Help! Severely Matted tangled long straight hair

[Ginger_Snap]

I don't know what to do, I scared I'll have to cut off my hair! I'm not able to get any expensive deep conditioners. Does anyone have any suggestions for around the house tip's/trick's I am open to any maybe solutions. 😕 I saw one video earlier where this lady used WD-40??? 🤨🤔

[akurah]

If the mat is not completely dreaded up, you can get it out with a lubricant and your fingers. You should also have scissors on hand (these are used to cut single knots that consist of only a couple strands of hair that you cannot get or with your fingers)

For lubricant, you can use cheap (dollar store) conditioner, or cheap cooking oil. Start using your fingers at the bottom of the mat (the part furthest from your scalp) and start detangling slowly. WARNING: this will take a long time, potentially hours.

When you come across faery knots that consists of only two or three strands and you can't get those out, you may find you need to cut those two or three strands, as leaving that knot will encourage matting again.

[lapushka]

Welcome to the forum, first of all.

How did it get so matted? Oil can help you if you don't have conditioner on hand, any type of conditioner is fine, rinse-out or leave-in.

[akurah]

Also I wouldn't put WD-40 on your hair. Go get cheap conditioner or oil

[BerrySara]

akurah's reponse is thorough and spot on. The only thing I would add is in addition to cooking oil, you can also use butter or mayo depending on what you have on hand.

[Ginger_Snap]

"sheamoisture curl enhancing smoothie, coconut & hibiscus" Is this a conditioning product or?

[Shorty89]

"sheamoisture curl enhancing smoothie, coconut & hibiscus" Is this a conditioning product or?

I think it's more of a deep treatment, if I'm not mistaken.

[neko_kawaii]

It can be very helpful to have a rat tail comb or other tool that is pointy and thin to help pull out the tangles. With good technique, you can use the first tine on a wide tooth comb. Starting at the bottom of the mat with any loose hairs coming out of the mat and remove any tangles from those, possibly with a fine tooth comb. At the lowest part of the mat, pull from opposite sides, gently spreading the mat wide and then using that thin tool focus on working just a few hairs at the very bottom loose. Work you way up slowly, making sure to remove all tangles from the lower parts before moving further up.

If the mat is at the back of your head where you can't see it, try to find someone patient to help you.

As others have said, oil or any cheap conditioner will help. If you use oil, to wash the oil out, apply any conditioner and let it sit on your hair for 20 minutes before rinsing.

My son wants long hair but refuses to care for it. I've removed many impossible looking mats.

[Ginger_Snap]

To answer the "how?" My hair is extremely damaged to begin with, due to coloring for many years, not getting regular trims, etc. My 2yr daughter wanted to do mommy's hair 🤣 I figured what's the harm in that? I was 100% speechless when I realized she was being awfully quiet behind me. .

[Ginger_Snap]

Do you think it would help with mats?

[littlestarface]

Do you think it would help with mats?

No it wont, its a styler not a detangler which is what you need.

[lapushka]

"sheamoisture curl enhancing smoothie, coconut & hibiscus" Is this a conditioning product or?

It's a styler, not a conditioner at all, but if you have this at home, you would already know this. No?

[milosmomma]

I'm going to suggest kinky curly knot today or any product with marshmallow root, or slippery elm. Shea moisture kids detangler is pretty good too. As suggested start at the bottom and go slow. I have a cousin with curly hair and no idea how to take care of it (despite my advice and giving her numerous oils, a tangle teaser and detangling sprays) and every so often I detangle her very matted hair. She washes it, sometimes shampoo only, and throws in a bun(eek!) It is very possible to save it and then continue with the slippery products to keep tangles at bay until you trim out and grow out the damage. I would also try and break the the matt into smaller sections and try and work it out a little at a time. If you were near my area I would offer to do it for you as I actually find it very satisfying to detangle my cousins hair when she needs it. Although I wish she would heed my advice!

[JennGalt]

"sheamoisture curl enhancing smoothie, coconut & hibiscus" Is this a conditioning product or?

This product is designed to enhance curl pattern and I believe it has some hold to it, like a gel would. Don’t use it for detangling. You’re better off with oil or something labeled as an actual conditioner or detangler. If you want to use a Shea Moisture product, they have several detanglers that state their purpose on the label. I would recommend using oil, or if you really don’t want to use oil, Kinky Curly Knot Today which is available in the US at most Target stores and some other retailers. It works best if your hair is damp from the shower or spritzed with water and doesn’t have a bunch of buildup from other products.

[AutobotsAttack]

I think it's more of a deep treatment, if I'm not mistaken.

It’s a leave in to be technical. But it conditions much like any other of their deep conditioners out there.

[Genne]

Hello,
NO rush in getting it out in a hurry, hopefully. Possibly enlist a patient, long haired friend too? Breath, take your time and give yourself rests.
Jen

[Shorty89]

It’s a leave in to be technical. But it conditions much like any other of their deep conditioners out there.

I was on my phone and was too lazy to Google it. :P I've never used leave-ins (aside from oil) so I'm not sure if the ingredients would be as helpful in her case as a traditional wash-out conditioner. I"m guessing a coney one would be better than cone-free for getting mats out, eh.

[Entangled]

It's a styler, not a conditioner at all, but if you have this at home, you would already know this. No?

I personally wouldn’t know the difference between a styler and a conditioner if I was new to the hair circuit. It’s not necessarily common knowledge.

[TheHairGoblin]

Unfortunately, I’ve had my hair tangle severely many times during my life, and I have a process. I hope at least some of this helps you :D

1. Obtain at least 12 oz. of hair conditioner. I use Not Your Mother’s and have found it works well, but regardless of what brand you use, I would stay away from automotive lubricants :) and most food products. Oils, especially coconut, are usually good, especially if you leave it for several hours to soak in fully.
2. Using hot water (not warm), thoroughly wet your hair. Cover your hair, from the roots to ends, with conditioner thoroughly. Leave for five minutes or so, then rinse. Repeat, but do not rinse the second layer of conditioner.
3. Leaving the conditioner on your hair to soak, take inventory of the matts. There are two main tangles, vertical (up and down, your hair tangles in chunks like dreadlocks) and horizontal (across, your hair tangles like a thick band). If you have vertical tangles, you have lucked out, but if it’s horizontal, you’ll need to change the horizontal tangle into vertical chunks.
4. If at all possible, leave the conditioner and wet hair until it’s cool to the touch (running a fan on it helps, but don’t leave it until it’s dry) so that the hair follicles close back up, with the moisture, and hopefully won’t break as much during the stress of combing out the tangle.
5. Using a wide-toothed, sturdy comb, separate the horizontal tangle into multiple chunks, preferably about an inch or so across. If your hair is already vertically tangled, use a large clip or a hairband to loosely tie back all hair that isn’t in the current section and work, bottom to top (I mean start with the last half inch and slowly go up), combing out your hair. Keep a pair of scissors on hand for tiny (less than ten hairs) tangles that lock into place almost irreparably.
6. As soon as you free a section of hair, braid it. Your hair will look funny for a while, but it will retangle much faster if it’s already been tangled for a while. You have to rewarp the hair so that it’s not going to just pull itself back into another tangle.
7. Once you get to the halfway point across your head, and have one half of your hair combed out and the other half still tangled, you should fully comb the hair on the combed out side, as there will be tangles up to the root that you may have missed. Once you’ve used the wide tooth comb to pull apart these tangles, go ahead and use a Wet Brush or a finer tooth comb to comb it again, then French or Dutch braid the hair, starting from the very front in small sections. The goal here is that tangles can start before the braid begins, and if you can braid the hair up higher, you’ll have longer until you need to brush and rebraid—and this is the goal, to buy more time on that side of your head to work on the other side.

Keep in mind that it’s going to be painful. Like, really painful. You’re going to lose a fair amount of hair doing this, in part because old, dead hairs are stuck in the tangles and are unable to fall out.

You need to be prepared for the chance that you will have to take off some hair. Painful, I know, but I’ve, at times, needed to either cut down a horizontal matt with scissors in order to separate it or needed to take off multiple inches of hair (which greatly reduces the pain, as each tangle has less hair to travel down before it’s out). Sometimes both!

[akurah]

Unfortunately, I’ve had my hair tangle severely many times during my life, and I have a process. I hope at least some of this helps you :D

1. Obtain at least 12 oz. of hair conditioner. I use Not Your Mother’s and have found it works well, but regardless of what brand you use, I would stay away from automotive lubricants :) and most food products. Oils, especially coconut, are usually good, especially if you leave it for several hours to soak in fully.
2. Using hot water (not warm), thoroughly wet your hair. Cover your hair, from the roots to ends, with conditioner thoroughly. Leave for five minutes or so, then rinse. Repeat, but do not rinse the second layer of conditioner.
3. Leaving the conditioner on your hair to soak, take inventory of the matts. There are two main tangles, vertical (up and down, your hair tangles in chunks like dreadlocks) and horizontal (across, your hair tangles like a thick band). If you have vertical tangles, you have lucked out, but if it’s horizontal, you’ll need to change the horizontal tangle into vertical chunks.
4. If at all possible, leave the conditioner and wet hair until it’s cool to the touch (running a fan on it helps, but don’t leave it until it’s dry) so that the hair follicles close back up, with the moisture, and hopefully won’t break as much during the stress of combing out the tangle.
5. Using a wide-toothed, sturdy comb, separate the horizontal tangle into multiple chunks, preferably about an inch or so across. If your hair is already vertically tangled, use a large clip or a hairband to loosely tie back all hair that isn’t in the current section and work, bottom to top (I mean start with the last half inch and slowly go up), combing out your hair. Keep a pair of scissors on hand for tiny (less than ten hairs) tangles that lock into place almost irreparably.
6. As soon as you free a section of hair, braid it. Your hair will look funny for a while, but it will retangle much faster if it’s already been tangled for a while. You have to rewarp the hair so that it’s not going to just pull itself back into another tangle.
7. Once you get to the halfway point across your head, and have one half of your hair combed out and the other half still tangled, you should fully comb the hair on the combed out side, as there will be tangles up to the root that you may have missed. Once you’ve used the wide tooth comb to pull apart these tangles, go ahead and use a Wet Brush or a finer tooth comb to comb it again, then French or Dutch braid the hair, starting from the very front in small sections. The goal here is that tangles can start before the braid begins, and if you can braid the hair up higher, you’ll have longer until you need to brush and rebraid—and this is the goal, to buy more time on that side of your head to work on the other side.

Keep in mind that it’s going to be painful. Like, really painful. You’re going to lose a fair amount of hair doing this, in part because old, dead hairs are stuck in the tangles and are unable to fall out.

You need to be prepared for the chance that you will have to take off some hair. Painful, I know, but I’ve, at times, needed to either cut down a horizontal matt with scissors in order to separate it or needed to take off multiple inches of hair (which greatly reduces the pain, as each tangle has less hair to travel down before it’s out). Sometimes both!

There is nothing wrong with food products in your hair in most cases when it comes to lubricating items to get tangles out--in fact, what do you think coconut oil is?

(edit for correction here) I don't think it's a good idea to wet hair to detangle. Wet hair swells, and the act of swelling will "tighten" the tangle and make it harder to get out than when it was dry. Apparently people with dreads will wet their hair to detangle, but unless your hair is a dread and you need to use a rat tail to tease it out, I don't see wet hair being a good idea (end edit)

Also can someone explain to me the difference between vertical and horizontal tangles?

[EdG]

My usual advice is to check for lint. Mats often have lint holding them together. I do water-only washing and find that waxy sebum is very good at causing lint to stick to the comb (which is then cleaned).
Ed

[milosmomma]

When I detangle my cousins hair, I find it absolutely necessary to do it wet. When dry, any hair that I have untangled is sitting there kinked up and bushy ready to grab onto each other and tangle up again, but being wet and sopping in conditioner or KCKT it will form and clump back into its curl patterns and stay detangled better.

[The-Young-Maid]

I always thought it was best to detangle dry? When it's wet you're bound to accumulate more damage because the hair is weaker. Isn't that why we always tell people to detangle before they get in the shower? To reduce breakage? (different for curly hair)

And since the OP has specified they have straight hair, dry detangling is probably the better option. I can't imagine trying to work a nasty mat out of my wet hair! Especially since drying hair tends to get super tangly, velco - matish on it's own.

I'd think that wetting and conditioning is the last resort. A detangling spray or oil should work better when you focus on a specific area instead of saturating the whole mat at once.

[Ylva]

As a stravy, I'd never in a million years try to detangle wet. I also think that straight hair, by default, is probably better off detangled dry most of the time. The conditioning, however, could ease the matts a bit in the first place but I wouldn't proceed to detangling straight away.

[littlestarface]

I cannot even imagining wetting my hair when it has mats and tangles, that's like begging for a even bigger disaster.

[EdG]

I think the difference in opinion is due to not specifying the amount of water.

My experience is that detangling is easiest when the hair is slightly damp, not dripping wet and not dry. The dampness adds slip. I vaguely recall professional hair stylists dampening the hair with a spray bottle before doing anything else.
Ed

[lapushka]

If you have mats, do not get your hair wet, it tightens the mat! Doesn't matter what texture it is 1, or 2. I don't know about 3 or 4 hair, since I have never had personal experience with mats and that texture. I do however have experience with 1 & 2 hair. No, don't get it wet!

[EdG]

But lapushka, undoing a mat requires slip. Some kind of lubrication is needed.

Yes, the mat may tighten, but this is a result of manipulating it. Either the mat or the hair will come out.
Ed

[The-Young-Maid]

But lapushka, undoing a mat requires slip. Some kind of lubrication is needed.

Yes, the mat may tighten, but this is a result of manipulating it. Either the mat or the hair will come out.
Ed

But wetting the hair wouldn't help. Water doesn't create slip on tangled hair. Adding an oil or a detangling spray/conditioner and letting it dry before working on the mat is better. The sheer weight of wet hair would cause it to become tighter and a potentially larger mat. Any amount of water will cause my hair to tangle (even just humidity) unless it was properly detangled beforehand.

[EdG]

But wetting the hair wouldn't help. Water doesn't create slip on tangled hair. Adding an oil or a detangling spray/conditioner and letting it dry before working on the mat is better. The sheer weight of wet hair would cause it to become tighter and a potentially larger mat. Any amount of water will cause my hair to tangle (even just humidity) unless it was properly detangled beforehand. My experience with detangling hair, walking, and driving is that water is very good at adding slip. ;)

I can much more easily run a comb through my hair when it is slightly damp than dry. I am a water-only washer, and so my hair is always somewhat oily. All it needs is a bit of dampness to make it slippery.
Ed

[The-Young-Maid]

My experience with detangling hair, walking, and driving is that water is very good at adding slip. ;)

I can much more easily run a comb through my hair when it is slightly damp than dry. I am a water-only washer, and so my hair is always somewhat oily. All it needs is a bit of dampness to make it slippery.
Ed

So it's the oil that is adding slip. The same happens to my hair when it's been oiled. Anytime I've tried non traditional cleansing methods wet manipulation has been easier and necessary. We can agree the hair needs to be coated with something, which is what everyone has recommended.:) Since the OP is new it's fair to assume they are using conventional products.

[EdG]

So it's the oil that is adding slip. The same happens to my hair when it's been oiled. Anytime I've tried non traditional cleansing methods wet manipulation has been easier and necessary. We can agree the hair needs to be coated with something, which is what everyone has recommended. Since the OP is new it's fair to assume they are using conventional products.Both water and oil are lubricants. Water evaporates too quickly to be generally useful as a lubricant.

Yes, the OP needs some kind of lubricant to get out the mats.
Ed

[milosmomma]

I could see it differing for hair type, so maybe start off dry. Honstley when dry de-matting there are immensely more snaps and breaks than slippery wet,damp/conditioned de-matting. I only have experience de-matting my cousins hair in the 3's range and dd11 type 2 hairs. I dont want to cause OP to make the situation worse at all, just sharing what I have found to be least damaging detangling route.

ETA: I have watch video of people combing out dreads and all of them use conditioner on damp hair to take them out

[Ligeia Noire]

Adding my two cents. The worst matts i had was when doing rag curls. I couldn't for the life of me even getting a wide tooth comb in there. The only thing that helped and that has always helped when i have matted hair is to not touch it or try to detangle it dry. The tangle needs slip to unravel.
Otherwise, It will only break and tangle more.. So, i jump in the shower wash it and slather Pantene. If you have a Pantene heavy mask even better. Nothing will weigh down all your single hairs as much as this stuf.
Pantene is like canned food and first aid kits, i always keep a bottle around..it has saved my hair many times.
(They should start paying me a hefty some by now for the promotion)
And the slip is just the best i have ever experienced. Which is what you want, to help untangle the hair.
I wash it and slather all the length with the conditioner or mask. Leave it for at least half an hour and wash it off.. then i just squish it dry with a towel and go about detangling by sections...it works so well, that at this length, i still do rag or any kind of curls, other styles or leaving it down for concerts and i am not afraid of the tangles. I just put it up in a bun and do not try to comb it dry, and immediately wash it when getting home. Can't even imagine the amount of breakage i would have if i usually detangled my hair dry, let alone when i have matts. This is what has always worked for me. My texture is not that wavy, straight with 2b waves from the waist down.
However, my hair is fine and very, very tangle prone.
Good luck.

[LittleHealthy]

I’ve brushed out a whole head of dreadlocks successfully before. A detangling spray can work better than conditioner in some cases, especially if you have fine hair strands. Spray some in, start at the ends of your hair, and don’t bother trying to tackle it when you’re in a rush. Pick a time where you can sit down in front of a mirror and slowly work at it in sections.

[enting]

Depending on how extensive the matting is, I'd try to section it to detangle. Even if you can free just a couple of hairs at a time that you can separate off the side of the main mat, that's progress. Don't wear yourself out detangling it, just do it bit by bit and take breaks if you need to.

Personally I work on whatever I can get free on dry hair, maybe with some oil that I know my hair likes. Wetting it, at least for me, is going to lock the mats in. YMMV on this, I know some people have an easier time loosening knots and mats on wet and conditioned hair. I helped get a friend of mine started with detangling huge mats in her hair that took up something like half her hair. She also thought she was going to have to chop her hair off, but after I worked on it a bit she felt hopeful that she could take it the rest of the way. You can do this!


Sometimes I do come across a few hairs that are the key members of a mat that I can't loosen, and those I do snip out so that the mat can come out, but most of the hair I can usually keep. Just go very slowly and gently. I doubt that WD-40 will be the best option here. To keep as much of your hair as you can, this isn't going to be a one-spray-and-rinse deal, it's going to take some time and patience and love.

[lapushka]

Ginger_Snap, how's it going with the tangles right now?

[Joules]

Both water and oil are lubricants. Water evaporates too quickly to be generally useful as a lubricant.

Yes, the OP needs some kind of lubricant to get out the mats.
Ed

If the OP lives in a hard water area, it's only gonna make the mat worse.

Water can undo knots if you fill a big bucket and just dunk your head into it. Spankie Valentine on YT has thick curly classic length hair and she detangles her hair this way. I guess when submerged into water hair starts to float and the knots just unravel themselves. Idk how it would work with severe matting though, I'd still vote for a lot of heavy conditioner.

[EdG]

If the OP lives in a hard water area, it's only gonna make the mat worse.

Water can undo knots if you fill a big bucket and just dunk your head into it. Spankie Valentine on YT has thick curly classic length hair and she detangles her hair this way. I guess when submerged into water hair starts to float and the knots just unravel themselves. Idk how it would work with severe matting though, I'd still vote for a lot of heavy conditioner. Apply a few drops of distilled water if the tap water has too much minerals. Conditioner will work as well.

I suspect that the OP's mats are like mine (held together by lint). She has to comb the lint out.
Ed

[lapushka]

Apply a few drops of distilled water if the tap water has too much minerals. Conditioner will work as well.

I suspect that the OP's mats are like mine (held together by lint). She has to comb the lint out.
Ed

I'm unsure as the OP hasn't responded in quite a while.

[EdG]

I'm unsure as the OP hasn't responded in quite a while.I hope the OP comes back. She has the world's foremost experts on long hair right here. :cheese:
Ed

[Ginger_Snap]

Hello all sorry I haven't gotten back to everyone sooner. Long story short, my sister said she could help. She unfortunately started from the roots brushing down, instead of tip up. I ended up just cutting my hair short. I appreciate all the feedback and awesome tip's. 😘😘😘

[Ylva]

I'm sorry to hear it came to that. I hope you feel okay about your new length.

[Liz_H]

I recently went through this for the second time. The first time I used a lot of olive oil and spent a few hours a day working on it until it was out. It took nearly two weeks. My hair loves olive oil. Afterwards, I ordered some pure silicone for hair, just in case I managed to do this again. I managed to let this happen again a few months later and am very happy with how much the silicone helped. Total time was probably less than two hours. I started out by gently rubbing a good amount into the whole mat, adding more to specific areas as needed. My hair is thick, fine and waist length. All told, I needed very little, perhaps a teaspoon or two on the whole head.

The specific product I used is Inverto Revolution's Honeycomb Advanced Silicone Serum, which I bought on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYGFX72/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Liz_H]

ps I also got a silk pillowcase afterwards, which has helped A LOT.