Wet Hair = Weak Hair

So I've mentioned that your hair is in it's weakest state when wet in numerous posts/vids and many of you have disagreed, which is fine because most times I probably don't know what I'm actually talking about lol. So I wanted to provide you all with some credible information for those who don't believe me.

Last week I mentioned that the Tangle Teezer can be used on dry or wet hair and how some people dry detangle as oppose to detangling wet hair because hair is weaker when wet. I then googled "hair in weakest state" just to verify what I was talking about since Google knows everything. Each article that popped up stated that hair is in its weakest state when wet.

I then headed over to my favorite scientific hair blog, thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com, for more confirmation. I typed in "weakest state" in the search bar and had several hits on hair being weakest when wet.

Here are some excerpts:

Taken from the The Natural Haven article, Natural Hair Top Tips : Treat it like a cashmere sweater

• Would you pull your cashmere sweater when it is wet? Ideally you would avoid stretching it at all because it can loose shape (i.e fibres stretch beyond the elastic point and therefore cannot return to the correct shape) . Hair is weakest when wet, it can stretch a lot and easily get to breaking point. Avoid handling wet hair as much as is possible. My recommendation is not to begin styling your hair until it is around 80-90% dry. It does not have to be fully dry because natural hair has a tendency (in my opinion) to be much less flexible at 100% dry. Some water is useful but there is a huge difference between a slight wetting for flexibility and a soaking wet head.

Taken from the The Natural Haven article, Deep conditioning: Repeated water exposure and weakness

• Hair when shaken in water loses protein (8mg per gram over 24 hours). This is most likely from the cuticle rather than the cortex but we know that loss of cuticle leads eventually to loss of cortex strength. Hair while more flexible when wet is also in its weakest form, therefore I think limiting water to only as much as you need is necessary. Do you really have to deep condition for 3 hours or would 30 minutes be enough? Do you have to soak your hair in water for daily styling or would a small spray be sufficient? Less is more in my opinion
  
• Hair is easier to manage when wet, yet it is also at its most vulnerable state. I would focus on the amount of manipulation you are giving your hair while it is wet, as opposed to just looking at saturated hair 

 Taken from the article, 5 Ways to Stop Hair Breakage Now

• Just say "no" to brushing your hair when it's soaking wet. Black hair is already fragile -- when wet, it's in its weakest state. It's fine to comb through your hair while wet; in fact, the ideal state to comb is when it's saturated with conditioner. But brushing black hair stretches it sometimes to the point-of-no-return. A loud "snap" is the last thing you want to hear while styling your hair.

• Hair is at its weakest state when it is wet because the hydrogen bonds are in a broken state.

So there you have it. I'm not crazy lol. The choice to dry or wet detangle is up to you. I still prefer wet detangling, however, I just wanted to show you all the facts and encourage you to be gentle with your hair, especially when wet!