Sara G Allison writes “old wives thought the reason for brushing your hair 100 times before bed is to keep it soft and healthy” (Are you doing it right? Brushing your hair, G2, 23 September). The old wives were being coy; I understand it’s to keep head lice down. The theory is that 100 strokes breaks so many of their legs that they cannot mate.
With washing, here in Cambridge we have very hard water, so after the final rinse your hair remains thinly coated with, er, chalk? But I’ve found using rainwater or a few drops of distilled white vinegar in the final rinse gets the chalk off, making it flyaway, which might be what Ms Allison means by “volume”.
I don’t know if the brushing works on nits. I’m afraid the prospect of brushing my young daughter’s long hair 100 times was too much for me. Perhaps that’s why they needed maids.
Henrietta Cubitt
Cambridge
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