Detangling Support Thread

[meteor]

I haven't found one place or a detailed, comprehensive list of products and ingredients for detangling hair.

So I hope we can share our detangling tips here. What works and what doesn't work as hair detanglers for you?

I am surprised that after babying, oiling and wearing my hair up for over a year, detangling isn't getting any easier! Detangling is when I get most of my damage and lose more hair than ever. And detangling is getting harder and harder the longer and thicker my hair gets.

The best detangling tools / products I've used so far:
- wide-tooth wooden comb,
- mineral oil, oils rich in ceramides (safflower, grapeseed, etc),
- lots of cones (MoroccanOil works well).
Haven't found any good conditioners or leave-ins for detangling yet, but I'd love to know what products work for you.

And I'm confused about acidic rinses - ACV and white vinegar (10% dilution) seem to make my hair more tangly. Is that normal?

[truepeacenik]

Honestly? Loads of conditioner and detangle in the shower with a wide tooth plastic comb. (I've somehow had mine since 198
Once semi dry to dry, the tangle tamer, a tangle teaser knock off, does well. It is basically a curry comb.
On the run, I keep a medium toothed wood comb in my bag.

I try to braid at night, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Prevention really is a pound of cure.

on your acidic rinses, is it still tangly after drying? Mine seems to suddenly let go. (That is, of course, relative to the baby dred of a tangle)

[Angelica]

I use a leave-in conditioner to help with tangles and have recently purchased a Tangle Teezer after reading this forum. Too early yet to tell whether the Tangle Teezer works for my hair. So far okay, it does make my hair on the fluffy side though and sounds like it is ripping through the hair, but have only just purchased it. Prior to that I just used a wide tooth comb.

[Phalaenopsis]

Smooth as silk shampoo from Giovanni makes my hair so much easier to detangle. Cones make my hair very crispy and more difficult to detangle.

[torrilin]

A gram of prevention is worth a kilo of cure for me. Units changed advisedly. I have seriously had 8 hour detangling sessions from leaving my hair loose (at barely BSL!). It makes me really miserable and inclined to chop all my hair off.

Prevention #1: no heat. I have fine, dry, split prone type 1c hair. My hair will seriously get splits at pixie length. For me blow drying or heat curling or really much of anything else is going to lead to extra splitting. More splits means more tangles. And tangles make me cry.

Prevention #2: keep my damn hair up. I left the house without my hair up yesterday and I seriously felt like I was walking around nekkid. I maybe do that 3 times a year, tops. My hair is in that nebulous "past waist" zone where it's starting to look really long, but there aren't any milestones that are nice and clear and that I'd want to admit to in public... and now that it's that long, it's much less inclined to float into tangles because I made the mistake of wanting to breathe. Still... wearing my hair up is a good habit.

Prevention #3: finger combing. I pretty much don't use anything on my hair anymore but my hands. I've got combs and such, but I use 'em every couple months at most. I'm gentler with my fingers. I usually stick to curly style detangling, where I do it wet, in the shower and with LOTS of conditioner too. I don't really mess with it much beyond that since it's up pretty well 24/7.

Your mileage will pretty much always vary.

[jacqueline101]

I use my knock off hair tangle teaser and spray in detangler I make out of conditioner.

[DarkSunny]

Smooth as silk shampoo from Giovanni makes my hair so much easier to detangle. Cones make my hair very crispy and more difficult to detangle.

Ooh, I definitely second the Smooth as silk shampoo (and conditioner). I keep switching products because I get bored of the same thing all of the time, but it really is the only one that leaves my hair shiny, moisturized, and easier to detangle.

Anybody else have the kind of hair that, when dry, loves to form new tangles at the ends just seconds after you've brushed/combed them out? I only stick to detangling wet/half-dry hair because the whole dry hair retangling thing makes it seem like I'm doing much more damage by brushing/combing it when dry.

[Elenna]

Tangles & faerie knots (single strand knots) are the bane of my long hair existence. It may be the hard water here, I've noticed that the water has become harder. Budget cuts maybe? So I may re-try citric acid or vinegar rinses. Anti-residue & chelation shampoos are really harsh and in the long run (I think) don't solve the daily tangle problem.

But smooth, wide-toothed wooden combs, mineral oil (otherwise known as baby oil as a detangler), & almond oil seem to help a lot. Some light oils may adhere to the hair causing a buildup of residues which is why I like almond oil. It is light & doesn't build up residues. So light oils with ceramides may be good or bad depending on your hair. Everyone's hair is different and takes to oils differently.

A couple of days ago, I COed with Giovanni SAS conditioner, & used John Master's conditioner with added almond oil. Boy, was my hair ever smooth & easy to comb!

So far, I'm having better luck with mild shampoos for wash days, light conditioners for COing, & thick conditioners.

Personally, the plastic combs, even the really good quality ones, don't work as well as good wooden combs. The plastic combs seem to worsen my tangle problem. I am so jealous of people who can run a normal comb through their tangle-free, luxurious locks.

Other than baby oil, I don't put in any other leave-ins, since my hair is really fine, wavy & gets weighed down easily.

[Kittney]

My hair is kinda lightweight some days and that makes it get really tangled so I found that weighing it down with a bit of coconut oil helps me. I also have just started using a tangle teezer, I still brush from bottom to top though and that really works well.

[jeanniet]

Kinky Curly Knot Today. Apply in the shower and use a wide-toothed comb or Tangle Teezer, then rinse out or leave in as you wish. Seriously, it's the best detangler ever, and it doesn't take a whole lot. Don't let it sit on your hair for too long or it doesn't seem to work as well. It's not all that cheap, but if you really need a good detangler, KCKT is it.