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Thread: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

  1. #21
    OldTimer Older than LHC Teacherbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Hi DreamingLong, in my experience, as my hair grow slonger, I have to adjust how I do things related with my hair. Maybe, as your hair gets longer, you need to adjust how you are shampooing and/or conditioning and/or drying your hair. I use to shampoo all of my hair, but after my hair got to waist length, I had to start conditioning the length and washing only the scalp hairs. I also had to stop flipping my hair over my head to put it into a towel/turby towel.

    Perhaps you need to comb your hair in the shower and let the water assist the comb-through.

    I also find that when my hair starts tangling/knotting up that it is time to start snipping split ends. They make my hair tangle up but snipping them makes my hair much happier!

    I don't know. I'm just offering some suggestions. I hope you find something that helps.
    Hmm, what should this say? I'm thinking . . .

  2. #22
    Hiding in plain sight spidermom's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    My hair was doing the same thing last week. It needed to be clarified. I mixed 1 tbsp of baking soda in 2 quarts of warm water and poured it slowly over my scalp and through my hair. Then I rinsed well and massaged some conditioner through the length. I tried to comb some coney serum through it while it was damp-dry, but I think my cuticle was still up from the baking soda, which I plan to avoid completely in the future (opting instead for a clarifying shampoo). After my hair was fully dry, it was easy to untangle and comb again. At this length (tailbone), a coney serum or conditioner really helps to smooth and detangle my hair, but I must wait until it is dry.

  3. #23
    Member Sissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Quote Originally Posted by heidihug View Post


    That's definitely because you are wearing your hair down, or in a half-up, or a loose updo. If you have a hair type that's prone to tangling, and any of your hair is touching your clothing around the nape for an extended period of time, it will tangle. The longer your hair gets, the worse it will tangle, and in a shorter amount of time. The only solution for this is to wear your hair up at all times, which many of us who have this problem do, or to carry your wide-tooth comb or gentle-to-use brush around with you all day, and take frequent detangling session breaks throughout the day. Never rip through your tangles (I know how tempting that can be, though - the frustration of tangles!), that will only cause breakage and will thin out your length.
    Heidi,

    That is interesting, yet horrifying to know... I love to wear my hair down... it is a self-image thing I think... I will have to start detangleing more throughout the day What type of hair type gets this mass of snarl under their back of their head, by the nape of their neck? Does this mean I have thick hair? I was just assuming it was from using too many 'cones and leave-in conditioner and anti-breakage products.

    Sissy

  4. #24
    Hiding in plain sight spidermom's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Oh the horrors of nape tangling! I get it too. One thing that helps is to wear a wide head-band that lifts the hair at the nape so that it's not swinging across your collar all day long. Or wear it up, which I do at least 85% of the time. It's much more convenient and safer that way. Hair can be a safety hazard!

  5. #25
    Member heidihug's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    What type of hair type gets this mass of snarl under their back of their head, by the nape of their neck? Does this mean I have thick hair? I was just assuming it was from using too many 'cones and leave-in conditioner and anti-breakage products.


    Sissy, any type of hair can be prone to tangling, from what I read here. I have relatively thin and fine hair, and it has always tangled easily, even when it was just shoulder-length. Other people here who have thick hair find it tangles easily. It may depend upon heredity and the way your hair is actually "constructed" - for instance, do the cuticles of your hair tend to lay flat, or do they "stick up". I've seen discussion about this on other threads about hair types, though I cannot recall exactly where. I clarify about every other month or so, so I know my problems are not related to build-up.

    I also have a short neck, so the nape of my hair is closer to my clothes than it would be if I had a longer neck. So my under-hairs rub on my clothing all day if I wear my hair down. When I decided to grow my hair long, from past experience I knew I would be sacrificing the ability to wear it down. Last time I wore it down during the day was to a class reunion last year, and I had a mass of dread-like tangles underneath that took over an hour to sort out. And I did end up losing a lot of hair due to knots and breakage. So why do I have long hair if I can't wear it down much if at all? Depends upon which day you ask me, I guess.

    I'm not trying to scare anyone, just letting you know what my personal experience has been with my hair. Your mileage may, and probably will, vary!

    Slow day: Didn't have much to do, so spent three hours on LHC. Busy day: Managed to work in three hours of LHC. Bad day: Barely squeezed in three hours on LHC.

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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Quote Originally Posted by heidihug View Post

    Sissy, any type of hair can be prone to tangling, from what I read here. I have relatively thin and fine hair, and it has always tangled easily, even when it was just shoulder-length. Other people here who have thick hair find it tangles easily. It may depend upon heredity and the way your hair is actually "constructed" - for instance, do the cuticles of your hair tend to lay flat, or do they "stick up". I've seen discussion about this on other threads about hair types, though I cannot recall exactly where. I clarify about every other month or so, so I know my problems are not related to build-up.

    I also have a short neck, so the nape of my hair is closer to my clothes than it would be if I had a longer neck. So my under-hairs rub on my clothing all day if I wear my hair down. When I decided to grow my hair long, from past experience I knew I would be sacrificing the ability to wear it down. Last time I wore it down during the day was to a class reunion last year, and I had a mass of dread-like tangles underneath that took over an hour to sort out. And I did end up losing a lot of hair due to knots and breakage. So why do I have long hair if I can't wear it down much if at all? Depends upon which day you ask me, I guess.

    I'm not trying to scare anyone, just letting you know what my personal experience has been with my hair. Your mileage may, and probably will, vary!
    Heidihug how do you know when the cuticle is laying flat or sticking up??

  7. #27
    Glampire Slayer manderly's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    I'm sorry, did I miss where you posted your routine?

    Tangly hair......do you use a conditioner at all? If not, that would be my very first suggestion. I'm often surprised at how many here don't use any kind of conditioner, as I couldn't imagine a wash without it. My hair would be a mat of tangles if I skipped it.

    I detangle in the shower. My poo bar is rich enough to start the detangling process (olive and babassu from CV). I rinse with vinegar + a squirt of condish + water, then I add more conditioner. I then detangle my hair completely while I spread the condish through my hair with the comb. This also gets rid of all that annoying loose shed hair so it's not all stuck to me when I get out of the shower.

    Rinse all that goodness out, towel dry, add my leave in and plenty of oil.

  8. #28
    Member heidihug's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Heidihug how do you know when the cuticle is laying flat or sticking up??
    I don't recall which thread I saw it in, but there was a discussion in March or April about it somewhere here. I think you actually have to look at it with a really good (lab) microscope. We have some scientists here (Gladtobemom is one of them) we have looked at their hair under the microscope. I have never had the opportunity. I do know that using conditioner and some types of leave-ins helps to smooth (or perhaps fill?) the cuticle down for some people. I know that my hair tangles less and behaves much better if I use a good silicone-containing conditioner (I use Dove).

    Wish I could be of more help!

    Slow day: Didn't have much to do, so spent three hours on LHC. Busy day: Managed to work in three hours of LHC. Bad day: Barely squeezed in three hours on LHC.

  9. #29
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    Quote Originally Posted by heidihug View Post
    I don't recall which thread I saw it in, but there was a discussion in March or April about it somewhere here. I think you actually have to look at it with a really good (lab) microscope. We have some scientists here (Gladtobemom is one of them) we have looked at their hair under the microscope. I have never had the opportunity. I do know that using conditioner and some types of leave-ins helps to smooth (or perhaps fill?) the cuticle down for some people. I know that my hair tangles less and behaves much better if I use a good silicone-containing conditioner (I use Dove).

    Wish I could be of more help!
    Oh ok I was just curious as to what that meant but thanks for explaining to me

  10. #30
    Member joyfulmom4's Avatar
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    Default Re: My Hair is so tangly and knotty

    I know some people are against the use of cones, but I find the very best thing for detangling hair is a coney hair serum. My dd's went swimming in a chlorinated pool several times over the weekend recently and their hair was horrible. You just could not comb it at all. I smoothed in some Paul Mitchell hair serum and it combed right out, not even a snag. The comb just slipped through like a hot knife through butter. I tried giving up cones recently, but I think I'm going back to them. I love how they make my hair smooth, shiny and slippery.

    I also suggest that if your ends are really tangly, a small trim could really help. I find if I trim then it becomes easy to comb again. If you don't want to trim, you might first try doing a really thorough S&D for split ends. That might be enough to help.


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