How to prevent tangly hair

[susieq998]

I condition my hair well use leave in conditioners and hair oils argan oil specifically, I try my best to keep it from getting tangled up. Its just so prone to becoming tangled. I have to brush my hair several times a day cause it can get really bad if i don't that is if i wear it down. My hair is fine yet dense and has always been tangle prone. Do any of you who have this problem know what might help so i don't have to brush it so often. I don't want to damage my hair from all the brushing as i am trying to grow it out. Its really healthy at this point because I went and cut off all the damaged parts a few months back.

[Naiadryade]

Olive oil does wonders for me both in preventing tangles, and in getting them out without breakage once they are there. Just a few drops adds a lot of slip--at 18" you might only want 2 drops, depending on your thickness. Sometimes I dilute it with rice bran oil to make it lighter/not make my hair look greasy as fast, and it still has the detangling power.

ETA: I only finger-comb as well, which I do do frequently when it's down to prevent tangles from becoming anything difficult to remove--easy to do with the olive oil. Combing this way or with a wide-toothed seamless comb are much less damaging ways to detangle than brushing.

[susieq998]

thanks ill definetly try that. Im just so tired of having to slowly comb or brush through my hair so it wont rip my hair. I have fairly fragile hair so it doesnt help.

[MyKing'sQueen]

Keeping it up or braided works best for me. But if I really want to wear it down I use some coney serum which helps a little but I have to deal with tangles regardless.

[WilfredAllen]

I see you're new here - have you heard of the magical tangle teezer yet?
It won't prevent them, but it will help resolve them

Also, I find s & d helps because split and bent ends like to tangle

[Firefox7275]

I condition my hair well use leave in conditioners and hair oils argan oil specifically, I try my best to keep it from getting tangled up. Its just so prone to becoming tangled. I have to brush my hair several times a day cause it can get really bad if i don't that is if i wear it down. My hair is fine yet dense and has always been tangle prone. Do any of you who have this problem know what might help so i don't have to brush it so often. I don't want to damage my hair from all the brushing as i am trying to grow it out. Its really healthy at this point because I went and cut off all the damaged parts a few months back.

Stop brushing it so often, use a very wide tooth comb or fingers instead - brushing can cause damage which increases tangling, it's intended to smooth the hair not to detangle.

When did you last clarify and chelate? Are there any ingredients prone to building up in your leave in conditioner? Do you use enough protein or too much protein?

[Madora]

thanks ill definetly try that. Im just so tired of having to slowly comb or brush through my hair so it wont rip my hair. I have fairly fragile hair so it doesnt help.

Please, for the sake of your hair, always use a wide tooth comb to detangle, never a brush of any sort.

Because your hair, by your own admission, is fairly fragile, all the more reason to take pains when detangling. You NEED to go slowly and carefully when detangling! Start at the ends and slowly work up the strands until you reach the scalp. Do it in increments..a little at a time, instead of trying to detangle in large sections.

Truly, half the battle of growing long, healthy hair, is to handle it carefully, like antique lace. You must have patience if you want beautiful, healthy hair.

Wearing your hair up can eliminate a great many tangles, and is protective as well.

[Anje]

In my opinion, long skinny flexible things (whether they're hairs, threads, yarn, extension cords, or strings of Christmas lights) tangle when left alone to interact with other strands/sections of strands. If you wear your hair loose, expect some tangles, full stop. What makes it better for me is to make sure I don't have leave-ins in my hair (because they tend to make it sticky) and to avoid sources of lint such as fuzzy shirts and cat hair. Some people find that silicones help reduce their tangles; confusingly I think they make mine worse, possibly because they encourage the hairs to move across each other in novel and knot-inducing ways.

So when I really don't want tangles, I pack things away properly. I carefully wrap up my cords, I form yarn into balls, I don't randomly stuff Christmas lights in bags, and I put my hair in braids or buns.

[Sharysa]

I pretty much just comb almond oil into my hair as a leave-in and then keep it braided most of the time, but I'm definitely seconding to cut down on brushing--that might be part of why your hair's so fragile and tangly. My hair is really resilient, but it tangles really easily, so I used to comb my hair twice a day.

Then I went here and on Untamed Tresses where I found out about finger-combing, and now my routine involves a horn comb about three times a week. I have FAR less tangling with nearly waist-length hair than with my former bird's nest of short hair.

[lapushka]

What does well for me is coney conditioners, conditioning twice after washing (followed by a leave-in and a coney serum), and keeping the hair up 6 days out of 7 (except on wash days).