Get comfortable. This process will take a couple of hours to finish so it is very important that you and the person with the cornrows are very comfortable. Make sure that you do this in a well-lit room so that you can clearly see what you are doing.
Moisturize! Start by putting hair cream on the cornrowed hair. This will moisturize it hence, making it easier to remove. This will also protect the hair from getting damaged. However, it is vital that you only put a small amount of hair moisturizer on the braids. Too much cream will make the cornrows slippery and very difficult to hold on to
Get rid of the bands. Now that the cornrows are all prepped up, you can begin by first removing all the hair bands that you can see at the bottom of the braid. Be careful when you are doing this. Gently pull the bands off to avoid breaking the hair.
Bottoms up. Start at the bottom and go all the way up. Carefully untangle it at the end of the braid and slowly work your way up. Never pull the strands! That can be very painful and can cause further breakage so be very patient!
Comb it after. As soon as you finished unraveling one row, immediately comb it to untangle any remaining knots and to make your hair breathe.
Repeat. Now take the rest of the cornrows down by repeating steps 3, 4 and 5.
