Alternatives to cling film/plastic wrap

[Hairkay]

Does anyone know how it was done historically? Women have been henna-ing their hair long before cling wrap, so they must have had a method.

I've heard that in some places they just let the henna dry on their heads just like that. They applied it outdoors and remained there until they wanted to remove the henna. They didn't wrap their heads at all. This would be hard to do today if you don't live in hot sunny climates with outdoor access.

[SwanFeathers]

I've heard that in some places they just let the henna dry on their heads just like that. They applied it outdoors and remained there until they wanted to remove the henna. They didn't wrap their heads at all. This would be hard to do today if you don't live in hot sunny climates with outdoor access.

Somehow I don't see this working for the desert dwelling middle-eastern ladies who practice this, maybe in the humid parts of India. Maybe we can make a collection of all the different methods by culture and region

[zift]

I could never use a towel damp or not, it's heavy on my knee length hair. I always use a plastic wrap and throw it away. And I wouldn't recommend drying it just on , once I tried that and it was painfull for my scalp and dried my hair out.

[Genne]

Somehow I don't see this working for the desert dwelling middle-eastern ladies who practice this, maybe in the humid parts of India. Maybe we can make a collection of all the different methods by culture and region

Hi,
I agree. I live near Phoenix, AZ and it was over 105 and very dry here today. The mud would likely turn to dry cakes and break the hair here.
Jen

[lapushka]

I've heard that in some places they just let the henna dry on their heads just like that. They applied it outdoors and remained there until they wanted to remove the henna. They didn't wrap their heads at all. This would be hard to do today if you don't live in hot sunny climates with outdoor access.

I used to do that. I only kept my henna on my head for 30 min. max. (often just 15 min.) though (and it colored just fine, and was superbly hard to get out, 2 full volume bleachings and it still was not out). So 30 min. is definitely enough. And I never got dry hair or crusts.

I think if you want to avoid it, leave the henna on for 15-30 min.

[_fred_]

Update, as promised:

I used a damp microfibre towel with a thick re-usable plastic shower cap on top, and it worked fine. It was far less faff than using cling film. I might just use the shower cap by itself next time.

The towel I used was small, btw - one of the narrow strip-shaped ones sold as gym towels. It was the closest thing to hand.

Really pleased with this, now I know I don't need to use cling film with henna

[samanthaa]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but if you already have plastic bags around the house (the kind you get at a convenience store, with the handles), they work as a wrap too. I seem to always have one or two lying around (even though I actively avoid them when I go to the grocery store), and tying the handles at your forehead keeps the bag snug to your head. I've done this with henna, and more recently I do it with deep conditioning treatments.

[Hedera]

Any new ideas on using henna without using a lot of plastic?

I've been doing a weekly (or more) very mild henna gloss to keep up with my very silver roots.

So far, I use a strip of cut-up plastic bag over my ears to keep my 'sideburns' damp, over that goes a re-usable plastic shower cap and over the whole thing a knit hat from once-fancy merino yarn that turned out too big years ago... I had actually been using it as a tea cozy for a small teapot!

Everything gets rinsed as I wash out the henna gloss (the hat only when it gets too gloopy, since it takes quite long to dry), along with the nitril gloves that I also re-use for months and so far it works quite well - but I would like to move away from plastic as much as possible.

I have two large pieces of beeswax wraps on the way from a 'green' German internet shop: I might sacrifice one of them when they arrive to make a sort of henna-headwrap, perhaps with some elastic band.

[maborosi]

Ooh, do let us know how the beeswax wraps go, that sounds interesting!

I use a re-useable shower cap. I don't leave henna on for very long, so it works great.

When I want to do cassia, though, and leave it on for 8 hours, then I usually pull out cling wrap so it doesn't seep out of the cap and get all over.