Maintaining braids is a long and challenging process. There are a lot of dos-and-don’ts when it comes to this famous hairstyle. Today, we will look at one of the most common questions among braid wearers.
Can you brush your braiding hair? No, you should not brush your braided hair. During the braiding process, you can comb your hair to detangle the knots. Rather than using a brush, we strongly recommend using your fingers and taking your time to avoid damaging the hair. Brushing your hair while braided is strongly discouraged, since it can cause braids to loosen and cause excessive shedding.
You need to know the right method to use for each process and what the right products and tools to use are. Additionally, you need to know the dangers of neglecting this process. Don’t fret, all that and more is covered in this article.
Don’t brush braided hair
Detangling your hair with a brush or comb isn’t the most effective method, and these four reasons will help you make that decision.
1. Hard To Deal With Individual Strands
Brushes or combs can handle multiple strands at once. Even though this is very convenient, you relinquish a lot of control. You can’t narrow down on the particularly stubborn tangles. This will cause you to be overly aggressive with gentler hair.
2. Extreme Levels Of Pressure
Combing and brushing aren’t gentle on your hair in general. You may have heard that you shouldn’t comb wet hair as it causes breakages. This is true as hair is brittle and combing applies a lot of force on it. This causes breakages and split ends.
3. Weaken Scalp
All the pressure from combing is going to directly impact the health of your scalp. It is not meant to endure that much pressure and so it will weaken over time.
4. Split Ends Galore
Another issue that being rough with your hair presents is that it causes a lot of splits. This means you can’t have clean bangs without a trim.
5. Shortens Hair
This one is sort of obvious because of the previous issue we discussed. If you lose bunches of hair at a time, your hair will get shorter. This means that you will have less hair to work with at the end of the day.
6. Loss Of Volume
Because of the excessive breakage, you are going to lose a fair bit of hair. This will mean that your hair will look a lot less voluminous. You can’t pull off styles like a wavy bob.
7. No Track Of Hair Loss
Another issue with combing is that you really can’t keep a track of how much hair you are losing in each comb. This means you can’t pick up on warning signs that would indicate a need for a change in haircare routine or your diet.
Detangling Process: Step-by-step Guide
Detangling your hair sounds like a simple process but in reality, it is a meticulous job that requires a lot of attention. Don’t worry though, we broke it down into 3 simple steps to help you get through it.
Step 1: Condition Your Hair
Moisture is simply a necessity when it comes to removing tangles. If your hair doesn’t have enough water content, the dryness will make it harder to separate. A conditioner is the easiest way to introduce moisture to your hair.
Step 2: Apply Oil
Another way to add moisture is to apply special oils to your hair. We prefer coconut oil as it also strengthens your locs. It also makes the strands slippery which makes them slide past each other with ease when detangling.
Step 3: Gently And Slowly Remove The Tangles
The last step is perhaps the one that will spark the most debate and what makes this such a difficult process. You need to choose the right method for your hair and patiently deal with one strand at a time. What is the right method? We’ll discuss that soon.
Things To Be Aware Of When Detangling Hair After Braids Have Been Undone
The process is not the only thing that is complicated about detangling your hair. You need to ensure that you keep these 4 factors in mind when detangling your hair after braiding.
1. Use High-Quality Products
Investing in haircare products is not a lost cause. This is one of the areas where spending a lot of money is really worth it. Spring for shampoos, conditioners, and oils that have natural ingredients. Avoid paraben at all costs.
2. Cut Your Hair
Be prepared to let go of a few intricate tangles. You need to trim some of these super-tangled segments as removing them is not just going to be super painful but also impossible in some cases. If you don’t trust your trimming skills, opt for professional help.
3. Regular Care
Haircare isn’t a one-time process. You need to do it on a regular basis. If you shampoo your hair once a month and condition it even more rarely, don’t be surprised if it is infested with tangles. Opt to apply products at least once or twice a week.
4. No New Styles For A While
Braids are really strenuous on your hair so once they are off, give your hair a break. Don’t try any new complicated styles in the near future. If you can, rock your natural look for a few weeks as that is the best option for your hair’s quick recovery.
Benefit Of Detangling Hair Before Washing Braids
Everyone knows the best direction to use when detangling hair is from the ends and working your way up to your roots but do you know why you need to do this before washing each time? These 4 reasons are quite convincing.
1. Avoids breakage
Wet hair is fairly brittle so you shouldn’t work with it. If you detangle your hair before washing it, you can ensure minimal breakage.
2. Takes Care Of Product Buildup
Product buildup is really annoying as it can stop the conditioner from being soaked in by your hair. Detangling can allow you to get rid of this buildup beforehand.
3. Takes Care Of Split Ends
Again, as hair is less brittle, it won’t split as easily. This means that your hair will have longer strands with neat ends.
4. Stops Future tangling For A While
The best benefit of detangling before a wash is that the wash basically cements your detangling. After the wash, you don’t have to worry about detangling for a while.
How To Comb Your Hair After Braids
Another process that not everyone is well acquainted with is combing hair after removing braids. Follow these 5 steps to get your hair healthy with a post-braid comb.
Step 1: Shampoo Your Hair
Shampooing your hair is sort of a must after braiding. Your hair collects a lot of oil during this style so you need to strip some of this oil off for the best scalp health.
Step 2: Condition The Scalp
A simple rinse-off conditioner won’t do. You need a deep conditioning treatment. Apply the best leave-in conditioner you can find and rejuvenate your hair with all the nutrition it needs.
Step 3: Oil Your Hair
Shampooing may remove more oil than it needs to so you need to add some more to the system. Any oil will do but coconut oil is great for restoration.
Step 4: Use A Wide-Toothed Comb
Don’t go for fine-toothed combs as they are really tough on your hair as we previously discussed. The wide-toothed comb helps gently cox your hair in the right direction.
Step 5: Be Gentle, Don’t Yank!
This is perhaps the most important tip. You can’t be aggressive with your hair when combing it. Be gentle and slow and you’ll be rewarded with healthy hair.
Why Is Finger Detangling Recommended Over Using A Comb
What is the alternative to a comb? It is using your fingers. They offer these 5 special benefits you won’t find anywhere else.
1. Keeps Your Hair Strong
With your fingers, you can dissect each hair perfectly so you can get rid of every single tangle out there. This optimization means that your hair will be completely separated and strong as ever.
2. Reduces tension and stress on your hair
In comparison to a comb, your fingers virtually apply no pressure whatsoever. You have complete control over how much force you want to exert. Due to the precision, you don’t need to pull that hard.
3. Prevents breakage in the hair
Because you don’t apply too much pressure, there is little risk of you tearing out chunks of your hair. This lack of breakages adds more volume to your hair.
4. Prevents split ends
As you are catering to each hair and carefully detangling them, you won’t split many hairs straight down the middle. This, in turn, reduces the number of split ends in your hair.
5. Saves You Time
Due to the next-level precision, you get with your fingers, you can complete the process a lot more quickly than with a comb.
Process For Finger Detangling Hair After Removing Braids
Now that you know that using your fingers is the best way to detangle your hair, how do you even go about doing it? These 5 steps tell you how to do it with relative ease.
Step 1: Wet Hair Is Easier To Work With
This is an optional step. In fact, we actually recommend against it as it has negative effects on your hair. However, if you are a sucker for making the process easier, then washing your hair makes it much more pliable.
Step 2: Divide Your Hair Into Sections
Sectioning your hair allows you to keep track of what parts are tangled and saves a lot of time. You can easily do this with your fingers by making coils for each section.
Step 3: Apply a detangling product
Apply a detangling product or hair oil to each section of hair. This will help to soften and loosen any knots or tangles, making it easier to comb through.
Step 4: Use a wide-tooth comb
Start at the ends of each section and use a wide-tooth comb to gently work through any knots or tangles.
Step 4: Finger detangle
Once you have worked through the knots and tangles with a comb, use your fingers to further detangle your hair. Starting at the ends of each section, gently work your fingers through your hair, using a picking and separating motion to detangle any remaining knots.
Step 5: Slowly Work Your Way Through
Rushing through this process can cause you to tear out a lot of hair. Ensure that you take your sweet time with this each strand. Slowly separate each of them and detangle them with great care and patience.
Step 6: Cut Off Lost Causes
If you feel any sections are beyond help, don’t be scared to snip them. Hair grows back fairly quickly so unless you are cutting a lot of it, there is nothing to worry about.
Step 7: Let Your Hair Relax
Once you’ve detangled your hair, let it rest for a while. Don’t try any new styles for a few days and let the hair stay in its natural look so it can cope with the stress of detangling.
Recommended Tool To Use When Detangling Hair After Removing Braids
Even though tools are not the ideal way to take out tangles, you can use them. However, there is only one type of comb that you should use to take down braids: wide combs.
Fine-toothed combs are not nearly as gentle as wide-tooth combs which are better suited to detangle your hair.
As soon as you detangle your hair with this tool, you need to apply healing products to your hair. Reach for your best shampoo, conditioner, and oil. Your hair deserves a spa day after that much stress.
Use A Wide-Tooth Comb Instead Of A Fine-Tooth Comb Or Hairbrush
Wide-tooth combs help remove dead hair and product buildup without applying too much pressure to each strand. As the tooth is far apart, the hair doesn’t need to squeeze through little gaps.
In some cases, though, fine-tooth combs are your only option. For example, while your hair is in braids, you need to use a rat-tail comb to remove buildup. This applies even for extensions. If you wear extensions for too long without combing through them, you can seriously damage your hair.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why Is It Important To Cleanse Or Co-Wash Hair And Comb Through Braids If Buildup Becomes Visible?
Buildups are detrimental to the health of your hair. They stop important nutrients from being soaked by your hair when shampooing or conditioning. At the same time, it also solidifies tangles to the point where you have no option but to cut that part of your hair off.
2. What Is A Rat Tail Comb?
A rat tail comb is a special type of comb that allows you to do both sectioning and fine-toothed combing. The reason it earned this peculiar name is its shape. The sectioning part looks like a tail.
3. What Is The Difference Between A Regular Rinse-Out Conditioner And A Deep Conditioning Treatment
A regular rinse-out conditioner is for softening and moisturizing your hair on a daily basis. A deep conditioning treatment completely restores your hair’s natural oils and brings it back to its natural moisturized form.
4. Does Brushing Your Locs Make Them Thicker?
Brushing your hair will stimulate hair follicles and cause more hair growth. As there will be more volume in your hair, your locs will be ‘thicker.’ Make sure not to overdo it as you may rip out some healthy hair in the process which is quite counterproductive.
Let’s Wrap it Up
We hope now you are well versed with the answer to the question: Can you brush your braiding hair? This hair grooming trick will help you ensure that you rock the best braids and keep rocking them for a long time to come. It’s all about regular maintenance.
