Newbie questions thread. Feel free to add your own.

[MeAndTheMaz]

And I have a bunch of 'em. I'll start of with one, though.

I keep seeing here that wet hair is more prone to breaking than dry hair. Why is that?

[LauraLongLocks]

I think this article explains it well.

http://www.hairboutique.com/blogs_p/...revent-damage/

[meteor]

AWESOME idea for a thread!

I keep seeing here that wet hair is more prone to breaking than dry hair. Why is that?

Great question! I think it's because water breaks hydrogen bonds of hair (which makes it easy to restyle, of course) and hair stretches and swells a lot with water, making it easy to break without even noticing or hearing that ominous snap sound.

Here's what I found:
http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/topic/topic_sousrub.aspx?tc=root-hair-science^so-sturdy-so-fragile^properties-of-hair&cur=properties-of-hair
"Despite the close fitting scales of its cuticle and the sebum which naturally coats it, a hair in good condition can absorb more than 30% of its own weight of water. If the hair is alread damaged by other factors, this percentage can reach 45%. Its length can thus increase by 2% and its diameter by 15% to 20%!

In cosmetics, this swelling is used to good effect to make large molecules penetrate into the body of the hair. This is the case for dyes.

But, in general, water is harmful to hair and considerably amplifies the many factors damaging it. It particularly accentuates the negative effects of sunlight, hair's other great enemy. Melanin degradation is encouraged and sun linked decoloration intensifies. Keratin itself is altered, making the hair fragile and easily damaged."

[meteor]

And I think I'll piggyback my question off yours, MeAndTheMaz.

Why do they say that straight/slightly wavy hair should be completely dry before detangling? Why isn't damp (and more elastic) hair better for detangling?

[Elly May]

I have thin fine straight BSL hair that tangles easily. I have been reading on LHC about letting it dry before detangling it and honestly, I thought it was a crazy idea. Yesterday I was off work and it was a wash day and so I decided to try it. I was AMAZED at how much easier it was to detangle dry! WOW. It really worked for me. Now the problem will be trying to wash it on days that I don't work or getting up extremely early to give it time to dry....I wash every four to five days at this point.

[arr]

I prefer to detangle when my hair is wet and I've added my leave in conditioner and oil. If I wait for it to dry, then it will dry with a wonky shape, but if I detangle when wet, it dries into a nice pattern. My preferred detangling tool is a Tangle Teezer.

[Puffer Fish]

I want to wear my hair up so I don't fuss with it and cause damage, but I'm still less than shoulder length.

What can I do other than ponytailing and the horrible "pony-bob" where I don't pull the ends all the way through? I don't want elastic damage this early on in the growing process...

[Madora]

And I think I'll piggyback my question off yours, MeAndTheMaz.

Why do they say that straight/slightly wavy hair should be completely dry before detangling? Why isn't damp (and more elastic) hair better for detangling?

Since hair is weakest when it is wet (regardless of what type of hair you have) it is gentler to detangle it (with a comb) while it is wet, provided you do it very slowly and gently. That is the key...slowly and gently. I never could fathom how anyone could wait until the hair was completely dry to detangle. When the hair is filled with detangler/conditioner, is it far easier asI've found in 40 years of doing so. I used to detangle when my hair was dry and it was just once wretched mess and a boatload of frustration. When hair is full of conditioner (or whatever you use for slip) it just makes the process so much more pleasanter, than to fight with dry hair when detangling.

Meteor, did they (whoever "they" are) say WHY straight/slightly wavy hair should be completely dry before detangling?

[MeAndTheMaz]

I have gotten to the point where I'm finger combing conditioner into my hair, the raking it through a bit later (though I need to get a better shower comb). By the time I get out of the shower, there's not really much tangling to deal with.

[MeAndTheMaz]

BTW, thanks TripleL and meteor for the links. They were quite informative.