What makes certain types of hair easier to detangle than others??

[DarkJoy]

I have dense fine natural strands. They are very Coily. As long as I have my seamless comb and slippery conditioner, detangling is fine.

I gave up finger Detangling a long time ago. I was not getting the shed hair out and it was tangling up around itself causing breakage.

I have cut my hair though but it's now in the in between stage, not a TWA.

With the exception of high density *jealous* mine is pretty much the same. I dont need the conditioner to be on the hair though. As long as I've just DC combing isn't so bad.

 

[virtuenow]

I have about 85-90% shrinkage and hair coils that are the circumfrence of this letter "o" that you see on your computer screen. See real example here: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=630359 . That combination equals marathon detangling sessions.

 

[nyeredzi]

I think it can be one or a combination of factors. I think for me it is a combination of curl pattern and density. Length has little to do with it. When I was pregnant, my hair was so much easier and quicker to deal with, and it was because my hair was not shedding. No shed hairs meant much fewer tangles. Normally I have so much shed hair because I just have so much hair period. And the shed hairs wrap around the other hair and it takes force to remove them. They don't simply 'slide' out with ease no matter the water pressure or conditioner. In fact it is hard to get them all out unless I blow dry. The whole wide tooth comb and shrunken hair idea was a recipe for disaster. I must detangle in no fewer than 15 sections because of the density. My hair is not exceptionally fragile, but if I try to do it quickly it will break a lot. It always breaks some, bug I don't stress about a small amount of breakage.

 

[curlicarib]

I have medium density, medium strands, 3 a/b hair. After washing with shampoo, I detangle my hair in the shower with conditioner in under two minutes. However, I never wear my hair out. It's always twisted, flat twisted or bunned. I never give it the chance to get tangled to begin with.

ETA: I usually comb through my hair with a denman brush just prior to washing to remove any shed hairs. This process takes about 2 minutes.

ETA 2: Forgot to add, my hair is BSL.

 

[DarkJoy]

I'd like to add is the health of my ends AND whether or not im hosting a gala for SSKs makes a huge diff on detangling time.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

I used to think my hair was hard to detangle. Found out I was just using the wrong type of comb for my hair. *shrugs* Sometimes it's finding the right tool or technique for your hair type. I finger detangle most of the time, and I know it works because my comb glides through like butter--I don't even need it to be honest.

 

[ckisland]

I think fine strands are the Overlord of Tangles .

My hair does not want to tangle, even when I wanted it to!!! I went for 2 weeks with just shampooing and roughly towel drying my hair everyday to encourage some freeform dreading. When I got over it, and went to detangle, there was nothing to detangle!! My hair acted like nothing had happened.

I have very kinky 4a s-curls, 4a coils, and 4b patches, with medium to thick strands and medium density. At MBL my hair shrunk to my neck, and I could get to SL by stretching the crap out of it . My regular detangling session was once every 7-10 days, but sometimes I would comb every 3-4 days because it improved my curl definition. Detangling time ranged from 5-15 mins. What was crazy was that when I relaxed, my hair became a beast to comb!!!! It was so backwards, but my relaxed hair kept waiting to velcro on itself. Also twists and twistouts make my hair mesh together, so I avoided those.

Now that my hair is only around SL, I only pull out a comb when I'm going to straighten my hair. The only finger combing I do is while applying gel or conditioner to leave-in, so I actually "detangle" about once a month or two . I'm curious to see when I'll have to start detangling regularly again.

 

[Seraphina]

I have narrow strands and normal density. After a quick spray or a cowash, it only takes a few minutes to detangle.

Maybe people have long marathon sessions because they wear longer term protective styles like 30+ two strand twists, or only detangle once a week, or don't trim often so they have to be hyper careful with their ends.

Contrary to popular belief, I think an extremely fined strand, thicker density head of hair would take the longest to detangle rather than thick strands.

The bolded is the case for me. Fine strands but very dense. I think what makes my detangling time long is that I have so much hair and I have to take my time to be super gentle because the individual strands are fragile.

 

[SEMO]

I have fine, low to medium density, 3c/4a hair that's past waist length. It takes me 45 to an hour to detangle, and this is when I've been wearing my hair in a ponytail or bun. It would take much longer if I wore a wash n' go. Lot of tangles at the root.

The longer it gets, the more time it takes me to detangle. And my ends are much more fragile.

 

[BonBon]

I'm not saying my time But yeah it takes a while.

I'm a little 3c and mostly 4a/b with fine strands. Apparently I'm high porosity at the moment which probably makes a difference to tangling also.

 

[HopefulOne]

I am a low po 3c using the MHM method and I never comb or brush and I detangle in the shower in about one minute minute and then put in my stylers. I fhink that the MHM works well to reduce detangling time.

 

[NaturalBritt87]

I am a marathon detangler, unfortunately The shortest amount of time I have detangled is 1hr 20 mins, this past week it took me almost 3 hours, yes you read that correctly. I finger detangle exclusively and have high density, medium-thick strands and normal porosity. I do not detangle mid-week, and typically do not re-twist/style mid-week as well. Originally I was washing my hair every 7 days but I have been inching toward 10-14 days. My hair tangles pretty badly at the ends, it is much like my ends having an *rgy, the way they intertwine with one another lol. Stretched styles help, and my detangling time seems reduced if I do decide to re-twist mid-week (usually to moisture). I am also plagued with SSKs, its not so bad with freshly dusted ends, but the tangling again is inevitable. My problem area is my crown, although its a looser texture it tangles the most. My nape and very front of my hair is a breeze because it is a 3c silkier texture. My crown is a 3c and the rest is a 4a texture, that isn't silky but isn't wiry either.

 

[flyygirlll2]

I'm one of those that has marathon detangling sessions. I'm a type 4 with medium/thick strands. It takes about an hour or more for me to detangle. I'm relaxed but I am 5 months post. My natural hair is very tightly coiled and tangles easily.

 

[ms-gg]

Hours. Usually a full day just to get through detangling. It use to take me much shorter (2 to 4 hours), but back then I wasn't doing a thorough job and the shed hairs would get caught onto hairs still attached to my head and I would have to cut them out. So I just take my time and get them all out and it is a tedious tedious (did I say tedious? ) process.

 

[SmilingElephant]

I don't have a hard time detangling my hair except for certain areas. For actual detangling time...I think it takes me like 15 minutes max to detangle.

I only detangle in the shower, lots of conditioner.

I finger comb the bigger tangles out first and then go in with my paddle brush.

I have a mix of hair types and textures. I'm 3b to some 4a-ish coils in the nape and temples. The tighter coils are fine, the looser curls are coarse. The majority of my hair are the coarse, loose curls.

I have the most issues where the coils meet the curls. The coils get all intertwined with the curls and almost choke them lol. When I would finger comb exclusively...these were the spots where my hair would form locs from not being detangled properly. So I decided to use a brush to stop that and get all the shed hairs out bc I'm a heavy shedder.