Do you find the sight of broken hair strands clinging to your towel dreadful? Are you constantly fretting over your hair loss issue? If towel drying your hair leads to damaged and rough hair, then it is time to learn the right technique.
Towel drying is an integral part of your daily hair care regime, and when done correctly, it may do wonders for your hair. Dr. Zeel Gandhi, Chief Ayurvedic Doctor at Vedix, says, “Hair reflects vitality and health. Gentle self care has a deep positive psychological and physical benefit.”
Scroll down to know how to towel dry without causing any damage to your hair, and the benefits you can reap by following the right steps.
Highlights:
What Is Towel Drying Hair?
Let’s begin with the basics. In this process, you use a towel to dry your hair after hair wash instead of using a blow-dryer, which may harm your hair due to excessive heat otherwise.
By using a towel, you absorb the dampness and moisture from your hair and minimize the time duration for air-drying your wet hair. This is an imperative step in your hair care regime as damp hair is extremely fragile and vulnerable to breakage [1]. Hence, it is important to get rid of excessive moisture from your hair.
You must remember a few crucial points while towel-drying your hair post shower. The most important points are the type of towel which you use for drying your hair and how gently you dry your hair. Using an old t-shirt is an amazing lifehack; however, the fabric must be very soft and gentle. You may also consider using a microfiber towel, which is soft and high-absorbent fabric.
Is Towel Drying Your Hair A Good Or Bad Idea?
It is a well-known concept that drying damp hair with a regular bathing towel may only result in adversely damaging your hair. If left unchecked, this commonly made mistake may cause a range of serious hair issues. When you aggressively rub your wet hair to and fro with a regular bathing towel, you may experience hair fall, dullness and frizz due to excessive frictional force.
Your hair also turns out extremely frizzy as the regular bathing towel vigorously rubs against the cuticles of your hair. Additionally, the heavy weight of your bathing towel tugs down your hair, causing your wet and fragile hair strands to break. Remember that wet hair becomes more stretchable, which makes it highly vulnerable to breakage. Hence, using your regular bathing towel to dry your wet hair may be the worst step in your hair care regime.
Using a thick towel to wrap your wet hair into a turban is not a good idea as well. The dry and coarse texture of the towel fabric may damage your hair further. To safeguard your hair against hair fall, you may consider using an old t-shirt or microfiber towel as the fabrics are far gentler and absorb the dampness and moisture for your hair without causing any frizz. Air drying is undoubtedly the natural and healthier alternative to dry your damp hair without any serious repercussions.
The natural state of your hair is always an important factor to consider. Therefore, drying your hair forcefully with a towel isn’t the best practice as it may lead to damaged hair and split ends. Just a gentle pat to take out the excess moisture is recommended. Additionally, the quicker you take out the excess moisture, the less are the chances of your hair to turn frizzy.
What Happens If You Dry Your Hair With A Towel?
Using your regular bathing towel to dry your wet hair can turn out to be the biggest mistake you make in your hair care regime. The dry and coarse texture of your towel may cause harm to your hair as per health experts.
In the process of drying your hair, you may end up damaging the hair shaft if you forcefully squeeze or wring out with a heavy towel. The most common signs of hair damage are frizz and dry hair. It signifies dry, damaged hair which needs hydration and conditioning.
How To Towel Dry Your Hair Without Damaging It?
Let us now learn how you can dry your hair the right way, without causing any further damage. These simple and mindful steps will ensure that your hair is healthy and damage-free.
1. Use Your Hands To Remove Excess Moisture
Before drying your hair with a soft towel, you should ensure that you take out the excess moisture with the help of your hands. Try gently squeezing or wringing out your hair to remove the excess amount of water. Strictly avoid squeezing or wringing your hair too forcefully as this may cause hair loss.
Alternatively, you may use your hands to comb through your wet hair to take out the excess water. Hand combing is far less harmful than a regular comb or brush. However, this method relies on your hair type. If you are able to comb your hair with your hands, try and separate it into small sections before hand combing. Avoid tugging at your hair roughly.
2. Deep Condition Your Hair
Before you wrap your hair in a towel to dry, ensure that your condition and moisturize your hair. You may use a natural and herbal conditioner which will keep your hair healthy as it naturally dries. Additionally, you may complete this process by combing through your hair with your hands.
While using your hands to comb through your hair, you may evenly apply the conditioner. This will allow you to comb your hair easily, without forming any knots.
You may also use ayurvedic remedies and herbs [2] to deeply nourish and condition your hair.
A. Mustard seed oil: It nourishes your hair and prevents hair loss. Also, it stimulates your hair growth by improving blood circulation.
B. Brahmi: It strengthens your hair follicles and promotes hair growth. It also nourishes your hair and minimizes shedding.
C. Henna: It helps in minimizing shedding, and deeply nourishes your hair.
D. Cassia: It adds natural shine and deeply conditions your hair.
E. Methi: It deeply nourishes and strengthens the roots of your hair, and adds a natural shine and luster.
F. Amla: It prevents greying and promotes hair growth.
Vedix Tip: Gently massaging your scalp and hair with lukewarm oil infused with potent ayurvedic herbs is one of the effective treatments to deeply nourish your hair and prevent hair fall and hair damage.
3. Gently Towel Dry Your Hair
The best approach to air-dry your hair involves gentle drying methods. It is recommended to use a right-sized towel to remove excess water from your wet hair. Alternatively, you may consider wrapping your hair around a towel. This step minimizes the drying time.
The type of towel which you use for drying your hair is also considered extremely important. A pure cotton towel is soft and gentle on your hair, and it is highly efficient in absorbing extra moisture. Microfiber towels are excellent alternatives. The small particles of the fabric are best suited for absorbing extra water.
Types Of Towels For Drying Your Hair
Let us now understand the types of towel which are best suited for drying damp hair. There are various hair towel designs available which use different materials and fabrics. However, the most suitable fabrics are pure and natural cotton as well as microfiber, which are renowned for their water-absorbing abilities.
1. Pure & Natural Cotton Material
Cotton is well-known for its water absorption efficiency. It is capable of absorbing nearly 27 times its own weight in moisture, due to which it is commonly used for sock material and performance apparel.
Cotton’s water absorbing efficiency is high because water molecules are highly attracted to the cotton molecules. Additionally, it is primarily made up of small fibres which show capillary action – they absorb excess moisture similar to how straws suck up liquids.
Cotton is suitable for bathing apparels and products as it tends to become more efficient when damp for resistance to erosion in wet conditions. It is an environmentally-friendly material as it is biodegradable and renewable.
Terry cloths [3] is a form of cotton which is knitted or woven with long fabric loops and provides excellent water absorption. It is also a popular choice as it has a soft and gentle feel, making it a suitable choice of fabric in slippers, bathrobes and other bathing products.
2. Microfiber Material
Microfiber is another hair towel material which is quite popular. It is a synthetic fabric which is made from nylon and polyester. It may also include other fabrics like trogamid and polypropylenes, based on the usage of the material.
The fabric material shows water-binding property, making it a great choice for performance gear, fast dry-towelling and other moisture-absorbing products.
Split fibres are highly efficient in water absorption, whereas whole fibres are used as soft polishing or dusting cloth. Split fibres are used to make hair towels designs.
Benefits Of Towel Drying Hair
It is understandable that with a hectic work schedule and never-ending list of personal chores, it gets difficult to towel-dry your hair after a shower. Before you reach out for your blow-dryer, try and understand the proven benefits of drying your hair with a right-sized towel.
1. You Can Avoid Exposing Your Hair To Extreme Heat
One of the critical disadvantages of blow-drying your hair is exposure to extreme heat that dries the water bound to your hair. This extreme heat in turn causes damage to the cuticles of the hair, making them brittle, rigid, and dry [4]. If you towel-dry your hair, you minimize the risk of causing damage to your hair due to extreme heat.
2. You Avoid Applying Chemical-based Hair Products
Before you blow-dry your hair, you normally use heat-protectant serum or sprays on your hair to protect it against heat. This leads to a product build-up on your scalp and hair, which may require you to wash your hair more frequently. Frequently washing your hair with hair cleansers and shampoos may cause split ends, dryness and dullness. As you don’t require any product to dry your hair with a towel, you don’t have any product build-up which demands frequent hair wash.
3. You Don't Need To Learn Any Special Skills
With towel-drying, you don’t have to spend endless hours learning and practicing how to blow dry your hair to perfection.
The Last Word
The best and effective way to dry your damp hair and protect it from any damage is to towel-dry your hair. If you have thick and long hair, you can try a combination of towel-drying followed by air-drying. This step ensures that the large extent of moisture is absorbed with a soft and right-sized towel, which protects your hair from any heat damage. Using ayurvedic remedies and herbal masks also ensure you long, lustrous and soft hair. With a nutritious diet, healthy lifestyle and right hair care regime, it is possible to maintain your hair health. Know Your Dosha Now
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