Horrible Tangles and knots after stretching!!

[moonwalking]

Hi all,
Just wrote this long post and for some reason the post didn't go thru. SO here I go again...

I just got out of a 5 month (20 week) stretch and came out with horrible knots and matted hair. I had twist in my hair for the last 2 months for low manipulitation and to help with the stretch. When I took out the twists, I did my best to comb all out the knots, but after shampooing with a clarifying shampoo, then a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, I had even more knots. It seriously took about an 1+ of straight combing and pulling to get them all out.

Maybe 20 week stretches aren't for me, so I think I'm going to try for 12 week stretches instead after my touch-up this week. But can anyone offer any advice/tips on how to NOT have this happen again?? I would like to have braids/twists put in again, but if the result is lots of knots and hairloss then I think I will have to pass.

Many TIA for reading/offering advice!

 

[goodmorningruby]

When you take down a style like twists or braids that have been in the hair for an extended period of time you have to be extremely thorough detangling through the hair before you do anything else to it, because there is going to be a lot of shed hair. My guess is that you didn't rake through the hair thoroughly enough. This is especially important since you had/have a ton of new growth/conflicting textures. Not sure what else to tell you, I'll be watching the responses on this too.

 

[brucebettye]

Get a good detangler like GVP The detangler which is sold at Sallys. Also do not wash your hair after you take out your twists before you detangle. It makes the tangles and matted hair really difficult to comb. When I used to wear braids I would take down a braid at a time and then remove the shed hair before I moved to the next braid. I had no problems with tangles or matted hair.

 

[lizzyb168]

when you took your twists down BEFORE washing, you probably didint detangle and comb through ur hair enough.

When washing your hair you may have also created more knots by lathering too much and making all the hair tangled up. If u do decide to do it again, detangle throughly before washing, then divide your hair into sections and wash each section, and then dry in sections. This should cut down any knots and tangles which you may get.

I think you should get braids/twists again, you just need to perfect to art of detangling. It took me a couple of months of different methods to find the one which wouldnt give me loads of knots. Btw im transitioning so i have been there!

HTH!

 

[4evershika]

Get a good detangler like GVP The detangler which is sold at Sallys. Also do not wash your hair after you take out your twists before you detangle. It makes the tangles and matted hair really difficult to comb. When I used to wear braids I would take down a braid at a time and then remove the shed hair before I moved to the next braid. I had no problems with tangles or matted hair.

THIS.

I had kinky twists in my hair for almost 4 months this past summer (I know... bad idea but it didn't turn out badly for me at all... maybe I'm lucky). When I took them down, first I sprayed every single braid with a water/conditioner mix and then once I took the braid out, thoroughly detangled each small section of hair. Then once I had taken out and detangled a few more sections, I braided the my hair so that it wouldn't re-tangle. The whole process took three days but it was efficient and I lost minimal hair.

 

[My-Foolish-Heart]

Yep this definitely sounds like a detangling issue. I am currently using braids to stretch for 6 months. Last time when I took out my braids at 4 months post, I used the Mane and Tail Detangler and detangled as I went in sections and once more all over my head when i was completely finished. Then before I shampooed, I did a prepoo with oils. I also didn't clarify until my next wash because I didn't want my hair to be completely shocked.

 

[Chicoro]

I get this problem after only about a week of not combing and wearing my natural hair loosened. As you maintain the style, you may want to consider keeping products to a minimum. Too many daily styling products can create buildup, attract lint and increase or exascerbate the tangle situation.

For me, if I have a lot of buildup in my hair like gel, that immobilizes and doesn't allow the hair to move because it's hard, I try to rinse my hair in braids with hot water. This removes the uppermost top layer of the product and frees some of the hair. I can then unbraid the hair with minimum hair breakage.

If my hair is mobile and it is more greasy and gummy coated than dry and hard, I may add conditioner on top of the braid and work it into the braid. The conditioner, especially the inexpensive ones like Suave and Vo5 'eat through' the greasy/gummy buildup to help release the hair a bit, as well.

Then, as many of the ladies above suggested, I work on one braid at a time. I am too tenderheaded to comb through pre-washed tangled hair. So what I try to do is untangle the braid or twist with my fingers. My goal is to get my hair unbraided and down into a small enough section that I can get my fingers through, to smooth it out. Then I section that off. After that I loosely braid the new loose braids, which have been smoothed and finger detangled. Then I wash it and condition in those braids.

Then I detangle the hair with my fingers (again), then get the comb out- I like the kcutter to break through the initial tangles then I use a finer tooth comb (still wide), in order to get out all the tangles to detangle completely. It can take a long time but it saves my hair.

Some people have stated this takes longer on hair that is coarser than my hair texture. I mention this to discount this claim. The point of the matter is the more tangled your hair, the longer it takes, no matter what the texture.

Hair that matts and tangles on a person (me) with a tenderhead has been a tremendous challenge for me all of my life. This is a way to give you a better success rate in saving or not breaking your hair in the event you get terrible tangles. If you can save it with minimum breakage, you have more of an opportunity to gain length.

 

[CaliDiamond]

THIS.

I had kinky twists in my hair for almost 4 months this past summer (I know... bad idea but it didn't turn out badly for me at all... maybe I'm lucky). When I took them down, first I sprayed every single braid with a water/conditioner mix and then once I took the braid out, thoroughly detangled each small section of hair. Then once I had taken out and detangled a few more sections, I braided the my hair so that it wouldn't re-tangle. The whole process took three days but it was efficient and I lost minimal hair.

My thoughts exactly. When I used to wear extensions, this was the way to go. You must loosen up and lubricate the hair.

 

[moonwalking]

Thanks ladies for the wonderful advice! Will def take the time to detangle each braid next and with a DETANGLER. Thanks again!

 

[Kitkat]

I keep my braids in for 3-4 months. When removing them, I comb out each piece that was braided with a large and fine-toothed comb. By the time they're out, my hair is in 6-8 large braids. I break the 6-8 large braids into smaller sections and comb with a large and fine-tooth comb. I have even used a safety pin to undo tiny knots that won't come out with the fine-toothed comb. It's extremely time-consuming, but I experience very little tangling and knotting after I finally wash the hair. Hope this helps.