Hair Taking Too Long to Dry

[bhndbrwneyes]

I'm having a hard time getting my hair to dry after a wash. I'm trying to avoid using heat. What I've been doing is right when I get home from work (about 5:00 pm) I co-wash my hair, ring out excess water, t-shirt dry or pat with towel, apply my leave-ins and style for the night in braids and/or twists, usually gather all the twists/braids and put them in a loose bun. I sleep with a bonnet on. The following morning (about 14 hours later) my twists are still wet to the point where I don't want to undo them because when my hair finishes drying it will get frizzy. My hair doesn't fully finish drying until maybe around 3 pm the next day and I sit with a space heater next to me blowing on my upper body all day long (not good for my hair I know but my office is too cold that cardigans/sweaters don't even help).

Should I air dry my hair a little bit before or after putting in my leave-ins? My fear is that if I do this, when I put my twists/braids in, my hair will be frizzy.

Are my twists/braids or bun preventing my hair from drying?

Should I blow dry my twists/braids on cool?

I don't want to dry out the moisture provided by the leave-ins but I don't want my hair to simply be wet.

 

[Blairx0]

Sorry to hear about your trouble, but I can relate. My hair takes about 24-28 hours to dry on the hottest days of the year. My only solution has been to leave my twist in and style them back in a bun or use indirect heat.

Blow drying on low heat using the tension method before bed and before unraveling has worked. I also have a hooded dryer that has been a life saver. Don't be afraid of the blow dryer! Just hold it a safe distance away and let the excess water evaporate.

 

[prettyinpurple]

Apply your leave-in, lightly blowdry your hair then twist. If you want your hair to dry overnight, you need to get most of the moisture out before you twist your hair IME.

Also I get smoother hair when I blowdry first. I have it on low and gently stetch my hair with one hand as I work the blowdryer w/concentrator attachment with the other hand.

ETA: If you are doing really large twists, you might want to make them smaller.

 

[HanaKuroi]

Are you twisting on really wet hair? If you are between that and the bonnet your hair will take forever to dry since no air is circulating. Can you twist your hair when it is damp? If I braid or twist on wet hair it will take foreverrrrrr to dry. I do stretch my hair while waiting for some of the water to evaporate. Then m/s, twist and my hair is dry in the morning.

 

[bhndbrwneyes]

Are you twisting on really wet hair? If you are between that and the bonnet your hair will take forever to dry since no air is circulating. Can you twist your hair when it is damp? If I braid or twist on wet hair it will take foreverrrrrr to dry. I do stretch my hair while waiting for some of the water to evaporate. Then m/s, twist and my hair is dry in the morning.

My hair is damp before I apply my leave-ins then it gets slightly wetter. It's not excessively wet. My hair remains damp throughout the following day, not excessively wet then either.

 

[lamaria211]

I have the same problem I coWash St 7am and at 7pm my bun is still pretty wet on the inside

 

[Kindheart]

use a soft bonnet hooded drier set at low heat ,it never caused any damage to my hair.I literally just wear it and use cool and low setting.
To leave wet hair on your head too long is not great in terms of future health problems such as arthrytis ,that why it's important to dry atleast the nape area and closest areas to your scalp.

 

[bhndbrwneyes]

My hair also takes so long to dry with rollersets. I guess I need to buy a hooded dryer.

 

[Kindheart]

My hair also takes so long to dry with rollersets. I guess I need to buy a hooded dryer.

make sure to dry only the roots leaving the ends out ,so you won't cause any damage at all .I ve been using a soft hooded dryer for 12 years I realized that it's great for drying hair quicker without using heat on the ends and most of the lenght.

 

[Aireen]

I think it's the twists/braids + bun + bonnet that's holding in all the moisture. Do you think you can just twist/braid your hair in smaller sections and sit in front of a fan to get them partially dry before putting it in a bun and placing a bonnet on top?

 

[BostonMaria]

My hair also takes so long to dry with rollersets. I guess I need to buy a hooded dryer.

I was about to suggest using a hooded dryer. You don't have to put it on a high setting if you're worried about heat.

BTW my hair takes about 30 hours to dry

 

[Fhrizzball]

Perhaps don't put them in a bun after but allow them to airdry loose. Also you may be using a bit too much product and may need to let your hair airdry a bit more befor you apply product. Do you have sucess with just using a scarf or just sleeping on a satin pillowcase?

 

[tiffjust2002]

I had the same problem, I used to bun my hair after I washed and conditioned and found that it would take two full days for my hair to dry completely and I don't have time for all that! So I recently (like last week lol) started air drying.

So after I get out of the shower I wrap my naked hair (no product) in my hair turban thingy I have to absorb excess water, I let that sit for 15 min. Then I take the turban thingy off and apply my leave in or whatever kind of moisturizer I am using and let my hair just hang free and air dry for another 15 min then I do my bun.

This has cut my drying time in half now it only take a full day to dry in my bun vs. two days.