Hair spray (also hair lacquer, spritz, or sticky water) is a common household aqueous solution that is used to keep hair stiff or in a certain style. Stronger than hair gel or hair wax, it is sprayed to hold styles for a long period. Using a pump or aerosol spray nozzle, it sprays evenly over the hair. May leave hair feeling "crunchy" unless brushed out. Hair spray was first developed and manufactured in 1948 by Chase Products Company, based in Broadview, Illinois.
The solvent used was once a compound of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine (a chlorofluorocarbon, or CFC). CFCs are nontoxic, nonflammable, and make almost ideal aerosol propellants. However, when it was learned that they cause destruction of stratospheric ozone, they were replaced with other solvents, like alcohols and hydrocarbons.
One of the polymers used is polyvinylpyrrolidone, which is also used to glue the layers of wood in plywood together. A non-water soluble polymer called polydimethylsiloxane is added to make the hold last a bit longer (the polyvinylpyrrolidine is water soluble). Pytocalcious chemicals are another family of ingredients in hair spray, which increase the amount of minerals in the hair's root causing the hair to become stiff.
Other polymers used in plastic-based hairsprays are copolymers with vinyl acetate and copolymers with maleic anhydride.
Some hair sprays use natural polymers and solvents like vegetable gums dissolved in alcohol. One popular ingedient is gum arabic is made from the sap of certain trees that grow in the Sudan. Gum tragacanth is another herbal gum that is used to stiffen calico and crepe, as well as hair.
Japanese scientists have recently found strains of bacteria, Microbacterium hatanonis, that have evolved to live in hair spray.[1]
