I'm letting Joey's hair grow too, and I use to spray a little hair spray on a toothbrush and use that, but Joey recently got a scratched cornea, and since we don't know what caused it, I stopped with the hair spray. I so wished I started this as a puppy; I hate the fact that the hair seems to always be poking his eyes. Water works for about 5 minutes. I do have one suggestion that helps. I use two bands the first one is rather low on the forehead and the second further up; this helps with the shorter hairs. Here's a link that gives instructions.
Casual Way to Put Dog Bows In