hair fork causing damage?

[Chocowalnut]

I got my first hair fork to try to stop using pony tails but whenever I put it in my hair I hear a noise that sounds like my hair is ripping or breaking off. Am I tearing my hair with the fork? What should I do to prevent damage when using one?

[Wosie]

What kind of fork is it (do you mayhaps have a picture of it or of something similar)? Wood/metal/plastic?

It sounds like it isn't smooth enough, or that the tines are placed too close together... It might also be that the fork material doesn't agree with your hair. I can't wear my holly fork, for example, my hair detests the thing. :S

[Anje]

It's certainly still possible. Definitely make sure the fork is smooth and not snagging. You also might have to loosen your updo a tiny bit to accommodate the space that the fork will take up. I can do tighter styles with forks with thin tines than I can with forks with broad tines, and need to adjust accordingly.

[vpatt]

I have been wondering if forks could cause damage...I haven't bought any yet as my hair is only CBL. But this gives me a bit of knowledge for when I choose which one to buy.....and I plan to do that soon. And I would like to make one, too.

[mtzw]

I totally understand this sound. I hear it with any hair stick. I use wooden ones and I get this sound even with the smoothest ones.

[lapushka]

How long is your hair, and how much tension is there on your hair? That's the key issue. If there's a lot of tension in there, chances of you hitting a hair or a few hairs with the tines and cracking/breaking a hair - it's real.

[gthlvrmx]

Try making sure your updo isn't too tight. Also, try a nautilus, you can slide the stick/fork in that one without much pressure on the hair.

[Beborani]

It used to happens to me when I was younger with stick and recently with one of popular vendor's forks here until someone pointed out the tension bit and also to wiggle the fork a little instead of sticking straight through. After sometime this becomes automatic and you don't break hair strands.

[missblueeyes]

I think your buns are too tight. :) I've had the same problem until recently. I think there's a picture of one of my super tight buns in my album - cringeworthy. Must've broken some hairs doing that one. It takes some time to get the tension quite right but you'll get there. :)

[Zesty]

It might also be that the fork material doesn't agree with your hair. I can't wear my holly fork, for example, my hair detests the thing. :S

I'm glad it's not just me; I just could not get along with the holly fork I had, I always heard a hair snap. Wonder why, because it's bendier than other woods or something? :hmm:

Echoing everyone else's advice: looser buns, wiggle the fork and go slow as you insert it.

[Chocowalnut]

It was a wooden fork and yeah I tried wiggling it in and that does seem to help a lot. And it probably was too tight too I was trying to stick it through a braided updo.

[meteor]

It was a wooden fork and yeah I tried wiggling it in and that does seem to help a lot. And it probably was too tight too I was trying to stick it through a braided updo.

Braided updos seem to hold better than non-braided ones, so you can bun it looser. I think a fork requires much looser bunning than a stick anyway. And the more prongs, the looser the bunning may be.

It's also possible that at APL, you bun tighter than needed just because before a certain length hair doesn't hold easily without certain tightness. (I used to have to bun more tightly when my hair was shorter.) If that's the case, try starting your style from a half-up bun and wrap the remaining hair (twisted or braided) around the half-up bun.

[Kherome]

Buns with forks need to be loose and you cannot cram a fork (or any hair toy) in the bun. It has to be worked in slowly with a slight wiggle to move the hairs rather than snap through them.

[Chocowalnut]

Braided updos seem to hold better than non-braided ones, so you can bun it looser. I think a fork requires much looser bunning than a stick anyway. And the more prongs, the looser the bunning may be.

It's also possible that at APL, you bun tighter than needed just because before a certain length hair doesn't hold easily without certain tightness. (I used to have to bun more tightly when my hair was shorter.) If that's the case, try starting your style from a half-up bun and wrap the remaining hair (twisted or braided) around the half-up bun.


Buns with forks need to be loose and you cannot cram a fork (or any hair toy) in the bun. It has to be worked in slowly with a slight wiggle to move the hairs rather than snap through them.

Thanks for the advice. It is better now that I am wiggling it through slowly.

[Horrorpops]

Oh gosh I had no idea hair forks could damage hair! I'll have to be careful next time I use mine/ can get a bun to stay up with one :D storing the wisdom away in my head