HELP ME! Tangly hair

[Duchess]

I have waist length, super-straight, thick, fine hair (I think I might have entered my statistics wrong when I registered). It tangles REALLY easily. I eventually untangle it and go to get it trimmed immediately--if I'm lucky the hair stylist doesn't scalp me while brushing it.

It's super tangly, almost matted, right now because I recently have been really sick and had surgery (which causes me to ignore my hair). This has happened before and been recovered from but it's a bigger issue right now because I have a professional meeting starting on Sunday and my hair looks awful (I wear a bandanna to cover the mess currently).

Does anyone have some miracle anti-tangle techniques to share?

[susiemw]

Does anyone have some miracle anti-tangle techniques to share?

There is another post dealing with this same issue and you may want to read the responses in that thread also. It was just posted in the last day or so.

My recommendations would be to to get in the shower,
wet your hair, slather your hair with your conditioner.
using a wide toothed comb or pick and starting at the
bottom slowly detangle working your way slowly
up to the scalp. If needed apply more conditioner. Be generous :)

good luck!

susan

[Coriander]

What kinds of shampoo and conditioner do you use?

I agree with Susie... put gobs of conditioner in your hair in the shower and slowly slowwwwwwwwwly comb it out starting at the bottom.

[justgreen]

Then after you get that under control, you might want to consider clarifying, then hyper conditioning. It sounds like you have product build-up and that can cause super tangly hair.

[HairColoredHair]

I agree with how to untangle your current state.

After that, though, perhaps look into clarifying your hair... often times when my hair becomes super tangly it's due to buildup.

What do you use on your hair?

[cobblersmaid]

When my hair gets matted, I get in the shower and empty about half a bottle of conditioner over it, and comb it out with a wide toothed comb. I also mentioned leave-in conditioner in the other thread on this subject. Wearing your hair up may help prevent tangle.

[Duchess]

I am currently using Biolage Detangling conditioner, I sometimes use Biolage Conditioning Balm, or Bedhead Dumb Blonde. I try to use a clarifier but maybe I need to use a stronger one? I use no styling products and I only shampoo my scalp (it gets itchy if I don't). What would you recommend for hyper-conditioning?

[justgreen]

What are you using to clarify?

[Duchess]

Just Neutragena clarifier (which isn't even mine--my boyfriend adores his styling products). I'm guessing it's not good enough :)

I'm making progress on my hair--if I can get it untangled then I can get it trimmed, at that really helps. But I really need to finish before Sunday.

It's the top layer near the scalp that's the problem--the bottom and under is mostly under control.

[twilight_faerie]

Perhaps a diluted vinegar rinse would be good for you. It helps remove waxy buildup and makes your hair shaft lie flat. If your hair shaft isn't flat, that could be why you're getting so tangly.

[inspiral]

oh, i feel your pain, i've let my hair get SO tangly a couple times before too, especially since its gotten longer. here are my tips...
and remember, after you get it detangled, prevention is KEY!
it takes a looong time, and you need lots of patience, and it will probably be easier to not do it all at once, but you can get it out...
you could try putting a lot of oil in your hair first, i sometimes do finger detangling dry with tons of oil first, then shower with lots of conditioner, that way i do most of my detangling when my hair isnt weakened by the water, and i can be doing other things like watching a movie while i detangle, and i dont have to be in the shower forever. (tho i usually detangle in the bath) the oil really helps, i will completely saturate the matted parts with oil and then slowly take the tanlges out with my fingers, then i will run a comb through it after fingercombing again with loads of conditioner.
and the conditioner is important, get the most super rich thick powerful conditioner that you can find.
try not to rip a single hair! they will just make your hair more likely to get tangled again.
after you detangle, or maybe even before you detangle, it might be a good idea to leave the conditioner in, put on a shower cap and let the conditioner sit on your hair for several hours. same thing with the oil. and a trim after its detangled (dont let a sylist rip your hair!!!!) getting rid of split ends makes a big difference in how tangley it gets.
after having the crazy tangles happen too many times, i vowed to never let it happen again. i started wearing my hair in a braid every day, and in two braids every night. wearing a cap or scarf at night along with the braids is ideal, because the hair close the the scalp thats not braided still gets roughed up while you sleep, and of course a satin pillow case helps prevent this also. its become a special and fun thing to wear my hair down, i wear it down when i go out, for special occasions, and sometimes when im just hanging out at my house, and i've noticed so much of a diference in my hair! when the hairs get all knotted up it leaves them all crinkley and deformed, and since i've been protecting it, it's much softer and less frizzy, it lays nicer and has more moisture, and i spend soo much less time detangling it and dealing with it in general, i will braid it right after showering and rebraid a couple times a day. i pretty much always have at least a little bit of coconut oil in my hair, and i do heavy oil treatments my hair over night,. .... its amazing what protecting it from the elements can do!
wishing you powerful and gentle detangling magic! :heartbeat

[Silverlox]

I also have super fine, tangle prone hair and this is how I do:

1. A very heavy oiling with coconut oil. So heavy, it's almost dripping. Then very slowly comb from the bottom up. Preferably in front of the computer or TV as watching something makes me a little less impatient because then I'm just detangling on the side, so to speak. When I'm finished, or give up, which ever comes first, I put it up and let the oil soak in for at least an hour or overnight.

2. Smother hair in lots and lots of conditioner. Don't comb!!! If I try that, I just get lots of breaks. No matter which conditioner, it just doesn't give enough slip as fine hair is very fragile. When you're ready to rinse out the conditioner, then grab the shower head with one hand and a wide tooth comb with another. Have the water run a bit slowly so it hasn't rinsed out all the conditioner before you're done detangling. Combing out conditioner while the water is running through the hair really helps align the strands and detangling is made so much easier!

You can use either method, or combine both, by first oiling and detangling as far as you have the patience to do it. Then wash out the oil with conditioner only and do the rest with method 2. I don't know about other oils, but I do know that coconut oil washes out beautifully with only conditioner!

This works very well for me.

HTH :flower:

[.Amanaka.]

I agree with all of the comments above - the one time that I had hair so matted I couldn't brush it I slathered it with coconut oil and left it for about 12 hours, then carefully detangled. Then again, I tend to get mad at my hair when it gets tangled, which isn't good.

I have found that Johnson and Johnson makes a leave in conditioner/detangler that's in the baby hair aisle. It is like hair lube, I swear to God. It is the only thing that really helps me, but I also use it as a preventative measure. But it helped me get out tangles from not combing/brushing my hair in four days without crying, if that gives you any indication of how good it is.

[Anlbe]

My hair loves to tangle, before I learnt some coping mechanisms it was a nightmare and took at least twenty minutes every morning to detangle and that meant masses of breaking, so the whole thing was a vicious circle. Now I only have to comb my hair once a day and it takes less than a minute. The things that worked for me....

NO clarifying, or rather only once every six months. This strips my hair, makes it drier and hence more tangly

No more brushing, brushing caused static, static resulted in more tangles. Same reason for switching to the sluff silk pillowcase.

Oiling before I wash, quite a lot of oil, tried every type except camelia oil (will get round to it as soon as I've finished my current bottles) and for me it doesn't matter alot which type of oil, most often I use regular olive, jojoba or distilled coconut.

Oiling after I wash, and any time it's feeling tangly, just a drop rubbed onto my palms then pressed against the area that is trying to turn into a birds nest. For me leave in conditioners don't stop the tangles as well as plain oils do, and some of them actually make it worse.

All these helped, but I'm afraid to say the thing that made the biggest single difference is a product. I hate to be someone pushing a product, and a pricy one at that, but Aveda damage remedy treatment (not the conditioner, that's not strong enough) changed my relationship with my hair. For example before it was always a nightmare detangling my hair after washing (and yes I was extremely careful) now it takes five or six strokes with a comb and doesn't tangle nearly as much afterwards.

Hope you find your coping mechanisms soon, you have all my sympathy I vividly remember it was awful. Good luck!

[Duchess]

So I decided to bite the bullet and work some oil into the tangles (all I have is olive oil). It's like a miracle! The tangle I'm working on is melting out! Will it retangle if I don't wash it right out? Is it going to look greasy? I'm so excited! And when I shower, I'm going to condition the holy heck out of it.

[AnneAdeline]

So I decided to bite the bullet and work some oil into the tangles (all I have is olive oil). It's like a miracle! The tangle I'm working on is melting out! Will it retangle if I don't wash it right out? Is it going to look greasy? I'm so excited! And when I shower, I'm going to condition the holy heck out of it.
Glad that worked for you! It probably will look a little greasy. But putting it up in a bun or braiding it will make it not so noticeable. If you aren't gonna wash it right out, I also suggest braiding it.
twilight_faerie mentioned a vinegar rinse. This works wonders on my hair. Make sure to dilute it, though. If you want more info on it, search under "ACV rinse" (that stands for "apple cider vinegar").
Hope this helps!

[Arctic]

So I decided to bite the bullet and work some oil into the tangles (all I have is olive oil). It's like a miracle! The tangle I'm working on is melting out! Will it retangle if I don't wash it right out? Is it going to look greasy? I'm so excited! And when I shower, I'm going to condition the holy heck out of it.

Wonderful! I have found out olive oil (my favourite!) is a bit hard to shampoo out and easily leaves hair looking greasy, BUT with conditioner it gets clean, just let the conditioner sit in your hair during your shower. It's weird :)

[MadPirateBippy]

I have fine, tangly hair. My routine to keep tangles out:

1. Wear hair up almost all the time. Prevention is key. Braids are your friends.

2. Clarify quarterly.

3. Use lots of conditioner (I buy Kiwi Lime V05 Condishioner by the dozen when it goes on sale, go through a bottle a week).

4. Use a vinegar rinse when it's being bitchy/tangly

5. Oil the ends.

If the ends are where most the tangles are, there might be some damage that needs to be trimmed- if you've ever bleached/dyed it, permed it, etc, you might need to trim the damage a bit to stop the tangles.

Hope that helps!