing, but this hack does have one major potential downside, which is why you should be careful using it too often.

Speaking to Refinery29, hair stylist Tyler Moore warned that constantly using dental floss "could lead to some damage from the tension and pressure of the string during application. A build-up of wax can also compromise the health and feel of the hair."

Hair stylist Carolyn Holden also stresses that the dental floss trick definitely won't give you permanently frizz-free hair, calling the hack "a quick fix, not a long-term solution" (via Shape). Holden additionally pointed out the drawback of the quick fix, stating that "humidity, wind, and your hair texture will limit the efficacy of this trend."

In conclusion, dental floss does work to calm frizzy hair, but only to a degree. Elements such as the weather, how thick, thin, or frizzy your hair is, and how often you use the dental floss will all contribute to the finished product. Moreover, the build-up of wax could damage your hair over time, something you definitely don't want, as damaged hair can take a while to get back to normal. Still, using dental floss is fine for a quick fix every so often — just make sure to thoroughly wash your hair afterward.