What does "stretching" your hair mean? Natural hair tends to have a lot of shrinkage, meaning that due to the coils and bends in your hair, it draws tighter to your scalp. When you pull your hair, or straighten your hair, it stretches the texture to show its actual length. Stretching your natural hair means that you are styling your hair in a manner that you eliminate some of the shrinkage in your hair, thus eliminating a lot of knots and tangles. More importantly-- stretched