Natural individuals/mini-braids are one of my go-to PS/low mani styles! I rock them about half the year. I water rinse mine daily. I use mainly no cone condish and sulfate free cleanser so that may be why I don't experience any ill effects.
My ends curl up after the first couple of washes but the coils at the ends of my hair don't clump until I use my ayurvedic condish mix.
I spray at night with a mostly water mix, heavy seal the ends (using a cone condish, oil and/or butter/vaseline) and roll them under into a high bun. I cover with satin and sleep tight. I rinse in the shower in the morning. HTH!
I usually keep mine in approx 3 weeks. I'm on day 13 in my current set. I plan to redo them sometime next weekend. I usually don't experience too much matting unless I use heavy products.