Wide-tooth comb ruined my hair!

[ihavelonghair]

I decided to take someone's advice and use a wide-tooth comb for a couple of weeks, since it claimed to be better for my hair. I always combed my hair extremely carefully, never tugging or snapping my hair.

Not only did it take 5x longer to get my hair untangled every day, but today I noticed that my ends are HORRIBLY split (around 5mm splits)! And I recently dusted! :wail: It was the only change I had made in the past three weeks so I can't see what else it could be...

I'm tossing my comb and going back to my "bad for you" brush that's been tried and true to me for the past 15 years. VIVA LA PADDLE BRUSH!!

[breezefaerie]

It's good that you have found something that does work for your hair!

[Anje]

Hmmm... I'm sorry to hear that the comb ruined your hair. Did it have seams on it or something that could have tattered your ends?

For some folks, brushes are better. I get good results with wide-tooth combs most of the time, but occasionally brushes are what I want (particularly when tangles are a result of lint, in my case).

[trillcat]

I have never heard of this. Are you sure you did nothing different?
What type of comb? Not all wide teeth are hair friendly.

[RancheroTheBee]

Did it have seams on it? Those tend to "shave" the ends of the hair sometimes.

[katha]

I used to own a comb with seams and it didn't do any good.

Now I own one that doesn't have seams and it's working ok.

I prefer to use a brush though. I don't have the patience to detangle with a comb, to be honest.

[Carolyn]

Not all wide tooth combs are created equal just as all brushes aren't. What kind of comb did you use?

[Alvrodul]

I decided to take someone's advice and use a wide-tooth comb for a couple of weeks, since it claimed to be better for my hair. I always combed my hair extremely carefully, never tugging or snapping my hair.

Not only did it take 5x longer to get my hair untangled every day, but today I noticed that my ends are HORRIBLY split (around 5mm splits)! And I recently dusted! :wail: It was the only change I had made in the past three weeks so I can't see what else it could be...

I'm tossing my comb and going back to my "bad for you" brush that's been tried and true to me for the past 15 years. VIVA LA PADDLE BRUSH!!
Well, if it works, don't fix it.

For me, combs are best. I use a BBB sometimes, but mainly when I want to get rid of loose hairs. Brushes tends to leave my hair electrical and frizzy (which is quite an art for my painfully straight hair) and often will create tangles.

Btw - was it a seamless comb? If it was not, those nasty, sharp seams could have caused the damage.

[Othala]

The types of combs that are recommended by dedicated combers here are the ones that are seamless i.e. without sharp ridges that can tear hair. The combs can be made of wood, bone or plastic and I even have one made of metal that was intended for long-haired dogs!

Good combs do not damage hair. They slide through hair like yours like a hot knife through soft butter.

[ihavelonghair]

*GASP* My comb does have seams!! *snaps comb in half and defenestrates it*

Well, that was quickly remedied.

[RachelRain]

Hijacking solely to say that I use a dog brush too! (well, comb, but they're all brushes to me.) it works great when I have a rats nest going.

I just bought a plastic tiedye looking comb at walmart - seems pretty seamless to me, I can't see anything. It's a conair and it's pretty neat looking. If you have one near you, you could try picking that up - I think it was like two or three bucks :)

[Cinnamoon]

I just bought a plastic tiedye looking comb at walmart - seems pretty seamless to me, I can't see anything. It's a conair and it's pretty neat looking.

I have the same thing - it works really well! Pretty much seamless, and it's done wonders for my hair (switching from brushing) - my hair's smoother, and has a lot less frizz now.

[JenniferNoel]

Hmm, I'm due for a new comb. I'll have to keep that one in mind when I hit walmart. Sorry to hear about the comb issue.

[ptnicole]

Does anyone on this thread have/use/like wooden widetooth combs? I'm looking at one from Body Shop, but wonder how wood does on wet and dry hair. Thanks!

[melikai]

Does anyone on this thread have/use/like wooden widetooth combs? I'm looking at one from Body Shop, but wonder how wood does on wet and dry hair. Thanks!

I have the Body Shop one, but I wouldn't use it on wet hair. You should be very careful using a comb on wet hair at all, as that is when your hair is most delicate. Kent resin combs are great for damp hair, and I really like the Heavenly Harvest horn comb for dry hair.

[yellowchariot]

ihavelonghair,
I just bought a Conair wide tooth comb yesterday! One end of it has the big/wide teeth, and the bottom end has the regular teeth. Here is a pic I found from a website:

http://mp.hairboutique.com/_images/products/Conair_Comb_93502_BL_350.jpg



I'm glad you shared your experience, I hate that you had such a horrible thing happen to you!

BTW: What exactly are "seams"?

[ptnicole]

If you look between each tooth, you may see the plastic meet and there is a seam...a tiny protruding ridge.

So I think I will start not combing when wet and get a wood comb for dry. My current comb has SEAMS:(!

[spidermom]

Oh no; I'm so sorry you tried something that was supposed to be a good thing, and it didn't work out for you.

I'm a firm believer that if your routine is working for you, keep on doing it. Not every suggestion is going to be a good idea for every person.

I can't use a brush until my hair is already detangled with a comb, otherwise I break hairs.

[Sammich]

Does anyone on this thread have/use/like wooden widetooth combs? I'm looking at one from Body Shop, but wonder how wood does on wet and dry hair. Thanks!

It's amazing, thumbs up! You should look it up on search, alot of members rave about it. :)
But like ^ said, they do not do well on wet hair... wet things can ruin wooden things. :p
Spidermom - I can't brush without combing beforehand too, I have to use the brush for 'smoothing' not detangling. :)

[jane53]

Wide-toothed combs are TERRIBLE for my hair. Fortunately, I figured this out years ago. Sorry you had to go through this!

[Crackaleen]

Does anyone on this thread have/use/like wooden widetooth combs? I'm looking at one from Body Shop, but wonder how wood does on wet and dry hair. Thanks!

I don't use that particular comb, but I've been using wide-toothed wooden combs for a couple of years now and my hair loves them. I'm replacing mine now, though, since it's developed some cracks between the tines that are catching on and pulling out/breaking hair. I've always bought mine online off of places like ebay and amazon; this time I'm trying out this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360256238286&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT) horn comb.

[Erinshay]

I had the same problem! My hair does horrible with the couple of wide tooth combs I have used. I just brush carefully and slowly and have found a lot less breakage. 100% boar bristle brushes do not work well for me either....I only used them for smoothing out pony tails. My hair is super fine and breaks even if I run my fingers through it.

[Schefflera]

I have the Body Shop comb. I think I should put it on the Swap Board here, because while it doesn't damage my hair, it doesn't seem to do anything else to it either. Like... detangle. Or put into order.

I have a couple of medium-tooth ones that have seams but don't seem to do any damage, and one fine-toothed cheap one that does a better job than anything else of making my scalp hair look respectable when I'm stretching washes. *shrug* But then I'm not nearly as gentle with my hair as some people here.... granted, that may be why it seems to be stalling a bit.

[Carolyn]

The Body Shop wooden comb is wonderful for combing dry to slightly damp hair. It can have some rough spots but that is easily taken care of with an emery board or a strip of fine sandpaper. Madora make wonderful plastic seamless wide tooth combs. They are a bit pricey but you get what you pay for. I have some cheaper plastic wide tooth combs with seams that I've made hair friendly with a small metal nail file. My favorite plastic comb that I use for wet and dry detangling, but not styling, is the handled Mebco detangling comb. Available at Sallys.

[ihavelonghair]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
I'll probably pick up one of those seamless combs... in a couple of months. Right now I need to recover from my trauma.

[*Aoife*]

Does anyone on this thread have/use/like wooden widetooth combs? I'm looking at one from Body Shop, but wonder how wood does on wet and dry hair. Thanks!

It is fantastic. I've never had a problem using it on damp hair but it goes C shaped if you use it in the shower. That doesn't cause any problems when using it but it's probably bad for the comb in the long run.

[UltraBella]

I have the seamless Conair one that was mentioned earlier, bought at Walmart. It's awesome ! I also have the same plastic giant pink hair pick that a stylist gave me when I was 13 years old, lol ! Considering that I will turn 34 tomorrow, I have had that thing FOREVER ! And it still works great :)

[Kyla]

So sorry that this happened to you! I personally am usually able to use a boars hair brush to smooth out my hair, and unless it's fairly tangled, that's all I use.

[Iron0Maiden]

I use a paddle brush too! I find that combs just tear through the knots in my hair. So I'm with you on this one. Well.. at least now you know. :)

And what exactly are seams?

[Jessica Trapp]

Oh no! Sorry to hear about the comb issue.

I love my Mason Pearson combs. I stopped brushing in Oct 2005 shortly after I joined LHC and it made a *huge* difference in my fragile hair so I only have good things to say about combing.

But if brushing was working for you... no reason to fix what isn't broke.

Hope your hair heals soon.
:flower: jes

[Juneii]

eek! I'm sorry that happened! I heard that the wooden body shop comb works well - I want to get one too. I'm using a conair detangler right now but it has seams, I'm not sure if it's the cause of my splits or not...

[Sammich]

eek! I'm sorry that happened! I heard that the wooden body shop comb works well - I want to get one too. I'm using a conair detangler right now but it has seams, I'm not sure if it's the cause of my splits or not...

I think it would be causing your splits, perhaps you may need to change your comb or file the seams down if you can?

[emmebean]

We only use the body shop wooden comb for detangling. No combing wet hair, always wait till it drys. For braiding and such we use a Mason Pearson fine tooth comb.
I also have tried the conair from Wal-mart and it worked well (my mom stole it :) )