I hate KNOTS! NO, I REALLY hate them...

[Ms Lala]

I'm natural and I don't have a problem with knots:I avoid them by:
1. When I apply conditioner, I concentrate on my ends.
2. I detangle my hair very, very, very well.
3. I trim my ends as needed and
4. I press my hair straight once a month
My hair is nearly 2 inches past my bra strap now and my ends are doing very well.

I think the heat and detangling together really helps. I am going back to heat use monthly and see how it works for me.

 

[Meli]

I get tangles when my shed hair doesnt make it all the way out. Some times it gets caught in the fro and tangles up on the ends. Maybe you need to make sure you're getting out all of your she hair more frequently...
lys

This is a very good point that you made. I just realized that for me this could be the reason for my knots. I was only detangling with my fingers, but what I need to do is use a detangling comb (at most once a week) in order to get that dead hair fully out. I guess my finger-combing method was not doing it.

 

[Meli]

I'm natural and I don't have a problem with knots:I avoid them by:
1. When I apply conditioner, I concentrate on my ends.
2. I detangle my hair very, very, very well.
3. I trim my ends as needed and
4. I press my hair straight once a month
My hair is nearly 2 inches past my bra strap now and my ends are doing very well.

These are good tips but I am doubtful if trimming will help me. There are two kinds of knots: single-strand knots and the mutliple hair knots (caused by shedding hair getting caught on the non-shedding hairs.). I have a possible solution for the multiple hair knots, but no solution for the single-strand knot. My reason for saying this is my single-strand knots appear midway on my hair and not at the ends....I saw one yesterday about 3 inches from the end of my hair. Most are about an inch from the end of my hair. So if I am trimming every 6-8 weeks about 1/8 of my hair how's that going to help it from producing knots?

 

[meaganita]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but knots are un-avoidable. Protective styling will curb the occurance of knots on the ends but believe me no matter what you do they will come. Knots on the ends is a sure sign of a need for a good trim. I find that a lot of loose styles = more knots. This is all just my experience. HTH!

Sad but so true. I wore cornrows probably 10 to 11 months and trimmed more than 4 inches over the past year and still had single strand knots. I baggy, keep the ends of my hair oiled/moisterized, dc regularly, s&d and they still come. I started using Red Palm butter recently and noticed it helps, but again, doesn't eliminate. Maybe I'll try straightening once a month? But I really don't want to put that kind of heat on my hair. This is the lot in life for most natural heads. I just try not to let it discourage me or stress me out. I wonder if texlaxed ladies experience this..............................

 

[glamazon386]

Sad but so true. I wore cornrows probably 10 to 11 months and trimmed more than 4 inches over the past year and still had single strand knots. I baggy, keep the ends of my hair oiled/moisterized, dc regularly, s&d and they still come. I started using Red Palm butter recently and noticed it helps, but again, doesn't eliminate. Maybe I'll try straightening once a month? But I really don't want to put that kind of heat on my hair. This is the lot in life for most natural heads. I just try not to let it discourage me or stress me out. I wonder if texlaxed ladies experience this..............................

A lot of them do. But I think it depends on your hair. I've known some naturals to texlax only to find out that they still had knots. I had more knots as a relaxed/texlaed head myself but I think that speaks to the condition of my hair. It wasn't very healthy and I probably had a lot of splits.

 

[BroadstreetBully]

I see a lot of ladies are having problems with this as well. This is why I'm weaving it up for a year...so that I can have some length progress with less knots, etc...

I tired of seeing knots, I only have them on my coarse 4a hair in the back. No problems in the crown and to the front.

I've found that with my hair, airdrying loose is a no no. Since my hair shrinks quite a bit, I see the shrinkage causing the hair to tangle and knot up. So when I airdry now, I make a lot of ponytails and braid the ends. Once my hair gets longer, I'll be able to airdry in fewer braids.

 

[ShaniKeys]

I've noticed that since I've been conditioning and moisturizing my ends once a week, and on top of that applying a thick serum (especially for the ends) every day, the knots have diminished. I have alot of single strand knots and I'm just wondering if they don't work against retaining length (stupid question?)?