SOS Tangle help

**AmaryllisRed** · July 2nd, 2024, 10:10 AM

My daughter-- I don't know what on earth she did. How do I go about fixing this? The hair is tangled all around the comb, a couple of inches from her head.

**Sarahlabyrinth** · July 2nd, 2024, 10:14 AM

Have you tried soaking it in conditioner, or oil and gradually loosening it with your fingers?

**paulownia** · July 2nd, 2024, 10:24 AM

I second Sarahlabyrint

Try mixing equal parts of water, conditioner and oil and spray thoroughly the knot.
Gently pry apart the strands.

**AmaryllisRed** · July 2nd, 2024, 10:30 AM

Thank you both. I will try that. I wasn't sure if that would be a good idea since wetting the strands might make them more delicate. I've gotten some of it out but... still not good.

**neko_kawaii** · July 2nd, 2024, 10:40 AM

Oh my! Have you tried using a thin tool, like the end of a rat tail comb, or a thin metal hairstick, to get in to the loops close to the comb and loosen them? I’m thinking it might be hard to get in close with your fingers.

**AmaryllisRed** · July 2nd, 2024, 11:36 AM

Thanks, neko. I did use the teeth of another comb sometimes and my fingernails a lot. I thought about using a needle or pin or tiny crochet hook, the hook especially for getting under the strands that were wrapped around the top of the comb. Ultimately I didn't use any other tools, though, besides combs and a water/conditioner mix.
In the end it took about an hour and a half. In case this helps anyone else in the future, at first I was focused on manipulating the knots so I could get them off the comb. I think I might have made some of the knotting worse in doing that, but I don't know if I could have done it another way. The most helpful thing I did was looking for the ends and working them back through the knots, just like you would if you had a knot in yarn. (This is especially where I think the tiny crochet hook would have been helpful.)
I didn't have to cut any and she only lost individual strands here and there that snapped in the process. I do think wetting them made them more breakable but it also made detangling possible. I didn't even tell anyone outside the LHC about the knot because I know lots of people would have said just cut it and I wasn't about to do that. She's got such long, beautiful hair and she would have been so upset.
I also asked her to tell me what she was trying to do (curls? twists? what?) that caused this so I can help her do it properly. She didn't tell me yet but she probably will eventually.

**Nightshade** · July 2nd, 2024, 12:08 PM

I'm glad to hear you managed to get the comb out without too much damage!

I managed something similar as a kid with one of those boar bristle round brushes that were popular in the 80s and good lord it's a miracle I got out of that thing with any hair left.

**paulownia** · July 2nd, 2024, 12:21 PM

I got something similar once when I was trying to make a twist with a banana clip

**Sarahlabyrinth** · July 2nd, 2024, 12:35 PM

Glad you got it out! I found myself in a similar situation when I as experimenting with my mother's curlers as a teenager.

**neko_kawaii** · July 2nd, 2024, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Nightshade

I'm glad to hear you managed to get the comb out without too much damage!

I managed something similar as a kid with one of those boar bristle round brushes that were popular in the 80s and good lord it's a miracle I got out of that thing with any hair left.

Didn’t we all!

I’m glad you got it out, AmRed!