Hi reggie,
As a mostly natural - this is my experience. Natural hair is easy to manage if cared for regularly. As in, if I deep condition/deep oil treat once a week, keep regularly moisturized w/ water, olive oil, and shea butter and comb frequently, I don't encounter any problems at all. Easy to comb, etc. even when dry.
But if I let it go for a while w/o caring or let my hair get washed and then don't bother to comb for a few days, I can have dry hair, breakage, or immense tangles.
So I think that if you can work through this, and it may take a long time if you are patient and don't break through the tangles, then you will start with a clean slate and you can definitely prevent it from happening again.
But it may be very difficult to actually go from matted hair now to well combed, conditioned hair. Even adding water can cause the matts to knot together.
Here's a copy of a message from another post. I never tried it, but maybe someone else can comment on whether it works:
You probably see this on every post, but maybe clarify? Also, you could try just saturating with cheap conditioner, setting aside some time, and section by section try to detangle?
Here is a recipe I copied from the old Longhairlovers, I'm not sure if it has already been posted or modified since I copied it (the steps look kind of out of order...):
Selah's Tangle Buster Routine
1) Section hair down center w/fingers or comb.
2) Gently and thoroughly saturate each section.
3) Before-hand, you will take a plastic pitcher that holds say 2 q. of water.
Pour in about 1/8 c.-1/4 c. of vinegar or so (cv or white). I just eyeball amt. Then pour in ALOT of conditioner. I use a cheapie or something I won't buy again for this stage. My hair is a few inches past my shoulders so I dump in about 1/2 c. or so.
Add about 3 tbsp. of light oil - Amla, coconut etc. I also put in about 2 tbsp of Elasta Recovery, but that's optional. Fill w/water, stir with hand.
4) Pour SLOWLY over each section, holding palm of other hand under hair to catch liquid against hair. Don't rub or manipulate hair now! Loosely pin up each section for about 3 min.
5) Take down. Gently finger comb as much as you can. Rinse about 3/4 of mixture out. Don't overrinse.
6) Shampoo only ONCE. Massage scalp moving hair as little as possible. Don't rub and manipulate hair length. Gently squeeze length, milking shampoo down it. I do this for about 60 - 90 seconds each side. Your hair will be clean, so don't worry about short time frame. Shampooing too long & multiple times causes tangles. Gently rinse each section.
7) Now apply your good conditioner liberally. Again, pin up hair. Let sit for about 3 min.
8) Take hair down. Gently finger comb. Only at this point should you comb hair. I use a seamless wide tooth comb from Sally's by Cricket ($1.99). Seamless ones are a must. Gently rinse, cool water.
9) Do another vinegar mixture, now just minus the conditioner. Again, use the coolest water you can stand to close those cuticles. Do NOT rinse out.
10) When towel drying, do not run. Gently pat/squeeze dry. That's it!
* Optional - adding essential oils on the front end mixture, or back end vinegar rinse. *
fyi - I do not use shampoos w/the chemicals to make all the suds. They strip and dry it out. I like alot of products, including: African Formula (shea shampoo / condit for ex.), Aubrey Organics (GPB deep condit, Blue Camomile Shampoo, Island Naturals), Nature's Gate (the Herbal s & c is very good & helps w/tangles).
There's more, but once I use them, I'm going to pare down to just 3, one being a mild shampoo/oil/E.O. mixture I'll make using Dr. Bronner's.
