Things You'll Need:
- Leave In Conditioner
- Wide Tooth Comb
- Rat Tail Comb
- Patience
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Step 1
Before detangling your hair while wet or dry, be sure to apply a leave in conditioner that is cream based. This will soften the hair, provide more slip, and reduce damage. On top of that, you should apply a natural oil, especially African Americans. Use a dime sized amount of olive oil, coconut oil or any oil of your choice. Apply more for longer, thicker hair.
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Step 2
Section your hair before beginning. You should do this using your fingers. Hair is very fragile while it's wet, so if you're detangling wet hair, be sure to use the greatest of care. Separate the hair into small sections using your fingers. Avoid pulling, tugging or moving too fast while doing this. Your hair can easily become wrapped around your fingers and ripped from your head if you are speeding through this process.
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Step 3
Begin detangling each section of hair using a wide tooth comb. Comb hair beginning from the ends working your way to the root. Repeat as necessary to remove as many tangles as you can with the large tooth comb. Now switch to your rat tail comb if you have smaller tangles that the large tooth comb cannot untangle. If you have any knots in your hair, put both combs down immediately and begin to unravel your hair strand by strand using your fingers. If you try to comb the hair you may risk ripping all strands of hair that are involved in the knots, straight from the root. This can cause thinning and possible baldness if damage is done. It takes time to detangle your hair so be patient and good luck.
