4. Dry hair
Single strand knots thrive in dry hair, so if your hair is dry and brittle you will notice that they will be all up and through your hair.
Keep your hair healthy and moisturized so that your ends remain untangled. Dry hair leads to tangled hair which is what causes the most single strand knots.
5. Be diligent with your regimen
Deep condition weekly to give your hair the best chance at retaining moisture as well as be very deliberate when applying all your products.
Focus on the ends of your hair when using conditioner, sealants, and your stylers so that the ends are trained to stay stretched.
6. Trim often
These days I am the girl with the best shears on the planet right in my product cabinet because a sistah is no longer afraid to trim inches of frazzled ends.
If your hair tangles a lot and for no reason, trim it!, If your styles are not looking quite right especially at the ends, trim it! If you have so many single strand knots that you have no idea what to do anymore, trim it!
We tell naturals all the time that when your ends are healthy everything else will get easier. Your styles will look better and your hair will clump in ways that do not encourage knots. If you think your knots are excessive, trim your hair and then start stretching your hair to prevent them from coming back.
7. Learn your “knot tolerance”
You do not have to accept single strand knots to the point of being detrimental to your hair, but if you are doing everything right and you still have one or two, that’s ok.
At the end of the day we do have curly hair and so you might have a few single strand knots here and there even with the best techniques being employed.
Know what is tolerable for your hair and deal with it accordingly. How do you deal with single strand knots?
I have found that the best thing for me to do is to cut off the knot. It’s usually only 1 strand and trying to stretch is no help. It’s a ball of hair, no stretching possible. I cut it off.
Great info, Petra and even better picture! Is that your ‘fro??
I’m envious!