Let me break it down. So what is friction in relation to our hair? It's when the hair strands rub against each other during times of manipulation. That includes things we do on a normal basis such as combing, brushing, styling, heat exposure, and washing.
Related read: How To Recognize And Prevent Hair Damage
When our hair is manipulated and friction occurs, it results in the hair cuticles rising up, potentially eroding, and swelling. All of which can cause static, flyaways, tangling, and breakage setting us back in our quest for healthy hair and also making our hair harder to style and not look as healthy as it could. All the things we don't want to happen to our hair.
So what can we do to prevent this kind of damage to our hair? There are some things we can do but we do need to keep in mind that we can't completely eliminate all friction because we have to do some manipulation to our hair to care for it. The best we can do and should expect is that we minimize the amount of friction our hair experiences. Some ways we can do that are
Pre-poo
Start each wash day with a moisturizing pre-poo. This will help lessen the stripping of moisture and therefore drying effect that shampooing can have
When using a comb, use a seamless one. These combs don't have seams on the teeth of the comb for hair to catch on.
Sources: http://hair-chemistry.weebly.com/damaged-hair.html, http://kinkofcurlsaustralia.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/how-to-minimize-hair-friction-and-hair-tangling/
Change the way we wash our hair
Instead of piling our hair on top of our heads like you see in shampoo commercials, wash our hair so that it's hanging down. Additionally, focus the shampoo on our scalp. Both of those things will reduce overall friction and tangles our hair experiences during shampooing.
Condition every wash day
Conditioning whenever we wash our hair, even when co-washing, helps to keep our hair hydrated, moisturized, and supple. Using a conditioner that has a pH between 4.5 and 5.5 which is preferable pH for hair and rinsing the conditioner out with cool water can help as well.
Apply products in a downward motion
When applying shampoo, conditioner, or moisturizers, start from the top of the hair shaft and work your way down. This helps to smooth the cuticle.
Avoid towels
Using a t-shirt instead of a towel to soak up excess water is a gentler method. Also squeezing the excess water out of the hair instead of rubbing helps to lessen friction.Use the right detangling tools
Don't detangle or comb hair when it's dry. Use a detangler or leave-in with detangling properties to add some additional slip to your hair and detangle mostly with your fingers.
Protect at night
Using a satin bonnet when we sleep can keep our hair from moving around too much and also provides a smoother surface for our hair to rub up against.
Have you ever experienced hair damage from friction?
Sources: http://hair-chemistry.weebly.com/damaged-hair.html, http://kinkofcurlsaustralia.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/how-to-minimize-hair-friction-and-hair-tangling/
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