Why Deep Condition For More Than 1 HR?

[Aggie]

So basically from everyone's posts, there doesn't seem to be an added benefit? Just personal preference for you and your hair?

No I can not agree with this as the needs really are different from person to person and from circumstance to circumstance. It really does depend on your hair's needs. My previous post is proof of this.

ETA: Also deep conditioning aids in faster hair growth for my hair.

 

[Aggie]

I always DC for a hour or more but never overnight. Is there a such thing is DC'ing too much?

Yes there is. The reason being, you can end up with either too soft hair or too hard hair, and it's important to find that balance that's perfect for your hair, which oftentimes, is not easy.

 

[Aggie]

You can 'over-moisturize' your hair - it'll end up soft, weak, 'mushy', over stretchy, etc, etc. It's easy to fix, though - just stop moisturizing for a lil while and give your hair a chance to 'dry' out some, so to speak. I've done it only once.

ETA: And can I be just a wee bit jelly of ya'll who don't have to DC? The hair, she would run away from home if I skipped more than two weeks straight....

Girl JK, Me too!!

 

[Naturelle]

Hi Naturelle,

I voted depend on hair need and the reason I did that is because I use henna and other ayurveda powders that can be very drying to the hair. They also strengthens the hair strands like you wouldn't believe and in order to get the suppleness back in my hair, I DC much longer than my usual 30-60 minutes. I'd say at least 3-5 hours even to overnight at times to ensure I get the elasticity back in my hair. So in answer to your question, yes it is beneficial to DC longer than an hour but depending on the need of the hair at the time.

Let me elaborate further. When I first did a henna treatment on my hair, I only DC'ed for about an hour and a half and my hair was still extremely hard, so I lengthen the time to 3 hours and it came out better but when I DC'ed 5 hours to overnight, my hair came out wonderful and soft and silky. I realized then that the length of time I DC'ed actually mattered again dependingon my hair's needs.

Another case in point, when I went to Canada this past summer, there was virtually no humidity. Now mind you, I live in the Bahamas where the humidity is almost always above 85%. My hair reacted violently to the change in humidity and started breaking like crazy. I came home and DC'ed like there was no tomorrow and my hair bounced back in short order. The humidity at home helped to keep that moisture level up in my hair as well. Hope this was helpful.

Thanks Aggie...your post helped mucho!

I can see if a person is using strengthening treatments ie. protein, henna, yogurt etc. the need to ensure that moisture levels and protein levels are balanced thus deep conditioning longer than 1 HR.

Makes complete sense for it to depend on hair need.

For those who may not use or need strengthening treatments, maybe they don't need to deep condition for more than 1 HR? Just a thought.

Love your response tho Aggie, now it allows me to gage depending on my henna, protein or yogurt treatments how long to dc for. Thanks

 

[heyfranz]

My hair loves moisture, so i will DC overnight on the weekends. Even though i moisturize and seal daily, my hair just doesn't seem moisturized enough until DC day.

 

[Aggie]

Thanks Aggie...your post helped mucho!

I can see if a person is using strengthening treatments ie. protein, henna, yogurt etc. the need to ensure that moisture levels and protein levels are balanced thus deep conditioning longer than 1 HR.

Makes complete sense for it to depend on hair need.

For those who may not use or need strengthening treatments, maybe they don't need to deep condition for more than 1 HR? Just a thought.

Love your response tho Aggie, now it allows me to gage depending on my henna, protein or yogurt treatments how long to dc for. Thanks

You're quite welcomed honey.

 

[naturalgurl]

Yes there is. The reason being, you can end up with either too soft hair or too hard hair, and it's important to find that balance that's perfect for your hair, which oftentimes, is not easy.

Yep, all hair is different. If I have only learned ONE thing here it's that...experimenting is key!

 

[Muse]

Wow I called myself DCing by putting in some Joico MR balm or the Intense Hydrator for 5 min while in the shower. These conditioners have low molecular sizes that penetrate deep into the hair so I always figured 5 minutes was enough time for it to work effectively and that another 55 minutes would be a waste. Well the bottle says leave in for 5 min...I always get very moisturized hair especially with the MR balm.

 

[stardust1222]

I voted overnight only because I'm starting to think that the only reason my hair don't responds well to 1 hour my hooded dryer is because the area where I live has hard water. So lately I've been doing 1 hour under my hooded dyer then a over night under a plastic cap then rinse in the morning. And I'm still not satisfied with the results.

 

[CHECKMATE!]

I DC on dry hair for about 1-2hrs while watching TV/on my laptop...I cant do the overnight thing anymore... just the thought of my 1000 thread pillow cases getting messy *cringes*

 

[Aggie]

I voted overnight only because I'm starting to think that the only reason my hair don't responds well to 1 hour my hooded dryer is because the area where I live has hard water. So lately I've been doing 1 hour under my hooded dyer then a over night under a plastic cap then rinse in the morning. And I'm still not satisfied with the results.

Maybe you should look into getting a shower filter to relieve you of washing your hair in hard water. This also helps your products work better on your hair and minimize the amount of times you'd have to clarify and chelate your hair as well. It is so multi-beneficial, you should get one. I use the sprite hoc model, check out my fotki product album for more info on it.

 

[redecouvert]

there wasn't an option for my answer. I usually deep conditon 30 min to an hour. I never do overnight because i just don't like sleeping with something on my head.
i don't use heat when i deep condition and in my case i feel that an hour is more than enough

 

[lwilliams1922]

I read here that a 15 min DC with heat, is roughly equivalent to a 1 hour DC without heat. So I just do whatever I have time for.

But like msa, I sleep overnight with oil once a week, so my hair is not over mushy. I have done this before with a moisturising conditioner and it was VERY mushy. Never again!

Do you mean that sleeping with oil will keep your hair from getting over moisturised?

 

[RedVelvet310]

I just do it overnight because I'm lazy...

ETA~ I rinse my hair daily anyway so it's not biggie to DC everyday with my concoctions.

ETA~ Well, I've never experienced mushyness, but then again I use coconut milk and it has light protein qualities. I don't really know about it having extra benefit but I do feel that my hair is spending hours in nice moisture instead of dryness, that surely doesn't hurt!

Co-signing on the bolded

 

[Likeyouneverseenme]

I put it on in the morning when i wake up and i rinse it out in the afternoon, I don't have a set time and I have even DC'd overnight with out any problem. However, I really don't think it is necessary to leave it in longer than an hour or so. Our hair is it's like a sponge, when it's saturated, it can't soak up anymore. I don't think leaving it in longer is making any difference, at least not for me.

 

[tiffers]

Max w/o heat: Overnight
Max w/ heat: 1 hour

 

[Toy]

I'm to lazy to DC with Heat,so i dc on Wednesday for 30mins and on saturday for an Hour.

 

[Brownie518]

For my washes, I put CPR on dry hair with a plastic cap and leave it on for an hour or more. Usually more. After washing, I leave my moisturizing DC on for at least 30 minutes, longer if I'm feeling dry or I've done anything special like a big protein treatment, touch up, color rinse, etc. Works great for me.

 

[MizzBrown]

I dc'd overnight once and my hair was way overmoisturized and mushy Never again.

You hair is only going to absorb what it can absorb. Sitting with conditioner in your hair for days is pointless (and sometimes detrimental) IMO. Esp. counterproductive if your strands are fine. I can see coarse hair wanting to leave conditioner on longer, but less than hour.

Once your hair isn't damaged anymore, you should not need to leave it on that long anyways.

A little birdie told me this too! Science & knowledge!

Feel like i've been delivered.

Won't catch me pre-pooing and DC'in for days on end when it aint even necessary AND it's counterproductive!

More folks should know this. It would change the state of their hair.

 

[Serenity_Peace]

I've always wondered about this and the points of view are mixed. Some people say that you run the risk of over conditioning if you DC more than 30 minutes. Others say that the longer you DC, the more beneficial it is. For me, it depends on what I need. If my hair is breaking or shedding, I need to protein, followed by a long DC. If my hair is in good condition, I don't need to DC for more than 30 minutes. I suppose that it depends on how often you DC. You can overdo it if you hair doesn't need it. Since it's cold and dry here, I find that I need to DC a bit longer than I do in the Spring or Summer.

 

[BostonMaria]

I have thick hair and right now its extra dry due to the cold weather. I like to DC at least 2-3X a week right now. In the spring I'll probably cut back to 1-2x a week. I just purchased a Ion dryer yesterday so I'm under the dryer with DC as I type this. I just pay attention to how my hair looks/feels and go from there.

 

[CocoBunny]

No I can not agree with this as the needs really are different from person to person and from circumstance to circumstance. It really does depend on your hair's needs. My previous post is proof of this.

ETA: Also deep conditioning aids in faster hair growth for my hair.[/quote]

Faster growth or more retention? Or both?

 

[Quest4healthyhair]

I think anything more than 1/2 hour ( with heat ) is a bit excessive. There have been times when I left conditioner in my hair all day. But my hair became mushy and over moisturized. Failed the porosity test miserably.

 

[CAPlush]

I leave my conditioner on for 20 min with heat, then I wrap in a towel and let the conditioner sit for up to 3-4 hours longer. I used to do this 2x a week, now I am lucky if I get around to 2x a month. I think I get further benefit from letting the conditioner sit longer, most importantly softer new growth when I'm stretching. I would not do overnight because I would be uncomfortable with a wet scalp for that long.

 

[LushLox]

I DC twice a week, but because I use steam I don't DC for any longer than 30 minutes, which is more than enough.

 

[1Aleeesha]

Multitasking

 

[1Aleeesha]

No I can not agree with this as the needs really are different from person to person and from circumstance to circumstance. It really does depend on your hair's needs. My previous post is proof of this.

ETA: Also deep conditioning aids in faster hair growth for my hair.[/quote]

Faster growth or more retention? Or both?

All that...Both!

 

[SmartyPants]

After going thru the Deep Conditining thread I started to think about the length of time spent.

I usually dc for a min of 30 min, sometimes an hour. But I'm wondering if there is any sense to deep conditioning for longer than that? I'm not sure if there would be any extra added benefits (ie. 3 hours, 6 hours overnight) for dc'ing. I'm wondering if the hair would just reject all the extra because too much is being pumped in? (I'm not usre if that even makes sense) but someone feel free to correct me and educate me if I'm wrong.

If dc'ing (esp using heat) once the hair shaft is open and you've allowed time for moisture/protein to penetrate, wouldn't the next best thing be too close the cuticle up as soon as the the hair shaft is penetrated as supposed to waiting hours on end?

I'm no expert I'm just wondering. I dc weekly and I'd like to up my dc regimen. But I want to know if there is a point to going beyond a certain time frame.

I know people have experiences with overnight dc'ing, but then I frequently read where ppl over'dc which of course leads to mushy hair prone to breakage.

So I guess the question would be if you are going to dc what would be the min and max time (if any) to reap the full benefit?

IMHO, min 30 max 1 hr.

The only time I go over an hour (usually overnight) is when I use the Aphogee 2-step protein conditioner. I really have to condition overnight after using that so my hair won't be jacked up from the protein. I usually only use the 2-step protein every 8 to 10 weeks.

 

[msa]

This is a really good post about deep conditioning and whether leaving it on for longer has any added effect.

http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2009/03/monday-myths-can-you-really-deep.html

It's also a really good blog too.

 

[bedazzled]

I think 20-30 mins is enough. I've never seen a deep conditioner say "keep on hair for 45 minutes or more" so I am assuming that there is only a need for 20 mins of conditioning. This gives enough time for the shaft to open and absorb the conditioner. I mean your hair is only going to absorb what it needs. Similar to the body and vitamins. You can take 100,000 mg of MSM all you want but if your body is only absorbing 10,000 mg of MSM then you're going to have the richest pee in America (i.e the bright green pee). For me this is the same as people slopping thick layers of conditioner to DC. You're pretty much wasting product...Your hair isnt going to absorb a liter of conditioner because you want it to.

EDIT: Sometimes I also think that if you have to DC for 5+ hours to achieve any benefits, you probably need a better product...perhaps salon quality?