Top down detanglers unite!

[school of fish]

Calling all you rebellious souls who bravely detangle your hair starting at the top of your heads despite the conventional 'detangle from the ends up' wisdom! I know you're out there, and I'm one of you :D

I'm not talking about tearing a comb or brush mercilessly through the entire length in a single pass... no, I'm talking about a soft and gentle easing out of tangles, but with the top of the head as the starting point.

There seems to be a number of us who actually find this approach less damaging than working ends up. Let's find out how many we are, and let's share our secrets! What techniques make this work for you? Do you detangle wet/damp or dry? Do you use a comb or brush? Have you always done it this way or is it something you've discovered along the way? Do you work entirely top down or do you work downwards to a certain point and then work upwards?

It would be interesting to see if those of us who find success with this method share hair characteristics - perhaps we all have similar textures or thicknesses, or perhaps we're all over the map!

I'm curious to know how many top-down detanglers we have here - maybe we're rare birds, or maybe we've just been keeping the secret to ourselves ;)

[HeartofHaleth]

I detangle with my fingers; it's just so much more controlled than a comb, for me at least! I start with a small-medium section of hair, ease out all the little tangles from the top down, and gently go over it with a BBB. Rinse and repeat. I find that if I start at the top I can generally get everything straightened out in one go, as opposed to working over the ends again and again. My hair seems to like itself so much that that might actually cause more tangles.

[missrandie]

I shyly admit that I do this more often than not.. And when I feel resistance, I stop and feel out the tangle with my fingers. Often, it just takes some smoothing and separation and the tangle falls away out the bottom.

[Lauraes]

I do this a lot, too. It doesn't seem to make a difference if I go top to bottom or bottom to top with my hair.

[Beezle]

Guilty!!! But I keep very quiet about it. I use the same method as missrandie. I suppose it's a combination of years of habit, and the usuallymistaken hope that the comb will glide through all the way to the end!

[Swan Maiden]

There are dozens of us!

I always use a Tangle Teezer. I haven't found anything else better for my hair. I detangle dry every day. Before washing, I detangle and while I have wet conditioner soaked hair I detangle before I bun or braid it for the day/night.

If I waited to detangle when my hair dried, it would be a horrible cobwebby mess.

The only time I find myself beginning from the bottom is when I unravel a braid.

[reilly0167]

On wash day I detangle my hair from top down with conditioner and a wide tooth comb and gently work my wa. I have been doing it this way for as long as I can remember =)

[lapushka]

First I detangle with a WT comb bottom to top, then I go through top to bottom with the TT brush, it's detangled by then anyway, so... I no longer see the need to also brush bottom to top. So... half/half.

[veryhairyfairy]

There are dozens of us!

I always use a Tangle Teezer. I haven't found anything else better for my hair. I detangle dry every day. Before washing, I detangle and while I have wet conditioner soaked hair I detangle before I bun or braid it for the day/night.

If I waited to detangle when my hair dried, it would be a horrible cobwebby mess.

The only time I find myself beginning from the bottom is when I unravel a braid.

I love you for quoting Arrested Development (you meant to do that, right?)! :lol:

I tried bottom-up detangling for a long time before I realized that I actually ran into more knots with that method.

Nowadays I start at about my ears and go down, and then go from scalp down... with a Denman brush, while my hair is wet!!! :eek:
I'm getting less tangles since I started using a brush vs a wide-tooth comb, it's weird because I thought I got less tangles after switching to the comb, but results don't lie.

[school of fish]

Yes, results don't lie. And Arrested Development is awesome.

[Swan Maiden]

I love you for quoting Arrested Development (you meant to do that, right?)! :lol:

I tried bottom-up detangling for a long time before I realized that I actually ran into more knots with that method.

Nowadays I start at about my ears and go down, and then go from scalp down... with a Denman brush, while my hair is wet!!! :eek:
I'm getting less tangles since I started using a brush vs a wide-tooth comb, it's weird because I thought I got less tangles after switching to the comb, but results don't lie.

Yes. Intentional :)

[meteor]

I detangle top-down, too. ;)

I remember trying going from the bottom up and it never felt like the best approach, because the knots took the same effort to undo but alignment from roots to ends would get messed up and I would have to go over the already detangled bottom sections (oldest, most fragile hair) more often, even when it was not needed at all, which ultimately only contributes to wear & tear. I've mentioned at the hair sins thread that I think combing from top down might actually be good from this perspective: if I start from ends up with, say, 10 strokes, then I've gone over those ends 10 times, but if I start from top down, then I only comb the ends when their turn comes and when they need it, so maybe 1-2 strokes only.

Going from top down helps me roughly align the strands properly from scalp level down while detangling, which I think helps the detangling process go smoother and with less resistance. Of course, I always stop as soon as I encounter a tangle and undo it with fingers, water/oil/serum, comb and maybe something pointy (a pin, the end of a rattail comb, etc), if needed.

Also, if I see a tangle or knot, I go for it right away with fingers, It's sometimes easier to just undo visible tangles with fingers before even beginning to comb more systematically.

I don't section at the beginning, because the sectioning tangled hair sometimes tangles my hair even more, so I only section when the hair is already coming out of an old braid or when the hair is already roughly detangled and I need to access inner areas better and I'm ready to braid the hair, so I split it in 3 and might comb it a bit more, if needed.

The only time I comb bottom-up is when I'm undoing a braid: I start detangling braid sections (only if needed) as I'm unraveling them, because it seems easier to see easy-to-attack tangles and the hair is sectioned by the braid, which makes the detangling go faster.

I think my approach might have to change quite a bit when my hair becomes longer than my hands, possibly having 2 approaches for 2 sections: 1) for hands+ length to be lifted up with one hand and detangled with the other, and 2) for the area above hands to be detangled from roots down, maybe. I don't know yet, we'll see! :D

Also, I don't brush and I know brushes aren't normally detanglers, but I've always wondered: don't brushes need to go from roots to ends to create proper alignment and that glossy shine - even if it's only done when the hair is already completely detangled?

(Oh, and on the question about hair texture and hair behaviour: My hair is multi-textured, pretty wavy, but it hangs almost straight now, with the weight of length, but it looks curly when it's very short. It can also be very poofy when freshly washed. It's dense and tangles easily from any movement, especially when it's freshly washed. It's strangely both grabby and slippery at once. Since my hair sticks to itself and re-tangles very easily when it's wet, I only detangle when it's dry. I use a wide-tooth comb and fingers only. Brushes only make my hair poofier and can tangle up my hair, unless it's well-oiled, so I don't use them.)

[meteor]

I shyly admit that I do this more often than not.. And when I feel resistance, I stop and feel out the tangle with my fingers. Often, it just takes some smoothing and separation and the tangle falls away out the bottom.

Exactly! :agree: I think this is a very organic, low-resistance way of detangling. Takes minimal strokes and minimum time, too! ;)
And I think it's awesome how it keeps the older ends from being combed more times than needed. Win-win!


]The only time I find myself beginning from the bottom is when I unravel a braid.

Oh yes, that's exactly what I do! I remember seeing Gossamer's video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91KymwFlIYk) on this and I thought it was brilliant, it really speeds up detangling as tangles are isolated and they stand out more within each intersection as we are undoing the braid.

[CoveredByLove]

I detangle mine wet with conditioner sort of starting at the ends, but then I stop and move the tangles from the top further down. Then I start again from the ends and work them the rest of the way out. Very similar to the way Teri LeFlesh detangles her tightly curly hair, except I don't have to work in small sections. I just need to half my hair. :) I haven't been real happy with a wide tooth comb lately...it takes me forever. So I'm experimenting with detangling brushes. I can get more work done is less time with less tugging and pulling on my hair. I have the Wet Brush and a Denman D3. I've bought two knockoffs of the Tangle Teezer and didn't like them, so I probably should buy the *real* Tangle Teezer. :p

Here is Teri LeFlesh's video on how she detangles:

https://youtu.be/2gxycb__a2c

[LongCurlyTress]

I detangle mine wet with conditioner sort of starting at the ends, but then I stop and move the tangles from the top further down. Then I start again from the ends and work them the rest of the way out. Very similar to the way Teri LeFlesh detangles her tightly curly hair, except I don't have to work in small sections. I just need to half my hair. :) I haven't been real happy with a wide tooth comb lately...it takes me forever. So I'm experimenting with detangling brushes. I can get more work done is less time with less tugging and pulling on my hair. I have the Wet Brush and a Denman D3. I've bought two knockoffs of the Tangle Teezer and didn't like them, so I probably should buy the *real* Tangle Teezer. :p

Btw, I use Kirkland Shampoo and conditioner from Costco. Allegedly it is the generic for Pureology. ;)


Here is Teri LeFlesh's video on how she detangles:

https://youtu.be/2gxycb__a2c

I pretty much detangle like like you do and for a bit detangled like straighties-- out of the shower.. however, the breakage and shedding was horrible. We are having a drought here in Northern Calif so detangling in the shower with the water running.. ugh.. and to shut the water off in the winter is BRRRR cold.. anyways... I am now detangling with alot of conditioner in the shower with the water running and the shedding/breakage is now (knock wood) back to a minimum. I start by dividing my hair in half, after it has soaked in conditioner while I do my other shower stuff. Then I divide each side into two sections and slather on the conditioner until it is totally soaked like Teri LaFlesh only she does this out of the shower. Then from tips to scalp I slowly detangle each section slathering on more conditioner as necessary for slip. And my conditioner does have cones. I use my Madora comb and like the teeth spacing as the bigger detangling combs just go around my tangles and the TT seems to make me shed too much hairloss during detangling.. I now only use my TT when my hair is dry and from tips to scalp if I want to wear my hair down after it dries. The life of a curlygirl!! :agree:

ETA I also hold the hair strand that I am detangling just above the tangle and tightly enough so I don't pull the hairs from the scalp area like T LaFlesh does in the video. But she is using a brush to detangle in her video...and going way faster than I detangle :( Otherwise, this is exactly how I detangle my hair. ;)

[school of fish]

My hair is equal parts slippery and tangly. When it tangles, they're like cobwebs, and also I get tiny micro-tangles at the ends, like 2 or 3 strands that act like they've been glued together for an inch or so. These tangles actually come out pretty easily but they also form with the slightest breeze or movement. I'm a lifelong straighty who appears to be turning slowly wavy (I think due to a curious cocktail of pregnancy and perimenopausal hormones), so although my changing texture may account for some of my hair's tangle pattern, in truth it's always kind of been this way.

I don't know when I started detangling top down - I may always have done it this way! I detangle both damp out of the shower (daily) and dry (several times a day). As a daily washer and hair-wearer-downer it means maybe 4-6 detangling sessions a day, but each of those sessions is quick - taking care of tangles frequently prevents them from getting out of control. My hair tangles even inside updos - I've actually found wearing it loose to be more protective than many updos (braids in particular) because strands rub together inside the updos and tangle up with the friction but have nowhere to go - at least when the strands are loose they can slide around and away from each other.

So for actual technique, I use a moderately wide toothed comb on post-shower hair and a Tangle Teezer on dry hair. Method is the same with both - start at the top and gently release and align the strands at scalp level. I use light, quick strokes working through the surface layers first before digging deeper through the thickness. I work down gently from the scalp until I start meeting resistance, usually somewhere around APL/BSL where I have blunt layers I'm growing out. Once a kind of mass has formed at that level, I start working ends up, sliding the tangles out the ends and gradually closing the gap between the scalp and the ends. Once I hit that spot in the middle, I hold my length over my left shoulder with my left hand, and gently start working through the mass in the middle in thin layers. I'll do a few passes on the underlayer side, then a few on the canopy side, flip-flopping back and forth and releasing thin layers of tangle at a time. Once the underside and canopy meet in the centre, tangles are gone, everything just sort of slides out the ends. Then I'll do a few gentle passes from the scalp to the ends to finish.

So I guess I kind of work to centre - starting at the top then the bottom, then working inward from the outside.

The whole process generally takes about 2min all told :) This honestly for me is the gentlest and most efficient way to detangle, and this routine just sort of developed intuitively, based on how my hair behaves For a while I kind of thought I was the only one who did this ;) It's nice to see how many others it seems to work for as well!

[Nadine <3]

I do it too. I just stop if I find a knot, but my tangle teaser doesn't really get stuck in them either.

[LongCurlyTress]

school of fish... We do exactly the same thing when detangling in the shower. EXACTLY!! I stop when you stop for tangles, every detail of how you detangle is how I do it too. How funny!! ;) Great thorough description!! :cool:

[school of fish]

school of fish... We do exactly the same thing when detangling in the shower. EXACTLY!! I stop when you stop for tangles, every detail of how you detangle is how I do it too. How funny!! ;) Great thorough description!! :cool:

Interesting! Well this may blow my similar texture theory out of the water seeing as how you're so curly and I'm so straight! :D

Perhaps slippery hair is more of a common theme among us than texture...

Or perhaps this is just a great detangling strategy that works for everyone, haha!! ;)

[missrandie]

My hair is equal parts slippery and tangly. When it tangles, they're like cobwebs, and also I get tiny micro-tangles at the ends, like 2 or 3 strands that act like they've been glued together for an inch or so.

The micro tangles.. do you find that you can remove them sometimes just by sliding them between your fingers, like smoothing them out? cause that's what I can do with mine.. almost like they partially braided themselves together, and I'm just "preening" the strands back straight.

[meteor]

The micro tangles.. do you find that you can remove them sometimes just by sliding them between your fingers, like smoothing them out? cause that's what I can do with mine.. almost like they partially braided themselves together, and I'm just "preening" the strands back straight.

Missrandie, that's exactly how most of my tangles are :D, that's why every movement or just a bit of wind can create those small tangles right after I've detangled, but they are very easy (albeit annoying) to pry apart.

School of fish, what a great description of the process! :thumbsup: And I always work my way from canopy to center, working inward from the outside, just like you are describing. I really think the approach you are describing is the easiest, most hassle-free. ;)

[school of fish]

The micro tangles.. do you find that you can remove them sometimes just by sliding them between your fingers, like smoothing them out? cause that's what I can do with mine.. almost like they partially braided themselves together, and I'm just "preening" the strands back straight.

Yes I do! With my fingers, either smoothing them down or gently pulling one of the strands up and out of the way, which releases the rest of the strands. But I can usually also release it with a single bristle of the Tangle Teezer, very carefully, which is often what I do just so I don't have to bother putting the brush down - I'm lazy like that ;)

[LongCurlyTress]

Interesting! Well this may blow my similar texture theory out of the water seeing as how you're so curly and I'm so straight! :D

Perhaps slippery hair is more of a common theme among us than texture...

Or perhaps this is just a great detangling strategy that works for everyone, haha!! ;)

I cheat and slather on gobs and I mean huge gobs of wash out conditioner when I am detangling. Also it has cones in it... Shhhhh lol! ;) I also do my detangling while still in the shower... hence the gobs and gobs of conditioner that I rinse out when I am done...;) So I guess our methods are not exactly the same.... ;) I guess I was referring to the combing technique.. yours and mine are pretty similar.

[rhosyn_du]

When I'm detangling in the the shower, with a head full of conditioner, I do it top to bottom. The tangles just slide right out. But if I'm detangling dry, which I sometimes do before showering so I can better massage my scalp, I have to do it bottom to top. If I try top to bottom on dry hair, it often tightens my tangles into knots. I wish my hair would slip free of tangles as easily as it does updos!

[MeAndTheMaz]

Hi. My name is MeAndTheMaz, and I'm a top down detangler.

Actually, it's pretty much the way I've always done it. I just can't seem to get used to doing it "The Right Way", so since joining LHC, I'm just trying to be gentler about it. I used to just blow right through tangles, but now, at least, I stop and try to pull them apart with my fingers.

I detangle in the shower slathered in conditioner. I used to try to detangle before showering, but my hair gets so tangly (and sometimes dry) that it's just impossible to do. Usually by the time I get to detangling, I've already finger combed conditioner in, and got rid of some of the mess, and that makes it sooo much easier. Other than that it's once in the morning (you don't want to see my bed head), and once again before bed.

[MasCat]

I don't know if I can count myself here. I detangle the last 15 or so cm's of hair first and then go top to bottom with a tangle teezer, gently pushing the tangles down the hair. When a tangle is very stubborn I finger-detangle.

I always detangle dry.

[embee]

Being a NW/SO person, I do not detangle in the shower. ;)

I mostly will detangle by starting at the top, brushing the scalp hair. Once that is ok, I'll begin working on the ends, and slowly make my way back up to scalp. Since my hair is almost always in a bun, the scalp hair tends to be not tangled anyway, so there's not much pulling, snapping, or breaking going on up there.

Change from top knot to low bun can be interesting. Then I have to start at the nape, and work bending forward, to get the scalp hair in place, then separating out sections to detangle and place in position for a low bun. Sometimes it's really a mess.

[Jadestorm]

I've never even tried to detangle my hair from bottom to top. I've always done it the other way around, from top to bottom. :) I'm not sure my way of brushing qualifies as soft and gentle though. Sometimes I'm gentle and soft, but definitely not all the time. ;)

[Nesoi]

Me, sort of. I use a TT and go nape-ends and then scalp-nape. Works for me! Mind you I only do it before I wash. Twice a week max. I'm super lazy :)

[lapushka]

I use both methods of detangling. I think it's pretty safe to go top to bottom when you already detangled your hair with a WT comb (bottom to top). I used to only detangle top to bottom with a brush in my teens (no prior gentle detangling with a WT comb) and my ends were raggedy (but I used to crimp too). I don't have that anymore. So to me it's worth it to at least do the bottom to top bit with that comb now.

[fairycurls]

I mostly finger detangle on dry hair. I rarely use a comb or brush even having invested in good quality seamless ones. I finger tangle from the top to the bottom.

[Carolyn]

Before I wash my hair I always detangle with a WT comb and then use my Wet to Dry brush. If it seems to be really tangled before I start I finger detangle. I do a really good brushing to remove shed hairs I always wash upright. That is the key to no tangles for me. If I wash my hair in the kitchen sink or bending over in the bathtub, I am basically screwed even if I flip my hair over my head forward and brush it before starting to wash it. When washing I never pile my hair up on top of my head. That's a know tangle causer for me. I don't comb in the shower. I've tried it and it's pretty pointless. I wrap my hair up in a towel turan for a few minutes and let it down. I start at the roots and comb with a wide tooth comb. I rarely meet the resistance of any tangles. If I do, I can work them out gently with my comb or with my fingers. I use a boatload of conditioner when I wash my hair. Post wash it always has a lot of slip.

When I get up in the mornings I don't have many tangles. Again I use my WT comb and start at the roots. I rarely have a problem with a tangle that doesn't just fall out. The only time I work from ends to roots is if I've been out in the wind with my hair down. That's a vary rare occurrence but it can happen. Finger detangling first works best in that situation.

[school of fish]

Looks like there's a fair number of us here who detangle at least in part from the top down. Noticing also that we *tend* to be (but are by no means exclusively) in the 1s and 2s, and leaning more toward finer textures (although again not exclusively).

[BoopAllCats]

This seems to work best for me.

If I start from the bottom, everything's a tangle! But if I start from the top I can section and identify the actual center of the tangle much more easily.

I have to detangle multiple times as I dry. Once in the shower, once after toweling off, and several times as it moves through the stages of drying. If I wait until it's fully dry, then I've got the gordian knot.

[Frankenstein]

I don't usually do it on dry hair but on wet hair I'm definitely a top down detangler.

[EdG]

Detangling the length takes only a few strokes. Most of my detangling is done near the scalp. I suppose I am a 98% top-down detangler.
Ed

[Swan Maiden]

Ive noticed when I detangle from the top down, I will usually run into a hair traffic jam around bsl. It's not necessarily tangled, I just think there was too much hair for my tangle teezer and it sort of funneled into a bump of hair. I hope I articulated that well enough.

[Mimha]

I detangle top-down, too. ;)

I remember trying going from the bottom up and it never felt like the best approach, because the knots took the same effort to undo but alignment from roots to ends would get messed up and I would have to go over the already detangled bottom sections (oldest, most fragile hair) more often, even when it was not needed at all, which ultimately only contributes to wear & tear. I've mentioned at the hair sins thread that I think combing from top down might actually be good from this perspective: if I start from ends up with, say, 10 strokes, then I've gone over those ends 10 times, but if I start from top down, then I only comb the ends when their turn comes and when they need it, so maybe 1-2 strokes only.

(...)

I think my approach might have to change quite a bit when my hair becomes longer than my hands, possibly having 2 approaches for 2 sections: 1) for hands+ length to be lifted up with one hand and detangled with the other, and 2) for the area above hands to be detangled from roots down, maybe. I don't know yet, we'll see! :D

(...)


Very interesting theory, meteor !... It makes sense, indeed. I am shameful to admit that I am also a top to down comber, to a certain extend. Actually, I do a mixture of both techniques : I detangle the ends, and then I comb from top to down. It's getting more difficulty in the middle as my hair is getting longer, though. So yes, like you I may work more the ends up as my hair gets longer. When my hair is not too tangled, most of the time I comb top to down only :oops:

Oh, by the way, I have found a large tooth comb made out of hard rubber (ebonite). No seam, no static electricity, beautiful finish, nice shape and very large. I am so pleased with it !!

[chen bao jun]

Looks like there's a fair number of us here who detangle at least in part from the top down. Noticing also that we *tend* to be (but are by no means exclusively) in the 1s and 2s, and leaning more toward finer textures (although again not exclusively).

Every hair dresser in the world does it this way.
In spite of me telling me that it does not work on me. I tell them, they try from bottom up for a few seconds and then go back to top down. Which CREATES tangles and snarls in my 3c hair and not only does not work, but is extremely painful.
I think this is definitely a hair type thing and that the vast majority of people who detangle top down are going to be type 1, with some type 2's in the higher numbers. It won't work for me wet --and dry detangling does not work at all for me.

[Chromis]

My hair is longer than my arms and I still detangle top down. My hair is mostly straight with some waves, but I think they might just be permanent braid waves :)

Caveat - I do detangle as I unbraid and I always sleep with my hair braided and rarely wear it down, so I do not get many tangles. (I also take care to keep smoothing the strands apart as I braid to keep from making tangles that way.) In the rare event that I do wear it down for a while, I still do they exact same thing though!

I always comb dry. First I run my hands down my length to catch any loose hairs that just come right out because they are normally what cause my tangles. Then I split my hair, half over each shoulder and place the trash can on the toilet or floor below me. Any hair that comes out in the comb or my fingers gets immediately dumped because otherwise it might land up making more tangles. I stop the moment I encounter resistance and finger detangle, gently isolating that section if I need to. Usually the culprit is a shed hair or a bit of lint. (When I bought new sheets, I switched to nicer smoother ones and have much less lint tangling now!)

After combing, I usually use a BBB, but not all the way down. I find it is nice for smoothing scalp hair, but if I go more than halfway down my length it always finds new tangles. Then I would have to stop and detangle those and that takes too long, so I don't bother and all is well. I suspect that my hair might actually be managing to tangle just in the amount of time it takes me to brush it :lol:

If my hair/scalp is dry, I oil it and give a couple passes with the BBB to distribute the oils.

I try to let my hair air dry, or at least have the scalp dry before I put it up. If I need it to look presentable, I will gently comb the scalp if that is looking wild and then just put it up still damp, taking it down to finish drying later. I find the lazy wrap bun with a glass stick is great even for still wet hair. It does not need twisting or much manipulation and it looks nice.

[Chromis]

Every hair dresser in the world does it this way.
In spite of me telling me that it does not work on me. I tell them, they try from bottom up for a few seconds and then go back to top down. Which CREATES tangles and snarls in my 3c hair and not only does not work, but is extremely painful.
I think this is definitely a hair type thing and that the vast majority of people who detangle top down are going to be type 1, with some type 2's in the higher numbers. It won't work for me wet --and dry detangling does not work at all for me.

I agree that this is probably mostly about hair type (wet versus dry certainly seems to be!), but I will say that even with straight hair, their method does not work for me. They always ripped right through the hair and with a much, much finer comb! This meant they tore through tangles and then scolded me for being tender-headed :steam

[missrandie]

I agree that this is probably mostly about hair type (wet versus dry certainly seems to be!), but I will say that even with straight hair, their method does not work for me. They always ripped right through the hair and with a much, much finer comb! This meant they tore through tangles and then scolded me for being tender-headed :steam

That gives me an idea... how much more business do you think a salon would get if they had an in-house detangling person? As in, somebody that knows what the heck they are doing to be gentle and detangle a person's hair without ripping, snagging, snarling, and generally making things worse?

That person woud always ask the question: how does your hair detangle the easiest? Then they would go from there.

[Chromis]

That gives me an idea... how much more business do you think a salon would get if they had an in-house detangling person? As in, somebody that knows what the heck they are doing to be gentle and detangle a person's hair without ripping, snagging, snarling, and generally making things worse?

That person woud always ask the question: how does your hair detangle the easiest? Then they would go from there.

That would be a lovely idea. I think fancee salons have one person that just washes hair.

I stopped going to hairdressers long before I learned nicer methods for combing my hair though, since I too used to rip through it. (I just held it above the brush so it didn't pull!) Every single one of them wanted to put layers in my hair. And then would argue with me when I did not want them! They often also wanted to cut in bangs or do feathering or some other terrible no-good thing that I Did Not Want. And again would argue even when I told them I did not want that thing they wanted to do. Self trimming all the way!

[meteor]

That gives me an idea... how much more business do you think a salon would get if they had an in-house detangling person? As in, somebody that knows what the heck they are doing to be gentle and detangle a person's hair without ripping, snagging, snarling, and generally making things worse?

That person woud always ask the question: how does your hair detangle the easiest? Then they would go from there.

^ That's a great idea, missrandie. :) I think standard salons just aren't necessarily educated on very long hair and how to detangle it. Personally, I haven't been to salons in ages, but when I still went there and if I had my hair washed there (I usually tried to get everything done on dry hair in salons because washing took super-long and created a host of other issues), I always did my own detangling or I would work on some sections of my hair while someone else worked on other sections... to speed up the whole process, which was really long. The thing is, I even brought my own detangling rakes because hairdressers wouldn't even have the right detangling tools! They'd try to attack my hair with styling brushes or combs with teeth too short and way too fine and would immediately stop and have that worried look on their faces like they weren't sure why the tools are getting stuck in hair or can even "fly" across the room.

But then, I've never been to salons that specialize in long or curly or otherwise textured hair, so maybe it's just my bad luck, I don't know. :)
There are salons out there that even undo dreadlocks as a service, and I'm guessing they should really have that process down to a science! ;)

[MandyBeth]

Top down here. Either I have the little tangles that will just fall out as I pass over them, it's a caught shed that's easier to remove from the top for me, or it's a big diabolical knot that I have to pick at.

For my very fine hair, if I try to remove a shed from the bottom, it will make an unholy, tight knot that may need to be cut out. Always. Get it from the top, it pulls out much nicer.

If I brush my ends too much, even gently, I'll have major breakage.

I use a Tangle Teezer. Too lazy to bother with a comb that doesn't work half as well. A BBB is not allowed, that causes serious tangles, breakage and split ends.

I also brush my hair dry. If I soak it with tangles, they tighten up. If I brush it wet, it snaps.

For Minion, I have her hair coated in conditioner, then go from top down in sections. With her length, it'd take days to go from bottom up.

[lapushka]

I think it might also matter how long the hair is. I still went all the way top down when I wasn't BSL, up until BSL. At that point or thereabouts I switched my WT detangling to bottom-top; then went through it with a TT brush top-bottom. That is still my go-to routine.

[AutobotsAttack]

Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one who did this lol 😂. But when I detangle from the tips I get more tangles and breakage because I have fine hair and my ends are already sensitive.😩 So detangling from the top to bottom is what works best for me. And I get less tangles and less breakage, and I'm able to get all of the shed hairs better that way.

[mermaid lullaby]

I thought I was the only one too!

[Robi-Bird]

I detangle top down. My major detangling is when I rinse out my conditioner, and then I comb or Wet brush from roots to tips, stopping when I find an obstruction. I think the only real trick is to go slow. I don't yank through my hair, I glide. My hair doesn't seem to be tangle prone so that is convenient.

[school of fish]

It seem I can detangle top-down wet in the shower too! I kind of found out by accident - had to wash out my weekly henna/SMT yesterday but had just done my nails and didn't want to ruin the french tips ;) So I grabbed my Tangle Teezer and used it to do the work my nails usually do, working the henna paste out of the roots and scalp. I rinsed out with conditioner as I always do, and detangled completely top down with conditioner in.

I know wet conditioner washing/detangling is standard practice for a lot of curlies, but my hair has always been too stretchy/snappy when wet to stand up to that. But I was super extra careful and slow with it, so I didn't break anything this time. I still needed to detangle again after towel drying though so I don't think I'll be putting it into the regular rotation.

Still, nice to try something new and have it work fine :)

[MeAndTheMaz]

Yeah, I WTC in the shower after finger combing in conditioner. By the time I get to using the comb, my hair is pretty well detangled. So it's quite easy most of the time. After shower detangle is also fairly uneventful since I've combed already.

Drying consists of flipping hair over head, wrapping my hair in a towel then squeezing. Done. It doesn't really tangle that way.