Why does my hair take forever to dry

You set your hair in twists or braids and your ready to have some boss results only to find your hair has still not dried even though you waited forever to take down your set. Yes, you are not alone! There is a reason why your hair takes forever to dry and there is a simple solution to resolve.

Most likely the case is you have low porosity hair.

Low porosity hair is considered healthy, but there is only one major problem…it repels moisture. This leaves you with wet head even though you have waited countless hours for it to dry.

Luckily to resolve this issue it is quite simple: style your hair when it is damp.

If you style and set soaking wet hair you will probably wait eons and still find some wet sections of hair when you opt to air dry. So before you add your products and begin twisting drain your hair of excess water, you can use an old t-shirt (this is more gentle on your hair and helps with reducing frizz).

The goal is to get your hair to that perfect medium of not being too saturated with water and not being bone dry.

Once you have rid your hair of the excess water you can then proceed to adding in your products and styling. Since low porosity hair is prone to buildup don’t go so heavy on the protein products, it can lead to buildup and stiff hair.

Products with humectants are great for low porosity hair because they help your hair hold onto moisture.

My favorite product with humectants is Shea Moisture Curling Souffle (it’s no wonder I love this stuff as I have low porosity hair).

When you find yourself really in a shortage of time, blow dry your hair using the hair diffuser attachment to help your hair dry evenly. If you do not want to use heat, no worries use the cool blast option on your dryer, trust me it works just as well without the harsh drying affects.

In order to have a good twist/braid out result you need your hair to be fully dry once you remove your set, otherwise it will be a big fail. So if this has been happening to you, now you have the knowledge to help prevent your twist outs from bombing out from frizz.

Home / News / Why does my hair take so long to dry and how to make it dry faster?

To keep your hair healthy, you must minimize the exposure to heat, for example, the heat from hairdryers. It is the reason why natural drying is highly recommended. But when following this tip, many people are bothered by one nagging question: “ Why does my hair take so long to dry ”

Reasons “why does my hair take so long to dry”

Damaged hair

Porosity – the ability of hair to absorb and repel water as well as other chemicals – has much to do with the hard-to-dry hair. It is said that the high porosity is the main point explaining the reason why your hair takes so long to dry.

What are the factors that contribute to the high level of porosity?

Power of gene is considered as one of the factors in play. Besides, high porosity is also a feature of damaged hair.

Damaged hair absorbs water and other care products more easily than the healthy hair. It is mainly because the cuticle of a damaged hair is more open, causing the hair to absorb more water. Therefore, damaged hair takes longer to be completely dry. By contrast, a healthy hair with a stronger cuticle layer is less porous and could dry up faster.

The use of chemical treatment, for example, dyeing and chemical straighteners, could damage your hair.

The use of products

Most hair-care products are designed to supply your hair with moisture. An adequate amount of moisture create a favorable condition for your hair’s health; however, the more amount of products your hair consumes, the longer time it takes to repel water, especially with a damaged hair. Consequently, the use of products could also be counted as one of the reasons why your hair takes so long to dry.

Some people might ask, “Is this good news that damaged hair tends to absorb and hold on to moisture and care products more than the usual?” Unfortunately, the answer is no. Even though moisture lingers longer in damaged hair, once it is dry, the left-over moisture seems to evaporate even more quickly.

The condition of your hair

If you have the thick, long hair, it is bothersome that you will ask yourself the question “ Why does my hair take so long to dry?” every 5 minutes, especially when you don’t have much time to spend because it definitely takes you quite a long time to dry all the moisture. Thick hair is not necessarily unhealthy or damaged hair. However, the problem with thick hair is that, without blowing dryer, hair could not get enough exposure to air, which makes it dry more slowly. That’s why short and thin hair is more likely to dry quickly.

Other external factors

Last but not least, you also need to consider the fact that hot weather will take water out of your hair strands faster. That’s why, on winter days, it takes forever to get your hair dry.

What can I do to make my hair dry faster?

With a damp hair, you could neither go outside nor go to sleep. If your hair takes hours and hours to dry, would it mean that you have no other way but to wait for it to dry? Is there a way to solve this problem out? These following tips will guide your way out of this problem.

Choose the right combs

With a wide-teeth comb, you can make your hair get more exposure to the air flow, therefore, dry faster.

Use conditioners

Even though using care products might be one of the causes for the slow-to-dry hair, in the long run, using the right conditioner is an essential step to recover your hair and make it strong, consequently, easy to dry.

Use absorbent towels

Rubbing your hair with a towel is known as one of the habits that could damage your hair. However, it is still fine if you use an absorbable towel to blot your hair. An absorbent towel will absorb the excess water without scratching the cuticle layer.

Start from the roots

Many people might notice that the roots are the last part to dry. Hence, to save times, you should start drying your hair from the tops with a hairdryer or towel, then move toward the ends.

Use a hairdryer

Hairdryers release heat to blow the water into thin air and the heat is actually the enemy of your hair. Basically, it would be the best if you do not use hairdryers.

However, in some circumstances, for example, when you are in a hurry or desperate for a sleep, you could not resist using a hairdryer. It is important to stick to the following tips so that you could minimize the effect of heat on your hair.

• Keep your hairdryer at the low-heat setting (for some, cool shot buttons available).
• Use a hairdryer for no longer than 20 minutes.
• Apply heat-protection lotion or serum on your hair before blow drying.

With these tips, hopefully, you could save a great deal of time for other activities rather than sitting around the house with a damp hair and angrily asking yourself “Why does my hair take so long to dry?”.

Source: Wholesale Hair Vendors – Virgin Hair Distributors/ Manufacturer – Hair Extensions Supplier

Experience:

• CEO at CITIZENSNIPS, Hair product Development. chemical research and Sustainable resource Engineering.

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• CO-CREATOR SUNSILK, Jan 2009 – Present GLOBAL

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• CEO at SMOKINGPANDA LTD