Is using a hair dryer bad for your hair?

[Fantine]

I have tried to give up using a hair dryer because I heard it could damage my hair but I'm not sure if it's true or not, I never use a brush but a pretty high temperature. How do you dry your hair and do you think I should make an effort to only air-dry?

[Arctic]

It can be damaging, but you can also use in non-damaging, gentle way. I for example have never seen damage from mine. We have lot of threads about this, so if you search a bit, you can read more about the non-damaging ways people use it. Key points to consider:

1. heat (keep it low to no heat)
2. speed (lower speeds are hair friendlier)
3. whipping around/tangling (keep it controlled)
4. agressive brushing (just don't brush agressively)

[lapushka]

I have tried to give up using a hair dryer because I heard it could damage my hair but I'm not sure if it's true or not, I never use a brush but a pretty high temperature. How do you dry your hair and do you think I should make an effort to only air-dry?

If you use a hair dryer wisely (which you can't really do that much with hot tools), then it's perfectly fine.

Rule of thumb is this, if you can hold your hand in the airstream for a long time (cause most of these heat up with time) without it burning (or your most sensitive spot), then it's fine to use on your hair as well.

I help my drying time along by towel drying for 30-45 min. (dependent on the towel), then I airdry for 2-4H (with my hair clipped up on my head), and then all I have to do is diffuse for 5 min. tops. I use the lowest and middle heat setting (warm/cool). Never the highest buttons!

If you just blow it out, should be fine. I'm not sure about the round brushing, but I would rough-dry first, then round brush when it's 90% dry.

[Nebulae]

I did air drying for a while, but went back to blow drying. I do it much more gently than I did before though.
I decided that 5 minutes with the hair dryer on lowest setting was worth the eventual small damage I could get vs air drying for three hours. I get so much more done when i can put my hair up and out of the way.

I do it like this: after showering I wrap my hair up in a microfiber turbie, and leave it there to absorb most of the water for maybe 20 minutes. Then I apply my leave in products and attach a diffuser to my hair dryer. The diffuser is good because it slows down the air stream so my hair doesn't tangle. I go through my roots first, then the middle of my hair. The ends are thinner and pretty much air dries in 10 minutes so I leave them be. I always use the lowest setting. If it feels too hot, use the cold air button.



Rule of thumb is this, if you can hold your hand in the airstream for a long time (cause most of these heat up with time) without it burning (or your most sensitive spot), then it's fine to use on your hair as well.

This is good advise to go by :thumbsup:

[Fantine]

I did air drying for a while, but went back to blow drying. I do it much more gently than I did before though.
I decided that 5 minutes with the hair dryer on lowest setting was worth the eventual small damage I could get vs air drying for three hours. I get so much more done when i can put my hair up and out of the way.

I do it like this: after showering I wrap my hair up in a microfiber turbie, and leave it there to absorb most of the water for maybe 20 minutes. Then I apply my leave in products and attach a diffuser to my hair dryer. The diffuser is good because it slows down the air stream so my hair doesn't tangle. I go through my roots first, then the middle of my hair. The ends are thinner and pretty much air dries in 10 minutes so I leave them be. I always use the lowest setting. If it feels too hot, use the cold air button.



This is good advise to go by :thumbsup:

Thank you, that was very helpful!

[Larki]

I blow dry on cool and low speed a few times a month, when I get out of the shower too late for my hair to be reasonably dey before bed.

[Henrietta]

Just a small extra info to add to what people already said: choose cool setting, but not cold. If your blowdryer has the coolshot option, like really ice cold air, avoid that as well the hot air.

[meteor]

It can be damaging, but you can also use in non-damaging, gentle way. I for example have never seen damage from mine. We have lot of threads about this, so if you search a bit, you can read more about the non-damaging ways people use it. Key points to consider:

1. heat (keep it low to no heat)
2. speed (lower speeds are hair friendlier)
3. whipping around/tangling (keep it controlled)
4. agressive brushing (just don't brush agressively)

I really agree with that. I'd be really, really weary of aggressive brushing, in particular, since hair is weaker when wet, stretches and breaks more easily normally and extremely high heat has been shown to cause even so-called "bubble hair" effect.

I'd recommend reducing temperature as much as possible and also watch out - some hairdryers overheat, some older designs don't manage to keep stable temperature, unfortunately. :(

Here are a few studies on thermal damage that you might find interesting - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136845&p=3191167&viewfull=1#post3191167

And this study is particularly interesting because it showed bulging (authors consider that a sign of damage) to deeper levels of hair (cell-membrane-complex or CMC) due to extended periods of time of keeping hair wet, possibly related to hygral fatigue. (Hair shaft damage from heat and drying time of hair dryer. - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229938/) Unfortunately, I haven't seen more studies on this specific aspect since, but they'd be really interesting to understand this phenomenon better.

Best forms of drying seem to be fast and heat-free and without any mechanical damage added (e.g. from blow-dry brushes)

Some of my favorite techniques are: - drying hair next to heater and fan, lifting up strands of hair, doing half-ups to expose underlayers to air more...

[ExpectoPatronum]

You can use a blow dryer without giving your hair tons of damage. I loathe the feeling of wet hair so I pretty much always diffuse my hair to take the wet out. Using lower heat settings and slower blow settings are key, as is blow drying for as short a length of time as you can. I vary the settings I use as I blow dry - I like to start with low blow but higher heat and finish with high blow low heat. It takes me only five minutes to get my hair dry enough to where I can let it air dry the rest of the way.

[Anje]

Echoing all the others: you can absolutely damage your hair using a hair dryer. But if you back off the heat a little and are gentle in handling your hair, you don't have to. Get your hair partly dry with a towel turban and a little airdrying time, then use the cool or warm setting, well back from your hair, to help it dry a bit faster. I've been an occasional blowdryer-user at most, but I generally don't even bother with combing or brushing, since I don't have the hands. Instead, I keep my ends from dancing everywhere as best I can, and use the non-dryer hand to lift sections so I can get the roots and scalp dry, where my hair is most likely to stay damp for a long time. I only dry til it's about 90% too, to ensure that I don't overdry my hair.

[Dark40]

I let my hair air dry up to 100% dry. Then, I blow dry it for 5 minutes, and it doesn't damage my hair.

[Groovy Granny]

I focus a warm/cool blow dryer low air stream on my scalp (crown and back) until it is @80% dry (only need 5min); the rest air dries.
I have no damage to my fine, wispy silver/white hair, and I am comfy; I cannot stand a damp scalp...unless it is very hot and humid, then I air dry 100%.

[spidermom]

I'd go one step safer and test the heat on your neck, not your hand. Because of washing dishes, gardening, etc, hands tend to be pretty tolerant of abuse, much more so than necks. What your neck can tolerate will not damage your hair.

[lapushka]

I'd go one step safer and test the heat on your neck, not your hand. Because of washing dishes, gardening, etc, hands tend to be pretty tolerant of abuse, much more so than necks. What your neck can tolerate will not damage your hair.

For me that's about the same, spidermom. Maybe I have feeble hands, who knows. ;)