Crochet Twists Care And Maintenance

[demlew]

Hi everybody! Help please. I just took my hair down from my first install of crochet twists and I have several knotted/loced areas. For background, I'm relaxed, but I'm 10 weeks post-relaxer at this point. When my hair was in the twists, I oiled my scalp a few times a week and also used refresher sprays. When I took my hair down, I used conditioner while I detangled and then pre-pooed. I shampooed with Olaplex and then did a super DC with my trusty SM SuperFruit/SAA/honey mix...and those areas are STILL knotted. Any advice?

I'm headed to the beauty supply, so please advise if there's a different detangler I should try because Mane N Tail did not work. Also, I loved the ease of this style, so I'd appreciate advice on how to prevent the tangling in the future.

**I just realized the section that's tangled is also the most relaxer-resistant/coarse. TIA!

 

[MzSwift]

First,

I'm relaxed and I wear crochet twists all of the time. I also stretch my relaxers 6-8 months so I wear these late into my stretches. You can totally do it! Forgive me if you already know this but two big things I want to stress when wearing added hair/extensions are:

1) Use as little product as possible on the hair and scalp. Any moisturizer I use on my scalp and hair while in extensions is at least 90% water in order to reduce buildup that occurs where the extension hair meets my hair. That buildup causes the hair to mat/loc and it also entangles shed hair which can make the knots larger. My daily spray mix is 90% water + 10% coneless condish (protein and moisturizing) and a few squirts of oils.

2)Remove as much shed hair as possible with your hands/comb/brush BEFORE you wet your hair with any water or product. Wetting your hair with product or water with the shed hair causes it to form larger knots and mats.

My detangling process: This is really hard to explain, please let me know if I'm not clear. When I have large knots, I primarily use lots of oil and my fingers to work it out. First, I massage the ball by rolling it between my fingers to try to loosen it up. I also try to spread it apart as wide as possible without breaking off any hair. Then, while holding the ends of the matted clump of hair straight out away from my head, I pull each individual strand of hair out of the ball. I pull each individual strand out toward my scalp while keeping tension on the ends of the rest of the ball. It takes a long time because I have super fine strands but it's worth it. I have MBL hair so if I don't do this I could lose half my length. I hope it makes sense.

I'm also trying to find a YT vid of someone doing something similar to what I'm trying to explain. LOL

 

[MzSwift]

Even though I'm texlaxed, I still primarily finger detangle. I only use a comb when I'm getting ready to straighten my hair. I detangle my hair like this. At about the 3:25 mark you can see where she gets a knot while the shed hair is coming out. That's how I pull the individual strands out while still keeping tension on the hair. HTH!

 

[demlew]

First,

I'm relaxed and I wear crochet twists all of the time. I also stretch my relaxers 6-8 months so I wear these late into my stretches. You can totally do it! Forgive me if you already know this but two big things I want to stress when wearing added hair/extensions are:

1) Use as little product as possible on the hair and scalp. Any moisturizer I use on my scalp and hair while in extensions is at least 90% water in order to reduce buildup that occurs where the extension hair meets my hair. That buildup causes the hair to mat/loc and it also entangles shed hair which can make the knots larger. My daily spray mix is 90% water + 10% coneless condish (protein and moisturizing) and a few squirts of oils.

2)Remove as much shed hair as possible with your hands/comb/brush BEFORE you wet your hair with any water or product. Wetting your hair with product or water with the shed hair causes it to form larger knots and mats.

My detangling process: This is really hard to explain, please let me know if I'm not clear. When I have large knots, I primarily use lots of oil and my fingers to work it out. First, I massage the ball by rolling it between my fingers to try to loosen it up. I also try to spread it apart as wide as possible without breaking off any hair. Then, while holding the ends of the matted clump of hair straight out away from my head, I pull each individual strand of hair out of the ball. I pull each individual strand out toward my scalp while keeping tension on the ends of the rest of the ball. It takes a long time because I have super fine strands but it's worth it. I have MBL hair so if I don't do this I could lose half my length. I hope it makes sense.

I'm also trying to find a YT vid of someone doing something similar to what I'm trying to explain. LOL

Thank you for such a thorough reply. Everything you said makes sense. I’ll make a daily spray based on your ratio. My cousin is helping me right now and she’s saying the same things I know what I did wrong now. I didn’t get rid of enough shed hair - or use the right technique. Lesson learned. Thanks again.

ETA: I just watched the video. It was a helpful visual and her hair is beautiful! And yeah...that's not at all how I handled it smh My cousin's going to school me some more so this doesn't happen again.