Detangling: Updated, Collective Wisdom As Of 2016

[Aggie]

My hair used to web. It doesn't really do so anymore, not since I started using oil on my scalp and hair. I use it hot to either prepoo or oil rinse or I simply oil my scalp and roots of my hair to keep it from terribly webbing up in between washes.

I think I want to try Sarenzo's Creamy Oils during a great sale and use those on my scalp and hair to see if my hair likes them. For now, good old evoo with some essential oils for scent is doing nicely. I still use @Chicoro's Prepoo treatment (https://longhaircareforum.com/threads/you-need-a-moisture-drenched-pre-poo.509482/) every now and then because it makes detangling pretty easy for me.

 

[Aggie]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I bought some slippery elm powder and Marshmallow root leaves to make a detangling concoction for my hair. I believe I need to purchase some fenugreek seed powder to add to it for the ultimate Detangler. I just like different things, different times because each of these herbs offer something very beneficial to the health and growth of my hair as well as they detangle very well.

 

[Sharpened]

I think I will try this detangling technique when my hair gets longer and I have no urge to hop in the shower to do my hair (very rare, I love water on my scalp):

 

[Wenbev]

@YvetteWithJoy I feel like throwing conditioner at my computer when I read that mess about detangling under 15 min.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

@YvetteWithJoy I feel like throwing conditioner at my computer when I read that mess about detangling under 15 min.

Girrrrrllllllll . . . . . . Okay!?!!

 

[Wenbev]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I bought some slippery elm powder and Marshmallow root leaves to make a detangling concoction for my hair. I believe I need to purchase some fenugreek seed powder to add to it for the ultimate Detangler. I just like different things, different times because each of these herbs offer something very beneficial to the health and growth of my hair as well as they detangle very well.

I brew slippery elm, marshmallow and horsetail teas together withn aloe vera gel is a spray bottle to help with detangling. I will have to try ms chicorros prepoo treatment. I do love prepoos

 

[KinksAndInk]

@YvetteWithJoy I feel like throwing conditioner at my computer when I read that mess about detangling under 15 min.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!!!

I just completed a PAINLESS full detangling session!

Strategy, Products and Tools, and Method

Strategy:
1. Prevent hair from getting too tangled in the first place:

* At night wear hair in 4 pineappled ponytails banded on the ends
* To shampoo: Put hair in 6-8 twists, shampoo one twist at a time, and retwist to keep hair stretched/elongated


​

2. Detangle out of the shower using the Funnel Method on dry hair:

Here is VIDEO #1 of Funnel Method on wet hair. Video #2, which you can view on YouTube, shows all 3 steps of the Funnel Method, I believe.
​

Products:
1. Soultanicals Slip-N-Slide Knot-Proof Hair Glide
2. Soultanicals Knot Dressing Oil Rinse (in the future I hope to try their prepoo oil to see how that does instead)

(Photo enlarges upon click)


Tools:
1. Spray bottle of water or flairosol bottle of water
2. OPTIONAL: Plastic disposable processing cap to help move hair out of the way as needed

Method, Quadrant by Quadrant:
1. Wear plastic disposable processing cap on top of hair
2. Leaving all other hair under the plastic disposable processing cap, pull out a not-yet-detangled quandrant of hair and un-pineapple (i.e. remove the band at the root and the band at the end). Now all hair is under the processing cap except this quadrant of hair.
3. Split the free quadrant of hair into two parts and work on one half at a time
4. Apply Soultanicals Slip-N-Slide Knot-Proof Hair Glide to entire length of the section, smoothing, elongating, and separating strands
5. Apply Soultanicals Knot Dressing Oil Rinse
6. Starting at the bottom of the section, gently glide Wet Brush through to the ends. Repeat higher up, then higher up -- until brush glides freely through entire section
7. Spritz with a little water
8. Starting at the bottom of the section, use "medium-toothed" comb (i.e., larger than fine-toothed) to comb through to the ends. Repeat higher up, then higher up.
9. Either finish detangling via finger detangling or via use of a finer-toothed comb
10. Twist section back up to prevent (re)tangling
11. Stick detangled, retwisted section under the processing cap
12. Repeat steps 4-11 for the second half of the quadrant of hair
13. Repeat steps 2-11 for all the remaining quadrants of hair

After that, I had 8 twists in. I stretched them around my head and secured them with 8 pins like the one shown between the Soultanicals products in the picture attached above. I let my hair dry and then styled.

At night to try to prevent re-tangling, I re-pineapple the hair into 4 mini-pineapples with a band on the ends of each pineapple (like in the photo above). I wear a processing cap under a bonnet (GHE).

 

[sarumoki]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I bought some slippery elm powder and Marshmallow root leaves to make a detangling concoction for my hair. I believe I need to purchase some fenugreek seed powder to add to it for the ultimate Detangler. I just like different things, different times because each of these herbs offer something very beneficial to the health and growth of my hair as well as they detangle very well.

I use all three of those herbs and they are the truth! I hope they work as well for you as they do for me!

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Don't wait 17 days to detangle your hair.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Don't wait 17 days to detangle your hair.

No, you're right. Don't do that!

Awwww!

What were the circumstances? I've waited 8 before, and it was not good. Not good at all.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

No, you're right. Don't do that!

Awwww!

What were the circumstances? I've waited 8 before, and it was not good. Not good at all.

My cousin committed suicide. I was in a daze for a bit. We buried her over the weekend.

 

[GGsKin]

Sorry for your loss @naturalmanenyc my cousin also committed suicide last year. I forgot about myself for a little while.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

My cousin committed suicide. I was in a daze for a bit. We buried her over the weekend.

Oh, my GOODNESS!

I'm so very, very sorry for you and your family's loss.

How have you been Monday, Tuesday, and today?

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Sorry for your loss @naturalmanenyc my cousin also committed suicide last year. I forgot about myself for a little while.

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm finding out that lots of people have dealt with suicide but most don't talk about it.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Oh, my GOODNESS!

I'm so very, very sorry for you and your family's loss.

How have you been Monday, Tuesday, and today?

Thanks.
I'm back at work. Better today than last week. We are all still in shock.
Finally thought about washing my hair. Detangling was about 1 hour.

Curl Junkie gentle shampoo
Curl Junkie Repair Me (protein treatment & used to detangle)

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Thanks.
I'm back at work. Better today than last week. We are all still in shock.
Finally thought about washing my hair. Detangling was about 1 hour.

Curl Junkie gentle shampoo
Curl Junkie Repair Me (protein treatment & used to detangle)

I'm so glad, NMNYC. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

 

[long.hair.dont.care]

This actually worked for me when I tried it this summer.
Its good for when youre trying to detangle thoroughly and dont have all day!

 

[Sharpened]

Detangling and washing 4c waist-length hair:
I see this in my future...

 

[Sharpened]

A technique for taking down twists to reduce tangles:

From the comment section:

Thanks for the video, but really and truly the only way to "always" reduce knotting, tangling or matting when removing natural hair braids, twists or even weaves is to put the Take Down Remover/Detangler cream on the hair FIRST before removing the extensions or taking out the style. If the hair is saturated with the cream, all you need to do is unravel the twists or braids-comb and shampoo. It saves time, energy and most of all your HAIR!

 

[danysedai]

Not natural, texlaxed in here but I stretch a lot. Mizani D'tangle is my best friend.

 

[Misseyl]

I detangle my hair when it's damp with my fingers then use a comb in the end. I just recently incorporated Profectiv Breakfree Daily Leave-in Strengthener as my cream in the LOC method, I want to see if this product will help me to lose less hair during my detangling session.

 

[Smiley79]

bumping...

 

[Chicoro]

The key for me is not to get tangles (prevention) but some times things happen. I seem to be having set-back after set-back. About 2 months ago, I had my hair in the same old braid, with the ends rolled up. I've been wearing the style for years. For whatever reason, I managed to pull the end of my hair through the inside of my braid and out again. Story doesn't end well. Never had that happen to me before ever in my life. I lost about 3 inches of hair on my right side. I used a safety pin to detangle but still had to cut a big ol' fur ball knot of hair out. An ounce of prevention outweighs a pound of cure (or pound of lost, tangled hair!).

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

I'm up late (early?) doing my hair, and I've just had probably the second BEST detangling session I've ever had.

Aside: The best detangling session I ever had happened after my hair had been in a well-gelled ponytail and was thus pretty stretched and had virtually zero tangling. De"tangling" was almost a misnomer for that process. Just straight EASE.​

Tonight I detangled my hair after wearing it for a few days in my first African thread-out. To prep my hair for the thread-out, I had:

• cleansed with 22nd Century Natural Woman shampoo bar,
• deep conditioned with Shea Moisture High Porosity masque under Jakeala's marshmallow conditioner bar, and
• detangled with Soultanicals Hair Glide and Soultanicals Knot Oil.

Earlier that day I had given my gels away to family I was visiting, so I did not apply anything else before threading my hair.

About detangling the thread-out tonight after wearing it a few days:

- I had maybe ONE knot in my entire, uber-dense head of coily, fine hair.
I was like: Those would be tears of joy!

- About the detangling process: Per section . . .

• I applied water and praying-handed the water in. I began the detangling process by elongating and smoothing my hair while it had only water in it and previous product, which was the Soultanicals Hair Glide and the Soultanicals Knot Oil. Hair was shiny and buttery-feeling already!
• Next I applied Soultanicals Power to the Prepoo oil to the entire strand. I then proceeded to finger detangle, and it was a PIECE OF CAKE doing so. I could be wrong, but I strongly believe this was due to the products I'd previously cleansed and conditioned with: Afterwards my hair had felt extremely hydrated from within and healthy.
• Next I applied Soultanicals Hair Glide to just the ends and ran my Wet Brush through my hair, starting at the ends and then moving further and further up to brush through the length. That Wet Brush went through this oil and Hair Glide -laden hair like a hot knife through butter. I used a seamless wide-toothed comb and fine-toothed comb. NOTE: using all three of these tools accomplishes the Funnel Method of Detangling). For almost all sections, the combs slipped through my hair with ease. A few sections did require a little work with the combs before the comb slid through easily, but it did.

The cleansing, DCing, styling, and detangling contained SO MANY new components/aspects that I can't pinpoint precisely WHY this detangling session was so . . . I want to say buttery-feeling and healthy. Did African threading result in a thread-out that reduced tangling? Did the 22nd CNW poo bar and DC session render my hair so hydrated/healthy that it was tangle-resistant? I'll have to keep documenting as I continue to improve my regimen. Maybe that will pinpoint the cause or combination of causes.

Either way, I'll TAKE IT!: A girl could get used to this.

 

[Misseyl]

The thing I hate about finger detangling is that my fingers begin to turn into raisins. I need to find another way to detangle.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

This looks very interesting: Detangling with okra!

 

[rileypak]

This looks very intersting: Detangling with okra!

Very interesting. I'm already interested in okra gel but now

 

[Sharpened]

This looks very interesting: Detangling with okra!

Seriously, I just watched that this morning! After I get bored playing with oils, I want to test different mucilaginous plants for detangling slippage.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Seriously, I just watched that this morning! After I get bored playing with oils, I want to test different mucilaginous plants for detangling slippage.

Vibing!

I have a mock cart of slippery elm, fenugreek, etc. However, I can get okra down the street from Sprouts!!! And muuuuuuuuuch cheaper.