A horrified mother took to Facebook begging for help after her daughter ended up with 20 toys tangled in her hair.
Margaret Coull said she thought she ‘was going to pass out’ after seeing the Bunchems tangled in her 10-year-old daughter Rose’s long brown hair.
Bunchems, a popular Christmas toy, are small coloured plastic balls that stick together allowing children to create different shapes and characters.
But when one of Rose’s mischievous five-year-old twin brothers got hold of them, disaster struck.
Margaret Coull said she thought she ‘was going to pass out’ after seeing the Bunchems tangled in her 10-year-old daughter Rose’s long brown hair
Rose’s mischievous five-year-old twin brothers got hold of the toys and disaster struck
About 20 of the toys became embedded in the youngster’s hair, leaving Mrs Coull struggling to get any of them out.
Mrs Coull said: ‘Her brother Angus put the whole bunch on her head. They all torment each other. Needless to say, I wasn’t a happy mum.
‘By the time we’d lifted them off, about 20 were embedded.
‘It was horrendous. I thought I was going to pass out, my daughter was hysterical and I honestly thought they’d have to be cut out.’
The 41-year-old from Scotland, decided to call on Facebook mums to help solve the problem.
She posted a picture of Rose’s hair in the Cheadle Mums Facebook group and was inundated with advice with suggestions from fabric conditioner to coconut oil.
After two-and-a-half hours and some invaluable help from her sister Celia, Rose’s hair was finally Bunchem-free.
Mrs Coull added: ‘I used a mixture of everyone’s tips plus Google. We used a comb, skewers, scissors – to snip bits of hair and cut some of the Bunchems in half – conditioner, vegetable oil, fabric conditioner, but they still wouldn’t budge.
‘Eventually we stuck her in the bath, loads more conditioner, combs, various brushes, Tangle Teezer and the remaining 15 out of 20 were removed.
‘I have no idea how we got them out, more credit to my sister. It shows you how social media groups are invaluable, along with Google.
‘The rest have been binned. I’m hoping Rose and her twin brothers will have learnt their lesson.’
Margaret Coull spent two hours using conditioner, vegetable oil, fabric conditioner, a comb, skewers and scissors to remove the Bunchems
Following the launch of the product in 2015, manufacturer Spin Master was made aware of other similar incidents and has since produced a video showing people how to play with them, and more importantly how to remove them should they get tangled in hair.
The Bunchems packaging and directions clearly state: ‘Caution: Keep away from hair. May become entangled’.
In a statement the company said: ‘Since Spin Master launched Bunchems in August 2015, we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from children, parents and industry partners.
‘Bunchems are colourful, soft, tactile balls that make endless creations, however, they are intended only to be adhered to other Bunchems.
‘This is particularly important for parents and caregivers to understand.
Bunchems, a popular Christmas toy, are small coloured plastic balls that stick together allowing children to create different shapes and characters
‘Immediately after the product was released in 2015 and after hearing from a few consumers about hair entanglement, we quickly developed instructional videos for our YouTube channel and website as a way to proactively educate people on how to play with the product and how to remove Bunchems from hair if they do get tangled.’
It adds: ‘We are also very careful to avoid depicting any creations in our marketing materials that show an end result that could be ‘worn’ or placed on or near hair. The vast majority of calls our customer care team receives are from people trying to find the product at retail.
‘We want everyone to enjoy the endless play Bunchems provides, and to ensure safe fun, we encourage consumers to follow the directions carefully and properly.’