Hair drying question

[WaitingSoLong]

Ok, winter is coming and I dry my hair a lot in winter because it takes DAYS to dry on it's own and I get freezing cold with wet hair. There is a cool setting on my dryer but it doesn't dry my hair plus it freezes me, too.

How hot is TOO hot, I mean, how much heat does it take to damage hair? If I held the dyer further away from my head, would it still fry it? Does anyone have any links or something on the best (safest) way to quckly dry hair?

My dryer is new and I cannot really afford to replace a perfectly good dryer for one with a medium heat setting, but I will if that is the solution.

[LadyLongLocks]

I use a hair dryer about 2 times a month and more in the winter. I have 3 settings on my dryer, Hot warm and cool. I never use the hot setting. I do use the warm and switch it off and on with the cool. If you can hold the dryer 3" from the skin and it isnt too hot on the warm setting, then I believe it is fine. I always keep the dryer far away anyways so my hair never really gets hot at all. I think blow dryers are so much better now because they give you more options. I dry my hair for 5 min and then air dry in between for 5 and repeat until 90% dry.

If your dryer is too hot then I would hold it farther away or invest in one with more temperature settings. Your hair is worth it.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I have the same problem.

I'm looking into drying hair with fabric/towels to cut out the heat-drying part. I'll try braiding an absorbent fabric into my wet hair tightly so that maybe it'll soak up some of the water.

[Theobroma]

I have the same problem -- can't do without at least minimal blowdrying in winter because I'll freeze. My rule of thumb for the heat setting is this: if I can keep my fingers in the airstream right up against my scalp and it isn't too hot for my skin, it's probably OK for my hair.

I also find that I'm OK if just a part of my scalp hair stays wet. What I do is take my canopy hair, clip it up out of the way in a big claw clip, and then lightly blowdry JUST the back and sides of my head and ONLY the hair close to the scalp, not the length. Once that's mostly dry I take down the (still wet) canopy, comb it all out, and bun it. Even though the top of my head is still wet, I don't get cold this way (assuming, of course, that I time my wash for when I can stay indoors until the canopy dries on its own).

[luxepiggy]

I just use the low setting on mine, but I only have low & high as it's a cheap drugstore one.

[Deborah]

I used to sit or stand in front of a large fan, set pretty high. This did a good job of drying it much faster than air drying. (Just don't sit or stand too close, or...ouch!)

[angelfell]

The cool setting on my hair dryer is not that cool, but if it is for you, I'd think warm is probably safe so long as it's at least 3" away from you. You could also get up earlier/shower earlier so it has more time to dry.. but if you're like me and enjoy your sleep, that may be a difficult option.

[WaitingSoLong]

I never thought of just drying the scalp hair, that WOULD help a lot. My hair takes days to dry, not hours. I will probably just hold the dryer away from my head, which I do anyway. I am actually surprised at the 3" recommendation, I hold it out about a foot or so.

[Curlsgirl]

I never thought of just drying the scalp hair, that WOULD help a lot. My hair takes days to dry, not hours. I will probably just hold the dryer away from my head, which I do anyway. I am actually surprised at the 3" recommendation, I hold it out about a foot or so.

That's what I do is dry just my bangs and scalp hair. Then I go over the ends (scrunching it a bit as I go) just a little to get some of the water out. I wait to do it until I am going to be IN for the night though like when I get home from work and KNOW I am not going back out. I can't stand to go to bed in the winter with wet/damp hair either!

[Luna12345]

I think that you should wrap your hair in a towel and leave it that way for about 20 mins thyen blow dry, that way you wonèt spend too much time drying with heat.
if you shower in the morning itès best to shower before breakfast....wrap your hair up in the towel whil;e you prepare breakfast....then eat then dry!

[supermanok03]

i hate having wet hair in the winter too! if i really want my hair dry quickly, i sit in front of a fan. i can't stand the heat of a blow dryer on my scalp, and the cool setting on a blow dryer still takes forever to dry. a large fan works great, i guess because it's such a large surface area!

haha, i remember when i was in elementary school, my dad would wash and braid my then tailbone length hair every morning. and it would freeze on the way to school! now i could never go out with it that wet.

[faeflame]

For about the last year or so I've been blow drying my hair every time I wash. I do squeeze out as much water from my hair while I'm in the shower and then again with a series of hair towels after I detangle. Then I spend the next 20 minutes or so doing makeup, brushing teeth, dressing, etc. By then my hair is no longer soaking wet and I can hit it really quickly with the blow dryer on warm whilst dangling upside down for volume. I'm more concerned with drying the roots so the ends are left barely damp, not bone dry. This way I get a bit of volume and don't freeze to death.

[WaitingSoLong]

Great ideas, I like the idea of leaving the towel on for awhile. I used to do this. I almost always wash at night, which limits how much time I can wait before drying.

A fan sounds too cold of an idea. Brrr. lol