How do you detangle your hair?

[Manderin]

Well the title says it all.

I have curly hair, as you can see in the profile badge. Whenever I take a shower there are a few tangles, that I can't detangle by just combing my hair, and normally, if I'm in a rush, i just brute force it, resulting in ripping my hair.


What do you fellow curly hair life companions do?

M

[lapushka]

They say curly hair is always best detangled wet with conditioner on it. Start from the bottom with your WT comb, and go up the strands of hair until you reach the roots. Do it in sections (at least 4).

That said, it is also good to detangle pre-shower, on dry hair, WT comb first, then brush. You are going to be washing it, so the lack of definition after a combing/brushing should not bother you. And it saves your drain!

[Ruthie-ENGLAND]

https://www.tangleteezer.com/proddetail.php?prod=TC-DR-010216 I can't praise Tangle Teezer range of brushes enough, and have used nothing else since their invention in 2007. They now make a brand new version specifically designed for thick curly hair It is also suitable for anyone with Afro hair. Please explore their whole website to find out lots more information and tutorials. Tangle Teezer are available world wide now.

[lapushka]

https://www.tangleteezer.com/proddetail.php?prod=TC-DR-010216 I can't praise Tangle Teezer range of brushes enough, and have used nothing else since their invention in 2007. They now make a brand new version specifically designed for thick curly hair It is also suitable for anyone with Afro hair. Please explore their whole website to find out lots more information and tutorials. Tangle Teezer are available world wide now.

Same here. I had my first one for a decade, yes! It lasted me that long, with only weekly brushing, of course, so... wasn't used *that* much, I don't think. But the bristles were bent beyond recognition.

I might try the one for thick hair, once I'm done with the one I'm currently using, and my last back-up.

The one for thick hair does appeal to me... I might cave. :lol:

[Ruthie-ENGLAND]

I use my very first 'Original' Tangle Teezer on my rescued cat, now that it is too worn out for my hair. They have a life and once the bristles start bending a lot after years of use, they don't work so well (same as a toothbrush). https://youtu.be/I1OLlsW0eRA This is my video showing my cat enjoying his Tangle Teezer brushing session.

[Lejli]

For curly hair, when you shower and put your conditioner or treatment in, use your fingers to comb through the hair until you no longer get stuck. After shower use a wide tooth comb and spray some anti tangle spray especially for curls onto your hair, and then start brushing with the comb from the bottom to the top. So basically start at the tips of your hair, and as the lower parts are detangled, move higher up, until you finally can comb from the top of your skull to the bottom. Then put some oil of your choice, I use coconut oil, and let it dry.

[lapushka]

Also, it all depends on what conditioner you use as well. I recommend *only* getting conditioners that are rich and moisturizing, typically those are the ones for dry and damaged hair. Don't use lighter conditioners or you will have tangles.

I condition twice, both with moisturizing products and I have 0 tangles most of the time (sometimes depends product to product). This is how I save on wear & tear. I don't like tangles much at all, not on wet hair I don't, because the hair is more prone to breakage at that point.

[hannabiss]

I have fine hair. I can't detangle when its dry I simply hear way to much snapping. I find it best to comb in shower with conditioner then again after the shower. If I don't comb it a particular way it dries and will maintain its shape so I always make sure to comb it the direction I want it to lay. This is very true for my bangs. If they dry in one place I can't make them lay any other way unless I rewat. I actually always thought it was odd to wait until your hairs dry. But I know its different for everyone.

[Ellethwyn]

I detangle before i get into the shower, but if there are some stubborn tangles then i detangle in the shower with lots of conditioner. I love using a pick for detangling my hair.

ETA: oops, my hair is not curly!

[nakima]

I brush my hair out before getting in the shower. I use a conditioner,rinse and then I detangle wet hair. I can't detangle dry either as hannabiss stated and for the same reason. I have this old tupperware hair teaser that they made years ago and it works great on my hair as a detangler and I just love it! you can still find them but their a little spendy since they don't make them anymore.

[littlestarface]

I detangle before i get into the shower, but if there are some stubborn tangles then i detangle in the shower with lots of conditioner. I love using a pick for detangling my hair.

ETA: oops, my hair is not curly!

Lol it's fine, the op is the only curly in here so far :p

[meteor]

I'm not a curly either. :flower: I only detangle when my hair is dry: it's just too easy for me to pull out or break hair when wet, plus my hair sticks to itself way too much when wet, and I get what feels like tangles but they fall apart on their own as the hair dries. Also, I never use a brush, only fingers and a wide-tooth comb. Sometimes I use an oil or silicone serum or leave-in conditioner for added slip while detangling, but usually I don't, as I try not to overload hair with product.

In terms of techniques, I follow the same ideas as presented here by gossamer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLKceIDy1CA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91KymwFlIYk

But my biggest issue is avoiding tangles in the first place, since they can be quite a PITA for long hair. So, to reduce tangling, I wear hair in simple braided bun almost every day and I go to sleep with the same hairstyle (but with stick/fork taken out) and a silk wrap to reduce friction. This seems to really cut down on tangling for me quite a lot.

Generally speaking, I think detangling is pretty YMMV and everyone needs to find their perfect tools and easiest way(s) to achieve detangled hair with no/minimal breakage, minimal manipulation and reasonable amount of time.

[Kimberly]

Lol it's fine, the op is the only curly in here so far :p

Okay, actual curly reporting in! :-)

With dry hair, I finger-detangle and then use a wide-toothed Madora comb, alternating between working from the ends and working from the roots, whichever seems to work better at the time. I usually do this right before washing, and maybe one other time during the week. There are always snapped hairs, and I have just learned to ignore it. I don't detangle in the shower with conditioner, or use conditioner at all, but many curlies do.

[polarnatt]

Generally speaking, I think detangling is pretty YMMV and everyone needs to find their perfect tools and easiest way(s) to achieve detangled hair with no/minimal breakage, minimal manipulation and reasonable amount of time.

This is why even though getting suggestions and learning from others' experiences is wonderful, you still need to learn just by trial and error. Some people find their hair snapping when brushing wet, others swear by only detangling wet. I tried for the longest time not to use a brush when my hair is wet because that's what the magazines and the hairdressers always tell us, but oh man it did not work for me. :D

I detangle with a tangle teezer before washing my hair and then either in the shower with condish on, or after the shower when I've applied my leave in. I'm still experimenting with this, since I find detangling in the shower more difficult (I always manage to drop the TT :D), but brushing afterwards feels a bit more damaging and I have a harder time bringing my waves out. :hmm:

[Beborani]

I don't use anything other than fingers to detangle or more precisely remove sheds. Most of it happens during wash process--I cowash and then apply another layer of conditioning and finally some leave in. Between these three steps most of the sheds are removed and in the end I run a comb through, mostly to align my hair. There should be no snags and if there are then I remove it with fingers. I also gently remove some shed hair between wash days and during preoiling on wash days but majority of detangling happens in the shower. Different hair types behave differently when wet and dry. This exact process cannot be done on my daughter's straighter hair--all her detangling happens after her hair is mostly dry (just giving this example as most of us are used to our own hairtype and assume one method fits all and it really doesn't).

[XiaoBaiTu]

I have curly hair too. :) I only finger-detangle my hair wet with loads of conditioner. Since my hair is actually curlier than yours I would think that this should work for you too. On days that I don't wash my hair I will just gather all my hair up and twist it into a bun, so my hair really only gets detangled about once per week.

[ElvenEngineer]

I'm not curly -- but I'm fine and wavy and have had tangle problems all my life. This is what I've found that works. I rarely use a comb, and I never start with one. In the shower, I saturate my hair with conditioner. Then, starting at the nape of the neck, I run my fingers through my hair until I find a tangle. Then, I carefully pull the knot out -- not down. I pull the hairs away from each other to separate them, using the conditioner as lube for the tangles. It's a pretty intensive process honestly, but it doesn't always have to be perfect, and consistently having conditioned and less tangly hair leads to less tangles in the long run.

[endlessly]

Well, my hair isn't curly, but it is exceptionally tangle-prone. I find it best to detangle when my hair is slightly damp by first using my fingers, then a wide-toothed comb. If need be, I'll follow up with a Tangle Teezer, too.

[Horrorpops]

My hair isn't curly so YMMV but I love finger detangling, especially in the shower with conditioner in. I only rarely use a wide tooth comb and only after finger dentangling first. I feel like my fingers do a better job with less tearing. And always starting at the ends and working my way up works best :o

[w0nderland]

My hair isn't really curly more a poof ball when freshly washed, but I rely mainly on gently finger detangling, working through sections and gently pulling them apart (my hair loves knotting!) and then definitely when in the shower with conditioner on detangle some more, just getting it all smoothed through.

[Decoy24601]

My hair isn't curly, but my hair really loves to tangle. I suspect it's partially because I have different textures and coarseness in my hair and lots of split ends still. I get major snarls out with my finger first, then go through it with a wide-tooth comb to get the rest of the tangles out, and a fine-tooth comb to finish off with. My combs are ox-horn, so they glide through my hair effortlessly unless they hit a tangle. I don't detangle my hair until it's at least only slightly damp. I try to touch it as little as possible while I wash it.

[Mademoiselle]

I do not usually have many tangles, but when I wear my hair down if some form, especially in winter with scarf. Just a little serum massaged means to ends and carefully untangle with the fingers.

[Techmouse]

I work in stages. The first detangling is while my hair is wet and slathered with my lighter conditioner. The next one is after I apply my deep conditioner. These two steps allow me to get most of the sheds out, which are what cause most of my tangles to begin with. I do a final detangling while applying my leave-in conditioner and oil. I use my fingers to detangle for the first two steps, and a comb for the final step. If I find I need to detangle and/or comb my hair between wash days, I use a drop of oil to make it easier. Generally, though, I only detangle when my hair is wet and coated in conditioner. If I have really bad tangles, I'll break out the Kinky Curly Knot Today. That stuff is the best detangling product I've found for my hair.

[celtic]

hello newbie, i am a newbie too. hugs. to answer your question i detangle using a few drops of mixed oil, [i mix coconut, argan, castor, olive and a bit of shea butter. ] I will share the recipe later. then use a wide tooth comb, then brush my hair with a BBB to make sure all tangles are out. i hope that helped.

[HairPlease]

I can only detangle with my fingers when it's sopping wet. If I try when damp or dry, it's akin to raking through a hay bale.

[H o n є y ❤]

I detangle out of the shower (I actually do my entire routine out of the shower). First I dampen or wet a section of hair with water and then add conditioner and then finger detangle the shed hair out. As I'm detangling I make sure to do it over the sink and close the drain. That way most of the shed hair falls into the sink and not on the floor. The shed hair that gets on my hands I also toss into the sink and when I'm done I just grab a damp tissue and wipe everything up. I just wanted to share that because shed hair always ended up all over the bathroom when I would do my hair. If my hair is really tangled (not knotted up) then coconut oil is what I run to. It's the best detangler I've ever used.

[Impulsive]

I used to stretch washes to once every 1-2 weeks and I would only ever detangle in the shower while my hair was smothered in conditioner. This worked for a long time, but the longer my hair got the less it worked. Detangling was a long and painful process to begin with and it just got longer and more painful with longer hair. I couldn't put up with it any more, so I've been working on tweaking my routine.

Currently, I'm trying to wash my hair at least twice a week. I'd like to get it up to every other day, but I'm working against time constraints and, well, ... in the interests of being completely honest ... sheer laziness. I still detangle in the shower using a wide tooth comb and with my hair slathered in conditioner, but I've also begun to detangle dry hair in between showers. I never dared to detangle dry before this year, because ... curly ... and we've all seen the Curlies Brush Your Hair thread, right? Right. But I eventually realized the only way to solve my problem was to detangle more often. I've managed to accomplish this with the use of oils and braids. I now oil my hair every day and I wear my hair in a braid/braids as often as possible. When I go to detangle I start at the bottom of the braid and slowly unbraid while detangling the tassel. This has significantly reduced the amount of time it takes to detangle. If memory serves, when I was stretching washes it used to take anywhere from 30-60 minutes just to detangle my hair. Now that I detangle every day it only takes about 5 minutes.

I swear that I didn't actually mean to write a novel. I think it's because this issue has been on my mind a lot lately. Hope this helps someone.