I’ve just been thinking about this thread while washing my hair! My hair is only slightly wavy so I’m sorry I can’t give a curly haired perspective.
Is there some protection in the hair staying in clumps, in a strength in numbers kind of way? If there is, wet detangling with a load of conditioner, or detangling before a wash with a lot of oil, would make sense I think?
The reduced friction when the curls are elongated makes sense to me. I have a feeling I saw a video about this recently, I’ll come back and post it if I can remember where it was.
A lot of people love boar bristle brushes, but a lot of people see breakage with them. I think their purpose is supposed to be to spread sebum down the hair shaft. I completely agree with
foreveryours (and his interest payment

) that oiling the length and staying away from brushes makes a huge difference. I don’t know how easy it is to finger detangle with curls. A wide tooth comb might be another option.
ETA: I found the video. It’s Sarah Ingle, referencing a text book, about 3 minutes in and referring to a chart about the force applied. For curly hair, she says detangling wet is best.
https://youtu.be/8bxRUP1pwQY
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