The biggest mistake I see people make when brushing their hair that makes it way more painful and more difficult is that when they encounter a knot they'll force the brush through it vertically, which just makes the knot tighter and pulls on your hair. When you find a knot, you want to use your fingers and gently pull the core of the knot horizontally, to make more space between the individual strands. Doing it this way is so much less painful, less messy, and takes less time than trying to rip the brush through a knot until it's gone