Do you know the healthiest way you should dry your hair? Is it air drying? Should you be using heat or avoiding your blow dryer all together? Is it safe to use a towel? When it comes to drying your hair, the information on the healthiest way you should dry your hair can be very confusing, so let us help you break it down and figure out what is fact and what is fiction.

The most convenient way to dry your hair

Many people air-dry their hair because they believe that using a blow dryer is a sure path to damaged hair. However, air drying is far from being the most convenient way to dry your hair. For one thing, you could be walking around with wet hair for hours, depending on the length, thickness, and texture of your hair. During that time, leaving your home is a definite no-no, especially in the wintertime.

While air drying will definitely prevent heat damage, letting your hair dry slowly can also put your hair at risk of damage. Air-drying your hair takes time, and when hair is wet, it swells as it takes in water. Depending on how much water your hair takes in when wet, there can be a lot of pressure on the hair strand while it remains wet and swollen, and this pressure can result in hair breakage. No one wants that. 

While air drying, many people will grab a towel and rub at the hair to absorb some of the water. Rubbing your hair with just any towel is a recipe for disaster because friction can lead to frizz and even worse, can cause breakage. To avoid this, we recommend using a t-shirt or, better yet, a microfiber towel like a head towel to gently blot the excess water out of your wet hair.

The best way to dry your hair without frizz

The best way to dry your hair without frizz is to avoid doing anything that rubs the hair strand. Rubbing the hair raises the cuticle, which is what frizz is. This means no rubbing with a towel or anything else for that matter. Wrapping your hair in a microfiber head towel as a part of the routine before air drying, and or blow-drying on a low setting is the best way to dry your hair without frizz. Bear in mind also that using the right shampoo and conditioner is also essential to reducing frizz. pH balanced products that keep the hair at its natural pH are also important. Conditioners moisturize and smooth the hair shaft, which is vital for fighting frizz, so do not skip the conditioner.

Hairdryers damage your hair.

Hairdryers are a primary culprit of hair damage because we often misuse them. We usually hold the hairdryer too close to our hair and at temperatures that are too high for our hair, because doing these things will help our hair dry more quickly. Unfortunately, these practices are also quick paths to hairdryers damaging your hair. Use your hairdryer on cool or warm settings and never hot. And follow the recommended distance guidelines for how close the dryer should be to your hair. This is usually between 8 -12 inches.

Overusing your hairdryer (heat) can eventually damage your hair. This happens because a dryer focuses intense heat directly onto the hair strand.  

When this happens, the hair loses all its moisture, immediately resulting in dry, brittle hair. Hair is more susceptible to breakage when it is dry, so anything that dries it out is a bad thing.

Maximize hair growth 

Research has shown that though hair dried with increasing heat levels showed surface damage, air-dried hair showed more damage to its cortex (the inner part of our hair strand). Any form of damage will affect your ability to retain length and maximize your hair growth. This is why neither exclusively air drying nor exclusively blow-drying, are good for hair health or hair growth. You can maximize your hair growth by using a head towel to absorb most of the water from wet hair before air drying and using a hairdryer on its lowest/coolest setting.

How to reduce hair breakage

Using heat and traditional towels on your hair can quickly weaken your hair and lead to damage. There are ways, however, to safely dry your hair using a combination of air drying, use of a head towel, and a blow dryer. Here’s how to reduce hair breakage when finding the healthiest way to dry your hair.

Air-drying works best when the hair is damp but not soaking wet. You want to first get your hair from soaking wet to damp, and for that, we recommend using a microfiber head towel.

  • After washing your hair, gently squeeze the excess water from your hair using your hands.
  • Wrap hair in a microfiber head towel to soak up most of the water. This should take your hair from very wet to damp because a good microfiber towel is very absorbent and will take in a lot of water.
  • Remove your microfiber head towel, and allow the hair to air dry for a bit. Your hair should be more than half dry at this point.
  • When hair is about 80% dry, use your hairdryer on the cool setting to complete the drying process.

We know life can be busy, so as much as possible, plan your wash days so that you have enough time to properly dry your hair without needing to rely on the high heat of a blow dryer. Hopefully this article has helped you understand the healthiest way you should dry your hair.