Transitioners, how did you deal with detangling?

[whosthatgurl]

Because this is hell lol.

I have type 4 hair/new growth, and my detangling tonight has been THE WORST.

I just took my hair down from a 5 week sew in (which I normally leave in for about 4 weeks). I washed my hair three times, and tried to detangle with conditioner, and I want to pass out from the amount of shedding and knots that I combed out.

I need tips..

I just want to take my scissors and chop it, but I'm not that bold to sport it.

 

[MileHighDiva]

Try detangling with well lubed hair and fingers (EVCO), before washing and keep it in sections to prevent retangling.

I hope your next detangling session goes better!

ETA: The EVCO will also loosen up any product build up from your long term protective style. Once our hair gets wet the tangling gets worse, so it's better to do it on the front end.

 

[Daernyris]

^^^this, what MileHighDiva said
I was going to ask did you try to finger detangle with an oil first prior to washing?
Maybe not washing your hair 3 times would help.
I normally prepoo with oil and conditioner and this has helped me tremendously.
I am currently transitioning and can understand the frustration with two different textures.
Hope this helps, good luck to you Sis

 

[whosthatgurl]

^^^this, what MileHighDiva said I was going to ask did you try to finger detangle with an oil first prior to washing? Maybe not washing your hair 3 times would help. I normally prepoo with oil and conditioner and this has helped me tremendously. I am currently transitioning and can understand the frustration with two different textures. Hope this helps, good luck to you Sis

I've never heard of the finger detangle. But I will try your suggestions and the previous poster. Thank yall!

 

[Britt]

If detangling on dry hair, I used a spray bottle to mist my roots before I would attempt to comb or rebraid my hair.

Wash day, I'd wash in four sections and then apply my leave in/moisturizers in the same sections.

 

[koolkittychick]

Finger detangling is KEY. Once I lay down my comb, the breakage and shedding was reduced by at least 60%. Now I only use my comb once a month if that, and I can still look polished for work or play. Finger detangling is TIME CONSUMING, but I would rather set aside the time to do it and have very little shedding and breakage then to rip through my hair in record time, only to leave half of it on the comb.

 

[Lami]

I'm not a transitioner, but I do 20 week relaxer stretches so detangling can become a pain after a while. I recommend never washing before detangling. You will only lock the knots in. Completely saturate your hair in an oil of your choice e.g. coconut and leave on your head for a few hours. Finger detangle veeery slowly. It will take a long time but you will have so much less breakage.

Additionally, if you have had a sew in for 5 weeks, you should be ready for a hell of a lot of shed hair so that's why it's important to remove that hair before washing. Otherwise, you create tangles.

My favourite blogger, Jeni of justgrowalready.com is transitioning and for her, stretching her new growth with tension blowdrying has been key for reducing tangles.

 

[Jas123]

The thing that kept me from transitioning much earlier was the dreaded detangling session I thought I would have to undergo... Can I say, in all honesty, my detangling sessions are easier than when I was relaxed due to:
*I wash my hair in braids- To keep current tangles at bay at not make any more
*I don't even towel dry my hair anymore (this happened by accident, one day I got out of the shower and forgot to put a towel on my head and realized d@mn near soaking wet hair is easier to detangle)
*I use a big comb with medium to large spaces in between each tooth
*I actually detangle in much smaller sections than I use (this made a hugest difference in my detangling sessions)
*No product on my hair- I don't apply product until after the hair has been detangled
*Last and least- deep conditioning- This is the least thing that helped because I don't always deep condition or even condition to be perfectly honest

eta- I don't finger detangle, pre-detangle or detangle in the shower- I detangle 1x only when I'm out the shower sitting comfortably and can take my time- my sessions only take about 15-20 minutes, but can take longer when my attention is on some tv show