No. The grease didn't do it.
My neice used that grease for many years and her hair was BEAUTIFUL. It wasn't until my sister used water with it, that it turned to wool and broke off.
And her hair was NOT dirty. We always had our hair washed 3x a week. My family always did this.
LACK OF CARE?? My family has always had great haircare practices. I don't know about your family, but my family stays clean.
Dirty?!?! Lack of care?!?! I feel like you've insulted me!
I think what happened to your niece's hair could possibly have something to do with the mineral oil and petroleum waxes that is normally contained in grease. When added to water on the hair strands, the combination may have clogged the cuticles, therefore causing breakage from becoming dry and as a result it prevented added needed moisture from getting into the cuticles of the hair, especially if the hair was not clarified often enough.
This is not to say that your niece's hair was not cleaned on a regular basis, but that it
may not have been clarified regularly to prevent the mineral oil/petroleum wax build up on it. I am just trying to think of what may have caused the breakage. I don't think it was the grease or the water individually but the actual combination of both that caused the breakage. We all know that product build-up can not really come off with regular poos unfortunately. I have learned this myself, the hard way. What are your thoughts?