Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: snarls in daughters hair, tangled, vinegar for conditioner

This topic has 23 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 5 months ago by chocodog.

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November 13, 2012 at 2:44 am
Kristen
Participant
This is not about the movie either! My DD10 has long hair. It is very fine but there is a lot of it. We had it cut for the first time about two summers ago but have let it grow out again, which she is happy with. I love brushing and braiding my two girls hair (the others is thicker and is much easier to brush) but it is getting so that I am dreading it. She comes to me in the morning with tangled hair that she cannot get the snarls out of. We use vinegar as a conditioner and she knows to use that but some days I think she could start dreads with it! 🙁 Any ideas?
Can we braid it at night? I have told her she needs to brush it at night before bed but the problem is that I work at night so am only home at night on Sat and Sun to help her. And while she can certainly brush it on her own, she is not doing a very good job of it. She also only takes showers two or three times a week, not every night and Dad is pretty much useless when it comes to their hair. He can help brush it but the problem is that he (& the kids) don’t remember to! I have posted signs ALL OVER the house just to remind them to brush their teeth, and now am trying to get her to remember this ….
Well let’s just say that by the time they start remembering I will have probably pulled all of her hair out trying to get snarls out! Help!
November 13, 2012 at 3:00 am
Rebekahy
Participant
Yes! Braid it at night. When my oldest daughter gets out of the shower, I let her hair air dry for a bit and then I french braid it in two tight french braids – it looks fabulous the next day and still nice enough the second day for running about town – the third morning we take it out of the braids and it is beautiful curls! She learned to french braid my hair when she was six or seven so perhaps your other daughter could braid her hair for her on the nights you can’t do it – it probably won’t look as nice the next day, but it certainly won’t be in the tangles you describe.
November 13, 2012 at 3:36 am
houseofchaos
Participant
I French braid our girls’ hair when it’s very wet and it stays in well for two days. I would definitely rebraid at night if necessary. Mane N Tail is a great spray that is sold at Walmart in the pet section. You can also find it at any livestock supply place for horses. If you decide to try it for hair, try not to get it on the floor – it keeps the tangles out of hair, but also makes the floor very slippery.
November 13, 2012 at 3:40 am
bethanna
Participant
I braid both my hair and my daughter’s at night. Even if you braid her hair earlier in the afternoon before you leave, she will have far fewer tangles. I also bought a different hairbrush recently b/c the other one pulled so badly. This one has bristles that are farther apart and that push down into the brush so our hair does not get snagged by the bristles, which breaks hair.
November 13, 2012 at 4:51 am
Rachel White
Participant
First question: what does she shampoo with?
Yes, definitely braid it at night. My mom always did mine as child. She also needs regular trims-wait no longer than 8-10 weeks. Split ends will more easily tangle than trimmed hair. As a hairstylist, I wouldn’t recommend Mane n’ Tail as it is very heavy on the hair, caoting the hair (hence the slippery floor!) and has too much protein for human hair and can cause breakage long-term as a result. I dealt with many negative consequences of that stuff when I was working.
DO not brush wet hair, either. Wet hair is more sensitive than dry. It stretches and break and frays when brushed when wet. Just use a wide-tooth comb when combing out and braiding.
A spray leave-in is a good idea, however. Vinegar alone isn’t enough to keep the hair conditioned at that length. Her ends are old hair, to put it bluntly and it needs conditioning. ONce a week or every two a deep conditioner would be worthwhile. A natural solution is fine. Coconut oil is a great choice.
Since she has a lot of hiar, it’s possible that she isn’t rinsing all the shampoo out well enough. Hair with build-up will get tangled easily, matted actually, and be difficult to comb through.
If I think of anything else, I’ll chime in.
November 13, 2012 at 11:47 am
houseofchaos
Participant
Rachel, thanks for the heads up about the Mane N Tail. We use it rarely (we’ve had the same bottle for years) and I haven’t seen ill consequences, but would certainly hate for someone else to.
November 13, 2012 at 11:49 am
simple home
Member
My oldest daughter has terribly tangled hair in the mornings. The only thing that has worked (besides braiding) are soft scrunchy hair bands. We do one at the front top part of hair, then place all hair in a pony tail using another scrunchy at the back of the head.
Braiding works too, but it takes longer than just using the scrunchies so most nights we do this. She wakes up with soft hair with little need of brushing. 🙂
November 13, 2012 at 1:12 pm
tandc93
Participant
My girls also like this brush–http://www.amazon.com/Knot-Genie-Detangling-Brush-Fairy/dp/B007OWPWG4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top. It gets mixed reviews, but I was tired of the fussing when I brushed and they barely fuss now. They’re Chinese and 2 have the usual straight black hair and it was breaking and looking less than silky with regular brush. Our third Chinese cutie has think brown wavy hair and it works great on hers too….
November 13, 2012 at 1:58 pm
chocodog
Participant
great advice above. I just thought I would ask if she has baby hairs on the underneath. Sometimes these grow out and tangle in with the longer hair. If this is happening you may consider another short haircut. One that brings the longer hair on top to the shorter hair underneath.
Just another suggestion. 🙂
+ braid that hair…:) Pony tails at night or a bun worked when my oldest was younger. She loved to swim and we always had a braided bun until she was out of the swim stage and on to gymnastics… (More ponies and braids) Then they had to be perfect! So, she did her own hair at 8 yrs old.
Good luck! and have some happy hair…… Tehe he
November 13, 2012 at 4:14 pm
LDIMom
Participant
GET THIS HAIR BRUSH!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wet-Rubberized-Detangle-Assorted/dp/B000L596FE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352823120&sr=8-4&keywords=hair+brush+for+tangled+hair
My DD saw this on TV (I know, I know), but it REALLY DOES WORK. You can use it on wet hair or dry. I agree it is best to not brush wet hair, but with this brush you can do it and gently as well.
I ordered msyelf one! You can’t choose the color but we got a pink one and a blue one. We didn’t really care, but just know that it won’t let you choose a color.
I highly recommend this brush and second the braiding at night.
Also, I have naturally curly hair. Not sure if your DD does, but if she does, don’t brush it often. I have to leave mine in curls. If I brush it, it will just be a big poofy mess. I brush it only after washing (still when damp but not wet), and I wash it 2 maybe 3 times a week.
I am also about to try the low poo shampoo and conditioner. Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but it is highly recommended for naturally curly hair.
HTH
November 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm
LindseyD
Participant
I was having the same issue w/ dd’s hair too, except hers is very thick, sort of wavy, and CRAZY. Unless it’s in a ponytail or French braid, it used to always look terrible. I would have to straighten it or curl it; I could NEVER just leave it as is. I was using baking soda/water to wash her hair and apple cider vinegar/water to condition, but it just didn’t work for her hair type and texture. Then I found WEN Cleansing Conditioner. Oh my goodness has this made a difference in her hair! It’s kind of expensive, but we only wash her hair every 3-4 days so it lasts a long time. Her hair is NEVER tangled now, and it is so soft and shiny. It would be worth buying one bottle and just trying it out if nothing else is working for you.
I also never brush dd’s wet hair. I always use a pick, but with the WEN the pick slides right through. I also blow dry her hair after it is towel dried and air dries for a bit. This makes her hair more manageable the next day. If I straighten her hair on Sunday morning for church, it still looks good on Wednesday, then we wash again. We just brush her hair in the evening before bed and again in the morning when she wakes up. I am trying not to put her hair in ponytails anymore because the years of ponytails have damaged and broken her hair. So now she wears headbands a lot or I just pull back the front section and stick a bow in it. The WEN is repairing her hair noticeably.
Anyway, that’s my experience. I hope you find a solution that works!
Lindsey
November 13, 2012 at 6:15 pm
simple home
Member
I have the aforementioned brush in the previous post by LDImom. My local salon carries them in stock, and it’s great!! Sorry I forgot to mention it in my own post. 🙂
November 13, 2012 at 10:00 pm
chocodog
Participant
lindsey,
Have you tried the fabric ponies? just elastic on the inside. I even use them. We make them up and have many different colors. If you use those little elastic ones they are a bugger to get out of the hair and like you said damage it. Velvet fabric scrunchies seem to be extra gentle. The worst elastic ones are the ones with the metal thing-a-ma-bob on it. What is that for anyway??? Oh yeah, To rip the hair out by the roots. I almost forgot… Tehe he
November 13, 2012 at 11:42 pm
Kristen
Participant
Thanks for all the replies! I will look into the brushes for wet hair. I do not like to put either of my girls hair into ponies because of the breakage and yes she does need a trim but on our budget it isn’t going to happen every 8-10 weeks! But we will try and get it done more often. I wouldn’t not plan on using the stuff for horses but will look into the other conditioner. I braided both the girls hair this afternoon and we will see how it turns out. Thanks everyone! I look forward to happy hairdays again. 🙂
November 14, 2012 at 12:02 am
LDIMom
Participant
Kristen, I started cutting our sons’ hair last spring. We have 4 sons, so taking them was getting quite expensive. Well, then I got a bit more confident and began trimming DD’s hair.
I have to trim it damp, but it isn’t as hard as it seems. Now, I don’t mean any disrespect toward trained hair stylists, because I am NOT one. But, I can now trim DD’s hair on the bottom. The longer it has gotten, the easier this has become.
If you didn’t want to do that, maybe you could find a Mom who is trained in hair care, but is no longer actively employed. She might like to come and trim your DD’s hair for a great price (or have you bring her to you).
I do have to keep DD’s hair trimmed or it gets really split and thus much harder to brush and manage.