Rough Detangling Sessions

[virtuenow]

Anyone here ever experience rough detangling sessions w/natural hair? How about at your own hands? Did you have regular rough sessions? How did you survive it or did your hair just break off afterwards. I have experienced several rough sessions at my own hands while learning to do heatless stretching. I have inadvertently pulled strands from the roots and have a sore scalp. Any tips on how to nurse my hair back to health and on how to safely stretch natural high shrinkage hair. ETA: I'm finger detangling and finger styling/stretching

 

[HoneyA]

I have very thick, high shrinkage hair and I'm only doing heatless stretching and it is amazing!

What are you using to detangle? Are you detangling the hair while it is wet?

I use some sort of moisturiser immediately after my wash and DC. I detangle in small sections (8 sections or so) and from the ends of the hair up. I braid each section once detangled. Do you have a detangling brush? Or even a comb will do so you can detangle firmly but gently.

Once the moisturiser is on, the detangling process shouldn't be that rough because the hair is smoothed out and you should get through it fairly quickly. The stretch I get throughout the week from that 1x a week detangling session and rebraiding at night is pretty good.

Just be a bit more gentle with your hair as well. Your hair shouldn't be coming out from the scalp. If it's sore, try putting some aloe vera gel on. It is really soothing on the scalp.

 

[SimJam]

I also have highly shrinky hair and used to battle with knots while detangling. There are several things Ive changed in my regimen that I think have helped tremendously.

this is what I do

I keep my hair in a stretched/untangled state (twists, twistouts) occasional shingle

finger detangle before washing (may use conditioner depending on the style I had my hair in before)

I dont wash in sections - Ive never needed to, but I used to wash in twists (because that's what I was led to believe I had to do). However if washing in sections works for you then by all means do it !!!

I only use sulphate free poo or conditioner cleansers Ive found that my hair doesnt shrink as much during washing when I use these. For me, when my hair get dry and shrinky - its all downhill from there

finger detangle while putting in my deep conditioner - I twist up each section when Im done

Most times I wash out the conditioner while still in the twists

spritz with tea mixed with aloe vera juice or straight aloevera juice (av juice helps to close cuticles and prevent tangles)

add leave in - I use the dreaded tangle teezer to do a thorough detangle. I have no issues with this tool, but I know many ladies have blamed it for split ends/breakage etc

 

[Just11412]

i have had tough detangling sessions.

what has worked for me is the night before i saturate my hair in my prepoo oil mix (which is basically just these oils that i no longer use and just want to get rid of, lol. if my hair is loose i section my hair off into 6-8 sections. slather the oils on my hair and loosely braid up those sections. baggy my head overnight to soften the hair up. if my hair in my min braids then i just slather on the oil and baggy.

in the morning i start the detangling process because my hair has had time to soften up. i only finger detangle working from the ends to the root. oil works for me. i have prepooed and finger detangled before with conditioners or aloe vera and its just too much on my strands. my hair likes dry finger detangling with oils. i just take my time.

 

[Nonie]

Anyone here ever experience rough detangling sessions w/natural hair? How about at your own hands? Did you have regular rough sessions? How did you survive it or did your hair just break off afterwards. I have experienced several rough sessions at my own hands while learning to do heatless stretching. I have inadvertently pulled strands from the roots and have a sore scalp. Any tips on how to nurse my hair back to health and on how to safely stretch natural high shrinkage hair. ETA: I'm finger detangling and finger styling/stretching

@virtuenow, I don't think it's possible to "finger comb" a whole head of hair without either doing a lousy job and leaving shed hair which will lead to tangles, or getting so tired and frustrated, that all the TLC you meant to use goes out the window.

The only reason I've been able to finger comb my hair since April 2009 is because it's in single braids or twists. I work on one small section at a time and can separate strand by strand and thus ensure not a single shed hair is left behind. That is why I never have to detangle. Also I don't get overwhelmed coz I can work on just one or ten, depending on my mood/steam. And in either case, there's nothing to worry about coz my hair is in a low mani state and won't tangle even if I didn't touch it for a week.

When my hair is loose, I use a comb. I use it in the morning when I style, and at night before I put my hair in plaits for the night. There is NO WAY I could deal with my hair any other way.

I think you need to be on the mission I am where I never allow tangles to exist. I keep my hair stretched with braids. It shrinks when I wear it out in an afro but it is fully detangled. So in the evening, pulling out a section that I stretch and comb through is a breeze. The comb glides through easily and I braid it firmly so that the detangled hair stays detangled. In the morning, I comb with ease because I have not allowed my hair to tangle. That vid shows my hair with conditioner in it, but it is just as slippery with S Curl on it. I don't even reapply moisturizer daily like most people...so if you are doing it, then combing should be seamless.

People clutch pearls at the idea of combing hair daily, but look at what happens when you don't in the name of low manipulation. If you're after low manipulation, braid your hair up and forget about it. Having hair loose and not combing it will lead to problems. I cannot think of a day I have been frustrated with my hair, because I don't allow it to get difficult. I take precautions to keep it from ever becoming a headache to deal with. The daily combing is not a lot of manipulation when you consider that I never have to spend hours detangling--which IMO is manipulation galore.

 

[Damaged but not out]

when i was natural before the forums I had rough detangling sessions. I would just rip out knots and rake thru my hair with the comb.

Now, i fin using the clays or henna help with stretching my hair on wash days. I DC overnight, oil rinse. Then leave in with Giovanni and castor oil( is a gem) on wet hair, use the denman , plait and airdry.

 

[ChocolatePie777]

Surprisingly no:O.......at least compared to the things that are described on here

 

[yorkpatties]

My whole life detangling has been a nightmare until recently. I got my detangling method from Kimmaytube, which I believe she got from Chicoro.

My hair is't long enough to stay put in large twists so I shampoo in large plaits. I apply deep conditioner, let it sit a while. I then take down each section individually and first detangle with a wide tooth seamless comb, then I go over the section with my denman brush to ensure I remove all shed hair. I then coat the section in more conditioner and rebraid it. I go over each section until finished and shower the conditioner out of my plaits with cooler water. Detangling hasn't been an issue now that I don't tangle my hair in the first place.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

My method:
*Detangle on dry hair w/product vs on wet hair - I put conditioner on my dry hair and detangle before washing.

*Seamless combs - Finger detangling doesn't work for me

These two things saved my hair. It used to take hours to detangle. Now it's 30 min max, even if my hair isn't stretched. Keeping it in a stretched style where it stays detangled between washes makes things easier also.

 

[MzSwift]

Aww. ((BIG HUG))

You've got some great tips in here! I've only had rough/hurtful/long sessions whenever I leave my hair loose and wet at the same time.

Typically, I fingerdetangle and deshed as I'm styling my hair. My hair typically is styled in braids/cornrows under wigs or in twists/braids for a twistout/braidout if it's loose. I detangle on dry hair.

My hair is rarely left loose. If it's in a twistout/braidout for the day, I either rebraid/retwist at night or band it.

To cut down on tangles/stress, I either wash and DC my hair in the previous style before changing it or wash in the new style. I do not wash it loose! For instance, If I'm going from cornrows to twists I will wash and DC in the cornrows and allow my hair to dry about 85%. Then I'll transform them into twists by taking down 2-3 rows at a time and finger detangle/deshed as I do each twist. My hair is already clean and I can apply whatever product I use to twist.

If I'm going from an "out" style into cornrows or twists, either put my hair into the style and then wash/DC or put my hair into 8-10 celie braids and then wash and DC. I only fingerdetangle/deshed in the smaller sections as I'm putting it into the new style.

I don't experience tangling and no, I don't remove all of the shed hair. I don't believe that's possible to do -- even with a comb/brush.

So to recap, LoL, my tips are:

-Don't let your wet/damp hair dry loose.
-Don't wet your hair while loose.
-Detangle in the smaller sections as you style - on dry hair or dampened with product.

I've found that by doing my hair this way, I cut down on stressful detangling days. I've also been able to go YEARS without using a comb or brush in my hair, which is very coily and loves to shrink.

GL!

 

[Lute]

I have them too as well. I don't detangle as often as I should. But I pray the price when I need to part my hair to do twists. Also the tangle hair seems to seep out

During the christmas break. I will sit down and dedicate sometime to do a serious detangling session. I really need to find out what works best. Cause I think its preventing me from retaining more hair. Right now I'm collecting my arsenal. I'm going to use my shower comb and my pink annie rake comb. and last but not least. I'm going to try my deman brush but modify it since I learned how it works. My hair is 4b, I think im going to try to do finger dentaling with oil and then use water and conditoner over it..with the comb and brushes.