Many experts recommend towel drying as the best way to keep your hair beautiful, but it has to be done right if you want to get the most out of that technique. This article answers the question: What is the best way and how to towel dry hair?
The Benefits of Towel Drying
Towel drying is probably one of the best things you can do for your hair. Aside from air drying, it's the gentlest technique for getting water out after washing, so it doesn't damage your hair. This is an important consideration for people who are trying to deal with dry, brittle strands. Using a towel is also a simple process, so it won't take you long to complete. In fact, you can attend to the other parts of your morning routine while you do it!You may hear it said that towel drying isn't that different from using a hair dryer, but check out the table below to see the pros and cons for yourself. A lot of the differences have to do with how each technique treats the cuticle, which is the protective protein that covers each hair strand like a microscopic layer of shingles.
| Towel Drying | Using a Hair Dryer | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | Drying your hair with a towel is a simple, gentle technique that won't damage hair in the process. | Using a hair dryer is the quickest way to get your hair ready for styling. |
| Towel drying is environment-friendly. | Hair instantly looks shinier because the hot blasts of air forces the cuticle to stay flat. | |
| Cons | If used too vigorously, the rough abrasive surface of a towel may cause hair to break, especially if it's already dry and brittle. | Heat breaks down the protective cuticle, making hair dull and prone to damage in the long run. |
| Hair isn't as shiny immediately after it's dried with a towel as the cuticle isn’t made to lie flat. | Hair dryers use a lot of electricity. |
The Proper Technique - How to Towel Dry Hair
As you've seen in the table, it's possible for towel drying to damage your hair if you don't do it right. A lot of people make the mistake of rubbing their hair violently with a towel the instant they step out of the shower –just think of the number of times you've seen this done in a movie or on a TV show!Fortunately, it's easy to learn the proper technique for towel drying. You just need to follow these steps:
- Shake It Out! - Before you pick up your towel, it's a good idea to shake out some of the water. This reduces the time it takes to dry your hair since your towel won't have to absorb so much moisture. To do this, simply shake your head up and down after you've finished up in the shower – pretend you're at a rock concert if it helps! After that, bend over a little to flip your hair upside down and run your fingers through it to remove more water and remove tangles.
- Pat Instead of Squeezing - This is the heart of this drying technique. Using a dry towel, gently blot the moisture from your hair. This means that you should take lengths of your hair between folds of the towel and give it a couple of small pats to help the cloth absorb the water. You mustn't squeeze, pull, or twist your hair, since that's what causes breakage. If your towel gets water-logged during this step, set it aside and pick up another one to continue the process.
- Let Nature Take Care of the Rest: When your hair is no longer dripping wet, it's time to put down the towels and let nature take care of the rest. Letting your hair air dry the rest of the way will take a little time, but the health of your hair is worth the wait.
If you want to style your hair, you can braid your hair or twist it using clips or foam rollers during this step. The resulting waves and curls will keep their shape just as well as those done with a curling iron.
The Right Towel
At this point, you may be wondering if the secret to proper hair drying has anything to do with the materials in your hair care arsenal. Take a closer look at your options below.- Ordinary Towels: Generally speaking, there's nothing wrong with using an ordinary towel as long as it's clean and dry. As long as you use the techniques described above, there shouldn't be any issues with breakage or roughness.
- Microfiber Towels: There's currently a lot of talk about microfiber towels among beauty experts, and much of this buzz is justified. Just as a microfiber cloth makes surfaces shinier, a microfiber towel will bring out the shine in your hair. This is because it doesn't have the large, abrasive loops of an ordinary towel, though it's still very absorbent. These towels can be pretty costly, though.
- An Old Cotton T-Shirt: Thrifty fashionistas have found that an old cotton shirt can be just as good as a microfiber towel. While you might not get exactly the same results as you would with microfiber, the smooth cloth of a shirt will also encourage your cuticles lie flatter than they would with an ordinary towel.
To use a shirt to dry your hair, simply pull one over your head so that the collar sits around your hairline. You can then fold the shirt around your hair like a turban. The only problem here is that you may have to borrow a shirt from your brother or your boyfriend if your long hair doesn't fit in your own garments!
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