How to Dry? And other newb questions...

[Agilidogs]

Howdy :)

So the long version :rolleyes: is that I started lurking this forum a while back (never had an account) and it has definitely changed the way I treat my hair! Of course I chose not to take the hair journaling advice, so I have no hard and fast record of my journey which I now regret just a smidge. But anyway.
Old me = pile-on-your-head shampooing with SLS all the time, dyed hair + highlights, daily blow dry, straightening (sometimes like twice a day in humid weather), almost pixie-cut hairs...
...to CWC, to natural products / no SLS, to baking-soda washes and natural conditioner, and now I'm delving into oiling :)
I did a short stint (VERY short!) going poo-free and, uh, I couldn't deal with the greasy breakthrough. So baking soda it is.
Since stopping with actual poo and switching conditioners my hair looks and feels totally different. It's smoother feeling but my 2c/3a curlies are becoming more defined and harder to keep away (even if I blow-dry, once the hair is cool it starts to re-curl!)

I was never "officially" growing my hair to a certain length and over the past two years have gone from a bob to almost BSL, but there were several cuts and styles and whatever in between. I think BSL is a good place for me.

Now for my newb questions.

MY HAIR DOES NOT DRY!!! :confused: Well, it does but it takes forever.
I am trying to avoid blow-frying and air-drying lets my curls develop better. But great scott, why does it take 6 hours for my hair to dry?!? I shower at night, and I dislike going to bed with wet hair, but without blowdrying it I can shower at 7 and it's still WET when I go to bed at 11.
Toweling makes my hair frizz more, and I've tried wrapping with T-shirt fabric to remove moisture... but it's still like wet. Is there any better way to get it dry or dry-er without using heat? Is it "bad" to go to bed with wet hair?
I mean, I have thick hair (hair shafts AND volume) but seriously. Wet hair is annoying.

I've been looking into henna (yes, I know it's permanent and red :P ) for the past couple of months, and I'm really excited to try it. I've been collecting hair from my brush to swatch-test before diving in... but I'm worried about my highlights... is there any way to have them NOT turn orange? I have med-dark brown hair with red undertones, and look good with auburn dye (although I have, in the past, turned my hair purple :P). But I have bleached hilights underneath the top layers, visible only when I pony or as streaks when I leave my hair curly.

And one last thing:
Some of my more "natural" (read: neo-hippie crunchy, haha.. I'm getting there) friends using baking soda washes only, but I'm seeing on here that some people use it to clarify... by not everyday? Does this depend on the amount of soda you use? I've been doing every day and I LOVE the result... but I use very little soda and a lot of water. Should I only do it every once in a while?

Thanks guys! I've enjoyed lurking for, um, ever... and you are all so very helpful! :)

[Aleria]

I almost always sleep with wet hair, since showering at any time other than midnight-ish means my upstairs neighbours will probably turn the water on and leave me standing in a trickle of cold water!
Though I usually will still wake up in the morning with it slightly damp, I like the waves it gives me. If you don't like going to bed with wet hair, take a shower earlier, maybe? I don't know if this works with your schedule, but it's about all I can think of.

[baobhan sith]

If I want my hair to dry faster, I just wrap it in a turby towel and leave it up for a while - but having totally straight hair, idk if that would ruin your curls? You could take it down and it would still be damp, so they might be okay, but I usually do that and braid it, before going to bed with still-slightly-damp hair.

[swivelhop]

I do the same as Aleria. My hair takes 8 hours to dry, sleep takes 8 hours too.

[spidermom]

Sometimes I go to bed with wet hair, and it's still wet in the morning. The window just above my head is almost always open, and it's never made me sick or caused any problems. I agree with you that wet hair is annyoing. Very annoying.

[Kathie]

One reason that it could be taking so long to dry is because its probably more porous now from the bleach and heat damage.

[TrudieCat]

If you are planning to keep the length around BSL, you might be fine with blow drying - especially if you keep the heat low, and it you want to keep your curls you could use a diffuser (lots of good info on how to use a diffuser is found at NaturallyCurly.com).

A note of caution if you decide to henna: some members here have found that heat styling turns their henna darker and darker each time they use heat, and that the color can also be uneven if this happens. Others have used blow dryers with no problems - but it's something to think about.

And welcome! :)

[Kristin]

I sleep with wet hair quite often and don't have problems, but my hair is straight. Like spidermom, if I go to bed with wet hair, it is still wet in the morning (but it's better than walking around with dripping wet hair all day and I'm less tempted to blow dry). Based on your info, you probably have thick hair and that's why it isn't drying as fast as you'd like. You kinda just have to live with it unless you want to blow dry.

[Tiina]

This might be a silly suggestion but maybe you could make a snood out of a towel, line it with satin (so it doesn't cause much frizz), and put it on your damp hair before going to bed. Your hair might still be damp in the morning but at least it should eliminate the icky moist pillow feeling. :hmm:

[Arielle8960]

I have the same problem with hating how wet hair on the pillow feels. I'm tempted to try this homemade snood, Tiina!

As for the henna, could you do a strand test using highlighted hair? I had nearly grown out my highlights when I first hennaed and I cut a couple of highlighted bits off the ends, slapped the henna on them, and they didn't turn orange. I had also read through many of the henna-related threads here for advice and tips, and would recommend that.

I'd be interested about the baking soda as well. I was under the impression it was a once-in-awhile thing, but maybe I'm wrong?

[Agilidogs]

If you are planning to keep the length around BSL, you might be fine with blow drying

... well the more I'm "on" here, the more I want to just grow it to infinity and beyond!!! :P


A note of caution if you decide to henna: some members here have found that heat styling turns their henna darker and darker each time they use heat, and that the color can also be uneven if this happens. Others have used blow dryers with no problems - but it's something to think about.

And welcome! :)Ooo, thanks for the warning (and welcome!)... I hadn't heard that. I've read just about every thread and article on henna that I could find. I'm actually going for dark, and was under the impression that it requires MANY applications to get to dark henna-ed hairs. That's a little concerning about the unevenness of color though. Hmmm....


I'd be interested about the baking soda as well. I was under the impression it was a once-in-awhile thing, but maybe I'm wrong?

Yes, I'm now on a quest to find out. I'm reading that it's drying and slightly abrasive. However I use only a tablespoon per 8oz of water... and that lasts me 2-3 "washes." It gets rid of the oily feeling at my scalp (and I usually condition the length first to avoid issues with the runoff) and doesn't seem to make it any drier than shampoo did. ??? so I don't know?

Thanks for all of the responses... :eek:

I DID go to bed with wet hair last night... and woke up to a mess. :( I still have layers, so what usually happens is that my shortest layers end up in CRAZY curl (from huge loopies to like giant stick-off-your-head zig zaggies! it's super attractive :rolleyes: why must they always stick OUT?!) but the lower layers look limp, only mildly wavy, and are still damp when I wake up. Bleh. So maybe if I want it to look decent I should use my diffuser? Oy.

[Dolly]

Some of the turban towels you can get are micro-fiber which does seem to absorb more water, and more quickly.....you might opt for some of those.....

[Bene]

You and I have similar hair types, except mine is completely virgin. What works best for me is to sort of ring out as much water and then put my hair up in a towel. No rubbing or actively drying it, just leaving it up for 15-20 minutes, till it's just damp, detangle and then lightly oil it.

I'll damp bun my hair, so that's why it takes a while to dry, take it down every so often to fingercomb and then put it back up. But even if it's not fully dry after a few hours, at least it's not soaking wet.


Baking soda washes can be okay, but have you tried stretching out the time between washes? I use shampoo bars and ACV every 3 or 4 days. The baking soda, I save that for every 4-6 weeks.


Henna, well I'd leave that as a last resort. It's permanent, and it requires application every few weeks for the roots.