How long does it take your hair to dry on wash days?

[thelambscottage]

I wash my hair 1-2 times per week and it takes like a day and a half to dry completely. I usually go through 2-3 large bath towels in the process. In the winter it means I am freezing all day! I have used a hair dryer occasionally, but my hair tends to be dry anyway so then I walk around looking like a haystack until the next wash day. So it's sorta worth it to freeze I guess, lol. But I still like my long hair even if I have to freeze once a week, just wondering if anyone else had the same woes and all that. Sorry if it sounds like I'm venting, I'm just glad I finally have somewhere to talk about this where someone isn't going to suggest, "just getting my hair cut":cheese:

[longcurlygirl<3]

Like 3-4 hours, unless I plop alot sooner

[Amber_Maiden]

My hair takes 8 hours + to dry. In the summer it's around 8 hours, but in the winter- about a day and a half- and this is with my hair down, not up in a bun.

[Long_hair_bear]

A day and a half, but that's mainly cause I leave it braided.

[sjshelt]

My hair is APL and it takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to dry if I leave it down.

[Tisiloves]

2 hours absolute minimum. It's a thickness rather than a length issue.

[Beckstar]

48 hours give or take a few. I always wash and braid. I haven't left it down to dry in a long time but it'd be about 24 hours down with product in it.

[Red Rapunzel]

About three hours (but might still be slightly damp underneath thickest part higher up). That's one advantage of having thinner hair. Enjoy your thick hair!!

[Avital88]

how can it take a day and a half while you leave it down?? ive never heard of this and i know some people with crazy thick hair, and my hair isnt really thin either but it takes around 4 hours in winter and 1 hour in summer

[PsycheOrigami]

Today was a wash day, and it took just under 8 hours with my length down to dry. It can take 6-8 usually, though it seems that with 'cone products my hair seems to dry faster (2-4, perhaps?).

[Madora]

20 minutes outdoors
45 minutes indoors

Here's how I do it:

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

[torrilin]

how can it take a day and a half while you leave it down?? ive never heard of this and i know some people with crazy thick hair, and my hair isnt really thin either but it takes around 4 hours in winter and 1 hour in summer

Colder, more humid climate. Finer hair, so it can stick together better just from water's surface tension. Products affect things too. Probably other stuff I'm not thinking of.

IIRC you're in Israel, which has a warm, dry Mediterranean climate. When I lived in California, which has a similar climate, my hair dried a lot faster. In Wisconsin, it's colder and wetter, but nowhere near as humid as where I grew up in Pennsylvania. So my hair dries slower than in CA, but faster than I'm used to.

I can swap my routine around in specific ways and get different dry time results. Some of the changes are pretty astonishing, like swings from 2 hours to 8 or 12 hours. Some of those changes are good for my hair, others are bad, but the good and bad do not consistently match up with particular drying times.

Can't change my natural hair type tho :D.

[holothuroidea]

:agape: Wow! My hair dries in about 15 minutes because it's fine thin and short. I would rather have long thick hair that takes 2 days to dry, though. :)

If you are using bath towels you might want to switch to something more absorbent and less fuzzy (especially if your hair tends to frizz). Cloth diapers are the best for this. Gerber makes some decent birdseye pre-folds that you can use for this purpose, just look in the baby section of your nearest big-box store (target, wal-mart, whatever).

[tarn]

Mine takes about 2 hours, but I do live in the tropics ;)
If I go to bed with it wet, it takes about 4-6 hours, I'm told this can cause an itchy scalp because it is wet for longer?

[blondie9912]

Mine takes about an hour and a half to two hours to dry in the winter, but if in the summer I sit in sunlight, it's completely dry within 20 minutes. Great benefit of fine hair!

I agree though, a day and half seems kind of...impossible. I have a friend with THICK coarse hair, iii and C for sure. Her hair is TB, and takes about 4-5 hours to dry when it's down.

[darklyndsea]

Usually it takes 5-6 hours (at least here in my dorm), hair left down. The hour of variation is mostly caused by how much effort I put into squeezing the excess water out of it.

[goldenmoments]

I've always been curious to the different factors that might affect drying time...My hair seems to dry within two hours if I use sls shampoo and/or cones, in time for me to tuck my dry hair into a sleep cap. However, sans cones/sls my hair takes ages to dry! I mean a whole day.

[MissManda]

In the summer, my hair takes 4 hours minimum to completely air dry. In wintertime, it takes around 12, sometimes 16 depending on how much excess water I squeeze out of my hair after getting out of th shower. I don't even want to know how long it would take my hair to dry completely if I put it up when it's very damp.

[twopoints]

When I wash, I usually do a scalp wash and keep hair around shoulders down dry. It takes ~2 hours.

[becks113]

Anywhere from 2 1/2-4 hours. Depending on what my hair has in store for the day. d:

[sfgirl]

Mine is less than two hours when down, but 10 hours if it's in a braid. o.o

[Angel_099]

About 3 hours...faster if I brush it out first (gently) :)

[Safira]

2-4 hours. depending if I bun my hair.

[uptosomeone]

Mine takes about 30 minutes if I detangle it with my fingers or a comb, an hour if I leave it.

[pink.sara]

Mine takes about 5-6 hours in the UK Spring/Autumn, 1-2 hours in summer, I lift it and flick it constantly to make it dry faster though.

And in winter I can't go out with it wet as it may not dry at all that day.

I did 2 french braids last week when it was freshly washed and towel dried and it was still damp when I took it out 2 days later :( yuck.

[Madora]

I've always been curious to the different factors that might affect drying time...My hair seems to dry within two hours if I use sls shampoo and/or cones, in time for me to tuck my dry hair into a sleep cap. However, sans cones/sls my hair takes ages to dry! I mean a whole day.

goldenmoments, I don't know if what you use has a bearing on how fast (or not) your hair dries.

I think the hair's porosity plays a major role.

For me, the key to fast airdrying was to keep air circulating through the strands (I have a special method that I use). Years ago, I used the "damp hair laying on a towel down my back" method and hated it because it took at least 2 hours to dry. Not any more!

[millyaulait]

Um... The whole day? :D

I do put it in a bun, which is probably the problem. I can't stand having my hair down when it's wet!

[Eleentje]

When I also plop for 30 minutes, it'll take my hair 4 to 5 hours to dry. When I braid it, it's 12+ hours...

[Annalouise]

I agree with Madora about the porosity of the hair.
My hair dries very quickly unfortunately. It doesn't hold on to moisture.

[ranaenelcomal]

Mine takes one and a half to two hours.

[MissAlida]

It takes me around 2.5 hours in winter and 1.5 in summer. It's not very thick.:rolleyes:

[heidi w.]

I washed my hair just this morning and right now it's in an updo all wet. I'm about to take it down to allow it to air dry at the wifi cafe that I frequent. If I keep my wet hair (I do this when I have to work; right now I'm unemployed though.) in an updo all day (bunned all day), then my hair will still be quite wet when it's time to hit the hay, and it can then take well into a second day to get my hair to thoroughly dry.

In winter, when allowed to be down, my hair takes a whole day to dry. In summer around half a day to air dry.

heidi w.

[Impulsive]

I've never timed it exactly. It takes hours to dry if I leave it down. If I put it in a braid or a bun, it can take 1-2 days to dry depending on the style. If it's summer or if I don't leave any conditioner on my hair, it doesn't take quite so long.

[Annalouise]

I washed my hair just this morning and right now it's in an updo all wet. I'm about to take it down to allow it to air dry at the wifi cafe that I frequent. If I keep my wet hair (I do this when I have to work; right now I'm unemployed though.) in an updo all day (bunned all day), then my hair will still be quite wet when it's time to hit the hay, and it can then take well into a second day to get my hair to thoroughly dry.

In winter, when allowed to be down, my hair takes a whole day to dry. In summer around half a day to air dry.

heidi w.

Wow! I can't imagine. How come you don't have your hair type listed? I'm guessing you have iii hair?

[ludwig20]

Well, today I washed my hair around 8 AM. Now it's nearly 1 PM but my hair is still not completely dry. :( Very inconvenient at school.

[Annalouise]

I've never timed it exactly. It takes hours to dry if I leave it down. If I put it in a braid or a bun, it can take 1-2 days to dry depending on the style. If it's summer or if I don't leave any conditioner on my hair, it doesn't take quite so long.

1-2 days! wow. I hope you don't live in a cold climate. No wonder people in cold climates didn't wash their hair in the old days but in summer if at all.:p

[jacqueline101]

I'd say about 4 hours down and up would be about a day.

[habioku]

My hair needs about 2 hours to dry completely. I used to handbang my hair, to loosen up my hair, so it will dry much faster. I've made a video of my handbang action :lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQbYQadjYo

[melusine963]

I usually wash my hair in the evenings, and I never leave it down to dry. In winter this can take up to two days. When it's really warm in summer it will sometimes dry overnight.

[linnepinne]

My hair takes about 30 mins to an hour to dry completely. I flip it and comb it gently with my wooden comb during.

Can someone explain to me about the hair porosity? I thought that porous hair dried faster than unporous hair? My hair dries fast and tends to get dry. Does this mean I have porous hair? My hair does not feel very porous, more shiny and sorta "compact". But maybe it is and it's just har to tell beacause it's so fine?

[KwaveT]

Mine takes about 2.5-3 hours to dry. It took a little longer when I was CO my hair. Since I went back to using shampoo I am surprised to learn that not only my hair dries faster but it sheds less.

[bedazzlecat]

During the day, 2 or 3 hours. If I sleep on it wet, it can take all night plus another 4 hours. Why, I don't know.

[bubblyredhead]

Mine takes between 3-6 hours depending on how i use the towel or tshirt if i switch towels half way through or if i just wring out the excess a couple times and leave it down to dry

[iSuperHeroic]

Mine takes about 20 minutes.
I have short, thin hair, unfortunately.

I wish to have dilemmas like you ladies have with your long hair, I'm so jealous! :)

[TessieAnn]

iSuperHeroic, you aren't alone. Me, too.

[Rose Petal]

Plopping and drying hair in sections at about 23 C inside currently takes about two hours. The towel on my back lasts for half and hour, before I start separating strands to speed things up and air drying in sections. I dry the undermost sections first, but have not yet graduated to drying in two different sides. Interesting thought though Madora, I confess I'm thinking of giving it a try:)

I have only ever tired drying it up or in a braid in hot weather. It certainly does not dry overnight this way. That said, I suspect my hair is pretty porous.

[Bedhead]

When I washed.... 41/2 hours (one of the reasons I like NW/SO).

[Avital88]

Colder, more humid climate. Finer hair, so it can stick together better just from water's surface tension. Products affect things too. Probably other stuff I'm not thinking of.

IIRC you're in Israel, which has a warm, dry Mediterranean climate. When I lived in California, which has a similar climate, my hair dried a lot faster. In Wisconsin, it's colder and wetter, but nowhere near as humid as where I grew up in Pennsylvania. So my hair dries slower than in CA, but faster than I'm used to.

I can swap my routine around in specific ways and get different dry time results. Some of the changes are pretty astonishing, like swings from 2 hours to 8 or 12 hours. Some of those changes are good for my hair, others are bad, but the good and bad do not consistently match up with particular drying times.

Can't change my natural hair type tho :D.

Well its the same in Amsterdam for me as i was there last february,so i was actually coming from that kind of weather

[wandlimb]

Mines takes 2-3 hours, depending on how damp it is outside, when it's down. If it's up it takes all day. (I don't let mine dry naturally in winter or when I'm busy, for that reason. It takes about 20 minutes with a hairdryer.)

[darklyndsea]

Mine takes between 3-6 hours depending on how i use the towel or tshirt if i switch towels half way through or if i just wring out the excess a couple times and leave it down to dry
That's a lot of variation! What method makes it dry the fastest?

[CastaDiva]

During winter, about two hours, on a hot summer day, not much more than half an hour:)

[ktani]

I could not oil with it either. I tried that once after I used way too much for a pre-wash treatment and had to wash my hair several times to remove it.

Oling with it in a very small amount left my hair stringy and a bit heavy. I am sure that had I used more it would have been much heavier.

ETA: Ooops, wrong thread - this belongs in the olive oil thread - sorry about that.

[krisbb]

time varies based on daily conditions and how much moisture is in my hair and the air. The Longest has been about a day and a half.:rolleyes:

[The-Young-Maid]

My hair dries in about a day and a half, I keep it braided for 2 so it'll hold the waves.:heart:

[styric]

2 hours loose, well over 16 braided. I usually braid slightly damp for the night, and it's still slightly damp in the morning, just enough to give me gorgeous braid waves

[thelambscottage]

Thanks so much for all the drying tips! I never imagined there were so many things I could be doing to get my hair to dry faster. Thanks so much to all of you for sharing. :)