You’re Drying Your Hair the Wrong Way – Here’s the Right Way to Do It

When it comes to hair care, it’s easy to fall into habits, especially if you’ve been doing something a certain way for years. Hair drying, for instance, is a task that many people probably don’t think twice about…yet the technique that you use could significantly influence the health of your hair.

So, what’s the best way to dry your hair? Read on as Nubi talks you through the method that will not only save your strands from the appearance of heat damage but will also give you a glossy, salon-quality finish.

What Happens If You Dry Your Hair Incorrectly?

Why all the fuss about hair drying? Because if you get this wrong, you could end up damaging your locks. Whether you’re towel drying or blow drying your strands, using the wrong techniques could lead to: 

• Excessive frizz
• Damaged hair cuticles, meaning dullness and dryness
• Split ends, breakages, and hair loss
• Strands that feel brittle
• Fungal and bacterial growth, which can lead to dandruff and scalp infections

It’s important to remember that your hair is at its most fragile state when it’s wet. This is when it’s most prone to damage, some of which can be long-lasting, which is why you need to get your hair drying efforts right. 

The Right Way to Dry Your Hair

So, what is the right way to dry your hair? Here are the steps to follow: 

Start With a Squeeze

What do you usually do when you first step out of the shower with dripping wet hair? Many people automatically start wringing the moisture out of their strands, roughly twisting sections of their hair to remove as much water as possible.

While this may make sense in theory, all of that twisting can really damage wet hair. A gentle touch is key when your hair is wet, which is why experts recommend gently squeezing instead of wringing. 

Start at your scalp, softly compressing sections of your hair in between the palms of your hands. Slowly move down your lengths, until you reach the ends of your hair. 

Use a Smooth, Absorbent Towel

Once you’ve removed as much water as you can with your hands, it’s time to move on to using a towel. However, not any towel will do…

While most people tend to reach for terrycloth towels, it’s important to understand that these towels tend to be quite rough. You’ll feel this yourself when you run your hands over the surface of your towel. That rough texture, which is caused by how the fibers of the towel are looped, will cause friction when it comes into contact with your strands. This means that it will snag on your hair more, resulting in frizz, breakages, and other forms of damage.

What’s the solution? 

A towel made from smoother fibers, like microfiber. Not only does this minimize friction and frizz, but microfiber is also highly absorbent. It will wick away water from your locks much more efficiently. This can make the hair drying process so much faster! 

How should you use your towel if wringing and rubbing isn’t advised? Wrap it around your hair and gently press it against your strands. Repeat this process several times to remove as much water as possible.

Shake It Out 

If you want your hair to dry as quickly as possible, which is essential when it comes to minimizing damage, shaking your hair out can be really helpful. This simply involves flipping your head upside down a couple of times.

What does this do? It allows air to flow through your strands more easily. It basically improves ventilation in a way that will do your locks a world of good.

While this step should be carried out at this stage in the hair drying process, you may also want to repeat it after the next step…

Apply a Heat Protectant

Since this hair drying technique involves using a blow dryer a little further down the line, you’ll need to apply a heat protectant. This is best done when your hair is damp. This is when your hair is most permeable, which allows the heat protectant to better sink into your strands and provide a full shield of coverage. 

When choosing a heat protectant, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is your hair type. If your is quite fine and thin, you’ll need a lightweight product, like a spray. On the other hand, if your hair is thick or coarse, a cream or a gel may be a better option.

It goes without saying that you’ll want your heat protectant to be non-greasy, but there are other features that can be helpful too. Many contain additional ingredients that offer other benefits, from frizz control to hydration to UV protection. Find one that’s able to cater to the needs of your hair and ensure that you distribute it evenly through your strands. 

Comb Out Any Tangles

After applying your heat protectant and giving your hair another shake, it’s time to reach for a wide-toothed comb. Just like the shaking-out technique, combing your hair at this stage will help to improve ventilation and speed up hair drying time. Thanks to the wide teeth on the comb, air flows through easily and you won’t need to worry about putting too much pressure or tension on your fragile wet hair. 

This also gives you the opportunity to de-tangle, which is always best done before your hair dries and those tangles are set in place. As always, start at the ends of your hair, holding each section with one hand so that when you work your comb through each tangle, you won’t be tugging at your roots. 

Once the ends of your hair are tangle-free, move upward and do the same, until the entirety of your hair has been detangled.

The Waiting Game

It’s now time to practice some patience. While you may be in a rush to get your hair dry as quickly as possible, the only way to do this is with a blow dryer. However, you shouldn’t even attempt to blow dry your hair until it’s about 75-80% dry. Why? Because the wetter your hair is, the longer you’ll need to blow dry it for. This only increases the amount of heat exposure your hair receives, making it far more susceptible to damage.

For this reason, avoid washing your hair when you’re in a rush. Drying your hair correctly and safely takes time – you don’t want to have to hurry through it and damage your locks as a result. If you’re in need of a hair wash but don’t have the time to properly dry your hair after, consider using a dry shampoo that morning and then giving your hair the time that it needs in the evening.

Grab Your Tools

Once your hair is about 80% dry, it’s time to reach for your hair drying tools! 

The first tool that you’ll need is a good hair dryer. If you’ve ever wondered why salon hair dryers are able to do the job much more efficiently than home versions, the answer lies in the motor. The hair dryers used by professionals tend to have a much more powerful motor. This means that they can dry hair much faster. Ideally, you need a motor that offers at least 2000 Watts, just like the Blow Me Away dryer from Nubi. This hair dryer also boasts a high-performance fan, three temperature settings, and two concentrator attachments, enabling you to achieve a perfect finish. 

Of course, you’ll also need a hairbrush. Most people favor round brushes for blow drying due to how they provide volume while making it easy to bend the ends of the hair in a certain direction. This provides a soft and flowing look, just like what you would experience if your hair was professionally blow-dried. Round brushes are available in a variety of sizes, so pick one that suits the length of your hair.

Perfect Your Hair Drying Technique

Now that you have your tools in order, it’s time to start blow drying! The first thing that you’ll need to do is section your hair. Blow drying your hair in sections, rather than attempting to do everything at once, will make it much easier to do a fast and thorough job. 

While you may be tempted to start blow drying your locks with the highest heat setting, this is the opposite of what you should do. Instead, turn the temperature down so that you’re using the low or medium setting. The thinner your hair, the less heat it will need. Using more heat than necessary will only end up causing heat damage to your strands. 

In terms of actually using your blow dryer, studies show that the safest way to do this is to keep your blow dryer nozzle about 15 cm away from your hair. It should be continuously moving too. Avoid holding it still over one spot as this will only burn those strands. 

While you’re working, pay attention to the direction of airflow. This should be pointed in the direction that your hair grows, which is usually downward. This will help to encourage your hair cuticles to lie flat, giving you a much smoother finish. 

Cool Things Down

Once you’ve finished drying your hair, give it a quick once-over with your hair dryer’s cool shot function. The purpose of this is to cool your strands down. Heat makes them more malleable, but once your locks are dry and look flawless, you don’t want anything to interfere with their shape and texture. Eliminating the heat will allow them to set in the way that you’ve styled them.

Summary

While the above hair drying technique may seem a little complex at first, give it a try a few times and it will soon become second nature. Not only will following these steps allow you to dry your hair much more efficiently, but it will also save your strands from the appearance of heat damage while giving you a gorgeous, salon-worthy finish.

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