questions about detangling (especially naturals)

[youwillrise]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?

 

[faithVA]

I think this changes based on the length of your hair as well. Right now I'm NL. My hair has only been as long as SL natural. I'm 4b.

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
I can detangle once a week if I wear my hair out without any issues. Have never gone longer because my scalp needs water at least 1x a week. I usually detangle everytime I wash or cowash.



also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )
They all work about the same. I use bone combs but sometimes I finger detangle. Finger detangling takes longer. I cannot use a denman brush or anything like it. It just tangles in my hair.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?
I'm typically in a twist out or a puff.

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?
No not yet. If I wear a puff I have to make sure I don't let it dry out but as long as I keep it moisturized I'm fine.

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?

On wash day I usually detangle in the shower before I rinse out my DC.

When I cowash I may not detangle until after I put in my leave-in and moisturizer. This usually takes longer but works better depending on what I'm cowashing with and how much hot water I have left.

No matter how I detangle I find that everything works better if I keep my hair in sections.

I am looking forward to seeing how things change when I reach APL.

 

[koolkittychick]

I am prefacing this to say that I am relaxed, but because I usually stretch for long periods of time (three months or more), I do deal with my natural texture quite a bit, so I feel I can chime in:

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
For me, I have found that it's best not too go too long between detangling sessions, especially on my natural sections. I detangle my hair about every three days. Any longer than that, and my hair starts to get fairy knots and mats that will guarantee that the detangling will take much longer and I will lose more hair due to breakage.

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?
See answer above.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )
Primary tools are my fingers lightly misted with a very light oil for slip and followed gently this detangling comb:
http://www.amazon.com/Conair-Stylin...d=1364511313&sr=1-22&keywords=detangling+comb
I actually alternate between my fingers and the comb, stopping to use my fingers every time I feel a snag until the comb can run through that section freely.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?
Usually a loose, low bun, or late into my stretch, two French braids down the sides of my head that meet in a loose chignon in the back. Pretty much a style that follows the direction I have detangled my hair in, which is usually down the sides and back of my head. I keep my hair off my shoulders 90% of the time, to protect my ends and because it's so dang hot where I live.

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?
Basically any hairstyle that requires me to comb my hair in a different direction than the way I detangled it, especially late in a stretch. That means no high ponies, or updos unless I have a fresh relaxer.

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?
Doing it while my hair was both wet and dry was a disaster for me! My relaxed hair would tangle and snap off when handled wet, and my natural hair would shrink, tangle and snap off when handled dry. I found that detangling damp hair, about 85-90% dry, with moisturizer and a light oil massaged in, yielded the least amount of breakage during detangling.

I will squeeze all the excess moisture out of my freshly washed and conditioned hair hair and sit around with a t-shirt or Turbie-Twist on my head for at least 30 minutes, then leave it airdry for at least an hour before I add my moisturizer and oil to detangle.

If it's not wash day, then I mist my hair with water until it is just damp, then add my moisturizer and oil.

In both cases, I part my hair into small vertical sections (about 2 inches wide or less), then I add my moisturizer first from root to tip, gently massaging it into the hair shaft so it will penetrate and soften my strands. Then I lightly spray my roots with my oil, massaging that in, then I spray 1 pump of oil into my palm, rub my hands together and smooth that along the length, removing any large knots as I go using the harp method (this girl demonstrates the technique here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_q6_QmxiQ).

Once I feel the section is softened and most of the big tangles are undone, then I grab my comb and gently alternate between it and my fingers until that section is detangled and the comb runs through from root to tip with no resistance. then I clip that section to the side and take another section, detangle it and add it carefully to the previously detangled hair, until I can comb through all of my hair hanging straight down.

All of this takes me anywhere from 1 to three hours, depending on where I am in my stretch, but now I loose very little hair to breakage, mostly only shed hairs from the finger detangling.

Hope this helps.

ETA: I forgot to indicate how often I detangle.

 

[Seamonster]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
Twice a week is best for keeping my new growth detangled

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?

I wish I could detangle less often, but my new hair tangles at the scalp, so I detangle at least weekly

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )

My favorite ways to detangle are denman brush my new growth, and bone comb on the length of my hair, but I am on a finger detangling challenge right now. So, I finger comb.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?
I prefer to wear a bun, but my hair stays detangled better in cornrows

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?
I avoid many hair styles to minimize ssk's and tangles, wash and go, puffs, mini twist, mini braids, box braids to name a few

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?

I prefer to do a quick detangle while hair is submerged in the bathtub. I remove shed hairs on moist not dry or wet hair. Between dry or wet, I would prefer to remove shed hairs from dry stretched hair.
__________________

 

[bunnie82]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?

I did a vid on how I detangle... HERE

I detangle weekly on wash day

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?

i don't see a point in detangling more than once a week....less beakage that way...

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )

hands and wide tooth comb!!!

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?

buns, twist outs, pony tails

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?

I CANNOT wear individual two strand twists

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?

I detangle with wet hair ONLY with a gang load of condish in it!

 

[tiffers]

I detangle twice a week. Any more or less than that and I'll lose a lot more hair.

Hercules Sagemann combs are my baby daddy.

I wear my hair in Celie braids/twists and avoid wearing styles where my hair can shrink up. Shrinkage = SSKs, aka Tha Debil

I detangle on hair that is saturated with conditioner.

HTH!

 

[curlycrocheter]

I detangle every time I get my hair wet, which is usually at the very least 2x per week.

I detangle with lots of conditioner in the shower.

I find that if I don't detangle frequently, my hair will start to matt, especially in my nape area and towards the back of my head.

I use my tangle teaser to detangle. And again, always on conditioner drenched hair.

It's not necessarily avoiding styles, it's not keeping the same style for too long that helps me avoid tangles.

 

[JulietWhiskey]

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what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle? I've found that my 4a, APL hair should be thoroughly detangled at least once a week.

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems? Infrequent detangling = mo' problems, .

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? ) A seamless, wide-toothed comb from Sally's (I think it's the Jilbere comb that I've had for AGES), Trader Joe's Tingle Treat Conditioner and PATIENCE is what works best for me.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear? Twist-outs. Twisting my hair every night keeps it stretched and tangle-free.

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair? Yes. A BAA, while extremely flyy, would mean an unscheduled trip to Tangle City. And WNGs are the evil:.

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner? Basically, I co-wash, detangle and condition my hair in one easy step. I start out by slathering it with TJTTC (seriously, I use pretty much the whole bottle and I DON'T CARE, ), placing a plastic cap over my hair and letting it sit for 2-4 hours. I then hop in the shower, perform my shower rituals first then remove the plastic cap. Already, my feels like SILK. Then I proceed to SLOWLY and PATIENTLY detangle, starting at the ends and working my way up. I rinse my hair thoroughly, twist it into 4 big plaits, then cover with 4 satin caps to air dry my hair. Once in the shower, the whole detangling process takes 5-10 minutues, tops. I lose very little hair, have very little breakage and my hair is thriving very nicely, .
__________________

 

[greenandchic]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
I seriously detangle about once a week followed by a lighter detangling session. I wash 2x per week.

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?
For me detangling infrequently causes more problems. More tangles, more knots, more problems.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )
Fingers and a seamless comb.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?
Protective styles on stretched (no heat) hair.

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?
I avoid WnGs

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner
Wet hair, soaked with conditioner.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle? detangling every one to two weeks works best for my hair

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems? Depends on how I've worn my hair. If I've worn a wash n go, I need to detangling to the one week mark.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? ) I like to do a bit of finger detangling first, then I use a denman-style brush to finish.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear? Wash n goes, wash n go buns, pony-puffs

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair? Afro style do's

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?
Wet hair in the shower with tons of conditioner w/ oil mixed in. I also like to do a final brush through under the shower head.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle? I can only detangle if my hair is coated with a very 'slippy conditioner. I detangle when I wash my hair 1-2 times per week

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems? If I go more than a week without detangling, my hair is borderline locking.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? ) What works best is a denman brush but I lose alot of definition. I do the curly girl method and while my hair looks fabulous, I never manage to get all the shed hair out from finger combing. When I went to the Devachan salon, the shampoo girl spent an hour and 15 minutes getting 3-4 days worth of shed hair out. I refuse to spend more than 30 minutes detangling.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear? hair pulled into a bun with the ends folded under or twists

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair? I can't do puffs or wash and goes

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner? wet in the shower loaded with conditioner. If I am taking twists down, then I must coat my hair with conditioner and comb out shed hair before any water touches it. Otherwise I am dealing with locs.

 

[virtuenow]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
Weekly when I deep condition

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems?
I think it is best that I do it weekly; I have to set aside more time and prepare for patience when I wait longer

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush?
Combination of wide tooth comb (I use seamless) and fingers. ONLY pass the comb through once, then release the shed strands. Some times I do it the other way around. Loosen the shed strands, then comb them out w/one pass.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear? Bunning right now
do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair?
No mini-twists in the winter. I co-wash often when in mini's-- it just doesn't work well w/mini twists and taking down.

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner?
Wet hair. I have tried every way possible to detangle-- wet, dry, in shower-- complete disaster. Through trial and error, I found that wetting hair in sections (water spray bottle) then slather on rich deep conditioner (Aubrey Organics GPB), then detangle. Best detangle method for me. Goes smoothly.

 

[pearcey]

I use a mebco $2.49 mebco comb from sallys and a semless bone rattail as needed for $1.49 @ walmart.

I wear a shake and go. By first condish washing with vo5, using ample herbal essences color me happy or body envy, detangling in front of mirror, sectioning, clipping up in tiers as needed, detangling...after one, i unclip, put on plastic bag as i do whatever...for about 20/25 minutes...i rinse out about 90/95%condish out...apply infusium spray...shake and go. I can't stand dealing with my hair like raking product, etc. but once dry i have hand in fro like crazy.

Enjoy your journey. After YEARS, i stopped detangling by backcombing...I saved frustration, and hair.

 

[Blessed&higlyflavoured]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle?
Finger detangling on dry, just moisturised stretched hair
do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems? I wouldn't say less is more, but i think do it thoroughly and maintain it for as long as possible. For example be very thorough with removing shed hair, tangles, knots and gnarl, then plait, twist or braid your hair to maintain the stretched style.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? )
fingers all day everyday, although sometimes my roots start to mesh, especially once my hair has started to grow in a long term protective style and a medium spaced comb is necessary at the roots.

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear?
mini braids, twists or braids with the ends twisted
do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair? twist outs and braid outs are for special occasions only. my hair is very fine and coily and lies to wrap around itself. by special occasions i mean births deaths and marriages carnival and graduation

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner? dry, just washed, moisturised hair. I wash my hair in the previous style , allow it to dry, moisturise and seal etc stretch then detangle with fingers. My hair is fine and when its wet it just snaps and stretches leading to breakage, and mid shaft splits. This method is possible because most of the time my hairs in small box plaits, small box plaits with the ends twisted or twists. so my hair doesnt shrink up too much when wet.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

what have you found is best for your hair as far as how often you detangle? Once a week

do you find that less is more for you when it comes to detangling and prefer not to do it too often... or do you find that when you detangle too infrequently, it causes MORE problems? I could do it less often.

also what tool works best for you? (fingers? a certain comb or brush? ) seamless comb

what hairstyles do you prefer to wear? Twists, braids, buns

do you avoid certain hairstyles for fear of tangling hair? Afro, puff, shrunken styles

do you prefer to detangle on dry or wet hair? if wet, is it in the shower, under the running water or out of the shower w/ a spray bottle or some other type of water based detangler/conditioner? Dry hair with conditioner

 

[youwillrise]

thanks for the responses so far

ive just found myself not being able to figure out how often and with what i should detangle with. ive don finger detangling and ive done VERY minimal detangling...and sometimes im like "maybe i should stick to this for the sake of reduced manipulation"

but i think it does more harm for ME than good. so i think, for me, im going to stick with detangling twice a week.

also going to stick with simple protective styles that only stay in for a few days at a time...instead of mini twists that stay in for weeks and weeks.