- 1). Turn on the hot water in your shower as hot as you can tolerate it. This heat will cause hair shafts to become more elastic, easing the tension on the braids as the hair stretches.
- 2). Step into the shower, and soak your braids under hot water for five to 10 minutes. While you stand under the shower stream, manipulate the braids, moving them against the growth direction and pushing them toward the crown of your head to give them more flexibility.
- 3). Towel-dry your hair, and wrap the towel around your head for another five or six minutes; the steam will loosen braids further as the towel absorbs excess water.
- 4). Apply a touch of oil to your scalp and braids after removing the towel from your hair. Heat can dry skin and hair, so following a heat treatment with conditioner keeps your scalp and braids supple.
- 5). Check the tightness of the braids as they dry. If your hair still feels tightly pulled after loosening the braids with heat, relieve the pressure with a comb. Slide the teeth of the comb under the base of a row of braids, and wiggle the comb back and forth; this takes up any slack in the length of the braid and gives hair more play at the scalp, where you feel it.
Source...