Air drying

[Long_hair_bear]

Hey everyone! Hope everyone is having a spiffylicous day! :D

I was just wondering how long it takes everyone else's hair to air dry. I washed mine at 6 pm last night and braided it. I took out the braid this morning and it's still damp. I know braids take much longer to dry, but wow. This happens every time I wash my hair so I'm not surprised. Without braiding, my hair takes more than 3 hours to air dry and I'm almost to bsl. :)

[gabee]

My hair is quite thin and fine, and so it only takes 1 hour to fully air dry. While I often wish my hair was thicker, I'm glad my hair dries this fast! Very useful during winter :)

[lolabird]

If I do mine in braids, it takes about a day. In a bun, I've opened it the 2nd day and it can still have some damp spots. I thought that was normal? I don't know. It has always taken a long time to dry. If I leave it out, it takes a couple of hours.

[littleizz]

Other than curliness, it looks like our hair is pretty similar, and it sounds like our dry time is, too! I don't put any product in immediately after washing, so I flip my head upside down once or twice to shake it up and separate it. Still takes 3 - 4 hours, longer if I'm sleeping on it, and exponentially long if I put it in a bun or braid. I typically dry it loose, though, otherwise I feel like the top gets really flat, even though it's shiny.

[moxamoll]

I'm in lolabird's camp. It takes a 2-3 hours when loose. If I braid or bun it wet, I actually have no idea. The longest I've gone is about 36 hours and it was still quite damp inside.

[pepperminttea]

You might want to give this poll (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=30047) a look. :) It takes mine about 4-5 hours.

[Mina17]

I takes my hair about 2.5-3 hours to dry completely if left loose. If I put it up in a bun in the morning, it will still be damp when I take it down in the evening.

[Sushi144]

Mine takes 2 or 3 hours when loose. When braided, I'd say more than 12 hours.

[edwardh]

I'm in lolabird's camp. It takes a 2-3 hours when loose. If I braid or bun it wet, I actually have no idea. The longest I've gone is about 36 hours and it was still quite damp inside.

I keep reading about things like this here (well, not that extreme so far but still... people leaving in all kinds of liquid stuff in their hair for long, long times) but one word is never mentioned: fungus.
Are you guys not afraid you might get a nasty case of that when your scalp is covered with anything but its own oils for so long?

[Madora]

Outside, depending on the temperature, from 20 to 30 minutes

Indoors, with the aid of a portable electric fan 40 minutes.

Here's my article on air drying that might be helpful:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=223

[PixxieStix]

Well, I'm pretty sure you would either 1) have to have fungus already growing on your hair or come in contact with it for it to grow, 2) something in your hair/on your scalp for the fungus to "eat" and 3) have your hair up and damp enough for it to take hold. It's more an environmental factor than an every day worry if I am remembering something I read about that several months ago correctly. :)

[Freckled.Thing]

I would say it takes minimum 1.5 hours. In the winter it can easily be more like 2.5. If I braid it when it's even the least bit damp before bed though it will easily still be wet when I wake up. Or if I braid my hair damp in the morning it will still be like that when I take it out in the evening.

[StormVixen]

I keep reading about things like this here (well, not that extreme so far but still... people leaving in all kinds of liquid stuff in their hair for long, long times) but one word is never mentioned: fungus.
Are you guys not afraid you might get a nasty case of that when your scalp is covered with anything but its own oils for so long?

My hair takes usually 8hrs+ to dry, and yes, that warm, moist environment *should* encourage fungus to grow... but it doesn't so thats cool. (apart from the occasional dandruff which i treat with miconozole cream and nizorol shampoo)

I have heard of a couple of cases of hair mildew but from what was said by the sufferers they were in VERY humid places (rainforest i think)...

there are a few essential oils with antimicrobial properties and as I've said before I use a LOT of oils :P

[Amber_Maiden]

My hair takes 8+ hours to dry. 14 hours being the norm. I won't even braid it or bun it while it is drying- just wear it down. It's because my hair is so thick.

[jacqueline101]

I'd say two or three hours.

[nobeltonya]

Probably a good 2-3 hours to completely dry and look normal, if I just left it down the whole time.. but I hate the awkward half-dry stage where it's all frizzy and course looking, so I braid it for an hour or 2, then bun it for another hour or 2, then let it down to finish drying. It looks better that way. :)

[Malibu Barbie]

4 to 6 hours, it depends on the weather outside.

[Alibran]

At its current "length" (a shorter than chin length, wedge-shaped/a-line bob) it takes about 2 hours. The longest I've ever had it was TB, and it took about 8 hours to dry loose. I never tried braids or buns for drying - I think it would have been permanently wet if I had.

[PurusNox]

About 3-4 hours to dry fully :)

[Sissilonghair]

One and a half hour for me,maybe two, then I use a squirt of aloe vera gel plus one or two drps ofjojoba oil to control the flyaway.Then I braid my hair.
During the Winter season is a pain to air dry...I usually sit by my radiator to keep warm:eyebrows:.
Sometimes I need to blowdry just the back of my head for my cervical problems.:(

[raveness13]

Same thing happens to me. I braid wet hair before bed, and it's still damp. It just might be something that varies in every person's hair.

[Hollyfire3]

I'm saying 3-4 hours in the green-leaf summer), Leaf-bare (winter), probably closer to 5 hours, if wet when going to bed, longer for sure, it in a braid, i don't even know how long...

[WaterMusic]

I'd say 5 hours on average. It's not the thickness that makes the difference, it's that it is very wavy and likes to clump. The clumps take forever to completely dry. If I comb it out so that all of the hairs are separated it would dry way faster.

[white.chocolate]

During the winter, when the surrounding room temperature becomes about 17 degrees Celsius, it takes about 4-5 hours to dry. During the hottest days of summer, I often go out with wet hair and it takes just around 15 minutes to dry. The previous poll didn't have these options. But on average, it takes my hair at least 3 hours to dry.

[Zesty]

My best time is probably something like 4 hours. That's if I comb it right out of the shower and leave it down to air dry, fluffing it with my hands to let air circulate. When I don't touch it at all as it's drying, it can take an entire day because of the faux-wavy clumps that form. It dries glacially slow if I sleep on it or damp bun/braid.

[Avital88]

In winter it usually takes around 3 hours to be dry, in summer around 45minutes
Ahh i miss the summer,...

[KwaveT]

It takes me hair about 3-3.5 hours to dry. My hair is not overly long so I think the thickness and wavy clumps in back of my head is what takes this time to dry.

[Red Rapunzel]

Three or more hours even though it's rather thin.

[BrightEyes]

It takes my hair 2 hours to completely dry. But I'm finding that if I wrap my hair in a microfiber towel for 10-15 minutes after washing it shortens my drying time by about 30 minutes.

[Carissamarie08]

Like 30 minutes, but I look like a dog shaking about when wet. I like to help it along.

[hellokrilly]

My hair used to take 1h or 2 to dry when I was living in France,but since I've moved to England it takes about 4h for it to be fully dry...it drives me insane as I have to plan everything in advance whenever I need to style my hair!

[Garnetgem]

Takes several hours even by morning its damp but i prefer than using a dryer as i don't want to cause any damage.

[lapis_lazuli]

Oof, at least 5 hours before I can start finger detangling. That's why I say wash day is an all-day commitment ;)

[Groovy Granny]

Mne takes 1-2 hours...faster in the Summer because my fine silver curls easily.
In winter time I hate a cold/damp scalp, so I warm/cool blow dry just my scalp 80%
It only takes a few minutes and my ends are completely dry by the time I finish.

[Groovy Granny]

oops...got a double post :o

[lapushka]

Over 8 hours if I were to leave it alone - which I obviously don't, I mean come on! I towel dry for 30-45 min. now, then airdry for 1 to 2 H and then diffuse for 4 to 5 min. because by then it's all it takes. And then my roots are dry and my ends dampish (which is OK to me).

[Arctic]

I've never measured the drying time, but it's not very long (and neither is my hair, ha ha). I estimate it'd be 2-ish hours. If I'd have done a deep treatment, then more. If I headbang when it dries, then the drying is super fast.

I often blow dry gently on warm-cool especially if I have washed my hair in the morning (I don't find it damaging at all), and since I started the headbanging last autumn, I've been doing that after almost every wash, it's so convenient.

I might not wait till my hair is 100% dry, it's good enough for me when my scalp hair looks dry and I can do a bun/braid that doesn't look wet.

[mermaid lullaby]

Ugh! My hair takes two days....

[Elizabeth E]

Weirdly, my hair takes only about half an hour to an hour to air dry. But maybe I'm cheating a little because I always headbang it dry - after a few catchy songs, it's got lovely volume and is almost completely dry! By the way, my hair is currently MBL+ and medium thickness.

[AutobotsAttack]

1-2 hours sometimes. If I’ve soaked my hair or deep conditioned it it can longer. Maybe 4-6 hours.

[SnowDancer]

About 3 hours.
A little more or less depending on the weather.

[MusicalSpoons]

I recently airdried during the day for a hairtyping pic, and in a warm flat/apartment (about 20°C, so 70s °F) it took, hmm, 3-4hrs? It's not normally that warm where I live though, and I usually airdry it overnight, draped across my pillow and off the end of my bed. It needs at least 8hrs then, although in winter I have to airdry it down for about an hour before bed, in a room with a very warm heater, otherwise it will still be damp by morning. My scalp doesn't like it if that happens.

[Bunned or braided I never do any more, but when I was a teenager I used to bun it for sleep just after washing, and kept it in a damp bun the whole time so it never dried fully in the days between washes :oops: I was so fortunate not to notice any lasting damage from that, but I'm very glad I gave that up after only a couple of years. Makes me cringe to remember!]

[ravenskey]

4-5 hours minimum sometimes it takes longer - I have washed my hair at 1pm and gone to bed at 10pm with damp hair.
Also if I put it up it takes almost literal ages to dry - wash in morning, braid, go through day, go to bed, wake up, unbraid and still damp hair (Me this January).

[Dark40]

My hair is thick. So, it takes it a whole 5 or 6 hours to air dry, and when I wash it I always wear it down. Yeah, braiding always takes a lot longer.