About Detangling Natural Hair, Is it hard?

B

blaque_syren

New Member
Hello all, I'm once again adressing all the naturals on this board, I'm very glad my post got you all's attention! This is my second post for the day, I really plan on taking advantage of my board subscription :grin:.

I look forward to becoming natural hopefully in the next year or so, and am trying to get as much useful info as I possibley can. What I would really like to know is what is the general concensus on you all's feelings whan it comes to detangling your hair. Is being natural such a full blown commitment? Is detangling the hardest part of being a natural, how tramatic or not is it for you, and also what are your detangling regimens?

I would also appreciate it if you could post your hair texture and whether or not your are coarse or fine? thanx guys!

~<3
 
When I was natural (from birth to 17) detangling was not hard as long as I used products that provided me with slip. I definitely did not comb completely dry. I could detangle in the shower in less than 10 minutes or with a detangler on freshly washed hair. Now that I'm transitioning, it takes me about 20-25 minutes to detangle with Aubrey Organics on freshly washed hair in 4 sections. If I don't use that, it will take me about an hour. So it depends on the products you use to aide in detangling. Some people can detangle easily by just applying oil. When I was natural, I only washed my hair every 3 weeks so I only detangled every 3 weeks. Now I wash weekly and detangle bi-weekly.

So, to sum it up, I don't think it's that time consuming at all unless you let your hair mat. I'm 4a. Before I thought I had coarse hair but now that I'm transitioning, it doesn't feel so coarse but it's not fine. In between I guess.
 
Detangling can be a nightmare if you're rushing and if you have little patience. But if you can dedicate some time to your hair and giving it some TLC, then it can be one of the most rewarding accomplishments ever!

With that said, even for a 4B head like mine, you can go for years w/o detangling if you avoid letting you hair tangle in the first place. The last time I detangled my hair was one time in 2008. Before that, I cannot honestly think of a time I had to. Why? I never let my hair tangle. I keep it stretched when I go to sleep and I comb it out when I wear it out. I never do WNGs, and if I plan to wear a style for longer than a day, it's usually a style that involves keeping my hair locked in a stretched state like braids or twists. Whenever I do twist-outs, I make sure to finger comb and retwist the hair back at the end of the day--which is why I rarely wear twist-outs coz it takes forever to put them to bed, since I tend to do micro twists. The one time in 2008 when I had to detangle was because I was too lazy to retwist at bedtime and I paid for that.

I detangled it with fingers (I find that to allow me better control and therefore least damage) and I used conditioner on dry hair--a secret I learned from Happily me. It was not as bad as I thought it'd be, but it's not something I'd want to be doing all the time. So I keep my hair in a state that doesn't allow it to tangle.
 
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For me, detangling is not a difficult step in my regimen. Ever since joining this forum in January, I've paid close attention to how my kinky strands work. In the beginning though, I was handling my hair as if it were straight and it sounds like a no-brainer but it took me a while to realize I have to handle my hair differently. Lisa Akbari's youtube video on detangling afro hair really opened my eyes to this way of thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVzPoeq3cYg&feature=related

Right now, the hardest part of being natural is the styling part. Being okay with frizz and finding styles that are age-appropriate/neat but at the same time aren't tight and damaging are some challenges I'm dealing with. (I'm on a personal protective styling challenge this year.) HTH
 
It use to be and I use to dread it. I find prepooing helps me though because I can finger detangle before 'pooing. I wash in sections I don't give it a chance to fully detangle. Then I unbraid each section and comb and detangle my DC and section back up.

Finger detangling and stretched styles helped me.
 
Detangling was never hard for me, especially when I employ these two techniques:

*use lots of conditioner with slip
*move in sections, clipping or twisting the rest of my hair up

Now that I have discovered oil rinses, it's even easier. The trick to making sure your hair is not super oily after rinsing is to rinse the oil out with hot water, then wash your hair with conditioner (cowash) to absorb the rest.

*rinse (or shampoo) hair
*apply oil(s) of your choice -- i use EVOO, EVCO, and castor oil
*let sit as long as you want....three minutes or thirty, it's up to you
*rinse with HOT water
*cowash

at this point, it should be extremely easy to detangle, even with your fingers only.

hope that helps!
 
My fine hair strands seem to take a delight in tangling whether wet or dry so detangling is still a major chore. I swear some days my hair is out to get me.
 
Detangling for me is a complete nightmare and I am putting it mildly to say the least!!!!

Ever since I can remember being a small child I hated so much of getting my hair combed after a wash before my hair was pressed. My scalp would stay sore for days.

And now it's even worse it seems. I really thought that I've outgrown being so tenderheaded but apparently I have'nt.

Being as tenderheaded as I am I almost lost all hope of putting braid extensions in knowing I would have to take them down and detangle. But I had to make myself do it if I wanted my hair in a more healthier state and to retain length. I just took my braids out 4 days ago and it actually took me 2 hours just to detangle. It was horrible. My scalp is still sore today behind that. But I know in the long run it's benifitting me. I think I am going to give my hair and scalp a breather right now and try to keep the braids out until the first wk of Sept.

Also, for me I don't like detangling when my hair is wet bc I tend to loose more hair that way then when I detangle dry.

But combing it is a task within itself. My twin on the other hand has a leather scalp.........nothing affects her! But my mother and brother are tenderheaded as well so I guess I got it honestly. Go figure:wallbash:
 
Detangling hasn't been hard for me, but I do agree that whenever you plan on doing the whole shampooing/conditioning/detangling thing that you need to allow yourself enough time. I have 3c,4a & 4b hair, primarily 4a, very fine and it forms pretty tight coils, so I do have to be careful not to get single strand knots. Unless my hair has been straightened, I never like to go longer than a week without detangling because the accumulated shed hairs will cause more tangles. While my hair is still wet, I put a little oil into the hair (rosemary*great for fine hair* or amla) and comb the hair out in 4 - 6 sections with a pick or wide tooth comb. Then I like to go over each section with a denman brush, it slips through like butter. It takes me between 20-30 minutes to do, and I have thick MBL hair. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to detangle once you bc.
 
i don't find it difficult at all

i always detangle my hair in the shower with a wide tooth comb (usually w/ conditioner still in)
i have nappy/kinky hair
 
I have been natural (or without relaxer) for at least 5 years. I find that my hair does NOT tangle up much as long as keep the ends fresh (via a trim OR just well moisturized) AND I use a sufficient protein/moisture balance with conditioning and/or co-washes. I recently bought a steamer and it seems that my hair won't ever tangle again. LOL

So to save yourself some trouble, try to learn early on if you are a protein lover OR moisture lover as this will help you put together a routine that will keep tangles at bay.
 
Detangling isn't too hard anymore now that I only detangle in sections and shampoo and condition in twists. The "hard" part sometimes is the styling part, especially if I'm trying to straighten it. But detangling used to be hard for me so I figure with patience, time, and practice, the styling part will get easier too. So long as I do twists and twist-outs I'm good, that's easy! Patience is key though and understanding that it just takes time to master techniques and figure out your hair's likes and needs. One thing for sure is that my hair thrives when it is relaxer-free.

ETA: My hair is mostly medium/thick, 4a/4b, the nape is fine though, my crown is 3c.
 
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For me, detangling my hair is the most difficult part of my entire regimen for several reasons: (1) my hair becomes curlier as it progresses down the hair shaft and is most curly along the last several inches; (2) these spirals have a tendency to intertwine amongst themselves and create havoc; (3) no single hair product provides the slip necessary for successful detangling, so I have to create it in order to get the job done.

In order to effectively detangle my hair, I have to keep it in a relatively untangled state, which is why I had to excise co-washing, wash-n-gos and ponytail/bun air drying from my routine. To create slip, I add oils to my deep conditioners and leave-in, and will only detangle after the DC process has ended (e.g., post steaming or after the DC has been allowed to sit for a few hours). The addition of oils and the suspension of detangling until after the DC and oils have been allowed to penetrate have made a huge difference in my ability to detangle. Subsequently, I section my hair into quarters, apply my leave-in to each quarter, and finish by braiding each section into a granny-Celie braid to air dry. I no longer use a moisturizer or seal with oil because my leave-in keeps my hair moisturized in between my weekly washes.
 
For me...No.. as long as my hair is damp , plenty of condish with slip...asnd a nice wide tooth comb i'm good. only part that gets a lil rough is the crown area and for that just add some more conditioner. Also detangling my hair is small sections makes life so much easier.
 
detangling isn't too bad for me. i am between sl and apl and i detangle in 2 sections in the shower with a wide tooth comb and conditioner. when i transitioned last year, i detangled dry and it was a nightmare. doing it when i wash makes all the difference for me. HTH

i agree with some of the other responses though that the natural styling was the difficult part. for me i was expecting to treat my hair the same as relaxed hair so i was always fighting it during the transition. but once i got better at straightening and embraced my curl when i decided to skip the heat, everything got a lot better. the ladies on here are great for finding out about what products are out there and which ones are a waste of money. HHG
 
Detangling is my least favorite part of the hair routine. It takes so long (nearly two hours). I shed A LOT, so I have to make sure that I get all of the shed hairs out b/c my hair tangles quite a bit as it is and the shed hair intertwining with the unshed hair just makes it worse.

I detangle on damp hair with the Jane Carter Solution Leave-In & castor oil. I can't detangle on wet hair b/c I lose too much hair that way.

To answer the question, though, I find detangling to be extremely aggravating.
 
Nope I detangle once a week in the shower with lots of conditioner. I think that's essential to do it under running water in sections.
 
Nonie said:
Detangling can be a nightmare if you're rushing and if you have little patience. But if you can dedicate some time to your hair and giving it some TLC, then it can be one of the most rewarding accomplishments ever!

With that said, even for a 4B head like mine, you can go for years w/o detangling if you avoid letting you hair tangle in the first place. The last time I detangled my hair was one time in 2008. Before that, I cannot honestly think of a time I had to. Why? I never let my hair tangle. I keep it stretched when I go to sleep and I comb it out when I wear it out. I never do WNGs, and if I plan to wear a style for longer than a day, it's usually a style that involves keeping my hair locked in a stretched state like braids or twists. Whenever I do twist-outs, I make sure to finger comb and retwist the hair back at the end of the day--which is why I rarely wear twist-outs coz it takes forever to put them to bed, since I tend to do micro twists. The one time in 2008 when I had to detangle was because I was too lazy to retwist at bedtime and I paid for that.

I detangled it with fingers (I find that to allow me better control and therefore least damage) and I used conditioner on dry hair--a secret I learned from Happily me. It was not as bad as I thought it'd be, but it's not something I'd want to be doing all the time. So I keep my hair in a state that doesn't allow it to tangle.
Click to expand...


Excellent!! I do the same. There's no problem for me, the hair just simply melts into "detanglement" in the shower without all the fuss, because I keep it in a state that it doesn't tangle.
 
The short answer is that it's not hard...it just takes patience. Also the right products go a looonnnggg way!
 
I'm a coarse type 4 and detangling takes me 5-10 minutes. I use a Denman and detangle when wet. I'm not tenderheaded and I don't get a lot of knots or tangles, so it's never been a problem for me. I agree with Nonie about not letting your hair get tangled in the first place.
 
^^^That's so funny because even when I was relaxed, my hair tangled like nobody's business...Le sigh...
 
For me detangling has been the easiest part, especially with all the condition washing I do. My hair over time has become conditioned to the point where I can finger detangle only. I don't use a comb or brush. The right conditioner is criticial to my routine.
 
Detangling actually hasn't been too rough for me. I do a kind of finger detangle in the shower and separate my hair into braids or twists while there is conditioner it. I do that before shampooing. Then I shampoo and dc. After I dc I comb it twist by twist, rinse it out and that's it.
 
For me, it's gotten harder as it's gotten longer. I now detangle in 2 sections in the shower slathered with conditioner. I'm 4a/3c BSL.
 
My hair is thick strands of 2c in front/ and fine strands of 3b in the back, but it tangles EXTREMELY bad all over if it gets dry or if I don't maintain it properly. I always have found that wide-tooth combing in the shower while my hair is swabbed with conditioner (Suave Almond/Shea Butter) and keeping my hair moisturized 24/7 makes all the difference in the world when it comes to SSK's and tangles.
 
It all depends on the hair. I can detangle my hair in under a minute, but some people say it can take longer. It can also depend on the length and thickness.

OP you really won't have a clear sense of how long the process will take until you BC
 
Janet' said:
^^^That's so funny because even when I was relaxed, my hair tangled like nobody's business...Le sigh...
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, my dd's hair is a different story. Does fine hair tangle and knot faster than coarse? Because her hair takes me forever to detangle, even when I keep it stretched. Plus she's tenderheaded.:nono::nono::nono::nono::nono:
 
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