Naturals: How Do You Avoid Tangles and Knots

[healthyhairin07]

I've been natural for a few years now, and lately I've been having quite a lot of knots a tangles in my hair although I detangle on a regular basis. Natural ladies, can you tell me how do you avoid tangles and knots?

 

[NuMe2004]

Hi there,

I love wearing my hair out in its curly state, but I always have a lot of tangles to contend with once I try to comb it out and tie it up at night.

MOISTURE, whether it be from creams or water, is the best thing to use when trying to comb out curls in my opinion. I keep a spray bottle with water on hand and put some olive oil lotion in my hair before combing, which seems to help.

 

[healthyhairin07]

Thanks for the reply, NuMe2004.

 

[tyte curlz]

its probably time for a trim. after a good detangle and a trim a couple months back i havnt had any knots since. HTH

 

[guesswho]

Well don't care what I do knots and tangles are going to be there but the denman brush has helped me a lot but I must squirt my mixture of scurl, infusium and coconut oil it gives great slip and detangling is a breeze, hth

 

[cheetarah1980]

The longer my hair gets the more it tangles. That's just the nature of coily hair. The strands wrap around each other. A good detangler (leave-in, conditioner, detangling shampoo, etc.) plus a wide tooth comb gets them out pretty painlessly, but I don't know of a way to prevent tangles altogether.

 

[EMJazzy]

I'm not sure if you can avoid tangles and knots....I truly believe they are here to stay for us naturals. erplexed

 

[Cheleigh]

My hair was "tangly" as a child, so I fully expect more tangles as it gets longer. I have found that a coating product like pomades or butters seems to help slow down the tangles, as does keeping my hair twisted/braided as much as possible.

Oh yeah, I'm sure regular dusting/trimming helps too, but I hate trimming my hair, so that doesn't happen often.

 

[remnant]

I'm not sure if you can avoid tangles and knots....I truly believe they are here to stay for us naturals. erplexed

That's my opinion too, but like the other ladies say moisturizing and tools like demnan brush, wide comb..., used during the detangling session really help, I personally avoid wearing my hair out if it's not a twist or a braid-out (1 to 3 days only)!

 

[Poohbear]

I avoid the most tangles and knots when I wear protective styles, but I can avoid tangles when I wear my hair in out styles too. Trimming off split ends and keeping your ends moisturized are keys to preventing tangles and knots.

 

[CORBINS]

I think in my own personal experience, not allowing my hair to shrink has helped. Washing in braids and air drying in braids has helped.

 

[ToyToy]

I too don't think you can fully avoid the tangles and the knots . But as someone else has posted, regular trims and moisture can help in reducing them. Also, what helped me was making sure I always put my hair in big plaits at night. That has helped tremendously.
But I also agree with the cheetarah that the longer the hair gets, the more tangles you will have.

 

[CurlyGirly327]

I avoid the most tangles and knots when I wear protective styles, but I can avoid tangles when I wear my hair in out styles too. Trimming off split ends and keeping your ends moisturized are keys to preventing tangles and knots.

I have had hella problems with knots in my hair--those annoying single-strand knots that cause tiny rough spots at the ends of my hair. I actually had to BC AGAIN in January '07 because my hair literally felt like a wool sweater from all those knots! From all the research and inquiry I've done on how to prevent and eliminate this problem, I've found only three solutions:

1. Keep the hair very well moisturized with deep conditioning treatments, leave-in conditioners, and moisturizers or oils.
2. Wear protective styles to keep the hair strands from rubbing against each other and creating knots.
3. TRIM! I'm about to put in two-strand twists today so I can trim my ends because they started feeling rough again, and I've found those damn lil knots again.

I really want to grow my natural hair long, and avoid the temptation to start perming again. So, I'm planning to wear protective styles more often, and trim my ends at home every 3-4 months.

HTH & HHG!

 

[Ayeshia]

combing often...which means about 2-3x per week since I do a lot of WNG's. I could comb less if my hair was in twists or some other style that didnt require my hair to be out.

 

[hersheyskiss]

combing often...which means about 2-3x per week since I do a lot of WNG's. I could comb less if my hair was in twists or some other style that didnt require my hair to be out.

Yep combing is the best way for me too. When I don't comb my tiny knots grow into big knots so I have to comb every other day to avoid that.

 

[Kha]

I think in my own personal experience, not allowing my hair to shrink has helped. Washing in braids and air drying in braids has helped.

This is what helps me a lot, but when I wear my hair out I still have to fight with the tangles. Wearing protective styles is the only way I can avoid them.

 

[healthyhairin07]

its probably time for a trim. after a good detangle and a trim a couple months back i havnt had any knots since. HTH

I think you're right about that. It's been a few months since I've had a trim. I know I'm long overdue.

 

[foxxymami]

Good ideas ladies....bumping for any more responses

 

[Nonie]

I'm with Poohbear and Kha. I am most comfortable with my hair when it's in a protective style that requires no combing (braids, twists) and I do this more often than not so knots are not things I deal with much. (To be honest, I don't remember when I last saw one...or if it was in my hair that I saw it. ) But I also trim my hair regularly so that probably helps. *shrugs*

 

[Dee Raven]

For my hair, when it gets more tangled than normal, that's my sign to do an aphogee treatment. Also, I hope this doesn't sound too trivial, but I think that the way you comb can help. I've tried different ways, like sectioning or all at once, starting with the tips then moving to the roots. That's always helped. And another thing I happened across recently is that if there is a teeny weeny bit of shampoo left on the hair when I put on the conditioner and start combing it helps a lot. Otherwise, I agree with everyone else that tangles are part of the territory. They've tamed me rather than me taming them at this point.

 

[so1913]

Regular detangling and regular trims.

 

[Cichelle]

I detangle every day. I try never to go longer than every other day or I have a mess of tangles and knots. I also wear protective styles.

 

[Ms Lala]

I have started wearing stretched out styles all of the time. THe wash n go is pretty much out of the question for any longer than a day or a I have tangles.

 

[silvergirl]

because i wash my hair everyday the hair doesnt even have a change to tangle up. so detangling is a breeze and literally only takes less than a min to do.

 

[SoAnxious12]

i plan on doing a lot of wash n go's and washing everyday has cut down on tangles a lot. Also, while my hair dries i makes sure its in a banded ponytail or braided.

 

[miss Congeniality]

Does twisting/ protecting the hair at night help?

 

[lnana04]

Lately I've been literally pulling my hair out due to frustration. I feel like crying sometimes when it's time to detangle.

 

[GoldenBreeze]

I only detangle when my hair is wet, and full of conditioner. This seems to help me a lot with tangles. I don't wear it out so knots aren't a problem. Back in the day, when I did wear fros, I got a lot of knots.

 

[whitneysimone]

1. rid your head of shed hairs as much as you can before washes
2. keep your hair moisturized, DRY hair seems to breed tangles & knots from my experience with my hair