Detangling

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I'm transitioning; but, when I was relaxed completely, it was easier to detangle. While my hair is not difficult to detangle, it takes more time than it did while relaxing.

 

[janeemat]

I'm also relaxed and I truly feel your pain!!!! I cannot stand wash days if I'm over 8 weeks post relaxer. I dread my detangling session. Hate it! I'm starting to think the more textures I have on my head, the harder it is to detangle. Might have to start bonelaxing.

I totally agree with everything you have said here. The culprit is stretching and texlaxed hair. I never had detangling problems with relaxed hair until i came on the boards and began stretching and texlaxing my hair. I was thinking that I should go bone straight as well. To the op, I was thinking the same thing a few days ago about natural hair when watching some yt videos. Their hair seem sooooo easy to detangle when wet. It has to be the 2 textures being at war.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie That's true, when I saw her hair in the video, I was like "Her hair isn't tangled." But what you say about no need to detangle if you don't allow tangles is something I've been thinking about since I got the cornrows in last week. When I take them down, the only thing I really need to do as I unbraid one cornrow at a time is remove shed hairs, then keep it stretched in sections as I wash, cowash, DC and M&S. If I do that, then detangling should become a rare instance for me.

Charla, exactly! And what you do, when you undo one cornrow, and comb it through and remove shed hair. Braid it up in a single plait. Why? You keep it stretched and you ensure the hair stays detangled.

In other words, don't wait until all the hair is fully detangled to then part it into plaits for the wash. Undo and plait as you undo. The removal of tangles you do immediately should not be in vain. Leaving your hair loose will make it curl up on itself and tangle.

I do this whether I'm undoing my braids or twists to wear my hair out. Keep the hair that's been undone stretched and "detangled" while I work on the rest.

 

[janeemat]

Funny I just checked out the yt and was watching her earlier today. She is not one of the naturals I was referring to. I'm 9 wks post and getting ready to rinse my cond off so that I can tackle the detangling process to do a rollerset.

 

[LovelyNaps26]

Naturals have to detangle in small sections or risk ripping hair out. If you're relaxed and you do this you'll loose less hair for sure. still i don't think the section need be as small. She who shall not be named, i would guess did some detangling off camera.

i had BSL relaxed hair and when i had it coated with Tresemme or some $3 cholesterol in the shower detangling was breeze AND i didn't use a wide tooth comb. my hair is mostly 4b by the way and fairly thick with medium and coarse strands.

maybe being natural for 7 years and made my memory foggy but i didn't spend more than 30 minutes in the shower between bathing, shampooing, conditioning and detangling. now, at almost natural MBL detangling during my pre-poo with hair coated in conditioner and oil takes about an hour. i notice that for every year of growth or for every 5-6 inches, i have to add about another 30 minutes to detangling. this wasn't the case for my relaxed hair when i cut it short and then grew it out longer.

 

[Pierrot]

Hi OP!

I'm natural but used to chemically and heat straighten and never experienced difficulty combing/detangling curly for straight way, but here's my current 'method'

I drench my hair in the shower daily (because I LOVE IT!)
I rinse with an aloe & water mix right before I get out
Post shower I don't section or dry
I comb/detangle using fingers or my Magic Star Mini Rake (magnifique!)
I do this as is OR with a little pomade OR oil OR KCKT - they all work
KCKT is mucilage-packed beyond belief for outrageous slip so I now reach for that first but OH Pomade leaves hair very soft so you may want to try those things if you haven't, particularly on ends.

Also I plait my hair at nights, I'm lousy at it *sigh* but it helps, and for reference my hair is coily/springy/medium-thick strands/thick density/normal porosity

Also, I too flat out distrust everything about she who shall not be named but just like everything else some things are just going to work out easier for some than others regardless of hair or product or astrological sign but I'm not the most experienced in haircare so sorry if this wasn't more helpful.

 

[princessdi]

I'm also relaxed and I truly feel your pain!!!! I cannot stand wash days if I'm over 8 weeks post relaxer. I dread my detangling session. Hate it! I'm starting to think the more textures I have on my head, the harder it is to detangle. Might have to start bonelaxing.

I totally agree with everything you have said here. The culprit is stretching and texlaxed hair. I never had detangling problems with relaxed hair until i came on the boards and began stretching and texlaxing my hair. I was thinking that I should go bone straight as well. To the op, I was thinking the same thing a few days ago about natural hair when watching some yt videos. Their hair seem sooooo easy to detangle when wet. It has to be the 2 textures being at war.

I'm glad some people agree with me. It must be the stretching and texlaxing. My hair is not bone straight and wash days are a pain in the butt. Those tiny little knots are the devil and my hair seems to want to intertwine or tangle around each other creating these god awful knots.

I currently only relax three times a year. Maybe I should relax more to prevent this from happening. I would like to get this under control in 2012.

Several things to think about. Thanks for all of the responses.

 

[princessdi]

Another question. For those of you who were relaxed and didn't have any detangling issues, did you use heat. I only use heat on holidays (normally Thanksgiving and Christmas), so being texlaxed and not using heat I'm sure kinda of contributes to the knots. I also do not comb or detangle my hair every day. It's more like twice a week. Maybe I should detangle more but I don't like the amount of hair that I loose when I do it, so I'd prefer not to see the loss everyday.

I could just scream. I don't know what to do. Detangling in the shower DOES NOT work for me. I end up losing more hair when doing this and using a Denam brush also does not work for me. It's like I'm ripping out my hair.

Something has got to to give. I thought I had it under control but the longer it gets the more problems I seem to have, especially on wash days.erplexed

 

[Zaz]

And you know what, I NEVER detangle. Why? Because I never get tangles. How come? Because I never allow my hair to do crazy ish that would cause tangles. Shake-and-go or wash-n-go falls and under "crazy ish" in my hair's dictionary. I haven't combed my hair with a comb since April 2009. But I haven't let my hair tangle either. I've been in braids or twists, and I remove shed hair when I redo one braid or twist at a time. I finger comb fully to remove the shed hair, and so I always redo a section that has no shed hair and no tangles. In other words, I don't LET tangles enter my hair...so I never have to detangle.

And that's something everyone needs to do. Quit letting tangles enter your hair in the first place and the question in the OP will not even be an issue.

Nonie It may be crazy ish to you, but spending the time to braid/twist my hair and then wearing it in twists/braids ALL THE TIME to me is crazy ish

I'd rather do daily wash n gos and have to spend 10-15 minutes detangling my hair once a week than never being allowed to let my hair out just to prevent tangles *shrug*

 

[MsDee14]

I'm relaxed and I also dread my detangling sessions. The only reason why it's so tedious is because I have so many different textures up in my hair and I have to be careful not to cause any damage. So...I DEF feel your pain.
I use heat about 2-3 times a year so I only air dry.
What works for me is making sure I deep condition with a moisturizing DC mixed with Aloe Vera Gel...then when I wash it out, I apply leave-ins, seal with Grapeseed oil..airdry and detangle in very small sections when my hair is about 80% dry.

Because my hair tangles easily, I have to rely on braids and twists when I'm about 6-8 weeks post.

 

[koolkittychick]

When I would relax my hair every 4 weeks, I never had an issue with detangling, because my hair never got tangled. Now that I stretch my relaxers for up to 3 months at a time, it has become a minor issue, but NOTHING like it was compared to when I was natural. Now that I have a routine down (finger comb to remove big tangles and ease out shed hairs, then comb s-l-o-w-l-y from the roots up in small sections using a w-i-d-e-toothed comb), it takes about 15 minutes.

This NEVER happened with my natural hair--not under running water with an entire bottle of conditioner on it, not even using my fingers, a shower comb or a garden rake--and after a while I tore most of the APL length out because of dreaded sections and SSKs before I gave up and went back to the creamy crack. After finding and joining LHCF, now I know better how to work with it and what kind of products to use should I ever decide to transition back to natural, but for now I like the ease and styling of my relaxed locks, now that I know how to take care of them to get them to grow too.

 

[Meadow]

If you use a good moisturizing leave in conditioner and the "comb from the ends to the top" technique, it will be easier and there will be less wear and tear on the hair. I used this technique when my hair was all natural many years ago and now since I am relaxed. Detangling has never been a issue until I tried to transition again recently. Waaaayyy too much breakage was going on and it scared me. I know it was because of the relaxed hair meeting the coiled hair. I went four months without a relaxer and then I just threw in the towel and went to the salon for a relaxer again yesterday.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 with Google

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie It may be crazy ish to you, but spending the time to braid/twist my hair and then wearing it in twists/braids ALL THE TIME to me is crazy ish

I'd rather do daily wash n gos and have to spend 10-15 minutes detangling my hair once a week than never being allowed to let my hair out just to prevent tangles *shrug*

@Zaz, LOL "crazy ish" wasn't supposed to be a sweeping statement that covered all hair so keep yours on. I was talking about Nonie's hair, hence the reason I said my hair's dictionary, not yours or anyone else's.

What's more, I don't know anyone who wears braids and twists just so as to prevent tangles. That's not why *I* do it. I wear braids and twists because I am lazy and hate doing hair all the damn time. I love the ease of styling twists and braids and the ease of washing them. I could always get locs but I'd get bored because I do love to wear my hair out too. And when I do, I have a whole list of styles I could do that don't involved my hair's definition of crazy ish: from combing my hair out, to wearing braid-outs, twist-outs, Curlformer styles, I could band and wear big hair and if I really was in the mood and cared for a WNG look, I'd shingle. And in each case, NEVER have to detangle. Can't beat that!

So yeah, it's all about what works for one. Braiding with extensions might take me 8 hours but then I only spend a max of 30 minutes a week devoted to my hair's washing (and that's counting the two washes with one being a DC wash), and styling takes anywhere from 0-5 minutes. Dusting or redoing I do while watching TV or talking on the phone, so it doesn't take away from from other things. Oh and no SSKs. Nah, makes so much sense to me.

Trust me when you nail a regimen that avoids detangling, you don't have to sacrifice enjoying your hair. I enjoy mine A LOT! Hence the reason I'm always so sad when I see people fussing about their hair when it's supposed to be a fun adventure.

 

[princessdi]

Oh, I'm not fussing about my hair. In fact, I really enjoy the length and taking care of it. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make wash days a little less tedious, especially when it comes to getting knots and tangles.

What kind of detangling combs are you all using. Maybe I should try a different comb. I currently use one of the following combs:



or



Neither of these combs seem to work very well for me when it comes to detangling. any suggestions for a better comb?

 

[brooklyngal73]

Oh snap it's she who should not be mentioned.
*grabs popcorn*

 

[yaya24]

When I was relaxed I "detangled" by letting water run through my strands.

 

[pre_medicalrulz]

Oh, I'm not fussing about my hair. In fact, I really enjoy the length and taking care of it. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make wash days a little less tedious, especially when it comes to getting knots and tangles.

What kind of detangling combs are you all using. Maybe I should try a different comb. I currently use one of the following combs:



or



Neither of these combs seem to work very well for me when it comes to detangling. any suggestions for a better comb?

I have similar combs as well. As a matter of fact, I have many so called detangling combs. LOL

I have found a technique that recently helped me. After I deep condition for a loooong time (2 hours) I let my hair air dry 90%. I do not put a leave in on while it's drying. For some reason it sticks the hair together and my strands do not relax, making it harder for me to detangle. So once I'm 90% air dried, I start combing in sections. I put a tiny bit of mane and tale on my ends just so they won't be dry while I'm combing but I don't put that stuff throughout the strands of my hair. My hair cannot have product on it or be damped or it will roll up in tiny ssks right before my eyes and totally disrespect me. Once I comb each section successfully then I put cantu shea butter or Elasta QP (whatever moisturizer or leave-in you use) on the strands and seal with oil. I'm almost 16 months post relaxer and right now, that's the only thing that's keeping me from jumping off a cliff. 90% air dry and no leave in while detangling.

My hair does not detangle well in the shower or under running water or with conditioner or with a leave-in or with green eggs and ham.

 

[MsDee14]

^^^^ I'm going to try that! Never thought about applying leave-ins until my hair is 80-90% airdried.

@princessdi I have used both combs and always preferred the shower comb until I started using the Hercules Sagemann: Magic Star Jumbo Rake Comb.
This is by far the best detangling comb I have used. It cost $20.00, but is so worth it.

 

[janeemat]

I still think it's the stretching and texlaxing. When I relaxed every 5 weeks, detangling was NOT a problem. OP I can relate to your wash days and what you are experiencing. I relax 4 times a year and have been thinking about doing it 5 times a year. I have noticed some really healthy/thick heads of hair relaxing 10-12 weeks. That would still be a far cry from every 5 weeks. I am really trying to simplify things in 2012.

 

[Your Cheeziness]

Being texlaxed and relaxed bone straight is different when it comes to "detangling". Being "texlaxed" is a pain in that department, but I just learned to keep my hair in sections and use super slippery conditioner. After I figured that out, it is a breeze. I just finished a 19 week stretch with no problem. I still can't air dry for crap, so I just use heat.

Also, tangles ends are a tale-tell sign for me that it's time for a trim. I just got one this past weekend with my relaxer. Less than .5 inch trimmed and it looks and feels like a whole new head of hair.

 

[Your Cheeziness]

Oh, I'm not fussing about my hair. In fact, I really enjoy the length and taking care of it. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make wash days a little less tedious, especially when it comes to getting knots and tangles.

What kind of detangling combs are you all using. Maybe I should try a different comb. I currently use one of the following combs:



or



Neither of these combs seem to work very well for me when it comes to detangling. any suggestions for a better comb?

I don't like those either. I tolerate the shower comb, but it's not my fav. I use a regular comb and a paddle brush when my hair is being extra. But, I rarely need to take it there.

It looks something like this:

After rinsing my hair, I apply a serum. It's slip city throughout the rest of my styling.

 

[MsLi@512]

OT: OP ur hair is ridiculous!

 

[keepithealthy]

I never knew what detnagling hair was until I went natural...
p.s. OP I lurve your hair!

 

[kblc06]

Although we usually have different hair philosophies, I definitely agree with the bolded. I normally detangle under running water with sopping wet hair w/ Tresemme or GVP detangler. If it takes me more than 10 minutes or so to remove all the shed hair and prevent tangling, then I know it's either time to trim or re-evaluate my regimen. I also encourage people to invest in a Goody detangling comb and Denman brush . Prior to my shedding issue (which I've gotten under control ), my hair is very dense, from the crown to nape area, but I still never had any real trouble. Wearing wash n gos in which my hair doesn't have sufficient hold from styling products forcing the curls to clump together is a nono

OK, first of all, when did "combing hair" become "detangling hair"?



And you know what, I NEVER detangle. Why? Because I never get tangles. How come? Because I never allow my hair to do crazy ish that would cause tangles. Shake-and-go or wash-n-go falls and under "crazy ish" in my hair's dictionary. I haven't combed my hair with a comb since April 2009. But I haven't let my hair tangle either. I've been in braids or twists, and I remove shed hair when I redo one braid or twist at a time. I finger comb fully to remove the shed hair, and so I always redo a section that has no shed hair and no tangles. In other words, I don't LET tangles enter my hair...so I never have to detangle.

When I had relaxed hair, tangles were not welcome either and I never let my hair tangle. I never let difference in texture discourage me from combing my hair. When I had new growth, I used Paltas BKC Hair Treatment on my growth and baggied. This made my new growth soft and comb-able the way S Curl does my natural hair. And so I could take a fine tooth comb, part a small section and run the comb from roots to ends. I'd do this till all the roots where combed through and then I'd return to using my wide tooth comb to style the main body of my hair. My roots didn't tangle because I'd combed through it. Baggying nightly kept it soft. (I know some relaxed people who use S Curl for their new growth and if I were relaxed now, that's probably what I'd do. Application has to be meticulous: You part a narrow section, apply to new growth, comb through, repeat.)

And that's something everyone needs to do. Quit letting tangles enter your hair in the first place and the question in the OP will not even be an issue.

 

[lustrous]

Op i too was struggling with this at one point. I've had to detangle both my relaxed and natural hair. Relaxed hair takes less time for me but i must be gentle and not comb it wet unless i am standing in the shower under a stream of water. The shower stream method also made natural hair easier to detangle.

Do you detangle in sections? i live by small sections. Also i have combs similar to the ones you posted and i now only use those at the end of my detangling session. I use a soft boar bristle brush on 80% air dried and conditioned hair. ends to roots, i brush until the hair is fluffy. Then i go over everything with a big comb and call it a day. In between wash days the soft brush followed by the comb is enough.

-Key points for me
DONT wash tangled hair. The water/shampoo will just make it mat. ( and if you have to, work through the hair in sections with a con that has stellar slip, as you detangle make a plait to prevent wayward strands from getting all into each others business again )
DONT detangle wet hair out of the shower- snap crackle and pop
A great leave in coupled with a serum like chi silk gives my hair great slip when detangling. HTH

-d

 

[lustrous]

also- expecting that detangling will take longer and become more tedious as your length increases will help. i know it sounds counter intuitive and negative but its just meant to be realistic. I let go of the notion that my hair will take seconds to detangle or will be at any and every point in time be receptable to a full hand run through without a single snag. i lost that after 5 inches. i make my expectations proprtional to the length and amount of time i put into detangling.( i.e every day vs 3x a week)

 

[princessdi]

Thanks ladies. I just washed tonight (in sections) and it did seem a lot easier to work with. However, I was in a hurry and decided to dry for a few minutes under the dryer and that was a no no for me. My hair was a lot harder feeling than it is when I air dry. It just didn't have that soft feel. I won't be doing that again.

At my next wash, I'm going to try NOT putting my leave-in in prior to detangling. I think you may be onto something there. I also want that Magic Star Jumbo Rake Comb.

Maybe, with these little adjustments, my detangling issues will go away.

 

[princessdi]

I never knew what detnagling hair was until I went natural...
p.s. OP I lurve your hair!

Thanks girl. I like yours too. I wish I had your thickness.

 

[IslandDiva08]

............

 

[Geminigirl]

Oh snap it's she who should not be mentioned. *grabs popcorn*

I'm on my phone so I'm reading posts with the screw face on like what year is this? Who bumped this old a$$ ish and what for? I guess this is current. It doesn't show the year only dates on my app.

excuse my typos i hate it as much as you.