Conditioning - wet or dry?

[estherbeth]

When you do a deep conditioning on your hair, do you apply conditioner while your hair is dry? Or do you wet it first? Does wet or dry it make a difference on how well your hair slurps up the moisture and nutrients?

Also, how long do you tend to leave the conditioner on? Is there a certain point of time where it just doesn't matter if you leave it on longer than that?

[Yozhik]

Hi :)

You can either apply a conditioning treatment to your hair wet or dry -- members here do it either way, and I've done both with good results. I think maybe the largest difference is if you apply it to wet hair, it's usually kind of drippy, so you need to put it in a plastic bag or shower cap while it's conditioning. When applied to dry hair, it's easier to go around and do whatever (sometimes I just make a bun after glopping it in, and then go about my day).

I've left conditioning treatments in for as long as overnight, but I think that anywhere from 1-3 hours is normal. I don't think there's that big of an improvement after 3 hours.

I hope that helps, and welcome to the community :flower:

[jera]

I apply conditioner on wet hair hair, except the conditioning I prepare for my spritzer bottle. Spray it on dry hair throughout the day if you need it. :)
For me, wet hair seems to absorb moisture better. My hair is rough and almost repels moisture if it's dry.

[Kathie]

I'm a fan of dry hair applications. I feel more confident that I've covered all my hair this way. Also my deep conditioning treatments are heavy coconut oilings which happen before a wash. If I wet my hair before the oiling thats another step in an already longish process :stirpot:

[Jenn of Pence]

Ooh, there are compelling arguments for both cases... I have done an SMT both ways, but unfortunately not with the same conditioner, so I can't compare directly. I like putting the conditioning treatment on when wet, especially if I clarify beforehand. I don't use coconut oil much (not my hair's fave) but when I do I prefer my hair dry or I will overapply. That being said, if it's a deep treatment you are going to apply more anyway.

So it appears my preference is damp, but I don't have a scientific argument for why that's better. ;) I also agree (based on my opinion, not scientific fact ;)) that there is some limit to how long is useful. As mentioned previously, one to three hours sounds reasonable to me.

[Cleopatra18]

I do it on dry hair becaue im too lazy,and the washing process is already long enough.I find the best results when i do it overnight.I read somewhere that if your hair doesnt feel like butter while you're rinsing the deep conditioner out,then you have done it wrong.:shrug:

[estherbeth]

Thanks for the welcome, Yozhik! And thank you all for sharing your experiences. I did it dry this time to see how it works out. :redgrin:

[CurlAhead]

I apply it in soaking wet hair, because I keep telling my self that the conditioner will "lock" the water/moisture in my hair.. :D

[virgo75]

I apply a deep treatment on hair that has been washed and towel dried to about 75% dry.
That way there's moisture to be "locked in" as CurlAhead suggested but not so much that it's watering down the conditioner. ;)

[McFearless]

Damp hair. Dry enough so the DT isn't diluted..but wet enough to make the application easy.

[.:Alma:.]

Damped hair (with a water spray) and only from ears down.
From an hour to all day.