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A boy rubbed chocolate on/in his hair.

I am not sure if we say "the chocolate is on/in his hair"

If "the chocolate is on his hair", then we "wipe the chocolate off his hair".

If "the chocolate is in his hair", then we "wipe the chocolate out of his hair".

But normally, we use "wipe on a surface" and I am not sure if hair is a surface.

Some suggest to say "clean the chocolate out of his hair" but I couldn't find any structure "to clean dirt/things out of something" in dictionaries

or "wash the chocolate out of his hair" but we didn't use any water, so the action can not be "wash".

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    If the chocolate was deliberately rubbed in (rather than accidentally getting onto the surface of the hair), I would say 'He has chocolate in his hair." If you are not sure what verb to use for the cleaning-up process, you could simply say "we got the chocolate out of his hair." Presumably you must at least have used a damp cloth, so wipe, rub or clean are all possible.
    – Kate Bunting
    Apr 2, 2021 at 8:39
  • [Someone suggested saying x; not suggested to say]
    – Lambie
    Nov 30, 2021 at 19:30
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    Kids usually smear stuff, they don't rub it. The kid smeared chocolate all over this face or hair. smear. And parents scrub it off. Rub is not the right verb here. You rub oil or cream on your skin.
    – Lambie
    Nov 30, 2021 at 19:33
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    If a kid has a lot of chocolate in his hair, you wash his hair.
    – Lambie
    Nov 30, 2021 at 20:33

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"The chocolate is on his hair" means the chocolate is on the top surface of the hair, e.g. the tips of the hair. Then you would "wipe it off".

"The chocolate is in his hair" means it is below the top surface of the hair, possibly on the scalp as well.

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