How To Detangle Matted Hair
First of all, we’d like to extend our sincerest apologies for finding ourselves here to begin with!
Dealing with a matted mane is easily one of the most frustrating hair predicaments one can find themselves in. Tankfully, you’ve come to the right place.
Whether you haven’t brushed through your strands in a while, or maybe combing through your braids has left you with a tangled mop.
Even choosing where to start untangling matted hair can get overwhelming fast.
So, how do you detangle matted hair?
Well, you could go the classic route and use deep conditioner and/or oil. However, the combination of a comb, hairbrush, and patience can be equally effective.
If you’re not afraid of a pair of scissors, the extent of your tangles may warrant the use of one, but don’t worry – we’re going to try and get you out of this snip-free.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the most effective ways we’ve found to get your hair back to its knot-free state, and fast!
How Does Hair Mat To Begin With?
We’ve all experienced our run-of-the-mill knots and tangles, usually when we’re fresh from sleep or just out of the shower.
While they’re annoying and can sometimes be painful, tangles don’t come close to the ouch factor that accompanies truly matted hair.
When tangles sit in your hair without being touched, they can wrap themselves around your free strands, intensifying the knot.
Depending on how long the tangles sit, they can become thick and tough, becoming increasingly difficult to work through.
While matted hair typically occurs in long hair, anyone can fall victim to this type of tangle.
Even those with the silkiest locks can fall asleep with smooth hair and wake up with dense mats!
Thankfully, there are ways to take care of your hair and additional steps you can add to your haircare routine to prevent these mats from forming in the first place.
How To Detangle Matted Hair Painlessly And Without Cutting
For those of us with sensitive scalps, even brushing through a single knot can be uber-painful. But trying to get a brush through super-tangled hair?
That’s about as close to torture as someone can get. Save yourself the trouble and the tears with this pain-free detangling method.
What You’ll Need:
- Access to a shower
- Conditioner
- This is one of those rare instances when we suggest buying a cheap brand of conditioner.
Since you’ll have to gauge how much conditioner to use, you don’t want to waste any of the expensive stuff!
- This is one of those rare instances when we suggest buying a cheap brand of conditioner.
- Leave-In Conditioner
- Hair Oil
- A wide tooth combed and/or your fingers
What To Do:
- Hop In The Shower
- This process is easiest when your hair is soaking wet, so go ahead and hop in the shower! Don’t worry about trying to detangle your hair at all beforehand.
At the risk of matting your hair, we recommend not running your fingers through it to get it entirely wet. Instead, just let the water soak through it entirely.
- This process is easiest when your hair is soaking wet, so go ahead and hop in the shower! Don’t worry about trying to detangle your hair at all beforehand.
- Rub Some Conditioner Into The Mat
- What makes this technique so painless is that instead of physical detangling, we let conditioner work its magic.
Pump out a generous amount of conditioner into your hand, then gently massage it into the mat.
Use as much as you deem necessary. We want a concentrated amount to penetrate and coat each strand.
- What makes this technique so painless is that instead of physical detangling, we let conditioner work its magic.
- Let It Sit
- This mixture should sit in your hair for at least 5 minutes before proceeding to the next step, but if you can stand to wait longer, we wouldn’t tell you not to.
We want your hair to be as slippery as possible to make detangling easier.
- This mixture should sit in your hair for at least 5 minutes before proceeding to the next step, but if you can stand to wait longer, we wouldn’t tell you not to.
- Start Detangling
- The most crucial thing to remember when detangling hair is to work from the bottom up.
When you try to work through a knot from the top down, you’re actually forcing more hair into the knot, making it even worse.
When you start from the ends to the tips, you’re detangling hair away from the mat. It’ll make your job much easier and save you unnecessary frustration. Trust us! - Using a wide-tooth comb or your fingers, work through the mat. Patience is your best friend at this step, and it will make this method especially pain-free.
Pull apart any knots and massage the strands with your fingertips to disperse any leftover conditioner.
Don’t step out from underneath the showerhead for this step! The slip from the water will actually assist you through this process.
- The most crucial thing to remember when detangling hair is to work from the bottom up.
- Repeat
- If it looks as though you can for the time being, go ahead and pump more conditioner into your hand, then work it through the remainder of the mat.
Let this sit again (remember, the longer the better) and repeat the process. - If you have a hefty mat, you may need to go through a couple of rounds before your hair is tangle-free. Just remember to be gentle with your locks.
If you’ve come across an especially stubborn knot or area, you can use a little more force to work through it – but the second you feel more pain than you’re comfortable with, stop.
- If it looks as though you can for the time being, go ahead and pump more conditioner into your hand, then work it through the remainder of the mat.
- Comb Through Your Locks
- Once you’ve accomplished working through the mat, pat yourself on the back! At this point, the only thing that should be sore is your arms and fingers from working through those knots.
Go ahead and run your comb or your fingers through your hair one final time to ensure that there are no stray tangles hiding in your mane. - After you’re out of the shower, use a towel to squeeze the excess water out of your hair instead of rubbing it through your mane.
While you were gentle with your locks, there was still some friction during the detangling process, so we want to be as kind to them as we can for the time being!
- Once you’ve accomplished working through the mat, pat yourself on the back! At this point, the only thing that should be sore is your arms and fingers from working through those knots.
- Spray Some Product
- Yes, you probably used a ton of conditioner in the shower, but your hair is still more prone to tangling when it’s elastic like this.
To keep your locks from knotting up again, spray some leave-in conditioner through your strands and gently comb it through.
- Yes, you probably used a ton of conditioner in the shower, but your hair is still more prone to tangling when it’s elastic like this.
- Moisturise Your Ends
- To rehydrate your ends and prevent them from potentially clumping together, rub some hair oil into the lower half of your hair.
This will keep your locks slippery, preventing knots before they even start.
- To rehydrate your ends and prevent them from potentially clumping together, rub some hair oil into the lower half of your hair.
- Air Dry
- Again, your hair has gone through a lot! Try to stray away from things like tying your hair up and styling with heat- and yes, that includes blow-drying.
Using a hair dryer will make your locks fly in every which way, and the heat could be a little too much for your already fragile locks. - Instead, let your hair air dry. It’s best to do this on a day when you don’t have plans, so you can just lounge around the house while you wait for it to dry completely.
If you must blow-dry, try brushing through your locks every so often to keep things tame, and use heat only until your hair is around 70-80% dry.
This will reduce damage and can help your hair retain the moisture it needs to prevent tangling throughout the day.
- Again, your hair has gone through a lot! Try to stray away from things like tying your hair up and styling with heat- and yes, that includes blow-drying.
How To Detangle Matted Hair After Braids
Braids of any kind are prone to matting together, especially if you’re using them as a protective hairstyle, which involves leaving them in for multiple weeks at a time.
Since the style involves wrapping your strands over one another, the tangles may be a little more complex than with a typical mat.
But we have a guide to help you work through them (pun absolutely intended).
From A Protective Style
Taking down braids and dealing with any mats from a protective hairstyle is a long process that can take several hours (or multiple sessions over a couple of weeks) to complete.
Depending on the severity of the mat or the number of braids you had done, you may want to consult a stylist.
But this process is still totally doable at home, and you’ll find out how to do it by reading on!
What You’ll Need
- Scissors
- Braid spray or another type of conditioning spray
- Clamps to section off
- Comb
- Shampoo and conditioner
What To Do:
- Cut The Extension
- Going one braid at a time, cut your hair at least an inch below where you think your natural growth ends.
Be extra careful here! You don’t want to cut off any of your natural hair. There’s no need to cut as close to your ends as possible, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. - Don’t grab multiple braids and cut at the same time. You will never cut in a straight line (which could risk your natural growth), and it will be harder to work your scissors through the braids at first.
- Going one braid at a time, cut your hair at least an inch below where you think your natural growth ends.
- Section Off
- To make your job a little easier, clip your braids up into even sections.
Depending on how tiny your braids are, you may need to section off as many as 8 groups of hair in order to detangle your hair in an orderly fashion. - We don’t recommend skipping this step. This will organise your detangling method and make it easier to manage sections of hair without interference from other braids.
If you decide to go at your strands without sectioning off, you could easily get confused as to what sections you’re working on.
- To make your job a little easier, clip your braids up into even sections.
- Wet Your Hair Down
- Start detangling braids from the nape of your neck and upwards, this will make it easier to see each section all the way up to the root.
If you start from the top down, all your natural growth will cover the roots of the braids underneath, making it harder to work on them. - Using a braid spray or another water-based deep-conditioning spray, dampen the braid.
Moisture is your friend, and while you may not need it soaking, you definitely need more than just a couple of spritzes to get the job done! - If you have a friend who’s willing, they can take the other side of your head and help you throughout this process. It’s definitely time-consuming, so the more help, the merrier!
- Start detangling braids from the nape of your neck and upwards, this will make it easier to see each section all the way up to the root.
- Detangle
- Working from the bottom of the braid and upwards (never the other way around), start undoing the braid as gently as possible.
Gently pull on each end of the braid, then run your fingers through each section to loosen it. Take extra care not to pull on your strands.
The minute you feel pain, it means you’re pulling on hair that’s still attached to the root, and not hair that’s already been shed. - Use spray as needed to give your braid extra slip. If you’ve left your braids in for a while, there’s a chance that your hair has tried growing in the same pattern, leaving you with matted roots.
Once you’ve worked your way up the braid and need to start on your scalp, use a wide-toothed comb; it’ll be a lot more precise than your hands.
You can use leave-in conditioner here, too. Be thorough in detangling your roots; failure to do so could lead to tangles during the next step.
- Working from the bottom of the braid and upwards (never the other way around), start undoing the braid as gently as possible.
- Wash Your Hair
- After you’ve taken your time to work through each braid in each section, you’ve definitely earned yourself some TLC.
After keeping your braids in for weeks at a time, your scalp might not have gotten the deep clean it needs.
Use a gentle shampoo and conditioner in the shower and work it through your scalp specifically.
This will clear out any excess buildup in that area and wash away any traces of dirt and sweat that may have accumulated in the braids.
- After you’ve taken your time to work through each braid in each section, you’ve definitely earned yourself some TLC.
From Everyday Braids
Dealing with mats from French braids or fishtail braids may seem complex, but before you decide that your next hairstyle is a buzzcut, try this method out!
What You’ll Need:
- Leave-in Conditioner or Conditioner
- Wide-toothed comb
- Scissors
What To Do:
- Saturate Your Locks
- The recurring theme in all of these methods is that conditioner isn’t optional. Working through mats when they’re dry is just asking for trouble!
Dry hair is brittle and inflexible, two features that you don’t want when it comes to detangling. - So, the first step is reintroducing your braids to some moisture! Use a leave-in conditioner and wet down your braids, or pump some conditioner into your hands and massage it into each lock.
- Use your fingertips to gently press the product into your hair rather than running your fingers through it.
- The recurring theme in all of these methods is that conditioner isn’t optional. Working through mats when they’re dry is just asking for trouble!
- Loosen The Braid
- Gently pull on either end of the braid to loosen it up, making your detangling job easier.
This will detangle superficial knots, leaving you to work on the bigger, more problematic areas.
Just as we mentioned earlier, loosen from the bottom up. Don’t take on any matted areas yet – just get the braid as relaxed as possible.
- Gently pull on either end of the braid to loosen it up, making your detangling job easier.
- Comb Through Your Strands
- Using a wide-toothed comb, brush through your braids from the ends to the roots. Use as much force as you’re comfortable with, but take care not to break your strands.
If you see some hair fall, don’t worry. You shed a lot of hair throughout the day, so this is likely just shed hair that had nowhere to go. - To decrease pain, try holding the area you’re detangling upwards. Holding your hair taut will not only add strain to the knot, but to your scalp as well.
You could also try holding your hair at the root so you can feel when you’re applying too much pressure with the comb. - Make sure you take your time. Detangling isn’t an easy process. Typically, the bigger the braid, the easier it is to remove any mats, so be extra careful with smaller braids.
- Using a wide-toothed comb, brush through your braids from the ends to the roots. Use as much force as you’re comfortable with, but take care not to break your strands.
- Snip
- If, during combing, you find very fine, very tight knots at the ends of your hair, you may need to use scissors to snip them off.
You may also need to cut your hair if you accidentally start detangling from the top down.
If that’s the case, try working the knot down to the very end of your hair (or as close as you can get it) in order to save as much of your strand as possible.
Related Questions
Why does my hair mat so easily?
Some hair types are more prone to matting than others, but other factors like bad weather can be to blame too, meaning that matted hair is definitely a non-discriminatory hair woe.
If you have super curly locks, it’s likely that your hair is on the drier side, so it’s more susceptible to matting. Chemically treated locks can also become tangled.
How do I prevent my hair from matting in the first place?
Hydration hydration hydration! Keeping your hair supple is key.
That means using a deep conditioner weekly, using a conditioning spray while your hair is damp, and integrating a moisturizing hair oil into your hair care routine.
Sleeping with silk pillowcases can help keep your hair tangle-free while you’re resting, but sleeping with a silk bonnet can get the job done as well.
Another protective method that’s come back into popularity is wearing a head scarf while driving with the windows down (à la the 50’s and 60’s).
This will preserve your hairstyle and keep your hair from flying around and tangling mid-drive.
