We all get tangles or knots in our hair at one point or another. The way we remove them has more of an impact on hair health than you may realize. Let’s find out why this happens and the best techniques to remove them.
Why does hair get tangled?
Let’s first start by discussing what hair is made of. Hair is made of individual strands of keratin. Keratin is a protein that your hair skin and nails are made of. The strands of keratin are held together by disulfide bonds. These fragile bonds can get broken if proper care isn’t being done to the hair. When these strands are broken they can get caught up in each other and cause tangles. Some hair types are more prone to damage just because of their makeup. Curly or coily hair textures are more likely to get tangled due to the directions they grow. The curls and coils turn into each other in its natural state which causes tangles. Fine hair is more likely to tangle because the disulfide bonds are more fragile in this texture, causing breakage and split ends to happen more easily.
How to prevent tangles?
The first step in preventing tangles is to not let them get out of control. You should be brushing through your hair at least twice a day when possible. I know this isn’t always possible for my curly and coily girls, that’s why your co wash days are so very important. I suggest doing a co wash at least twice a week so tangles don’t get out of hand.
Dry, dehydrated strands are way more likely to tangle than smooth and moisturized strands. Make sure your hair care routine is implementing enough moisture for your hair’s needs. If you find you’re having more issues with tangles in the winter time, dryness is likely the culprit.
If you aren’t already using a leave in conditioner after every shampoo session, start implementing it now. Some of my favorites are (in order of lightest moisture to heaviest) Amika Wizard Detangling primer, Mizani Moisture Milk, and Redken All Soft Restore Leave In Treatment with Hyaluronic Acid.
Try adding in a deep conditioning mask every 3-4 shampoos to help with that. My current favorite is the Amika Soulfood Nourishing mask. You’ll want to concentrate this on the mid shaft thru the ends of the hair, leave it in for 5-15 minutes, then rinse.
Getting regular trims also prevents tangles by removing split ends that can easily
How to properly get the tangles out?
The best way to tackle that mangled mess is on shampoo day, while in the shower. In my “How to Shampoo Your Hair the Right Way” blog post, I mentioned keeping a wide tooth comb or wet brush in the shower for this exact reason. Make sure if you have difficult tangles they’re saturated in conditioner before you start trying to get them out.
- Step one- Once your ends are throughly saturated with conditioner, you’re going to want to section your hair into 4 quadrant sections to make things easier for you.
- Step two- Starting from the bottom of the quadrant you’re going to want to comb or brush through until you feel no tangles. Then you’re going to work your way up one inch at a time, repeating the process until you reach the scalp
- Step three- Repeat step 2 on the other 3 quadrants until all hair is untangled.
- Step four- Rinse conditioner from hair.
