Those who constantly use tools such as combs and brushes to style their hair may notice a difference in their hair health. With repeated use of these tools, some may notice breakage as well as split ends which can hinder length retention. If you have straighter hair or a looser curl pattern, you may not notice these effects as much. If you have dry, kinky hair, however, you may notices these effects quite often. One of the ways that naturals can combat this problem is to cut down on the use of combs and brushes. Finger detangling is a great way to effectively detangling seemingly hard to deal with natural hair and allows for more control which, if done correctly, can prevent damage.
What you will need:
Fingers
Cheap conditioner
Clips
Step One:
Using your fingers, gently separate your hair into sections and clip each section out of the way. The smaller the section, the easier it will be to detangle. Some people can get away with four sections while others may use up to ten or more.
Step Two:
In or out of the shower, fully saturate a single section of hair with a rinse out conditioner. Because you will be using a lot of conditioner in this step, using an expensive conditioner is not wise. Instead, find a cheap conditioner like the VO5 Moisture Milks which you can get for around a buck at any drug store. You will find that conditioner will make the hair much more slippery which is the key to detangling hair.
Step Three:
While section is completely saturated with conditioner, starting from the ENDS of your hair, GENTLY begin pulling small groups of strands apart from each other. It is important to start from the ends of the hair because pulling from the root down can cause knots as well as breakage. If you encounter knots, do not panic. Continue being gentle with your hair and work the knot out the best that you can. If you cannot manage to get the knot out, you can cut the knot out using hair scissors. Taking this measure should be rare. Continue separating pieces until you feel as though you have worked your way through the entire section.
Step Four:
After separating the strands in the saturated section, run your fingers through the section as you would if you were using a comp. It is very important that you do this slowly and remain gentle. The second you hit a knot, quit combing and work through the knot as you did in step three. Using your fingers to comb through the hair allows you to have more control. With a comb, you may continue pulling the comb through because you cannot feel the knot. Doing this can break your hair off and even cause a bigger knot. Continue this step until you can successfully run your fingers through your section without getting caught.
Step Five:
Once you can rake your fingers through your hair with ease twist or braid the section and clip it out of the way. Twisting or braiding will keep the section from getting tangled again.
Step Six:
Take down the next section and repeat steps one through five.
Step Seven:
Once you have made your way through all of the sections, take each section down one by one to rinse the conditioner out. Make sure you twist the section back up to prevent tangling before you move on to rinsing out the next section. If you would like, you can rinse each section after detangling it instead of waiting until the end. Doing it that way may save you some time.
After completing these steps you can towel dry hair or allow it to air dry and style as usual. It may help to leave sections in and apply products you may use to each individual section. This ensures that the products get to all parts of the hair and the risk of tangling is also reduced.
Using this technique, especially when dealing with natural hair, can drastically cut back on the amount of damage that can be done when styling. Try it out to see how it works for you!