A lot of people get confused when it comes to brushing curly hair. For a start, it makes your hair go really poofy when you do it! Plus, there is conflicting advice about the best way to detangle hair. Below I explain why curly hair shouldn’t be brushed every day, and discuss whether it’s better to detangle curly hair when it’s wet or dry.

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Why does my hair go frizzy when I brush it?

One of the first signs that you have wavy or curly hair is when you brush it. If it goes frizzy, it’s because you’ve broken up your curl clumps and disrupted your curl pattern. Straight hair doesn’t do this because all of the hair strands tessellate alongside each other.

This means that essentially, you shouldn’t brush curly hair…until you’re ready to wash it. Since brushing destroys the curl pattern, it is normal to style your hair curly and then not brush it for a few days to keep your curl pattern intact. But if you find you get bad tangles that can’t be ignored for that long, keep reading.

When should you brush curly hair?

There are two schools of thought on whether it’s best to brush your hair dry or brush it wet.

As the science tells us, hair is weaker when it’s wet – the cuticle is raised and the extra water in our hair makes it more stretchy and susceptible to breakage.

However, as curly hair is dryer than straight hair, it is itself more susceptible to breakage when it’s dry! Because our curls don’t lie flat, they are more likely to tangle and become rough when dry brushing.

So, detangling curly hair while it’s wet, while you’ve got conditioner on your hair, is largely considered to be the best way to detangle curls. But there are a couple of points in favour of dry detangling (before washing it) too.

For one, we dislodge a lot of loose hairs when we detangle, since we aren’t brushing our hair every day. This causes a lot of hairfall when it comes to washing our hair, which in turn can lead to our shower drains getting clogged rather quickly! Dry detangling can be handy for dislodging some of those loose hair before you enter the shower, meaning you can throw them in the bin rather than having to unblock your drain all the time (or sticking them on the walls of the shower).

You might also find it beneficial to give your hair a little scalp massage or pre-shampoo oil treatment, both of which are nice to do on dry hair.

In both cases, excessively brushing your hair can damage the hair cuticle. So let’s look at the best way to safely detangle curly hair, whichever way you choose!

How to detangle curly hair safely

Dry detangling

If you’d like to detangle your hair before shampooing, add a little oil to your hair to help with slip. Take your brush and work your way from the bottom of your hair to the top. If you need to, section your hair into smaller sections to be sure that you aren’t missing any tangles.

If you like, you can also use your oil to give yourself a little scalp massage. Adding oil to your scalp and hair before shampooing helps you not to strip your hair of oils too much while you shampoo, combating dryness.

My favourite oils for detangling include:

Wet detangling

To detangle your hair wet, wait until you are at the conditioner stage. Make sure your hair is properly saturated, then apply your conditioner using either a raking method or a “praying hands” motion, starting with your ends.

Add a trickle more water to your hands, then scrunch your hair upwards into your roots. This is known as “squish to condish” and it helps distribute your conditioner. Hopefully your hair feels more slippery now!

You can now start detangling by brushing (or combing) your hair, starting with the ends again and working your way up to your roots. Once your hair is tangle-free, you are ready to rinse!

You can do both of these methods together – first dry detangle, then detangle again once you have conditioner on – or just wait until your hair is wet. Whichever method you use, the main points to remember are:

• Add a little product for slip
• Don’t pull too hard if using a brush or comb
• Detangle from the bottom to the top
• Use a gentle hairbrush with flexible bristles
• Don’t over-brush your hair (this will damage the cuticle)

How to get rid of fairy knots and how to detangle between washdays

Some people are just prone to naturally tangly hair, and they need to stop their hair from matting in between washdays. Sleeping and high-necked clothing can also cause friction in the hair, leading to tangles.

If you need to detangle some knots between washdays, you don’t need to brush your whole head! Simply apply a little curl cream or oil to the knot, and use your fingers to gently pull it apart from the bottom (underneath the knot) to the top. This extra product will help keep your curl intact once you’re done detangling.

This can also work with fairy knots (the really tiny knots that are just one hair strand thick), but if you’re struggling to undo the knot, sometimes it’s best to just cut them!

To prevent these knots from forming, it’s a good idea to apply a little extra leave-in, curl cream or oil to those tangle-prone areas while you’re styling, so that they stay soft and are less likely to knot together.

What should I use to detangle my curls?

Fingers, wide-tooth comb, or brush? Brushes are not allowed in the Curly Girl Method – only finger detangling while your hair is wet is permitted. And while using your fingers is a nice, gentle way to detangle your curls, you might feel like you miss a lot of tangles or can’t get through all of your hair, so there are ways to safely brush your curls without causing extra breakage.

I personally prefer using a gentle detangling brush with flexible teeth, such as:

Other popular models include:

Alternatively, you can find wide-tooth combs in most drugstores, but because they are usually made of harder material, be sure that you aren’t pulling your hair while detangling.

I hope this helps you find the best way to safely detangle your own curly hair, to keep it knot-free and healthy!