keeping hair from dreading

my fiance has been growing out her hair for more than two years and loves the length, but lately, one part has become a snarly mess, and it stuck together, tangled, and seemingly permanent... almost dread-like, but more of a flattened mat.

do any of you know of any remedies or solutions to this problem, to keep her hair straight and tidy? she is scared she will have to cut her hair

thank you!

 

Oh no! Has she tried any detangling products? I'm not exactly sure what to tell you because my hair gets like that every night while I'm sleeping (I'm an odd sleeper, lol) and my only remedy is raking a brush through my hair which I know is damaging. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But I am curious, how long is her hair?

 

her hair is between 3 and 4 feet long. i suggested detangle products to her; she says she will look into those asap but is hoping to get a quick fix remedy or something asap, cuz she is going to a family reunion and doesn't want to look weird (she has nothing against dreads, but she isn't trying to have them just now, and the "dread-like" patch she has isn't very nice looking.)

 

my ahir does thr same, its always the underneath bit of my hair at the back!
the bit above the neck!
it matts so badly.......right now its like one huge dreadlock.
im tihnking of maybe letting it have its way and get dreads, my hair seems to really want to.

 

Get a load of conditioner and just work the knots with her fingers, that's how I got my dreads out! It might take a couple of hours depending on how matted her hair is but she'll get there in the end.

 

in the shower or just using conditioner on its own? thanks for your input

 

Just conditioner on it's own, the water always helped my dreads tangle more!

 

thanks! i shall have her try that.

 

yeah.. conditioner takes dreads out well.. she should probably use it often if this is something that happens all the time..

 

another thing she could try is sleeping with her hair in a braid to prevent it from tangling up again while she sleeps.

 

My hair is that way, when I get up..... I fix sepperating each strand than carefully brushing. Anothere thing is I brush before shower also. Try so conditioner. Good luck!

 

my hair is the exact fucking same way, it's the WORST!!!!!! To boot, i have really dry, wavy/curly hair, so it tangles instantly. What i do is brush my hair, while im in the shower, while the conditioner is in it. Working it with just my fingers is a laugh, that would never work, i have to use a brush. My hair is also about 2-2.5 ft long...and i really don't want to cut it, but i fear it's going to have to be lopped off soon. im really sad, but im so fed up with it and dreads just aren't going to happen right now.

 

let her soak her hair in very hot water for 5 minutes, then get a big bottle of conditioner and slop it all on the hair. work it through and dip the hair in the water a few times to spread it evenly. dont try to brush the hair, try to seperate it by pulling the stuck areas apart. after its mostly untangled, use a big toothed comb to get the rest of the knots and excess hair out

 

her hair has been this way for a week and is seemingly permanently fused. if we can get her hair apart (without having to hack it off) i will suggest she braids it before bed

 

i have similar problems with my VERY thick wavy hair.....it dreads naturally if i don't brush it every other day! which isn't sooo bad btw
but, when needed, i use natural oils (like olive or coconut) instead of conditioner to get out the bad tangles, then just wash it twice after
good luck

 

dude that used to happen to my hair all the time, it was so fustrating. anytime i wore my hair down, especially if it was windy or i was camping, it would knot up like whoa. i don't know how to put in links to pics, but here's my hair when i was at bonnaroo a couple of years ago and i hadn't brushed it in a few days:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/phishcourtney04/detail?.dir=12e7&.dnm=f4d1.jpg&.src=ph

it was straight too, not even really curly or wavy. i finally just went with it, and have hardcore dreads now. but i agree with the others who said to use tons of conditioner...i've tried oils even but they're just greasy and didn't help too much...it seems like conditioner has more lubrication and works better with water to help get the knots out. and work it with a comb. it will probably take a couple of hours if her hair is really knotted, and she might lose a lot of it, but she could probably manage to get the tangles out. good luck with it! and braids are a GREAT idea to help prevent tangles!

 

Yes I have the same problem, very thick wavy hair that wants to dread itself .....the thing that helps the most, like everyone has said is to put a lot of conditioner on, and try and tease it with your hands first, before you put a brush to it. I have at times over the years lost my temper with it, and ripped or even scissored out matted hairballs, you don't want to do that. Sometimes another person is helpful, maybe you could help her do it, take an evening over it watching tv, and be patient you probably will need several sessions.

 

lol that looks like my head every other day. it's a regular bitch for me. I'm about to chop it all off, but god i love my hair so much....a few more months and it will practically be at my butt!!!!

 

i know i look back at those pictures when i had long hair & i miss it soo much....but it did always end up tangling and it was a bitch so i'm happy i have dreads now i guess. i just miss the length-they're just now to my chin, and it's been a year and 1/2. this has nothing to the with the original post, i'm just being vain haha merry christmas everyone!