Naturals: do you detangle dry or wet?

[Sapphire_chic]

wet with lots of conditioner using my denman. I'm usually too lazy to section but it does makes it easier when I do detangle in 4 sections. I lose the same amount of hair every week (because I keep the shed hair *ewww* lol)

 

[Beverly Ann Properties]

I load my hair with oil and baggy with a plastic cap minimum 1 hour. When I take off the plastic cap, I can easily finger comb to detangle.

 

[curlyninjagirl]

I gave up the comb (except for parting sometimes) and brush about three months ago. I love detangling with my fingers cuz I can feel when i come across a tangle of hair and then gently loosen the strands from each other without any snapping. I finger comb very gently before my wash on dry hair mostly to get the shed hairs out, those are the real tangle culprits for me.

Also, I've been on a mission to find a hair style that creates the least amount of tangles. And so far I've found that putting my hair in about 15-30 twists keeps the tangles away. I'm all about sacrificing style for strands these days but I finally managed to put my twists in a bun with hardly any tension.

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=477796

 

[Sasha299]

I detangle wet, loading up with conditioner and letting it sit before using my fingers to remove as many as I can see. WNG are my usual style and I co-wash every day.

 

[Curlykale]

I detangle on wet hair only. When it is very well conditioned and trimmed (no single strand knots) it's much easier. When I have problems because I have neglected my ends or for other reasons I go back to oil rinsing: I like rice bran oil because it's light, fast absorbing and cheap, or coconut because it's not too greasy, otherwise anything I have (olive, avocado...). I then shampoo twice and condition twice or DC to be sure I don0t have any oil left. It washes away better in conditioner than in shampoo, especially if left for a longer time, IMHO.

Otherwise I wet my hair, load it with oil, put conditioner over it, and keep with a cplastic ap for 1 hour before washing.

 

[anon123]

I usually detangle before I wash. I do it differently at different times, but the best results are if I section my hair in 10+ sections. Then put conditioner on each section and twist or braid it. Then after all the sections are twisted up, go back and undo each then detangle with a wide tooth comb and or a brush and twist or braid it back up. Then I get in the shower to wash.

 

[Sapphire_chic]

Mwedzi Your hair is gorgeous!

 

[Anew]

My hair is so short now and I have not had any issues detangling. When I had my first set of pixies in I just took them down and twisted my hair. I wore it like that for two days, under my wig of course, then I finally washed. I didn't detangle before washing. I just did a DC, washed and conditioned then b/c I planned on putting the pixies back in, as I took a section of hair that I was gonna braid, I'd detangle first. I did that with ease, no problems. My hair was wet and I did moisturize all of my hair first and add coconut oil.

So basically I detangle on wet hair

 

[txcurly10]

I detangle on damp hair using Knot Today after I washed out the conditioner. Detangling hair under running water is a waste to me.

This is exactly what I do.

 

[discodumpling]

So naturals a few questions:

Do you detangle on dry hair or wet hair?
: I've done both at various stages of my HHJ. For me it depends on just how tangled my hair is, how long i've left it out, & what style i'm detangling. I detangle & plait into sections to wash.
Do you detangle before or after you wash? I do both When I detangle before a wash I use ALOT of oil, start with a big comb and work my way down to a fine toothed comb...yeah I said it!I defintely detangle after a wash with my conditioner of the moment.

 

[Determined22]

I detangle my hair before I wash it dry. However, I add massive amounts of conditioner to my hair before detangling so essentially it is wet but not with water. I use about 8 ounces of conditioner to detangle.

I use a wide tooth comb and braid my hair and then wash it in sections. I do not use shampoo on my hair, only on my scalp.

That's exactly what I do. I DC on dry hair, so I apply my DC to a section, detangle it, and then braid or twist it up.

 

[LilMissRed]

WET. I refuse to do much of anything w/dry hair. I run water thru my hair, apply condi/detangle under the running water using my fingers

 

[ms.blue]

I detangle my hair before I wash it dry. However, I add massive amounts of conditioner to my hair before detangling so essentially it is wet but not with water. I use about 8 ounces of conditioner to detangle.

I use a wide tooth comb and braid my hair and then wash it in sections. I do not use shampoo on my hair, only on my scalp.

I pretty much do this also but sometimes I use oil like olive oil.

 

[Creatividual]

I detangle my hair before I wash it dry. However, I add massive amounts of conditioner to my hair before detangling so essentially it is wet but not with water. I use about 8 ounces of conditioner to detangle.

I use a wide tooth comb and braid my hair and then wash it in sections. I do not use shampoo on my hair, only on my scalp.

This is exactly what I do except I do use shampoo on my hair; just focus it on my scalp mainly. I use the classic (wide tooth) shower comb.

 

[KnottyGurl]

I usually detangle in the shower with conditioner in and under running water. However, I'm seeing other good methods to try later. I've noticed that my hair has been getting just a little bit difficult lately, so I'm open to trying a different method.

Thanks OP for the thread. Right on time for me.

 

[tHENATuRALhAiRpRoJEcT]

shampoo detangles better for me than conditioner

 

[kandiekj100]

I detangle on wet hair in the shower. I put conditioner in it, detangle with my fingers, then I go back with my paddle brush afterwards, and rinse.

sidenote: I blowdried my hair about a month ago and I have to say it has done wonders for detangling process since. It was much easier and quicker of a process. I blowdryed on low using medium heat (with heat protectant).

 

[Bubblingbrownshuga]

Very wet or damp, nevah dry!

 

[SimJam]

I finger detangle on dry hair (with oil and condish) then I comb through each section with a shower comb.

then I wash and detangle again while I moisturize/seal using the chicoro method - this detangling is usually minimal if any.

 

[cinnespice]

I detangle after i dry my hair. Slightly damnp with with qhemet detangling ghee my hair seems to be okay.

 

[honeycomb719]

I usually spray with some detangler (so its damp) and detangle, them I wash and do any other detangling needed while soaked with conditioner. I find that if I dont detangle before I wash I get more hair shedding/breaking in the shower. But, Im a big shedder anyway...

 

[PPGbubbles]

I finger detangle dry with oil.... I found this method from Sera2544 (a waistlength natural) on yt....this may help op

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSlq0kvkwWo&feature=related

I find it works well if my hair has been previously stretched

 

[SummerSolstice]

it depends on the style... when i do braidouts, twistouts, curls, etc. i use a mousse mixed with conditioner. so there is still some tangling going on. for that i separate the chunks using mane and tail and then I go ahead and clarify. I clarify once a week. Then i DC, then when i get out I use Redken or mane and tail again with a wig brush on 2 inch sections

 

[Nasdaq_Diva]

Do you detangle your hair wet or dry?

As my hair gets longer, detangling has become alot more challenging. For the last month and a half I've been detangling with a shower comb on wet hair(with conditioner) after deep conditioning. Detangling on wet hair is not working for me. My shed hair gets tangled on my ends and I'm finding more knots on my ends. I'm very gentle in that when I hit a snag (which happens oftenerplexed) I stop and then finger detangle to remove knot and remove the shed hair. This takes too long. I've read that naturals should only detangle on wet hair but I find that doing this tends to cause massive tangling with my shed hair. I used to detangle on dry hair with oil and conditioner and has worked well for me since it helped get all the shed hair out before washing. However, I thought detangling on wet hair would make removing shed hair even easier (more slip). Evidently that was not the case for me.

So I'm going back to what works; detangling before washing. I'm curious to see what others are doing.

So naturals a few questions:

Do you detangle on dry hair or wet hair?

Do you detangle before or after you wash?

I finger detangle on dry hair. I detangle my hair with a comb when wet and with conditioner only.

OP: I think it would help to cut down on all the tangling if you cleansed/shampooed your hair in sections. I loosely braid my hair in 6-8 sections. Then I smooth out each section, clean my hair and scalp. Rinse. I apply conditioner to my whole head (while still in braids), then take each section down, smoothing it and detangling it. Once it's detangled, it's re-braided and I move onto the next.

I never had a problem with detangling my hair anymore. You should try it.

 

[lovelyone80]

I put conditioner on dry hair and detangle it.
so it's not dry but it's not wet with water. it's moist.

i can't do it on dry hair, it feels like i am breaking my hair. (I am 4b) and as far as wet, it gets all types of tangled...well wait. sometimes I Do it wet but it's also coated with a lot of conditioner for slip. but not wet with just water.

 

[RubyWoo]

Thank you all very much for your responses. This has helped me a great deal and hopefully my next detangling session will go a lot smoother. I agree with those of you that said that it depends on hair type and length. My hair is 4b and about 7.5-8 inches in length. I also should've mentioned that I usually detangle every two weeks as I usually have my hair styled in mini twists.

I detangle my hair before I wash it dry. However, I add massive amounts of conditioner to my hair before detangling so essentially it is wet but not with water. I use about 8 ounces of conditioner to detangle.

This is exactly what I used to do before switching to detangling on wet hair. Except I also used oil and didn't use as much conditioner. This worked well for me.

i don't recommend anyone does it unless you want to lose some hair, and top of that, that mess HURTSreally bad when dry

That's interesting. I find that my hair is a lot easier to deal with when it's dry. Wet is a whole other story for me. Different strokes for different folks!

It depends on if u have fine or thick strands.

As i have fine hair combing whilst soaking wet is a no no. I finger comb on dry hair then follow gently with my Ouidad comb then put it in four plaits to wash and condition. I then add leave in's and only comb again when hair is 80% dry.

Soaking wet in the shower is snap city for me.

Edt - Oops, i'm not fully natural so maybe i should not have answered.

Your input is definitely welcomed and valued. I remember when you were natural. Your response will also help other transitioners. Anyhow, My strands are medium. Not fine but not thick either. I always fear that my hair is breaking when I comb on wet hair. I honestly don't think my hair can or will be able to handle that over time. My hair is defintely alot stronger in it's dry state and is another reason why I prefer to detangle on "dry" hair.

I guess I am kinda shocked that people detangle on dry hair. Do you use a comb? Or just fingers ? Trying to get a comb or denman through dry hair would leave mounds of hair in the brush. I section load up on conditioner and oil then under running water use my jibre and denman.

When I was detangling on dry hair , I would first detangle with my fingers and then follow up with my denman or my comb. My hair had conditioner and oil in it to help with the detangling process. I don't plan to use my denman any more. I feel like the comb works better for my hair.

I finger detangle on dry hair. I detangle my hair with a comb when wet and with conditioner only.

OP: I think it would help to cut down on all the tangling if you cleansed/shampooed your hair in sections. I loosely braid my hair in 6-8 sections. Then I smooth out each section, clean my hair and scalp. Rinse. I apply conditioner to my whole head (while still in braids), then take each section down, smoothing it and detangling it. Once it's detangled, it's re-braided and I move onto the next.

I never had a problem with detangling my hair anymore. You should try it.

You're absolutely right. I think it's time for me to wash in sections. I have been shampooing my hair loose and in the shower. I thought shampooing loose would help the shed hair move down and out of my hair. Obviously that didn't work and I suspect my hair type (very kinky and coily) prohibits that. I plan to section my hair off in large twists and then wash and deep condition in my twists. I believe this will help me with my tangling issues.

Thank you again ladies for your feedback and help!

 

[Tamrin]

Only when wet and with conditioner in it.

 

[darlingdiva]

I know that I'm late, but I detangle on damp hair.

I put my hair in six sections and apply the Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-In to each section. Then I apply castor oil to each section. Next, I detangle with my fingers and, when I'm sure that I have removed all of the tangles, I comb my hair from ends to root with my wide-toothed comb & then with my smaller-toothed comb.

I also keep plenty of tissues on hand during the detangling process so that I can remove the shed hairs from my comb. I examine my comb carefully while I am detangling & I never put shed hair back into my hair because that is just asking for tangles & knots.

 

[lovegymnasts]

I detangle on wet, moisturized hair as I am styling.

 

[CocoGlow]

I usually detangle before I wash. I do it differently at different times, but the best results are if I section my hair in 10+ sections. Then put conditioner on each section and twist or braid it. Then after all the sections are twisted up, go back and undo each then detangle with a wide tooth comb and or a brush and twist or braid it back up. Then I get in the shower to wash.

I put conditioner on dry hair and detangle it.
so it's not dry but it's not wet with water. it's moist.

i can't do it on dry hair, it feels like i am breaking my hair. (I am 4b) and as far as wet, it gets all types of tangled...well wait. sometimes I Do it wet but it's also coated with a lot of conditioner for slip. but not wet with just water.

^
Life has gotten much easier for me once I started detangling on DRY -stretched hair SOAKED w/ my conditioning concoctions! 4B hair tends to shrink like crazy when wet - making detangling a very difficult task - so detangling while my hair is already dry & stretched is MUCH easier as long as the conditioning mix provides slip!

So like was stated before the hair is NOT really dry at all, it's very well lubricated w/ conditioner just without the soaking wetness from rinsing/washing beforehand, therefore preventing massive shrinkage...

Even though I wash in braided sections, the braids still shrink and I have found detangling BEFORE washing truly life-changing ... when I used to detangle while wet after washing, removing one braid at a time and trying to get rid of the shed hair, etc, I would lose WAY more hair -even if my conditioner had crazy slip-and it was really frustrating having to deal w/ all that shrinkage on top of all the knots & tangles trapped in the shrinkage .. My strands are fine so they are more fragile when wet - giving me more of a reason to detangle "dry" w/ conditioner

I even tried to detangle under running water w/ my hair soaked in conditioner and even though the water pressure stretched my hair out a little, this method was a no-no for me b/c the water would just wash away all my good conditioner so the slip would not last long enough for me to successfully detangle my dense hair-even in sections!

I honestly think it depends on your hair texture b/c I have a very small patch of silky 3B at my nape (weird huh!) LOL - but anyway, this section actually seems to stretch when wet and does not tangle nearly as much - I have NO problem detangling it when wet or dry w/ conditioner b/c unlike my the other 95% 4B hair, it does not shrink up as much --so I can see why those w/ looser textures would prefer to detangle soaking wet, it seems like it would be better b/c the water tends to make those curls lay down