Oh Natural Hair, How do I Detangle Thee?

When it comes to your natural hair, you want to treat it as best as you can--by pulling out all the stops! From using a wide tooth comb to being as gentle as possible. When it comes to detangling natural hair, its is best done in the shower on wet hair. You can apply the conditioner to wet hair to provide more slip and less breakage while combing. Today however, we will be talking about how to detangle natural hair when it’s dry.

Dry detangling of natural hair requires the aid and use of moisture. First start by sectioning off hair to make sure not to miss any knots and then following with a wide tooth comb. Natural hair is usually on the dense size which, if not sectioned, can result in missed spots. For someone with super curly hair, the more sections when detangling, the better. Finger detangling allows for more gentle detangling for those who have tender scalps or experience too much breakage when detangling with a wide tooth comb. Starting with finger detangling, and then following with a wide tooth comb can help maximize the hair’s condition and minimize dreaded breakage.

When detangling natural hair, it is essential that you think carefully about what comb you use.

Throughout this post I’ve emphasized the term, “wide tooth comb” as these combs have teeth that are spaced farther apart, causing less snagging or breakage. Another note is to look for combs that are seamless as the seams again may catch onto hair and cause breakage.

Its important to detangle hair by starting from the ends and working your way up. Don’t begin detangling from the middle or the root of your hair. Hold the ends of your hair with one hand and detangle with the other hand, moving up inch by inch as you continue the process. You should also detangle before and after shampooing as shampoo tends to make the hair stick together. You want to go into a shampoo session with freshly detangled hair; as you don’t want to have tangles in the hair and then add even more tangles by shampooing.

The last piece of advice when it comes to detangling natural hair is to go slow, be gentle, and treat your hair with love. Rough detangling will cause pain, breakage, and damage; everything one is trying to avoid on a natural hair journey. Detangle slowly and carefully, especially at the ends of your hair where it is the oldest and weakest.