HELP!! My braids are a matted mess!!

[MRJ1972]

Hi Ladies!!!

I hope that there is someone up that can help me!!

Im removing my 3 month old sew in and have discovered that my braids are matted at the scalp- its even safe to say they are borderline dreds!!

This have NEVER happened to me before!!

I am so upset! I have managed to detangle one side of my hair using oils and conditioner-and this is the shed hair so far! Yikes!!

The other side is not bulging!! If i soak the remaining hair in oil and conditioner, do u think I will be able to save my hair!!

Please help me!!

 

[silenttullip]

I would try conditioner and maybe oil or just water and oil to moisturize and loosen the matting... When I do individual braids on my regular hair after 3 weeks roots are dread city I spray some water and gently unravel if things still feel dry I add a cheap conditioner or oil and be VERY gentle... I'm no hair genius but that amount of hair doesn't look bad for 3 months because it kinda seems like u put it really close to the cam so I'm thinking its not bad as it seems
Also if u want maybe baggie that side so it can be really moist and then try. Remember u shed 75-100 a day so it doesn't look bad to me hth

bumping for more info

 

[Nonie]

Yes, I believe you can save your hair. Some people say applying oil and leaving it in for a spell will help so perhaps baggy with oil?

OK, you said this has never happened to you before, so did you do something this time around that you'd never done before? I'm sorry I don't know much about weaves but I'll try to find folks who wear weaves and tag them for you.

 

[silenttullip]

Yes, I believe you can save your hair. Some people say applying oil and leaving it in for a spell will help so perhaps baggy with oil?

OK, you said this has never happened to you before, so did you do something this time around that you'd never done before? I'm sorry I don't know much about weaves but I'll try to find folks who wear weaves and tag them for you.

lol i just had added that to mine and then saw urs lol

 

[nissi]

whatever you do, do not use water! use an oil, the water or water based product will possibly make your hair coil more. if you use conditioner, pour some oil in it to give it slip...

 

[MRJ1972]

Im on my phone- so THANKS to all of you!!

I am in a panic mode so I am going to bed to refrain from ripping my hair out any further! Will baggy with oil and conditioner.

Here is another pic of shed hair! Im new to this photo thing! Lol

Sigh! But i guess it looks the same! Just seems like a ton of hair in person!

Nonie- The only thing that I can recall doing different is saturating the braids more than usual on wash days with conditioner!! My hair is already fine so i can afford to lose strands! Lol

Im thinking i will scale back to 2 months for future installs and im going to take a month off from weaves and wear buns to rest my hair.

Thanks again ladies! Good night

 

[ms-gg]

I agree with nissi: DO NOT PUT WATER ON HAIR THAT IS MATTED. You will have to cut it off.

 

[Nonie]

Nonie- The only thing that I can recall doing different is saturating the braids more than usual on wash days with conditioner!! My hair is already fine so i can afford to lose strands! Lol

:scratchch ...I always advise people not to apply conditioner close to the base of their braids when wearing extension singles so that residue doesn't collect at the base of the braids and create a breaking point...but I don't know how one can condition cornrows w/o applying conditioner in a way that could cause the problems I try to avoid with singles. Hopefully pros will be here to help you tweak your regimen.

 

[MRJ1972]

Thanks again everyone!!

Definitely didnt wet my hair! Im up bright and early to work on this birds nest!

Will let u know how it goes

Nonie

Im still at a lost as to why my hair is matted. Ive always washed weekly and kept the weaves for 3 months max! Ive followed the weave rules! Lol- oh well

Off to detangle!

 

[iri9109]

Thanks again everyone!!

Definitely didnt wet my hair! Im up bright and early to work on this birds nest!

Will let u know how it goes

Nonie

Im still at a lost as to why my hair is matted. Ive always washed weekly and kept the weaves for 3 months max! Ive followed the weave rules! Lol- oh well

Off to detangle!

i think too frequent washing may also be the culprit...when i first got my weave i was washing every week and my tracks/braids started to loosen way quicker, and the looseness just gives the hair more room to stick together and mat, along with the 1+ inches of new growth you probably have...if you didnt get them touched up/tightened up during the duration of your weave then that might cause a problem...i just took out a friends weave and she had it in for almost 4 months and it was matted but i took my time and detangled each section with conditioner and a tangle teezer/denman paddle as i went along before i moved on to the next braid and it was much easier...however 100 shed hairs a day X 90 days = more or less 9000 hairs that have to come out so i dont your shed hair is that bad...when working on the other side, take your time and detangle in small sections with lots of oil.

 

[Nonie]

Thanks again everyone!!
Nonie

Im still at a lost as to why my hair is matted. Ive always washed weekly and kept the weaves for 3 months max! Ive followed the weave rules! Lol- oh well

Off to detangle!

As I said, I believe it is what you said you did differently: using too much conditioner. If you think about it, it's not easy to rinse conditioner out of cornrows, then you have the additional hair getting in the way, not to mention the weft.... You'd have to rinse for a long, long, long time to get out all the conditioner. Any left behind becomes a type of glue. Now imagine that just building up with every subsequent wash.

I remember a time folks were discussing how long they rinse conditioner out of their hair. I was in braids then so I'd rinse for a long long long time. I estimated it to be about 5 minutes back then. I don't think it's that long really, but I was anal about making sure there is no more froth coming out of my hair...not forgetting that I don't apply conditioner near my scalp--which would not work if I had a weave. So TBH I don't think I'd have a clue on how to manage weaves. I probably would just shampoo my scalp and then trust baggying/sebum to condition my hair. I'd be terrified of the "glue" locking my cornrows.

 

[Nubenap22]

Just to figure out how did this happen did you wash too frequently and not rinse well enough? Usually when I have a weave install in, I wash my scalp about once every 2-3 weeks. I'll wash the shaft of the hair about once a week.

Also you have to think the head sheds about 50-100 hairs a day anyways.....so If its been in there three months theres a ton of shed hairs.

 

[silenttullip]

Hope all goes well and sorry about the water suggestion didn't mean to steer you in the wrong direction it had just worked for me in the past.

 

[glamazon386]

Wow I've never had this happen to me before. I agree with the oil or conditioner suggestion. I'd try leaving it on overnight and then try to carefully comb it out. The first ball of shed hair actually doesn't look that bad for 3 months though.

Where is OP? What happened?

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Hi. Hopefully I can help. Thanks for the tag Nonie. So I'm always in braids (lately) or if not, I've started back keeping my hair protective styled via weave (so that I can have more style). If you look at my siggie (or myhair album..) then you'll see that I have managed to keep my hair from NOT being damaged while in braids (from the progress results which are my own hair)

That doesn't mean I haven't had a mat it means I know how to deal with them.

DROP the comb and step away until you have the right tools. I agree conditioner and oil are helpful but you could use a ton of hair that way (more if you don't use them) especially if you have an especially tricky tangle. I reserve oil and condish for a basic tangle (not a mess that looks dreadish). There are a couple of products (one at your local walgreens/cvs) and another which can be delivered online via amazon in a day that help me immensely (the tangels unravel on their own with these products).

I use this combined with this:

and

The last one I found out about on lhcf and is for horses, but they say can be used on people as well. So you might be able to find it at walmart or a petstore I know I know but really this stuff is amazing. IF you slather it on a dread and rub it in, wait a minute, it will start unraveling when you touch it again. Then you slather more as you go.

If you don't have that...or it doesn't work the Just for me brand is my second line of defense. I always have it on my shelf..always. For you I'd buy two bottles just in case, and spray vigourously (I've even took off the spray nozzle and poured some directly on the area with tangles lol and waited a minute before tackling it). It's really the best detangler I've found besides cowboy and it is in your local kids section of any hair, or walgreens, cvs store.

now that you have the right products and you've saturated your hair (and waited a couple minutes) you can pick up the comb again. You may lose a little hair but nothing like what you're doing now. HTH

I implore you to at least get the just for me and you'll see it works a lot better than condish and oil. IDK why but it's really a god send if you want to save your hair.

 

[hair4romheaven]

When my hair matted a little I used taaliah waajid mist bodifier it literally melts the tangles away. I wear weaves 3 months at a time wash every 2 weeks sometimes I may wash the weave hair during the week. I know my hair gets wet. I blow dry and moisturize through out the week. One thing I always do is feel my ng, some what feel through it to see if you feel roughness, lack of moisture, matting etc. I hope that makes sense. I have had success doing this & no matting.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

as for tweaking the regimen I suggest condish washing (really diluted with water) instead of shampooing to keep hair moist, but not strip it of the oils it needs (and you can wash the weave hair regularly with shampoo so it's not super shiny. Those who want to spray away, while in weave with condish or oils, consider taking them out earlier (because of that build up). I use spray (conditioning moisturizing sprays) very sparingly in between wash days. You're talking maybe one time right in the middle...because I don't want to weigh hair down and cause matt build up. The condish wash keeps the hair moist and healthy and doesn't strip the hair of oils so my hair turns out fine.

I just only do that, and then when I take it out and after detangling (which I always bring my detangling supplies even if I don't need them I'll spray with the 2 in one just for me just in case so the hair slips through easily and the braids unravel easy)... after that I make sure to slather my hair in conditioner (and re plait to avoid tanges) and oil (love silk elements moisturizing condish as it also has silk protein for strength mix with avocado mix with coconut and argan) and I leave it in over night (or all day if I can like if it's on a sunday). Just to make up for any missing moisture. I repeatedly do this on a couple wash days afterwards

 

[luckiestdestiny]

When my hair matted a little I used taaliah waajid mist bodifier it literally melts the tangles away. I wear weaves 3 months at a time wash every 2 weeks sometimes I may wash the weave hair during the week. I know my hair gets wet. I blow dry and moisturize through out the week. One thing I always do is feel my ng, some what feel through it to see if you feel roughness, lack of moisture, matting etc. I hope that makes sense. I have had success doing this & no matting.

funny this is what I use in between to moisturize (in between washes) taaliah waajid mist bodifier....perhaps I was detangling before detangling. I do hav ethe older one though, not the new changed bottle (as I use it sparingly and buy in bulk).

Oh and she doesn't have light tangles. She said that the other side is not coming undone and is borderline dread. I am curious to know if I was detangling all along while moisturizing (like a prep step so to speak) before the braids come out.

 

[AlliCat]

The ladies all have sound advice. the only product reccomendation i could say is Mane n Tail detangler, that stuff works great. I was in a similar position to you (neglected my hair under halfwigs and it started matting up on me) and M&T detangler really helped me get through it

 

[ms-gg]

I agree with the detangling spray! I couldn't find the exact one I used (hence why I never came back with a solution) but they are really good. I used dove therapy's before and it was pretty darn good.

 

[hair4romheaven]

funny this is what I use in between to moisturize (in between washes) taaliah waajid mist bodifier....perhaps I was detangling before detangling. I do hav ethe older one though, not the new changed bottle (as I use it sparingly and buy in bulk).

Oh and she doesn't have light tangles. She said that the other side is not coming undone and is borderline dread. I am curious to know if I was detangling all along while moisturizing (like a prep step so to speak) before the braids come out.

I say a little because she said both sides of her hair was matted. I had a section of my hair matted up and I freaked out so I can't really say I experienced what she's is going through. I used that spray and it worked wonders. You're right I believe it detangles while moisturizes before you remove braids or weaves.

 

[shunemite]

You need TIME. Once I had micros in for 6 whole months (SIX) and I had a matted mess. It actually took me a week. I used a toothpick, or you can use a dental floss pick. I unraveled each hair strand by strand. Not many people are willing to do this. I didn't use conditioner or detangler.

I have recently used the conditioner method to undo braids and it does work if my braids have been in for ONLY 6 to 8 WEEKS. At that point, I don't really have any buildup and they come right out.

 

[Raine054]

Time and patience is the key. Matted hair always feels so much worse than it actually is. I just dealt with my entire head (yes my entire head) being matted. It took me 5 hours but I didn't panic. I would actually try detangling on mostly dry-completely dry hair. If you hair is conditioned, it should be moisturized enough to deal with the stress. Begin with one lock at a time and start with your fingers. Separate the hair as much as you can. After your fingers, move on to a big tooth comb (rake comb, jilbere, etc) and start from the bottom. For me the magic always happens here. Matted hairs are wrapped around each other and combing them from the bottom usually unravels them. I hope this helped.

 

[MRJ1972]

Im done!!

This is the final damage

I also took down my daughter's install after 3 months. This is her shed hair

Its a drastic difference- so I know that I have damaged my hair!

Next time I will be careful how i apply conditioner, and will try to go 2 weeks in btwn washes. One other thing I noticed is that my braids were larger, wider than my daughter and she had NO matting. The only braid in my head not matted was my tiny anchor braid, so i think braid size hurt me!!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your suggestions!!

 

[MRJ1972]

Just read more posts!! Thanks for the technique and product recommendations!. Patience is the key- I have none so next time I will be extra careful!!

You ladies are the best!!! Ehug!!

Enjoy the rest of your day

 

[Nonie]

MRJ1972 if it's any consolation, don't forget that the ball of shed hair could also depend on how long your hair is. If your hair is longer than your daughter's, while it may be true that you lost a lot more from tangling, it may look that much bigger due to your length being greater if that's the case. The important thing is you seem to have deciphered the problem and we all learn from mistakes so in time, you'll be helping others do better with weaves.

 

[honeybearmommy32]

WOW! sure wish i had this info last November 2010 when i had this "matting" after i removed my sew in. i ended up cutting my hair to ear length after 2.5 years of growing.

and yes, the more you wet it, the more matted it becomes. now i realize i should have THOROUGHLY combed the glue and braids and thread out prior to wetting.

i slept on the dreads all night and in the morning they were dry and course to the touch when i should have drenched them w/conditioner and water to soften the blow.

#LessonLearned !

 

[shunemite]

Good for YOU you're done! That's not too much shed hair that I'm seeing in the pic given all the time the hair was braided. Congrats, and now your ARMS can rest!

 

[ms.blue]

Wow you lost a lot of hair. I do agree with the poster about the frequent washing, you have to understand that the shed hairs can't go anywhere plus with the constant manipulation caused the knot. Next time try washing 1-2 times of month (I know its hard but the scalp does get use to it). Try using olive oil or mane n tail detangler and and slowly take time to remove the braids. I pray that it will work out for you.

 

[luckiestdestiny]

WOW! sure wish i had this info last November 2010 when i had this "matting" after i removed my sew in. i ended up cutting my hair to ear length after 2.5 years of growing.

and yes, the more you wet it, the more matted it becomes. now i realize i should have THOROUGHLY combed the glue and braids and thread out prior to wetting.

i slept on the dreads all night and in the morning they were dry and course to the touch when i should have drenched them w/conditioner and water to soften the blow.

#LessonLearned !

Glue! No ! No glue! I never ever use glue.