Knots, knots, knots...and an unplanned cut. HELP!

Ok, I think I washed my hair incorrectly, and it led to knots, tangles, and an unplanned mini-cut. Any thoughts?

Quick background—I am in transition. My last relaxer was about 8 ½ months ago. Up until now, I’ve been in braids for my transition, with only a day in between during which I deep treated my hair. I’ve decided to leave the braids out for a couple of weeks this time to give my edges so rest, and to practice doing my hair.

Friday I began taking out my braids. (They had been in for close to 3 months, and I had just the edges redone halfway through) I used lyndaespratley's method from YouTube. I took hours…and hours. But I think it salvaged my hair. There is a picture of how much hair came off while detangling. I really did sense any breakage, these pieces sort of slide off (not broke off). Do you think that’s alot of hair?

Anyway, as I took a whole section out I braided sections of my hair together (remember conditioner is in it—Alberto VO5). At this point I could run my fingers through the section fine without tangles or knots.

Next I pre-poo’ed my hair with warm olive oil and jojoba oil mix, and left it one for close to 2 hours. Then I washed and deep conditioned my hair with Carol’s Daughter’s Tui line. Remember, still braided in sections.

I immediately sat down and started taking sections apart to curl them on perm rods over night. OMG! I had these god awful tangles and knots at the ends of my hair, primarily in the relaxed portion. I could detangle some, but I had to cut others out. I have a picture, with a quarter to give an idea of how much cutting I did. The picture shows how much hair I had to cut out due to tangles (top) and how much shedding occurred (bottom), I guess you could say naturally, after my painstaking detangling that had nothing to do with knots.

I am SO not ready to do my BC yet, and I am so scared that when I wash my hair again, probably next weekend, I’m going to have the same issue.

HELP PLEASE! Any ideas why I got knots? What should I do?


Pic 1= hair that came off when I detangled and took that little coil of lent and product that built up off

Pic 2= my post washing hair loss hair I had to cut out due to tangles (top) and how much shedding occurred (bottom)


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i didn't have braids, but experienced a similar situation after using a certain product line. it just didn't work well for my hair. i ended up w/lots of knots & tangles. i did have to cut one big knot out of the front. i was devastated, but luckily it was just in that one place. i almost cried though thinking i would need to bc way before i was ready.

i never used that product again, & now when i shampoo/cond i run my fingers through my hair & try to detangle that way before using a comb.

i tend to shed alot, especially if i bun my hair for the week so i would think it's normal to lose a significant amt of hair if yours was in braids for 3 mths.

You should expect more shedding than breakage since you wore your hair braided for so long. I would definitely let your hair breathe for about a week or two before your next set of braids. I also would recommend doing a protein treatment before your next install.

I use CD's Black Vanilla line such as the shampoo and hair smoothie but I cowash with Herbal Essence, VO5, and Suave Naturals. I always braid my hair in 4 sections and proceed to wash concentrating on my scalp. I take out the braids individually and apply more conditioner to each section. I detangle with fingers and my wide tooth comb. Any tangles I encounter I add more condish and continue detangling.

Just take your time because your hair is most fragile when it's wet.

@HAMPTONSFNST and @mrsrenaissance Thanks for the advice ladies.

I'm still confused to if it was my method of washing or the product that led to this problem. Do you wash tranistioning hair while it's in braids? Should I wait until the braids are dry to undo them? Or should I just not wash my hair while it's braided at all?

I'm am very confused. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I cowash my hair while it's in four plaits. I apply condish to each braid and detangle them individually. After detangling I rebraid my hair and rinse. I towel dry lightly and apply my leave-in and then proceed to do my TnC.

@ Hamptonsfnst Thank you! I will try cowashing in braids.... maybe it was the shampoo. I'll keep you posted! :-)