Detangling: Updated, Collective Wisdom As Of 2016

At what length does most natural hair begin to give problems with detangling? I big chopped over the summer and now my natural hair is going towards ear length unstretched so I'm guessing it is too short to detangle because my hair does not tangle whatsoever but I'm thinking that at a certain length I too will be having the knots and tangles that most people on here are experiencing.
Daily washing does help, especially with removing those sheds, which cause 90% of my tangles. It can get tiresome as hair gets longer (or life gets in the way), so have a plan for taking breaks. Using gel can also help lengthen the time between washes.

Avoiding hydral fatigue will be paramount; get that hydrolyzed protein product ready if you get any signs of overly-stretchy hair. Oils that leave a film behind also help with that plus prevent or reduce split ends. If Castor is too heavy, try apricot. I have normal porosity, so raw aloe helps smooth my cuticle layer down.

Trimming, or rather dusting, every few months can help with rough ends (I need to do that soon).
 
Oh, my goodness...


I had to watch her wash day video because she was super rough with her mom's hair. I noticed that she was more gentle with her own hair care, though. I guess she figured if her mom could let her hair get like that in the first place, then why spend the extra time and effort?
 
I had to watch her wash day video because she was super rough with her mom's hair. I noticed that she was more gentle with her own hair care, though. I guess she figured if her mom could let her hair get like that in the first place, then why spend the extra time and effort?
Jesus be a detangler and some scissors! I hope she trimmed her mother’s hair.
 
I had to watch her wash day video because she was super rough with her mom's hair. I noticed that she was more gentle with her own hair care, though. I guess she figured if her mom could let her hair get like that in the first place, then why spend the extra time and effort?

I don't think she was rough at all. Her mother let her hair lock up. Anyone else would have wanted to cut that stuff off.

I think momma needs to shave her head and just be free :lol:
 
Lately I have been pre-detangling, that is, taking something slippery and using my fingers to elongate, separate, de-web, de-knot my hair before picking up any kind of tool. Then, once I can rake my fingers through a section without my fingers getting stuck, only then do I take my tool (usually my KareCo Tangle Buster Brush) through the section.

What the Kink demonstrates the process in the video below. She also shows how she turns the brush VERTICAL and then pulls it through her hair.

I used this method last wash day, predetangling and detangling with the 22nd Century Natural Shampoo Bar from moorket.com. I didn't need a prepoo. Brush just slid on through my hair with JUST that slippery shampoo bar in my hair. And I lost sooooooo littttttttle hair!!! Yes!

 
Lately I have been pre-detangling, that is, taking something slippery and using my fingers to elongate, separate, de-web, de-knot my hair before picking up any kind of tool. Then, once I can rake my fingers through a section without my fingers getting stuck, only then do I take my tool (usually my KareCo Tangle Buster Brush) through the section.

What the Kink demonstrates the process in the video below. She also shows how she turns the brush VERTICAL and then pulls it through her hair.

I used this method last wash day, predetangling and detangling with the 22nd Century Natural Shampoo Bar from moorket.com. I didn't need a prepoo. Brush just slid on through my hair with JUST that slippery shampoo bar in my hair. And I lost sooooooo littttttttle hair!!! Yes!



I find that if I wash without detangling my hair first, it’s more difficult to detangle after washing with a DC. I use oils to detangle first.
 
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I find that if I wash without detangling my hair is more difficult to detangle. Now I use oils to detangle first.

:yep:

Agreed. That's part of the reason I'm in love with the 22nd Century Natural Shampoo Bar:: The shampoo works better than oil on my hair for detangling, perhaps because saponified oils are the first ingredients.
 


This actually worked for me when I tried it this summer.
Its good for when youre trying to detangle thoroughly and dont have all day!


Do you still use this technique? I am thinking of trying it and making it part of my detangling routine. Detangle once a month flat iron on low heat and finger detangle section by section. Hoping it will reduce time and make things easier. But i am not sure about heat damage, thinking of getting a steam flat iron.
 
My detangling routine has completely changed. One, I don’t finger detangle exclusively anymore. I use detangling brushes, namely an off-brand Felicia Leatherwood coupled with an off-brand Tangle Teaser. Two, I now detangle before shampooing with a rinse-out conditioner coupled with a bit of African Pride pre-poo to give added slip and glide.
Finger detangling definitely helps retain length, but the tangles, mats and sometimes even small dreads was not worth it. The brushes cut my detangling time down to 30 minutes or less and somehow I lose SIGNIFICANTLY less hair than when I was finger-detangling only.
My hot water duration won’t let me be great, so I had to switch detangling to before shampoo and outside the shower. I actually like it more and will probably continue doing this even when my hot water does last longer than 15 minutes.
 
I've changed my detangling routine by going back to finger detangling, using slippy drugstore conditioners with cones, prior to shampoo.
 
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Do you still use this technique? I am thinking of trying it and making it part of my detangling routine. Detangle once a month flat iron on low heat and finger detangle section by section. Hoping it will reduce time and make things easier. But i am not sure about heat damage, thinking of getting a steam flat iron.
You asked a similar question in another thread.
We have similar hair-fine, dense, lo po.

For me, what has changed my detangling time from 4 to 5 hours and tangled roots into minutes... 30 minutes in the shower or so are my detangling tools ...
Not the method.

I have 2 different brushes that I can't live without, and they help me detangle with the quickness...
1. Felecia leatherwood detangling brush....it flexes and adjusts while detangling
2. The behairful brush (my favorite) it has 2 different bristle types on the brush that easily gets through my thickest tangles.

They work because I used to have to cut out chunks of my hair because they matted so much...


Hth
 
Do you still use this technique? I am thinking of trying it and making it part of my detangling routine. Detangle once a month flat iron on low heat and finger detangle section by section. Hoping it will reduce time and make things easier. But i am not sure about heat damage, thinking of getting a steam flat iron.

Yes, I do! Especially if I'm pressed for time, that's 3 or 4 times a year. My hair is thin and I will no doubt find a plethora of split ends if I straighten my hair on high heat, but I havent noticed any more damage in comparison to other years detangling with heat at 100 degrees.

Which steam flat iron were you thinking of?
 
Yes, I do! Especially if I'm pressed for time, that's 3 or 4 times a year. My hair is thin and I will no doubt find a plethora of split ends if I straighten my hair on high heat, but I havent noticed any more damage in comparison to other years detangling with heat at 100 degrees.

Which steam flat iron were you thinking of?
I decided against using this technique to scare of heat damage
 
Anyone tried cornstarch for detangling, according to this video its a really good detangler, I plan on trying it out!




I've never tried it, but I wonder if potato starch would yield the same results. I know there are some old threads on potato starch, but other than using it as a filler in products, I can't remember what people said about it.
 
I've never tried it, but I wonder if potato starch would yield the same results. I know there are some old threads on potato starch, but other than using it as a filler in products, I can't remember what people said about it.

Tried the cornstarch for anyone interested on small section of week old twists, it's a good detangler, I would give it a 7 or 8 out of 10 just like any other good detangler. Its cheap and might benefit those with big families. However, it wasn't an ultra super duper detangler (lol turn a 3 hr combing session into 30 mins/ with 5 strands of breakage :drunk::drunk::drunk:) like I thought it would be...so pass
 
Tried the cornstarch for anyone interested on small section of week old twists, it's a good detangler, I would give it a 7 or 8 out of 10 just like any other good detangler. Its cheap and might benefit those with big families. However, it wasn't an ultra super duper detangler (lol turn a 3 hr combing session into 30 mins/ with 5 strands of breakage :drunk::drunk::drunk:) like I thought it would be...so pass

Thanks for the review. Did you add anything to it, like oil, or was it just cornstarch and hot water?
 
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