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View Full Version : Least damaging method of drying and combing hair



qijino1236
May 15th, 2013, 05:32 PM
I am not that experienced with having really long hair...
For anyone with more experience...what is the least damaging to your hair after taking a shower....
I have heard that combing your hair while is wet is bad so I will leave that out
I have also heard that towel drying is bad due to its tendency to cause split ends so I will leave that out unless someone has something to say about that
Least damaging to your hair:
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing when hair is completely dry
A fan and then combing while hair is semi-wet
A fan and then combing while hair is nearly dry
A fan and then combing when hair is completely dry
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is completely dry

And then for when you are in a hurry...
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is completely dry

Also what brushes do you suggest for preventing hair damage and any other tips regarding methods of combing for preventing hair damage and split ends?

SerinaDaith
May 15th, 2013, 05:47 PM
We will need details like hair type for this, I finger comb while still in the shower while my hair is still soaked with conditioner and as the conditioner rinses out but I am a wavy curly. Brushing after the shower leaves me with afro pouf and no real defined curls, if I do brush again it isn't till well after wash day. I use a wide toothed comb, I threw out all of my heat tools and brushes but my hair was not liking the brush I had and I just have not gotten a new one. I can't look at heat without my hair splitting either and some of the girls here can. I am not super long, just barely flirting with APL but I don't see my routine really changing much. I also bought turby towels so post shower I put my silly hat on till I am done with dressing, tooth brushing and face painting.

ETA: comb from the bottom up, never the bottom down, do small sections and work slowly.

Vrindi
May 15th, 2013, 06:03 PM
Many people use a t-shirt cut open instead of a towel to dry their hair. If you use a towel (I do), just don't rub it. Wrap it up and let the towel absorbs the water, then unwrap it gently. I never use heat to dry my hair, but sometimes I will stand in front of a room fan if I need it to dry quickly. I usually just don't even bother with that. I use either a wide-tooth comb or a tangle teezer when it's almost dry to dry. Like SerinaDaith said, always comb/brush from the bottom up. Never start from your roots and yank through to the ends.

lunalocks
May 15th, 2013, 06:22 PM
As above, I gently wrap in a towel - briefly - after gently squeezing some water out. I will comb with a wide tooth comb when wet - once. Then air dry and occasionally finger comb while drying.

qijino1236
May 15th, 2013, 06:40 PM
In response to SerinaDaith's post..."We will need details like hair type for this, I fing...."

Here are the details of my hair type....or my best guess at my hair type....
For my hair type.... I am not sure but this is what I put when I signed up...I gave it my best guess by searching similar hair types on google
1st classifier straightness-curlyiness – 1b/1c ....my hair is waving out a bit past a little below the chin. I am not sure yet though if this is because my hair is 1b/1c or if it is due to split ends. I am thinking it is just wavy/a little frizzy past the chin after looking at this site with a picture of the various split ends...http://www.diaryofahairobsession.com/?p=2828...but I can't be sure. My best guess is it is 1b/1c( Speaking of this...does anyone have good site link to real high resolution pictures of different types of split ends?)
2nd classifier – Fine/Medium
3rd classifier – for the 3rd classifier I don't know if I have long enough hair yet to get an accurate measurement yet....I can put it a high ponytail, but just barely...the hairs in the front fall down sometimes....My best guess is i/ii AKA thin/normal

qijino1236
May 15th, 2013, 06:52 PM
Thank you for all the help so far
SerinaDaith, Vrindi, and lunalocks.

dulce
May 15th, 2013, 06:59 PM
I have hip length hair and dry with a floor fan,works so awesome!!

qijino1236
May 15th, 2013, 07:07 PM
To Vrindi...how long have you had your tangle teezer? Does work any better than a wide-tooth comb? I thought about getting one about 6 months ago but never ended up ordering one. Do you have the Salon Elite or Original or both? If you have both does the Salon Elite work any better than the original? It looks like they have another tangle teezer called Aqua Splash now too.

Carolyn
May 15th, 2013, 07:21 PM
I have a similar hair type to you, OP. When I get out of the shower or bath, I wrap my hair in a baby bath towel. They are stretchy and absorb quite well. Car towels, dog towels, and cotton t shirts do the same thing. After the towel is soaking wet I let my hair down and detangle with either a Tangle Teaser or a Mebco detangling comb starting at the ends and working up. Most often I air dry from this point on. Sometimes I will damp bun for the day. It just depends on how much time I have and what I am doing that day. I use my blow dryer on warm to finish drying some of the time. I can get my hair fairly straight by using the blow dryer and a TT or a non ball tipped brush. I don't do this very often but if I really want to wear my hair down and straight I do. I'm not planning to go much beyond waist and I'm almost there again. I want to enjoy my hair and have fun with it that, to me, means occasional heat styling. I try to do it as gently as possible and I use leave ins and heat protectant and I condition the hell out of my hair.

As your hair grows you will have to experiment and see how it holds up to various things you want to do to it.

qijino1236
May 15th, 2013, 07:37 PM
Thanks for the advice Carolyn.

Suze2012
May 16th, 2013, 12:33 AM
For my hair which is curly I never comb nor brush it and only finger comb.
I then use a t-shirt or microfibre towel and then just let it air dry.

torrilin
May 16th, 2013, 07:39 AM
1st classifier straightness-curlyiness – 1b/1c ....my hair is waving out a bit past a little below the chin. I am not sure yet though if this is because my hair is 1b/1c or if it is due to split ends. I am thinking it is just wavy/a little frizzy past the chin after looking at this site with a picture of the various split ends

If your hair is curling so as you'd notice at chin, you're probably not a 1. Probably also not a 3 since most 3s would have some visible corkscrewing at chin length. That leaves 2, and 2 is a *very* common hair type.

If you can't get a thickness measure, for now I'd go with a plain ii thickness. The ii band is from 2-4", and there really aren't a whole lot of people who have less than a 2" ponytail. It happens, but it's fairly rare. (also, i/ii doesn't mean not sure if i or ii, it means "between 1.5 and 2.5"... most of us ignore those options tho and go with the more general thickness measures)

I'm a 1c/f/ii and very dry skin. So usually I finger comb my hair in the shower with conditioner in it, squeeze out excess water with a towel very gently, and then I put it in an updo or leave it to air dry loose. For my hair, a blow dryer is not a good choice. Fine hair tends to be split prone, and blow drying encourages this. Dry hair tends to be split prone too, so I get a double whammy.

blackhound
May 16th, 2013, 09:02 AM
My hair is 2b/2c and fine so I have to be careful how I handle it when it is wet. I apply conditioner, wait 5 minutes, then comb it through with a wooden comb (Body Shop has a good cheap one) while in the shower. I use a microfiber towel to avoid damage. I apply my leave in products and rake through with my hands. Because of my hair texture I only finger comb until the next time I wash.

I don't use heat because my hair is fine and wavy/curly and it will result in a giant ball of frizz. I let it air dry. I also sleep with either a satin pillowcase or my hair wrapped in a silk scarf to avoid friction damage.

jacqueline101
May 16th, 2013, 02:57 PM
I love turbie towel half way method air dry the rest. Wide tooth comb ends to root.

qijino1236
May 16th, 2013, 03:35 PM
Ooo cool...I never heard of the turbie towel, after looking it up and reading up on it, that looks like something good to buy for drying hair without damage. Thanks for the post Jacqueline!

joflakes
May 16th, 2013, 03:49 PM
I comb my hair in the shower when conditioning, then tie a soft pasmina round it like a turban til it is only damp. Then I use a TT to comb it out and leave it to air dry, or braid it. I think I am a 2a or 2b. HTH!

Coolcombination
May 16th, 2013, 04:12 PM
I have to comb with a wide tooth comb when wet otherwise my hair dries matted. But I use a cold rinse to close my hair shafts which helps some to reduce the amount of hairs that come out

MsBubbles
May 16th, 2013, 05:07 PM
I had a big problem with damage as my hair grew past BSL, but I have a naturally greasy scalp (typical fine, straight hair problem). So instead of getting my entire length wet several times a week, I make a low ponytail, wrap the bulk of the ponytail ends into a plastic shower cap, seal it the best I can with a big, floppy ponytail holder, and wash my scalp hair only, when in the shower.

This has saved my ends from so much damage due to even just trying to get a comb through it afterwards. Trying to detangle wet hair is damaging, but letting my hair dry first THEN trying to comb it is even worse! It's like trying to comb a spider's web. Scalp washes are my solution. I do a full-length wash depending on how my ends look/smell. If they don't smell all shampooey and nice, I will do a full length wash.

Vrindi
May 16th, 2013, 05:53 PM
To Vrindi...how long have you had your tangle teezer? Does work any better than a wide-tooth comb? I thought about getting one about 6 months ago but never ended up ordering one. Do you have the Salon Elite or Original or both? If you have both does the Salon Elite work any better than the original? It looks like they have another tangle teezer called Aqua Splash now too.

I think they all work the same, just different shapes. I don't know. I have the original, I've had it for a couple of months now. I think it's more gentle than my bamboo comb, but there are some times when the comb seems to work better. I use the TT most of the time, but the comb I carry around with me in my purse. Eventually, I'll get a compact TT, but I won't be giving up my comb anytime soon. I love it. Just depends on what I feel like is working best at the moment.

spidermom
May 16th, 2013, 06:06 PM
Different hair type here.
I wrap my hair in a flannel pillowcase after washing.
Then I let it down and apply a little coney serum (CHI Silk Infusion) or argan oil solution (Renpure Originals in the blue bottle) and very carefully start combing. I kind of work at it both ways, from the bottom up, also from the top down starting shallow, combing a little deeper each time. The important thing is don't pull/stretch the hair and never-ever rip through a tangle. Stop and untangle hair by hair with fingers. I have to comb my hair out while it's still wet with a shower comb (wide tooth, plastic) because if I let it dry with tangles, it makes ugly kinks and wads in my hair that won't comb out.

Then I do whatever I feel like doing - wet set and dry with a bonnet dryer, plop my hair into the bonnet dryer cap and dry it that way, blow-dry, air-dry ... whatever. It depends on the weather. I won't air-dry if it's cold because I hate having wet hair hanging all over me while it dries.

Firefox7275
May 20th, 2013, 03:23 AM
I am not that experienced with having really long hair...
For anyone with more experience...what is the least damaging to your hair after taking a shower....
I have heard that combing your hair while is wet is bad so I will leave that out
I have also heard that towel drying is bad due to its tendency to cause split ends so I will leave that out unless someone has something to say about that
Least damaging to your hair:
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Cold setting with hair dryer and then combing when hair is completely dry
A fan and then combing while hair is semi-wet
A fan and then combing while hair is nearly dry
A fan and then combing when hair is completely dry
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Naturally drying and then combing while hair is completely dry

And then for when you are in a hurry...
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is semi-wet
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is nearly dry
Warm setting on hair dryer and then combing while hair is completely dry

Also what brushes do you suggest for preventing hair damage and any other tips regarding methods of combing for preventing hair damage and split ends?

Blotting with a towel is not damaging, you can use a flour sack towel, soft t-shirt or microfibre if you want to be even more gentle than terry cotton, just don't rub. According to published research brushing and combing when wet is most associated with mid shaft splits, when dry with breakage close to the ends. Ideally don't brush or comb when wet other than in the shower with your head coated in slippy conditioner, if you do use a wide tooth comb. Deposits from conditioner reduce friction when brushing and combing so be sure to leave it on for long enough.

qijino1236
May 22nd, 2013, 03:33 PM
I love turbie towel half way method air dry the rest. Wide tooth comb ends to root.

@jacqueline101 thanks for the advice on the Turbie towel! I bought one yesterday at Walgreens and it is currently on my head doing it's magic...feels like it is working great! They didn't have brush I was looking for though(Tangle Teezer) maybe I'll try at Walmart. What is type of lwide toothed comb do you use?

Vrindi
May 22nd, 2013, 04:36 PM
@jacqueline101 thanks for the advice on the Turbie towel! I bought one yesterday at Walgreens and it is currently on my head doing it's magic...feels like it is working great! They didn't have brush I was looking for though(Tangle Teezer) maybe I'll try at Walmart. What is type of lwide toothed comb do you use?

I got my wide-tooth comb at Whole Foods. It's a bamboo comb. I thin the Body Shop sells some too that people really like. Plan on spending around $8 or so for it.