How long does it take from your hair to get dry after wash when you air dry it?

[Dash_Strider]

BSL here with fine hair, since leaving shoulder length a year ago my hair takes roughly 4 hours to dry. I miss the days when it would take half an hour...

[foreveryours]

I was thinking about this the other day

When i kept my hair short (#2 or #3 fade into less than an inch in top), my hair was dry within minutes. Now, at APL it takes around an hour and a half (based on an hour commute and rough times from when i exit the shower to hitting the road, and after I’m at work). I usually let my hair stay loose when I’m air drying rather than putting it up

So this got me to thinking about how much length plays into dry time? Longer hair has more surface area which leads me to think it would take more time, but I’m sure there’s a point where further increasing length has diminished returns on the time to dry

Longer hair does have more surface area but it also has more water-logged volume. The the surface to volume ratio doesn't change much with length. I think long hair takes longer to dry becuase it develops and is able to maintain a humid atmospheric environment around it longer than short hair can thus reducing the rate of evaporation from the volume.

[SandyBottom]

Generally speaking, it takes hours. How many hours depends on the weather and when I bunned it (yes, I bun damp and sometimes wet hair). It can be damp even 24 hours later, but that's okay with me because I prefer damp to dry anyway because it's better behaved.

[Brandt]

Longer hair does have more surface area but it also has more water-logged volume. The the surface to volume ratio doesn't change much with length. I think long hair takes longer to dry becuase it develops and is able to maintain a humid atmospheric environment around it longer than short hair can thus reducing the rate of evaporation from the volume.

Interesting how you think about surface area of the hair. I've thought in terms of the ratio of surface area to mass (could apply to skin relative to the body too, especially how thin people are (usually) more likely to be colder). It usually takes 1-2 hours for my hair to dry--not nearly as long as some, which pedantically I might think that's due to my fine hair which by default doesn't have as much mass but a lot of surface area, but......I see a post just below mentioning someone else with fine hair that's BSL (so just a little shorter than mine which is now MBL) that takes 4 hours to dry. But thinking of the "surface area to mass" ratio, finger detangling really helps dry my hair faster since I'm at least partially separating hair that's stuck together when wet and hence increasing the surface area relative to the mass (I could always do an experiment to leave my hair untouched until it's dry--I'm guessing it might still be a little wet after 2 hours).

[Reyn127]

For me, after I towel dry as much as possible, it takes 10+ hours to fully air dry if it's left down. Braided it will take over 24hours to fully dry. If left in a bun, it will never dry. If I'm somewhere very hot, or with very low humidity, it takes about 3-5hours to dry if left down. Even with blowdrying, if I were to blowdry my hair until entirely dry, it takes 1.5-2 hours.

So, the short answer is: for me, it takes forever.

[vampyyri]

I leave my hair in a microfiber towel for about an hour after washing it in the morning while I get ready for work, then once I let it down it's another 2 to be fully dry currently.

[Ylva]

Left loose, 6-8 hours if I’m up and doing something, 12 or-so-hours if sleeping.

[lapushka]

I still do the same thing. Microfiber turban 15-30 minutes, then air dry for approximately 5H, then diffuse-dry for 5 minutes, is all it still takes to get it almost fully dry. My roots are bone dry, but the very ends and especially due to the gel, well maybe it is dry and I just don't notice because of the gel. I concentrate my gel on the very ends, and should probably spread it out more!

[mermaid lullaby]

If it's airdried, then all day. I will take a shower in the morning and it finally dries about mid afternoon to evening.

[shelomit]

About a day and a half. I usually wash my hair in the evening, braid it, and go to sleep with it wet. If I kept it loose or used a fan/dryer/towel I imagine it would go much faster, but I don't have the time or inclination.