Does anyone else notice different results based on drying methods?

[Jason]

I forget who said it here but a while ago someone mentioned that their hair looks better when they're able to let it completely air dry, meaning not even dabbing it with a towel. I was a little skeptical but decided to give it a try. Usually I would press a towel firmly against my wet hair although I would never rub it.

I have to say it seems to make a difference when I'm able to give it the time to dry completely on its own! It's less frizzy and I find it has less tangles as well once it dries. It just looks better. I'm not sure exactly why this is the case but I thought I'd share my experience with it. I've also experienced positive results by rinsing it with as cold water as I can stand as the final part of my shower. Has anyone else found that their drying method affects how their hair looks once it dries?

[Medvssa]

I don't think any curly will say it doesn't, hehe.

[Kirin]

I've had the opposite results trying that method, stringy, flat lifeless hair. I have no idea why that is. I get the best results wrapping my hair up in a towel for at least a half of an hour before taking it out to air dry.

[Islandgrrl]

I definitely notice a difference. If I let my hair dry completely naturally without doing a thing to it, it looks great! My wave is ultra defined and it's super shiny. Towel drying is slightly less effective for this, and if I comb before it's dry, forget the wave altogether. Blowdrying is out of the question no matter what, so I won't go there.

[Riot Crrl]

I haven't tried, my shirt would be all wet and my hair would take 9 days to dry :(

I do blot (not rub) with a towel sometimes, and let air dry the rest of the way. It's decent. Or I blot with towel and put up. It's still wet inside at the end of the day. Or, I use The Electrical Device That Shall Not Be Named. But I put a diffuser on it and use it on cool and only for 5 minutes or less *hides*

[ZaBasDa]

I have found that if I don't touch my hair at all after the final rinse and let it drip all over the place, my hair is super shiny with no frizz. The downside is my hair takes forever to dry, is significantly less curly, and ends up with a heavily gelled look.

[Anje]

Hmmm. I may have to try this. Some day when I can let it drip for a few hours...

[RavennaNight]

I've never tried to drip dry without towel drying first due to time constraints, but I'm off tomorrow so you gave me a good idea. I know if I towel dry and let my hair stay loose it gets a mild wave. Not an all out curl, but a wave. I guess the trick would be to leave it alone while it dries...

[cindy58]

My hair seems to come out better/different if I go to bed with wet or damp hair as opposed to letting it dry while I'm up, not that that makes a lot of sense. It seems to come out a little smoother (less fuzzy/bulky), while also being more wavy.

One difference may be that I would have to comb it while drying during the day, at night I just let it do it's thing until morning.

[Haith]

I definately notice a difference if I leave my hair soaking after washing it. When I towel dry it, it becomes duller and frizzier. If I have the time, I like to leave my hair alone as soon as I get out of the shower. I just drape a towel over my shoulders and let my hair rest on ot until it stops dripping.

[BlndeInDisguise]

If I braid my hair and let it dry at least some (it's especially best when I do it overnight) it's super soft and shiny.

Unfortunately I can't usually do that.

I use a towel and "squeeze" it dry. Or dab or blot or whatever you want to call it. I've tried leaving it soaking wet before and letting it drip dry, but for some reason I didn't like it. Now I can't remember why. I'll have to try it again. It was back when I was still trying to figure things out--well, I STILL am, but I've got things MORE figured out. ;)

Oh, and cold water does awesome things for my hair. It really gives it shine and softness.

[talula_fairie]

Well, when I had long hair, if I didn't do anything to it at all and let it air dry, it would be frizzy as anything and not fun to deal with. If I combed it before letting it dry, it would be less frizzy and less wavy, and the only way to de-frizz it was to blow dry.

BUT I think that I wasn't doing the right things for my hair type (not enough moisture, daily blow drying), and I always got frustrated/cut off my hair when it got long anyway.

This time I am going to grow it out and do it right, so I bet that letting it dry and leaving it alone will be what I end up doing. I just won't be doing it daily, 'cause, yikes, it would take all freakin' day and I'd soak my shirt.

[Blueneko]

Interesting! I will try this on the weekend.

I towel dry, oil, comb, then twist into a clip. This leaves me with sleek waves at the end of the day. Sadly, it is literally the end of the day at 5 when I take my hair down. It takes forever to dry.

Saturday is wash day, so I will try the drip dry method!

[krt1013]

I've only recently started air-drying almost every time I wash, and I can't believe how much it benefits my hair. It's so much softer, smoother, and shinier -- albeit flatter.

I had to blow fry yesterday because I had a presentation to give, and the whole day I just felt like screaming "yuck, yuck, yuck!"

My hair felt sooo dry and brittle after blow drying only once in over a week that I seriously started to wonder how I did this every day before joining this board...

[jojo]

yes i do this, just wash it, place a towel over my shoulders and let it dry and i too get no frizz and my hair is shinier, when i dont have the time to do this i just squeeze excess water out and bun it back

[Loviatar]

Completely agree on the cold water, Jason.

If myh air were to drip dry from wet, though, it would dry flat and stringy. I wrap mine in a microfibre towel and leave for 5-10 minutes, then run a wet comb through my bangs to keep them back in place. My hair is now maybe 30% dry. I leave to air dry until the canopy is touch dry and then I fingercomb, sometimes with some leave-in.

I only comb/brush when completely dry. This is my best drying method.

If my hair is blowdried, which until Monday it hadn't been in maybe 2 years, it is sleek from crown to ear tips and them fuzzy all the way to the ends. Ugh!

[Silver Strands]

I've never gone without using a towel before.
I'll have to try it.

LOVE your new signature picture!
You have hair most women would be envious of!

[prosperina]

When I go to bed with wet hair, I wake up with amazing spiral curls all around my face and in my shorter layers. :joy: I don't get them any other way. I bet if I were to completely not touch my hair until it was dry, I could get that, but it would be impossible since it takes all day to dry my hair. And I can't keep my hands off my hair when it's down.

[Ruadh]

I usually use a towel wrap for about 15 minutes, long enough to minimize dripping. The only times my hair has gone with out the towel would be after swimming and I can't remember noticing any difference. I'll have to give it a try!

[socks]

I've noticed that if I wet-bun my hair, then let it air dry later in the day, it tends to be straighter, more orderly, and more manageable. If I just let it mostly drip-dry it gets curly and tangled. All that, combined with my dislike of getting giant puddles all over the floor, means that I almost exclusively bun my hair when it's wet.

[PseudoScot]

I've had the opposite results trying that method, stringy, flat lifeless hair. I have no idea why that is. I get the best results wrapping my hair up in a towel for at least a half of an hour before taking it out to air dry.


Me too!! Sorry not a lot more to say that to quote Kirin as that's my experience.

[Jason]

I've never gone without using a towel before.
I'll have to try it.

LOVE your new signature picture!
You have hair most women would be envious of!

Thank you very much Silver Strands!

[RavennaNight]

I will tell yall a definate answer in a few hours. I am going to rinse my condish now...

[jel]

I forget who said it here but a while ago someone mentioned that their hair looks better when they're able to let it completely air dry, meaning not even dabbing it with a towel.

Do you at least squeeze out the water with your hands? I just cannot imagine not using a towel at all - except, possibly, in a tropical country! Well, this is something to try on my next holiday... ;) Usually I squeeze the water out and wrap my hair in a towel for 5-10 minutes.

[Jason]

Do you at least squeeze out the water with your hands? I just cannot imagine not using a towel at all - except, possibly, in a tropical country! Well, this is something to try on my next holiday... ;) Usually I squeeze the water out and wrap my hair in a towel for 5-10 minutes.

I don't even touch it with my hands. I usually just stand a little longer in the tub. I admit a lot still runs down my back.

[n3m3sis42]

Wow, it never occurred to me to go without even blotting it with a towel.

It sounds fascinating, and I'd love to try it, but to be honest, I can't even seem to make myself go without combing it until it dries. It's really too bad, because I'd like to make a hair-typing thread (but I keep giving in and combing my hair). Given that, I doubt I will be performing this experiment any time soon.

[mellie]

I do twist out some water, slightly blot with a towel and then air dry. I agree the less that I touch it at all, the better it looks. Twisting out some water gives me some extra wave. I don't brush until it is completely dry.

My hair is thick and takes absolutely FOREVER to dry, which drives me crazy. I have been trying to go longer between shampoos because of this!

[RavennaNight]

Its dry for the most part! I left it alone except for some jojoba oil onthe ends and back due to a little bit of frizz. Big difference is an understatement. There was frizz but waaaay less than if I would towel dry and then air dry. Its got more wave, and almost curl in the front. But it is a little flat on top, but not atrocious. But once again, I rarely have the time to sit around and let my hair drip dry all over the place. Its a shame because my hair does feel exceptionally happy, even being freshly dyed.

[flapjack]

I always let my hair completely air dry without a towel. I haven't done it any other way in a really long time.

[Elfling]

If I let my hair dry all by itself, down, it looks great (to me). If I pull it back in a bun and let it dry that way, it's very flat and looks lifeless.

[rubyredslippers]

If I let my hair airdry loose during the day (after combing, and blotting) it whurls asymmetrically. I hate the asymmetry--if one side poofs out and the other is flat, or there's a bug bump. To eliminate this I shower right before bed and either leave it loose or throw if into two very loose pigtail-twists. This calms it a bit more and it ends up symmetrically.

[sandrak]

I want to say first of all, your hair is stunning!!! It is getting long and so healthy. Goodness.
If I blow dry my hair, it seems to get frizzy looking especially on the damaged ends. If I let it dry naturally, it is softer and not frizzy or dried out feeling. I am going to have to try the cool water rinse and see how that affects my hair.

[DavidN]

I have never tried that, Jason, since I like to at least dab the water from my hair after the shower, and remove most of the excess with a towel, by gentle patting. I always try to have the final part of my shower with the colder water (not cold, but definitely cool).

I suspect that my hair would look curlier, and possible "fuller" if a towel did not go near it during the drying process.

[Jason]

I want to say first of all, your hair is stunning!!! It is getting long and so healthy. Goodness.
If I blow dry my hair, it seems to get frizzy looking especially on the damaged ends. If I let it dry naturally, it is softer and not frizzy or dried out feeling. I am going to have to try the cool water rinse and see how that affects my hair.

Thanks sandrak. I don't really have a logical explanation for why the cold water and non-towel drying works so well but at least for me, it definitely does.

[Firefly]

I tried this today to see if it would work for me, and was very pleased with the results. The best part was the hair around my face... I can never quite get it to fall right. But for some reason with this method my hair framed my face just the way I like it. The crown was definitely smoother as well as the length. Thumbs up! I'm going to keep it up for the next couple of washes and see if I can duplicate the effect.

Very nice hair, BTW, Jason!

Firefly

[Ruadh]

Ok, I tried it today first rinsing with c-o-o-o-old water and then put a towel on my shoulders to catch the drips. I'd have to say my hair likes it. It feels a little fuller and softer. Maybe the difference is when I wrap it with a towel the strands are pressed together causing them to clump and dry unevenly.

[JKRBeloved]

This sounded very cool (not even dabbing with a towel), but I really love the freedom to dress, do make-up, etc, that plopping gives. It hit me that I could try plopping with a plastic shower cap. It worked very well. I did exactly as I would normally do, except I didn't use a towel. My plopping includes using some leave-in (usually aloe mixed with a drop of oil and a T or so of ready-made curl lotion), raking my hair with my fingers and scrunching. Normally the first of that scrunching is with my micro fibre towel. I did force a lot of the water out of my hair with my fingers before plopping, but the curl formation was great and with less frizz. I laid a towel on my shoulders because there was some dripping out from under the cap. When I let my hair air dry after scrunching and some light stick lifting to lift it away from my scalp slightly, I find it dries within a couple of hours, and is actually acceptable to go out in about 30 min.

[chotee]

although i would love for it to dry sooner, the days i let it alone after a wash, my hair is far better, shinier, manageable, less-frizzy, softer etc. But, its sometimes just too hard to let it dripping when you have to hurry up and leave somewhere. Also, this being a humid country i just sweat if i leave it without a towel wrap or something....but yes, hair is more happy if you leave it to dry on its own....:smile:

chotee

[Tangles]

I don't know, leaving it to dry down my back always left me with a flat crown.

[Silver Strands]

I tried this today and really like the results.

At first it clumped together in rope like strands
but by the time it dried (4 hours), they were gone.

Hair is much smoother and you're right, no tangles at
all when combing out.

I'll be doing this as often as I can.
Thanks Jason!

[NorthernDancer]

This sounds like a GREAT idea. I normally wash my hair on Sunday and Wednesday nights, so I'll have plenty of time to try this out. I'll definatly have to try this the next time I wash.


Hey JKRBeloved: Your hair looks almost EXACTLY like my mom's. I did a serous double take when I saw your picture! She still has some brown color in the back, and it's longer, but that's the only difference! She has total strangers come up to her and comment on how beautiful her hair is. Does that happen to you? If not, then this stranger wants to tell you that your hair is BEAUTIFUL!

[Fillette]

I always air-dry my hair but I definitely want to try this method. Thank you Jason for posting this and BTW your hair is absolutely gorgeous. I love the shine and the color. It looks really healthy and I am green with envy....

[young&reckless]

I get different results with different drying method.s I use it to help with whatever style I'm going for that day.

If I, air dry down it gets a little wavy unless I lay on it, then it goes completly straite
air dry outside or in the sun, I get this great 70's hippy look that is great for updos
damp bun or braid (includes undoing and redoing to help dry faster) and I get waves and
curls
and if I dry it in front of a fan (to get it dry fast) then its mostly straite and silky

Lots of options so long as I don't over oil it or use cones, then no matter how I dry it it will not stay in an updo.

[Red_Wednesday]

Jason, your hair looks fab!!(Just had to throw that in - tee-hee). Regarding air drying - I've tried, but I just can't stand my wet hair on my back, or dripping if I pull it forward over my shoulder. I normally give in to frustration, braid it, and then put a piece of material on my "tassle" so that I don't have to feel it drip:shrug:. Once it's about 50% dry, I take my braid a loose and then let it finish air drying. So far this seems to work well for me.

[Blueneko]

I tried the "all wet" air drying, and here are the results compared to bun drying:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y228/rogue12/Miscellaneous/052808.jpg

This photo is almost dry bun drying, and I see a little more flyaways:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y228/rogue12/Miscellaneous/AmIAPL1.jpg

Pardon the colouring, I take blue photos in the night light. :)

[JKRBeloved]

Hey JKRBeloved: Your hair looks almost EXACTLY like my mom's. I did a serous double take when I saw your picture! She still has some brown color in the back, and it's longer, but that's the only difference! She has total strangers come up to her and comment on how beautiful her hair is. Does that happen to you? If not, then this stranger wants to tell you that your hair is BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks, NorthernDancer! You are very sweet. I get some compliments once in a while. And since I let my white come out in the past couple of years, I have noticed that strangers seem to make eye contact with me a lot more than when it was colored brown. Isn't that interesting?

[CurlyOne]

My hair is curly and letting it air dry without touching it will make more curls but they will be pretty wild, if I put it up when it is wet I have a lot more control over it.

[JKRBeloved]

CurlyOne, What do you actually do when you "put it up"?

My hair is curly and letting it air dry without touching it will make more curls but they will be pretty wild, if I put it up when it is wet I have a lot more control over it.

[Saranne772]

I have noticed differences!! If I let it air dry completely- i.e. drip dry as well- then it is wavier but also way longer drying.

[daydreamer]

Thanks to this thread I've found a new way to dry my hair that it LOVES!! :) I wash my hair/shower at night, so usually stick it in a wet bun for bed. In the morning my roots will be dry but my hair still damp, so it does weird things and gets greasy fast.
So this is what I've been doing now -- pat the excess water out with a towel and then sleep with it draped over my pillow. It has done wonders! My hair has much more wave in it this way and it isn't greasy -- I guess it doesn't like to dry at a different rate from my roots.

[C_Bookworm]

I have lots of natural curl, and i've noticed that when i rub my hair too much it messes up the curl pattern. I end up with more frizz than curl. And of course going to bed with wet hair always leads to more curl on top(i think because its not getting pulled down)

[Back_To_Basics]

I always dripped dry. I use to drive my family nuts..with this.
While head is bent over tub hair is all pulled over to the front I squeeze as much water out as I can (gently) .
Then I bring hair all back around..and let dry..or messy bun it.
I don't get dressed until I finish moisturizing my face..and putting on a very little makeup..etc. I never even dry off with a towel..I just rap a towel around me while doing my stuff.

[MsEvans]

Definately, I never towel dry my hair anymore

[mariika]

I have different results even if the slightest change creeps into the routine. For example, if I put a towel on my shower washed hair for 30 secs and 2 mins and 10 mins - it's three different hairstyles. Or, if I toss my hair and not let it sit there tightly - it's less frizzy but more curly.
I actually never know if I'm gonna get the hairstyle I want - one slight mistake and it's not what I wanted (but a frizzball usually).
And hairdryer makes my hair a different person altogether.

[julliams]

I did this when I was hair typing (drip dry without the use of a towel). My hair was slightly less curly and the results really weren't worth the extra few hours it took to actually dry.

As for changing the circustances, if I scrunch or brush or just leave it, the result are all totally different. I have come to like the "just leave it" results the best which suits me just fine!

[Back_To_Basics]

come to think of it..I never rapped any cloth around my head.
(Well now I do only when a plastic shower cap is around my head, and I place a hot towel on for heating only)
I think the last time I ever rapped a towel around my head
I was in the single digits..like 9yrs old. That was over 32 yrs ago :rolling:. I still act 9 sometimes :D.

I know one thing I can share from experience when I had my perms (long spiral curls), back in the early 80's any towels near my head caused frizz, and lots of it.
I would wash my hair with hot water ( I know they use to say stay away from hot water but I used it as hot as I could take it I know it's nuts?) then rinse squeeze out water then apply conditioner rap in a plastic shower cap, finish my shower stuff in the shower then get out finish my facial stuff, apply makeup then get back in the shower and rinse my hair without messing up my makeup. I know sounds crazy but it worked. Once my hair was rinsed (with as hot as I could stand it) I just squeezed the excess water out then wide tooth combed added gel and used a blowfryer with a diffuser on it. If you look at one of my post I posted a picture of when I had my spiral perm..the curls where perfect. No frizz. I really got lucky with this.
The system I had (but back then did not even realize it was a system) was perfect. Back then I used Paul Mazzotta's product. The shampoo was blue, and the conditioner
was a bright banana color but did not smell like banana.
The gel was clear and was NOT sticky..it had a lot of slip to it. I mean I put some on my fingers..and I could keep gliding it through my hair..and it would not get sticky or flaky it would just keep sliding this stuff was the best to me anyway. I used it for years. Then he changed something ..I don't know what but things where not the same after. I then went on a search for
getting my perfect spiral curls back. I'll tell you my ups and downs later with that one
I wish I would have kept at least one of each of the bottles..so I could read the ingredients now. Back then I was not so cautious with reading them. Sorry to be so long winded.

[ktani]

When I used to use shampoo and conditioner, my hair was "never the same twice".

I stopped blow drying a long time ago because no matter the heat setting (I eventually blow dried on a cool setting), my scalp would get dry.

With just shampoo and catnip, my hair is now very predictable, style and condition wise. It is balanced and workable. If I scrunch it dry, I get my natural wave pattern with a smaller "S" pattern wave. I can stretch my waves out though with my hands for a smoother look, that does stay until I wash my hair again, http://ktanihairsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/part-3-of-4-on-innovative-approaches-to.html.

[luxepiggy]

yup - I wrap my hair in a towel to stop it from dripping, but if I let it get completely dry like that, my hair isn't as shiny. After 20 minutes or so I need to remove the towel & finger comb if I want my hair to be shiny. If I want really, really shiny it needs the hair dryer cold shot for a minute or two at that point. Then it can air-dry the rest of the way.