Washing and Detangling Tips For Transitioners

Detangling can be a beast for any natural lady, but it can be an extreme hassle for transitioners managing two textures of hair. Here are a few tips to help you manage the often dreaded task of washing and detangling a transitioning mane.

Chime Edwards Mar, 25, 2015

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4 Sections

Part your hair in 4 sections before you begin to wash. Keeping the hair separated allows you to have more control during the messy process of washing. It also helps to keep the amount of knots and tangles down to a minimum. I've been parting my hair in 4 sections for so long it naturally parts in the right place when I begin to divide it.

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Conditioner

Conditioner is a MUST during the washing and detangling process. Before you shampoo, deep condition your hair. This softens your hair up for detangling. Also, cover your hair with conditioner before you detangle. The comb will glide through your hair better than Nancy Kerrigan on ice. If you shampoo your hair first, apply conditioner afterwards. This restores the moisture that was stripped back into your hair.

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Running Water

Place the section you are detangling directly under running water as you comb the section. The water aids the comb is sliding through your strands. This can cut the time you spend on each section in half.

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Wide Tooth Comb

Never use a comb with narrow teeth. You will spend more time detangling the mess you created.

Washing and detangling my hair was difficult when I first started transitioning but I incorporated the suggestions above and it made things ways easier. Try different tips and techniques until you find the best means to wash your hair without having a comb full stripped in the end.

Chime Edwards is an extremely popular YouTube vlogger with over 145,000 subscribers. Chime was also featured in Nikki Walton’s (Curly Nikki) book, 'Better Than Good Hair.'