THE DEADLY DRY SHAMPOO.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 639, 16 October 1909, Page 12

THE DEADLY DRY SHAMPOO.

! .-.VIEWS ;OF. EXPERTS. - ■' . ■ '■Howifar are Wellington women accustomed'' to uso | dangerous* hair-waslios. is ; tLo qubstiob : naturally -.suggested' by - two', cablegrams ■ that : liare ■ been: published ; this : week. ' In > the'."first: case a oharge- ofmanslaughter'•:had ". been: brought against the mauagors >of saloon becauso-a lady had died through, the use of carbon > tetra-chloride as a dry shampoo. Today , the cables-.. contain' an..oven .more',tragic 'story of the' death of ..too < people in a London hairdrossing saloon through tho uso of a preparation that, somehow ignited. ' 'i'ho-customer .was ;burned. to death. and;bf.ihe .two .women attendants.-whq'.wera tcrjibjy'hvu'iiftdpwhilo'.trying to extinguish the-blazo one soon afterwards succumbed. ~ ■ .'...',; '.;■:.. ..... ... .; ...,...,■, -. .•.. '. The first case seems to have boon one that need not have been expected, as Harrods testified they had treated from 1 20,000 to 30,000 people with tetra-chloritio, and the death reported was the only, one that they had even heard of. It was; however, proved at the inquest • that ft largo proportion of .those.-'thousands'' might consider themselves.extremely lucky to.have escaped, since the preparation was an extremely, dangerous one. ■..'',:,;'"... ',■".'..•'■,.'";'.'.: ,'' "'. A :woll : known Wellington.'hair specialist, who was asked about the second cablegram, said, that probably the ■preparation used,was petrol, Which,is a.magic cleaner, but. excessively, inflammablcl ' Many of' her customers who ■ had been Home reported on their return that their hair had .been.treated ,with petrol, and. that, ■they:'.had found it very pleasant,'. It •is riot a I hair-wash'; so much as a lather,'that, is'well rubbed into the scalp, aiid afterwards '. evaporates.'. It' can, bnly; be used with ..safety when .there io\'no naked light near, and'tho cablegram w'duld seem to show that the treatment :had, in this case, been left to two. attendants, who-might not prove; so careful as. tho prin-. :cipals. would have been.'■."■■•''■■■■'"■• : , Petrol-is never used in Wellington hairdressling saloons,''-nor is tetrn-chlondd.,■ In 'fact, people do not go in for: dry shampoos.as is done in England, and they 6eem to bo wise. ■' ■-.•■' '• '• 'V ; Of course tha temptation-to use some quick.drying preparation is a very-,strong one. for ;thn woman who has little timo to give.to the tedious business of washing her hair./ It. is ivory hard for tho working girl to find timo for this oporatiou, and'mnny a holiday is abbreviated by reason of the necessity. But they will do well-to keep to tho good old-fashioned soap i and water,' at present most, popular ■in New Zealand. :