Summer Fun Day 26 - Barbie Salon Science - Part 1

We started this rainy day experiment with more salon than science, but once we were done I thought of a number of science-type follow-ups we could have done.  So, keep an eye out for the part 2 to this post, if you are interested.

To begin with, we wanted to see if we could determine the best method for dealing with Barbie doll dreadlocks.  Our research had revealed three methods:

• Dip the doll's hair into hot water, before brushing it out
• Use a liquid fabric softener soak
• Or a vinegar soak (this made sense to us as vinegar is sometimes used as a fabric softener).

We tried all three, with the addition of a red wine vinegar soak (red wine vinegar is what you buy when you mean to grab apple cider vinegar, but get distracted in the aisle).

We let our dolls soak for an hour, wrapped in their luxurious salon robes - dish rags secured in the back by bobby pin.

Then, we gave our vinegar and fabric softener soaked dolls a cold water rinse...

...before brushing out their hair...

...and allowing them to dry.

All four of the test subjects showed positive results, leaving me to wonder if it wasn't more the brushing, than the soaking, that did the job.

But, the plain distilled vinegar soak did seem to leave our Barbie (the one with the curls) with a slightly nicer shine to her hair than the others.  The hot water treatment (for the blond on the right, with longer hair) came in second.  And, we liked the results of the fabric softener (the shorter haired blond on the left) the least.

The girls were concerned about the vinegar smell.  But it dissipated quickly, once the hair was dry.

It's great to be a homeschooler.