Matted hair after S&C - What to do?

[millyaulait]

So, just about an hour ago I decided my hair was getting a bit lank & lifeless looking. To combat this I just shampoo & condition it (usually I am a CO only), and usually that fixes the problem. I only do this once every few months really.

Anyway, I just did it and my hair is matted, not a little bit, but a lot. I have this huge mass of matted hair and I have no idea why.

I'm always super careful when S&C'ing, I never rub my hair together or swirl it around to get a lather, nor do I dry it with a towel or rub anything around it to dry it.

This is the first time it's ever happened.. :\

I've already tried rewashing it with tonnes of conditioner, I put some oil in it too but it's an absolute birds nest, it won't take and 'slip' at all.

I'm worried because in no way do I want to damage it, as I'm sure you guys will understand completely.

[IndigoOptimist]

I get very tangled hair sometimes after sleeping (I move A LOT) and sometimes I get little chunks that are like dreadlocks! I sit with conditioner on my head for a few hours, then start genitally combing it out with the wide tooth comb. This takes ages D: Then I wash and it's fine again. I know you say you've already rewashed with conditioner, but maybe leaving it for a while and using it as a barrier to help you comb through might be a good idea :)

[spidermom]

I'd try loading it with conditioner and combing too. I suspect that your shampoo was too alkaline, which raises the cuticle, which causes matting.

[millyaulait]

Thank you, ladies. I have just drenched my hair in conditioner. Here's hoping it'll relax a little and I can get a comb through it eventually.

Spidermom, that's interesting about the alkaline, I'll have to look into that. :)

[jacqueline101]

I agree it could be your shampoo and use loads of conditioner.

[millyaulait]

Success! I managed to gentlygentlygently untangle my massive mess, but I seem to have lost a lot of hair in the process.

The hair that I've lost is about the size of grapefruit, it's also very lint-y and dusty... which is confusing. Very confusing.

I think I'm just going to have to be very careful with my hair from now on and see how it plays out.

[long&blonde]

The conditioner tubes that come with drug store permanent hair dyes, are excellent for working out matted tangles. I've decided against doing a home color, then kept conditioners while pitching color. I too would put the conditioner, whole tube if doing this, on wet hair, run thru with fingers, then slowly comb thru, head upside down. The conditioner that comes in the Nice and Easy drugstore permanent dye kits is awesome, The Best, at tangle removal.

[torrilin]

I find certain surfactants will cause my hair to form mats or tangles, even if my hair was detangled when I got in the shower and I'm just doing a scalp wash. Coco betaine is one of the most common ones that does this to my hair. Plain old sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate (even tho it's often blamed for being really bad for hair) is just fine.

It might be worth tracking the surfactants that give you trouble. I doubt they'd be just the same as mine :).

The wrong p.H can also be a problem. Some products that are more tangle causing do get better if I follow them with a dilute acidic rinse. I usually use apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar or citric acid rinses can work too... the main thing is to get it dilute enough. I use something like 5-15mL of a 5% acid solution in 500mL of water, so we're talking really dilute. Sadly, this trick doesn't fix my coco betaine problem, so at this point I just don't buy products that contain it.