Why are small toothed combs a no-no, but Denman Brushes a yes-yes?

[Neith]

I tried the denman and that sucka ripped my hair out. It made my curls very defined, but it wasn't worth me loosing all that extra hair. This was after I detangled with my wide toothed comb.

I just find it funny that if I said that I detangled with a small toothed comb, people would suggest a wide one.

A denman has many rows of little teeth not spaced very far apart.

What's the difference?

 

[likewtr4chklit]

Good question, I'm also awaiting feedback b/c I wanted to buy one.

 

[TexturedTresses]

i think its because the teeth are flexible whereas a small toothed comb doesn't really give much.

 

[msa]

I really couldn't tell you because they seem the same to me. When I saw the Denman in person I really thought I had fallen for the okie doke and people were trying to mess up my progress. Ever since I was little my mother told me not to use brushes like the Denman. I'm definitely not about to start now.

 

[Kurlee]

denman is overrated, but works wonders for 2c-3b wet hurr

 

[Carolina18]

Good question. I got one, and just couldn't bear to use it -ended up using a comb instead to prevent the damage it looked like it would inflict. Maybe technique is key?

 

[JustKiya]

i think its because the teeth are flexible whereas a small toothed comb doesn't really give much.

That's part of it - and the fact that if you tug too hard, the whole brush will just come apart. You just can't use as much force with it as you can with a 'stationary' brush.

Also - and I don't know about other naturals - but the Denman is the LAST thing I use on my hair. First I use a wide toothed comb, then a medium toothed comb, then the Denman - I don't really use it to detangle, I use it to pull the remaining shed hair out of the mass of my hair. And I only use it on WET & conditioner soaked (thus max slippy) hair. And I don't pull/rip it through - I start at the ends, just like with my combs, and work my way up to my root.

I wouldn't DARE use it on my hair first - it would pop out the handle, for one thing, and it would rip out my hair, for another thing.

 

[natstar]

I think technique is key-Also when compared with a fine tooth comb-there are larger spaces of teeth and also the Denman is more flexible IMO.

 

[Neith]

i think its because the teeth are flexible whereas a small toothed comb doesn't really give much.

Maybe. How would the flexibility stop damage?

Would you use a flexible, small toothed comb to detangle though?

I really couldn't tell you because they seem the same to me. When I saw the Denman in person I really thought I had fallen for the okie doke and people were trying to mess up my progress. Ever since I was little my mother told me not to use brushes like the Denman. I'm definitely not about to start now.

Good question. I got one, and just couldn't bear to use it -ended up using a comb instead to prevent the damage it looked like it would inflict. Maybe technique is key?

I'm not the smartest woman in the world, but I can use a brush, I know that much I tried it a few times, always on already detangled hair. I honestly think I would have been better off using a small toothed comb.

It's just that if small teeth are bad on combs, I don't get why 5-7 rows of small teeth wouldn't be worse.

 

[JustKiya]

Maybe. How would the flexibility stop damage?

Would you use a flexible, small toothed comb to detangle though?

I don't think small teeth are bad - depending on when they are used. I comb my hair with a rattail comb before I put them in two strand twists - *shrug* - but I use it gently, I don't tear through my hair, I use it on VERY small sections, and I start at the end, work to the roots.

 

[Southernbella.]

The Denman is my go-to for detangling. I don't know why it works, but it does. I think a small-toothed comb would do the same thing, but the Denman has more rows, so you don't have to make as many passes through the hair, if that makes sense.

 

[cmw45]

That's part of it - and the fact that if you tug too hard, the whole brush will just come apart. You just can't use as much force with it as you can with a 'stationary' brush.

Also - and I don't know about other naturals - but the Denman is the LAST thing I use on my hair. First I use a wide toothed comb, then a medium toothed comb, then the Denman - I don't really use it to detangle, I use it to pull the remaining shed hair out of the mass of my hair. And I only use it on WET & conditioner soaked (thus max slippy) hair. And I don't pull/rip it through - I start at the ends, just like with my combs, and work my way up to my root.

I wouldn't DARE use it on my hair first - it would pop out the handle, for one thing, and it would rip out my hair, for another thing.

I felt like a lot of the other posters for awhile and thought that it was pulling out my hair. I stopped using it all together and found that I had a lot of shed hair still in my hair. I guess I shed a lot. I am thinking about the garlic pills to see if I can curb that.

So I now use the Denman brush as the very last and only on really wet hair with conditioner in it.

I think my biggest problem is my shed curly hair falling down and tangling in the other shed hair.

Candice

 

[Neith]

I don't think small teeth are bad - depending on when they are used. I comb my hair with a rattail comb before I put them in two strand twists - *shrug* - but I use it gently, I don't tear through my hair, I use it on VERY small sections, and I start at the end, work to the roots.

I did all that. Damp, moisturized, oiled, already detangled hair in small sections and that stupid brush just takes out entirely too much hair. I'm talking literally 10 times the amount of hair that comes out otherwise.

I threw the brush out the window, I hate it that much.

I thought that small teeth are "bad" because they do more damage than wider combs. They tend not to be seamless too. I just imagine it roughing my poor cuticles up

 

[JustKiya]

I did all that. Damp, moisturized, oiled, already detangled hair in small sections and that stupid brush just takes out entirely too much hair. I'm talking literally 10 times the amount of hair that comes out otherwise.

I threw the brush out the window, I hate it that much.

I thought that small teeth are "bad" because they do more damage than wider combs. They tend not to be seamless too. I just imagine it roughing my poor cuticles up

Are you sure it was breaking hair though, or was it pulling out all of the shed hair that you might normally be missing? When I first started using it, it seemed like there was a lot of hair, but I'm anal, so I went through at least half of the hair that I got out, and checked for bulbs. I'd say at least 80% of the hair truly was shed hairs. Now, when I use my Denman, I still get a couple of hairs - but not nearly as many as I did to start.

But if it don't work, for ya, it don't work for ya!

My rattail is a Mason Pearson - totally seamless. Otherwise, yeah, I wouldn't use it. I wish they made a seamless Denman. But, it's worth it, to me, so I deal with those seams as it's the only seamed tool I use.

 

[LayneJ]

I have no clue about why, but I can tell you there is a huge difference between the two. I've tried using a small tooth comb on a tiny section of hair while attempting to rollerset, and . I could barely get that sucka through my hair. And I ripped out more than a few pieces in the process.

I always detangle with a Denman, and I'm type 4. I don't use a comb beforehand either. I just lightly detangle with my fingers, then I use my Denman. Again, I know it works (for me), but I can't tell you how/why.

 

[NikStarrr]

I don't think the Denman's bristles are as close together as a fine-toothed comb, or what I'D consider a fine-toothed comb. I luv the Denman and really think people who have had negative experiences with it aren't using the correct technique.

 

[Carolina18]

I don't think the Denman's bristles are as close together as a fine-toothed comb, or what I'D consider a fine-toothed comb. I luv the Denman and really think people who have had negative experiences with it aren't using the correct technique.

What technique do you use, and does your hair tangle/ curl around itself a lot? I would like to give it another try.

 

[Carrie A]

I don't think the bristles are closer than a fine toothed come either. One thing the denman is heavy. I do not pull it through my hair I just stick it in there and sort of let gravity pull it slowly through. I put very little tension on the brush. My hair is already thoroughly detangled with 1st my fingers, 2nd the wide tooth comb, 3rd the more narrow toothed comb. I could stop here but the D3 gives a tighter curl.......Or I just gently slide it along wet ends for curl definition. I guess I use it more as a styling tool then a detangler.

 

[Neith]

I don't think the Denman's bristles are as close together as a fine-toothed comb, or what I'D consider a fine-toothed comb. I luv the Denman and really think people who have had negative experiences with it aren't using the correct technique.

I wouldn't call a comb with the same spacing as the teeth on a denman a wide toothed comb. It's not wide at all imo.

Like I said, I may not be the smartest person, but I can use a brush. It aint rocket science

I can do all this other crap to my hair (texlax, henna, DC, Hard protein, color, Moisturize, oil, Detangle, braid, twist, etc...), but I can't use a brush right?

Now... about your hair. It's gorgeous



Kiya - I'm not sure if it's shedding or not, but I'm leaning towards not shedding because I lose the same amount of hair if I detangle again the next day. Yep, I even tried it 2 days in a row just to see.

 

[kblc06]

I love my denman. When I examine the hairs in the brush, it is nothing but shed hair that remains trapped when using a comb.After I finish detangling and run it through my hair again, there are no hairs in the brush.

BUT technique is important. When I use it, I section the hair at least into 4 quadrants, making sure the bristles are through my hair (as in I can see the tips of the bristles peeking through that section of hair). I flick my wrist, almost as if I were doing flips with a flat iron and gently pull through. The results are in my siggy

 

[chokolate miss]

That's part of it - and the fact that if you tug too hard, the whole brush will just come apart. You just can't use as much force with it as you can with a 'stationary' brush.

Also - and I don't know about other naturals - but the Denman is the LAST thing I use on my hair. First I use a wide toothed comb, then a medium toothed comb, then the Denman - I don't really use it to detangle, I use it to pull the remaining shed hair out of the mass of my hair. And I only use it on WET & conditioner soaked (thus max slippy) hair. And I don't pull/rip it through - I start at the ends, just like with my combs, and work my way up to my root.

I wouldn't DARE use it on my hair first - it would pop out the handle, for one thing, and it would rip out my hair, for another thing.

Thanks, I wish I had seen this post about five months ago. I lost a lot of hair with that Denman, I mean clumps

 

[TexturedTresses]

That's part of it - and the fact that if you tug too hard, the whole brush will just come apart. You just can't use as much force with it as you can with a 'stationary' brush.

Also - and I don't know about other naturals - but the Denman is the LAST thing I use on my hair. First I use a wide toothed comb, then a medium toothed comb, then the Denman - I don't really use it to detangle, I use it to pull the remaining shed hair out of the mass of my hair. And I only use it on WET & conditioner soaked (thus max slippy) hair. And I don't pull/rip it through - I start at the ends, just like with my combs, and work my way up to my root.

I wouldn't DARE use it on my hair first - it would pop out the handle, for one thing, and it would rip out my hair, for another thing.

this is exactly how i use it on my cousin's hair and i do it in small sections.

 

[Superfly Sister]

On Saturday I'd just cassia'ed my hair which left it a HUGE tangled mess, I wasn't looking forward to combing my hair at all. Following air drying and a warm oil deep conditioning on Sunday my hair was tangled even more! So with heaps of conditioner running water and my Denman I got to work. It was detangled within minutes. Now, had I used the small tooth comb I'd have been in the shower all day I can assure you.

 

[Juliagizzle]

I use my denman after I use a wide tooth comb. I use it to smooth my hair while its wet. Much better than using boar bristle. I didnt find that it pulled out my hair any more thant the wide tooth come did.

 

[Evolving78]

i'm scared of the way that brush looks, so i never bought one.

 

[NikStarrr]

I wouldn't call a comb with the same spacing as the teeth on a denman a wide toothed comb. It's not wide at all imo.

Like I said, I may not be the smartest person, but I can use a brush. It aint rocket science

I can do all this other crap to my hair (texlax, henna, DC, Hard protein, color, Moisturize, oil, Detangle, braid, twist, etc...), but I can't use a brush right?

Now... about your hair. It's gorgeous



Kiya - I'm not sure if it's shedding or not, but I'm leaning towards not shedding because I lose the same amount of hair if I detangle again the next day. Yep, I even tried it 2 days in a row just to see.

THx!!! And I wouldn't compare the Denman to a wide-toothed comb--but I definitely wouldn't compare it to a fine-toothed comb either. That's the point I was making

Trust me, when I first got the Denman and tried it for the first time, I felt the same way you did. I'd also thought it pulled out a lot of hair as well. But when I changed the way I worked through my hair with it (wet with conditioner, and worked it from the ends up)--I saw that it was really only pulling out shed hair that was tangled in the mass of curls. After going through my hair once, the second go 'round--there was no hair in the brush. Trust, it's technique.

 

[Dymondz7]

I felt like a lot of the other posters for awhile and thought that it was pulling out my hair. I stopped using it all together and found that I had a lot of shed hair still in my hair. I guess I shed a lot. I am thinking about the garlic pills to see if I can curb that.

So I now use the Denman brush as the very last and only on really wet hair with conditioner in it.

I think my biggest problem is my shed curly hair falling down and tangling in the other shed hair.

Candice

Yep, I think that's the case w/me. I have a lot of shedded hair that just stays in my hair, even when I use a wide tooth comb in the shower. Now that I use the Denman about once a week I don't have nearly as much shedded hair as I did the first couple of times I used it. It's been a life saver for me. And I also only use it on soaking wet hair that's filled with conditioner. It works for me, but of course there's no single solution that works for everyone

 

[BeautifulRoots]

THx!!! And I wouldn't compare the Denman to a wide-toothed comb--but I definitely wouldn't compare it to a fine-toothed comb either. That's the point I was making

Trust me, when I first got the Denman and tried it for the first time, I felt the same way you did. I'd also thought it pulled out a lot of hair as well. But when I changed the way I worked through my hair with it (wet with conditioner, and worked it from the ends up)--I saw that it was really only pulling out shed hair that was tangled in the mass of curls. After going through my hair once, the second go 'round--there was no hair in the brush. Trust, it's technique.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was just about to say that. Same thing happened with me the first time I used a denman. A lot of hair came out, it was all the shed hair that wasn't coming out when I was using a wide toothed comb. The second time I used the denman, hardly any hair came out. So I agree, its the technique.

 

[lilmsjanet]

uh uh denman brushes were never a go for me i took 1 look at it and already knew

 

[Neith]

Okay, exactly what are y'all doing?

This is what I did:

1) Co wash or shampoo
2) Deep Condition
3) Apply lots of leave in and oil
4) Section my hair into 4 quadrants
5) Work with 1 section at a time... each quadrant I would further section into about 6-8 mini sections for detangling
6) Fingercomb to get any big tangles out, then detangle with my wide toothed comb
7) Detangle from the ends up with the Denman making sure to be gentle. It mostly glided through my hair, but when I looked at the brush and saw all the hair in it I was like

I even tried detangling with a smaller toothed comb after using the wide comb... no luck.

What am I doing wrong?

I did like how it made my curls all clumpy, but that hair in the brush... it's no joke.