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View Full Version : Material for Wide Toothed Combs; Which is better?



pinchbeck
September 6th, 2011, 10:06 AM
I seem to get frustrated with my hair. It tangles more frequently when it reaches mid-back and it always gets cut back four inches (bsl). I don't know if is the length that causes more tangles or if this just the nature of my hair.

Although I take great care of my hair and use a seamless wide toothed comb, it just occurred to me that maybe my hair does not like the material my comb is made from. I have a bakelite (resin?) wide toothed comb from Hairsense and it is non static. I noticed Mason Pearson Rakes are made from a different material and am wondering if it is: smoother, better, gentler, etc.

What are your thoughts?

Roscata
September 6th, 2011, 10:44 AM
I wish I knew what type of hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=5) ("How To" Hair Type Your Hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=164)) you have and what your current routine is.

But all that aside have you tried: finger-combing, leave-in conditioners, cone/no cone conditioners, CO, ACV rinses, lemon rinses, pre-wash oiling, post-wash oiling, periodically clarifying, deep conditioning treatments (like SMT)? Any of those? With what type of results?

archel
September 6th, 2011, 10:49 AM
I think the products you use in your hair might make a bigger difference than the material of your comb. It sounds like you have an excellent comb. I have to do certain things like oiling my ends and wearing my hair in braids to protect it in order to prevent tangles, otherwise, there they are.

pepperminttea
September 6th, 2011, 10:51 AM
To be honest, I don't think the material's your problem. If you were using a plastic seamed comb, then maybe you'd have more splits in your ends, so it'd tangle more, but with a lovely seamless bakelite one from Hairsense (I've been coveting their combs lately), I think the tangling culprit is something else. Do you have old damage in your ends (from mostly grown out bleach/dye/excessive heat-styling)? It might simply be more length, after APL/BSL my tangles breed a lot more. Or build-up even - has it been a while since you last clarified?

What's your hairtype? Even if you don't know the Fia classification, a rough sketch would help to let us know what you're working with. :)

AnnaJamila
September 6th, 2011, 10:57 AM
I agree with the others; it's much more likely that your routine is what's causing the tangles. For instance, do you sleep with your hair loose? That causes a LOT of damage and my hair did a 360 when I started to wear it up at night.

Lianna
September 6th, 2011, 11:42 AM
Maybe you just need more slip in your hair (oils, cones). The tangle teezer is pretty amazing to detangle my dry hair, I only use combs for damp.

Being objetive about the question, I would pick bone combs because they can be seamless and can be used on wet hair safely (can't really say that about wood or horn, some people get away with that but isn't recommended).

pinchbeck
September 6th, 2011, 02:20 PM
But all that aside have you tried: finger-combing, leave-in conditioners, cone/no cone conditioners, CO, ACV rinses, lemon rinses, pre-wash oiling, post-wash oiling, periodically clarifying, deep conditioning treatments (like SMT)? Any of those? With what type of results? I don't know my hair type and would be scared to clarify it because it would tangle even more! I pre-oil and do post-wash oilings with coconut oil. Deep conditioning and leave in conditioner interests me, but most contain artificial fragrance which I prefer not to use. If I can find one that is naturally fragranced I will try it.

ACV and lemon rinses leave my hair feeling 'weird' like there is a film on it. I know that sounds strange.

pinchbeck
September 6th, 2011, 02:26 PM
Do you have old damage in your ends (from mostly grown out bleach/dye/excessive heat-styling)? My ends are blunt (they don't fairytale) and get regular trims and its colour is virgin. I abstain from any type of heat and use all natural fragrance free shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo contains gentle surfactants. The conditioner is called Atmosphere and is cone free.

I don't know if natural shampoo builds up in the hair or if all shampoos and conditioners do.

pinchbeck
September 6th, 2011, 02:30 PM
I agree with the others; it's much more likely that your routine is what's causing the tangles. For instance, do you sleep with your hair loose? That causes a LOT of damage and my hair did a 360 when I started to wear it up at night.I normally don't get damage, just lots of tangles. My hair even tangles while I am detangling it! I now sleep with a single braid with added coconut oil to help with morning combing and it works.

Lianna
September 6th, 2011, 02:42 PM
Afraid to clarify? One huge reason for abnormal tangles is build-up (specially protein/coconut oil). Consider it.

cheetahfast
September 6th, 2011, 02:46 PM
Afraid to clarify? One huge reason for abnormal tangles is build-up (specially protein/coconut oil). Consider it.

I had a bad protein build up last spring, my hair was dry (almost crunchy) and tangled like crazy. It was from a shampoo and conditioner I was using, I clarified and switched to CO with a different brand of conditioner, now my hair is much better.

Roscata
September 6th, 2011, 03:32 PM
I don't know my hair type and would be scared to clarify it because it would tangle even more! I pre-oil and do post-wash oilings with coconut oil. Deep conditioning and leave in conditioner interests me, but most contain artificial fragrance which I prefer not to use. If I can find one that is naturally fragranced I will try it.

ACV and lemon rinses leave my hair feeling 'weird' like there is a film on it. I know that sounds strange.


Afraid to clarify? One huge reason for abnormal tangles is build-up (specially protein/coconut oil). Consider it.


I had a bad protein build up last spring, my hair was dry (almost crunchy) and tangled like crazy. It was from a shampoo and conditioner I was using, I clarified and switched to CO with a different brand of conditioner, now my hair is much better.

Exactly what Lianna and cheetahfast said.

Whenever anyone has issues with hair feeling dry tangly or generally not ideal the first thing you should do is clarify your hair and follow up with a deep moisture treatment like SMT. That's the standard advice.

Build-up can make your hair feel icky. I'd even go as far as to suggest chelating, if clarifying alone doesn't work.

Good luck! :D

Cassie 123
September 6th, 2011, 03:34 PM
I own the Mason Pearson rake comb. It's a perfectly good comb, but it doesn't do anything special when it comes to detangling. I actually use it only on wet hair; for combing dry hair, I prefer a horn comb. For the stubborn tangles that my son has when his hair starts getting a bit long, the Tangle Teezer works better.

I prefer fragrance-free products, too. I use the premium conditioner base from New Directions Aromatics (http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.ca/conditioner-base-ultra-premium-p-1205.html), which I believe ships directly from Canada; for clarifying, I use the shampoo from Alphazelle.com (http://www.alphazelle.com/clarifying_shampoo.html). Clarifying shampoo alone would make tangles worse, but I find that my hair happily drinks up vast quantities of conditioner afterwards and becomes quite smooth and soft.

You are right in that lemon juice rinse leaves some residue on the hair; I'm undecided about how I feel about this. It makes my hair shinier but more tangle-prone. Have you tried rinsing with a bit of citric acid in distilled water (about 1/4 tsp per gallon)? For me, this leaves behind nothin' but shine. :)

pinchbeck
September 7th, 2011, 10:33 AM
Thank you to everyone who answered my post. Lots of great ideas were included and I will try a few to see what happens. Wish me luck since I will be clarifying soon.

Finding and reading threads on the topic of clarifying will be interesting. I think there are other ways to clarify such as using baking soda. If I am wrong, correct me! At the moment I don't have any naturally fragranced clarifying shampoo but will order some (or hunting for some at my local health food stores). :)

YepLilly
September 7th, 2011, 10:50 AM
Exactly what Lianna and cheetahfast said.

Whenever anyone has issues with hair feeling dry tangly or generally not ideal the first thing you should do is clarify your hair and follow up with a deep moisture treatment like SMT. That's the standard advice.

Ok, I have to agree with everyone else. If your hair tangles and it's dry the advice is to clarify, and if that doesn't work, to reduce protein and do a deep conditioning treatment.

In this case, I would personally go with the clarifying shampoo instead of baking soda. Try Suave Clarifying or VO5 Kiwi Lime. Good luck :)

pinchbeck
September 7th, 2011, 11:02 AM
Would anyone recommend a few threads of clarifying? In search a bunch of threads showed up that are non-specific to clarifying. I will continue to look. Thx.

Cassie 123
September 7th, 2011, 11:06 AM
Are you looking for baking soda info? Try typing this into google:

site:longhaircommunity.com clarifying with baking soda

Roscata
September 7th, 2011, 11:23 AM
Would anyone recommend a few threads of clarifying? In search a bunch of threads showed up that are non-specific to clarifying. I will continue to look. Thx.

How to go no poo (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Go-No-Poo/) is a great article (offsite) on baking soda and how to use it to wash your hair. Other than that, there isn't much I can say except buy a shampoo that says "clarifying" or "chelating" depending on what you want them to do and massage it into your scalp and run it through your length (maybe even leave it on for a few minutes, read the instructions on the bottle some ask for that).

I'm kind of excited for you. I hope you post on this thread after clarifying and let us know what happened. If you hair is tangle prone I strongly suggest doing a deep moisture treatment afterwards, even if that just means putting the thickest conditioner you have on your hair and leaving it on under a shower cap for 30 min-1 hour before rinsing it out. :D

pinchbeck
September 7th, 2011, 11:38 AM
How to go no poo (http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Go-No-Poo/) I'm kind of excited for you. I hope you post on this thread after clarifying and let us know what happened. If you hair is tangle prone I strongly suggest doing a deep moisture treatment afterwards, even if that just means putting the thickest conditioner you have on your hair and leaving it on under a shower cap for 30 min-1 hour before rinsing it out. :DShampoo doesn't bother my hair or scalp. My doesn't feel like straw, but it probably has mineral and chlorine build up and environmental pollutants that need to be removed.

I came across two products. The first clarifies and the second chelates: Nexxus Aloe Rid Gentle Clarifying Shampoo and Joico K-Pak Clarify Chelating Shampoo. From what I read both shampoos removed the same things so now I am confused. I may try the first product since it includes the word 'gentle' in the name. I like gentle and will definitely deep condition afterward.:D

Roscata
September 7th, 2011, 11:41 AM
Shampoo doesn't bother my hair or scalp. My doesn't feel like straw, but it probably has mineral and chlorine build up and environmental pollutants that need to be removed.

I came across two products. The first clarifies and the second chelates: Nexxus Aloe Rid Gentle Clarifying Shampoo and Joico K-Pak Clarify Chelating Shampoo. From what I read both shampoos removed the same things so now I am confused. I may try the first product since it includes the word 'gentle' in the name. I like gentle and will definitely deep condition afterward.:D

If you suspect mineral build-up then definitely go for the chelating shampoo (Joico K-Pak Clarify Chelating Shampoo), and since you found a two-in-one it sounds perfect, it will cover all your bases. :D

Lianna
September 7th, 2011, 01:39 PM
Here's a couple of articles, one of them shows what detergent you need to clean certain cones. So yes, baking soda isn't always enough.


http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=13
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=44

Cassie 123
September 7th, 2011, 03:12 PM
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=13


I just want to thank you for linking this article, Lianna. :blossom: This is the best explanation of the effect of 'cones on hair that I have ever seen.

pinchbeck
September 7th, 2011, 03:15 PM
I just want to thank you for linking this article, Lianna. :blossom: This is the best explanation of the effect of 'cones on hair that I have ever seen.I avoid cones and wonder what effect they have on the skin since they're in so many moisturizers. I picture if like a layer of plastic wrap (Saran Wrap). Now off I go to read the above links.

Lianna
September 7th, 2011, 04:25 PM
Welcome. :)

pinchbeck
September 9th, 2011, 10:36 AM
I don't think my original question was answered regarding wide toothed comb materials. What are your opinions about which material is better?:)

Roscata
September 9th, 2011, 11:51 AM
I don't think my original question was answered regarding wide toothed comb materials. What are your opinions about which material is better?:)

I prefer bone combs personally. I tried wooden ones but they seem to harm my hair somehow, like they don't have enough slip to just run through my hair and they induce mechanical damage when I use them. Plastic combs are not even an option for me, not only do I not have the patience to sand down the seams that can harm my hair, but they add static electricity which is not something I like to deal with.

pinchbeck
September 9th, 2011, 02:35 PM
Plastic combs are not even an option for me, not only do I not have the patience to sand down the seams that can harm my hair, but they add static electricity which is not something I like to deal with.I should have clarified in my post title that I was referring to seamless wide toothed combs!

The Mason Pearson Rake is a seamless wide toothed comb and it is not made from the same material as the bone (resin) combs. I am not sure if they are made from plastic, but they look like they are.

Cassie 123
September 9th, 2011, 06:22 PM
The product page on Amazon says that the MP Rake is made from "expensive acrylic resin" (whatever that means). Its tines are certainly seamless, but they are not perfectly smooth.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n539/Cassie_inOC/1315611524.jpg

If you look closely you can see that the tines are grooved. I don't know if these grooves are supposed to serve any purpose. They don't seem to grab at the hair, but I still kind of wish they weren't there.

BlazingHeart
September 9th, 2011, 07:31 PM
Cassie, looking at that image, I'd say it's just the result of using a toothed saw to make the cuts. A grooved kerf (or cutmark) is the hallmark of a serrated blade. If you look at a piece of wood that was cut with a circular saw, you'd see similar grooves like that along the length of the piece of wood.

OP, sorry, I don't have much of an opinion on the matter yet, though my understanding is that the comb you've got is a mighty nice one. My only comb is horn, and I keep meaning to bring it upstairs where I'll use it but I never remember to unbury it (it's under a ton of stuff on the coffee table).

~Blaze

Cassie 123
September 9th, 2011, 08:00 PM
Cassie, looking at that image, I'd say it's just the result of using a toothed saw to make the cuts. A grooved kerf (or cutmark) is the hallmark of a serrated blade. If you look at a piece of wood that was cut with a circular saw, you'd see similar grooves like that along the length of the piece of wood.

I think you're right, that's just what it looks like. I wonder why they didn't grind it completely smooth afterwards?

I have a couple of horn combs. I really, really love my sheep's horn comb from The Site That Shall Not Be Named; it feels much smoother than the ox horn comb that I ordered from Heavenly Harvest when I despaired of the former ever arriving.

julliams
September 10th, 2011, 12:36 AM
I am using a comb which is horn teeth with a wooden handle. I'm loving it and have no static.

lapushka
September 10th, 2011, 06:35 AM
I've got both a wide tooth Hercules Sägemann (http://www.hercules-saegemann.de/m1.php?lang=e) comb (made of ebonite) and one like this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nubone-II-Finish-Pro-Detangler-Comb-Aviva-Nail-Buffer-/150581149750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230f560036) (nubone). I tend to like the last one better as it somehow pulls less when detangling (no pulling actually). The teeth are cut much finer and sharper.

pinchbeck
September 10th, 2011, 08:31 AM
I've got both a wide tooth Hercules Sägemann (http://www.hercules-saegemann.de/m1.php?lang=e) comb (made of ebonite) and one like this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nubone-II-Finish-Pro-Detangler-Comb-Aviva-Nail-Buffer-/150581149750?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230f560036) (nubone). I tend to like the last one better as it somehow pulls less when detangling (no pulling actually). The teeth are cut much finer and sharper.The nubone comb is the same colour as the bone combs from Hairsense. I wonder if it is the same material?

Has anyone tried vulcanized rubber combs?

pinchbeck
September 10th, 2011, 08:33 AM
If you look closely you can see that the tines are grooved. I don't know if these grooves are supposed to serve any purpose. They don't seem to grab at the hair, but I still kind of wish they weren't there.The close up of your comb is awesome! Since there is nothing sticking out on the surface of the tines, I don't think the comb would be damaging at all. It's those nasty seams that can.

ratgirldjh
September 10th, 2011, 12:39 PM
I just bought this comb:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360385542210?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

woolyleprechaun
September 10th, 2011, 01:07 PM
A nice wooden comb and some coconut oil does the trick for me, but I agree with the others, its probably something else causing the problems!