URGENT! Extremely tangled extensions! 4 hr mermaid soak hasn't helped!

[elina333]

Ok so I saw the last post on tangles but I just have to post another one. My friend is in panic right now. She has extensions and yesterday she found two HUGE tangles. They are totally matted and hard as rocks. She has very thin hair and the extensions are glued in. The knots are right by the glue so about half an inch from her scalp.

She has been in the tub for four hours and has already gone through TWO bottles of conditioner... She is doing a mermaid soak and I have been trying to help her but the knots just wont come out! HELP! Could this take days? What should she put in overnight, oil or conditioner? Please please please help us!

[orbiting]

For knots in extensions, she needs to go to her hair salon. If the knots are that close to the glue, it might even be a problem from the glue, which I'm pretty sure no amount of conditioner is going to take care of...

I hope she gets it taken care of with as little loss of hair as possible.

[IcarusBride]

I have no advice, but good luck to your friend!!!

[eschmi1]

I definitely suggest going to the hair salon. That is so awful! I hope she can get some help.

[ericthegreat]

I agree with orbiting on this one. Speaking as the resident hairstylist here, I'm sorry to say this but glued extensions are very damaging to natural hair. The glue very often causes matting and tangling of the extension hair AND your own natural hair right by the roots where the glue is applied.

Your friend can still try to just let the conditioner sit on her hair overnight. If she has a shower cap she can just wrap her conditioner soaked hair and tuck it into the shower cap and sleep with it on. When she wakes up the next morning, she can try to gently detangle her extensions starting from the ends and slowing working her way up to her roots.

If that still doesn't work then I definitely agree that she should head back to the salon that did the extensions to either have them professionally detangled or to simply take out the extensions.

Edit: Now that I think of it, its better for her to just go back to the salon. I can definitely guarantee that if she were to try to detangle her now very knotted extensions by herself, she will almost certainly end up pulling out and shedding away a lot of the extension hair. Which would be a complete waste of the extensions and the money she spent to have them put on her head. In my expert opinion, she should just wash out the conditioner she has in her hair if she is still trying the mermaid soak and head back to the salon first thing tomorrow. Now once she goes into the salon, she can either ask them to professionally untangle her hair and hopefully they can teach her tips on how to better care for glued extensions. Or, now this is just my humble opinion but she should really just have them taken out and NOT put them back on her head again. Glued extensions are again really very damaging to your natural hair. It really is better for your friend to just patiently grow out her own hair. :flower:

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I agree with above comments, it's best to go to the salon.

[christine1989]

Hmmm...are the extentions brand new? If so it could be partially hardened glue. Either way you should head to the salon where she got the extentions ASAP so they can asess the situation. If it is glue then they should have a special solvent that will dissolve it without damaging her hair. In the meantime you could try a light oil like coconut or grapeseed overnight to loosen the hairs.

[Loreley]

This is horrible! :( The best thing she can do is going back to the hair salon.

[Lassie]

Hmmm...are the extentions brand new? If so it could be partially hardened glue. Either way you should head to the salon where she got the extentions ASAP so they can asess the situation. If it is glue then they should have a special solvent that will dissolve it without damaging her hair. In the meantime you could try a light oil like coconut or grapeseed overnight to loosen the hairs.

i second the glue..
if its rock hard it may have been residue glue?.....if it was all hair, you 'should' be able to work with it..

Head back to the salon, if it is glue - they will have solvent, not much else is likely to work..

hope it all works out!

[heynormy]

If they are 100% Human Hair, then perhaps she can try conditioner or oil, but I really suggest going back to the salon!

[angelthadiva]

Am I the only one who is wondering why she spent 4 hours soaking in the tub to detangle? To me that seems to make things worse--I never, ever mermaid soak unless I want to spend a few days detangling.

Did your friend leave the stylist with the stylist imparting hair care do's and don'ts?

[loralie]

Oil oil oil oil and keep using the conditioner. Someone needs to help her comb them out, gently, but slather them and soak them in oil.

Poor girl! That's exactly why extensions scare me so much.

[freckles]

:( wishing tons of good luck to your friend.

[UltraBella]

Really hoping for an update on this one ! At my salons we have two types of "glued" extensions and they both have a solution that can be applied to the glue to soften it so you can remove it from your hair. Makes situations like this much easier to deal with, but I try to talk people out of them in the first place. Extensions are damaging, period. But if a client wants them, there are some safer options than the glued kind..... Ouch !!!! Hope it turns out okay for her !!!!

[elina333]

Thank you so much for all the advice! After reading all of them we decided to do the only right thing - go to the salon! They got the biggest knot out and the smaller one they had to cut out. But we would never have been able to get them out by ourselves... But her hair is back to normal now, and she still has the extensions in :D

[Coffeebug]

I'm glad to hear they managed to sort it out - shame it had to involve scissors though - eeek!