Stretching washes and combing

[Beeboo123]

On non-wash days, do you comb/brush/detangle your hair?

I’ve been trying to stretch my washes, and I now wash my hair once a week. My hair and scalp both seem to like this. However, I have no idea what to do when it comes to combing and detangling! I have wavy hair that frizzes if it is touched when dry. Even if I finger-detangle, I still end up with frizz, and I hate breaking up my waves. I’m trying to detangle only before my washes, but I am worried about what will happen if I leave tangles in. My hair manages to not look like a rat’s nest, but I don’t want breakage or splits to result from the rubbing of tangles.

For those of you who stretch washes, what is your comb/brush/detangling routine like?

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I comb daily. It does mean that I lose what wave I have, mostly, but since my hair is bunned anyway, I don't worry too much. To combat the frizzies I put oil in my hair. I would love to not comb and keep my waves but I would rather not risk the extra tangling from the shed hairs sitting in there. Bunning destroys my waves, but I can get nice braid waves if I want to wear my hair loose.

[lapushka]

On non-wash days, do you comb/brush/detangle your hair?

I’ve been trying to stretch my washes, and I now wash my hair once a week. My hair and scalp both seem to like this. However, I have no idea what to do when it comes to combing and detangling! I have wavy hair that frizzes if it is touched when dry. Even if I finger-detangle, I still end up with frizz, and I hate breaking up my waves. I’m trying to detangle only before my washes, but I am worried about what will happen if I leave tangles in. My hair manages to not look like a rat’s nest, but I don’t want breakage or splits to result from the rubbing of tangles.

For those of you who stretch washes, what is your comb/brush/detangling routine like?

I weekly comb/brush, right before my wash. The rest of the week I "finger detangle", which means I just separate the strands and get the sheds out. I wash my hair after detangling, and more hair comes out in the drain thingy (thank goodness that's there), and then it goes in a giant microfiber towel for 30-45min. and after that I detangle once more with a wide tooth comb right before styling my hair.

But the rest of the week: finger detangling, and not needed on a Monday, and even a Tuesday as maybe one hair comes out during those days.

[Jo Ann]

When I remember, I finger-detangle, then use a wide-tooth detangling comb. Mornings, I sometimes brush it--most times not.

[Rowdy]

When I wore my hair curly I would only comb/brush it before I washed it or before I put it up in braids/buns. While wearing it down and curly if I found a bad tangle in a curl I would isolate and brush just that clump of hair then dunk it in water to reset the curl.

[Flowerness]

I used to use a spray bottle filled with water. After brushing or detangling, I'd spray my hair so it was slightly damp. It would bring the wave back. I'd add a little bit of this or that to the water, sometimes too. Non-coney conditioner, or hair oil/leave in, etc. Just a dab.

[sumidha]

I brush about every four days unless I've been doing something specifically that creates tangles. But I also wear my hair up 100% of the time so there's not a lot of tangle opportunity.

[Deborah]

I thoroughly brush morning and night. I use a good comb after washing once a week, but that's the only time.

[*Wednesday*]

I wash Sundays and Wednesdays. The only time I comb is before I wash and after. I read advice here on just finger combing. I separate my hair in quadrants and comb with fingers using oil. This method works well at this time for me. My hair is fine and more delicate.

[Beeboo123]

Thank you for all your answers! It looks like everyone has something that works best for them, but it’s good to know that combing everyday is not necessary. I think I’ll try finger detangling with oils then spritzing my hair between washes. Hope that works!

[vpatt]

I mostly finger comb now.....but if I wear it up I don't do much of anything except take it down and then redo the bun if it gets loose. If I wear it down I finger comb every so often. Once in a while I might brush it, but not often. I'm trying to save the ends.

[Stray_mind]

I just finger-comb it and put it in a half up. I brush only if i'm using a dry shampoo.

[Anje]

I detangled about twice daily, morning and evening. In between too, if I had to take my hair down and redo it. With fairly straight hair with minimized tangles due to containment, though, that probably amounted to less than 5 minutes total throughout the day. For me, it was more about maintaining a tangle-free state than anything else. Also, my hair was generally bunned or braided, so disrupting any waves really wasn't an issue for me.

With more wavy hair, you probably would want to make this a simple finger-combing just to get the biggest snarls out while not disrupting the waves much.

[lithostoic]

My hair isn't as wavy but I like to preserve every bit I've got, so I only lightly separate my hair instead of combing. I flip my head upside down and fingercomb the roots (without touching my scalp). This helps shake out some tangles and give volume. Then I section out a face framing section, and two more sections on each side. Gives my hair shape. Then I section out the upper half, this is mainly for movement. Lastly, I part my hair as desired :) Here's a before and after. Bedhead vs "styled".

https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/25351889_1929109787105764_6438087702585835055_o.jp g?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=3402f8adf5678395565572b3bd85ef08&oe=5AD052C9

It's too bad my waves fall apart overnight! It looked nice yesterday.

[akurah]

I barely skimmed the responses... but to the original point, I don’t detangle daily. I detangle before washing (between once a week and once every two weeks) and I try to detangle at least every 3 days. I usually use my fingers, sometimes I use a wide tooth comb. I’m unsure if I have more tangles from that? Hair is usually worn up and is not detangled between updos.

[Reservechic]

I definitely finger detangle my hair daily, in between my hair wash days. My hair is super dry and very fragile. Also, due to the thinning of hair that I have experienced in some spots due to my severe eczema, no way could my hair and scalp handle daily combing or brushing at all.