Why does my hair take so dayum long to dry?

[sensi sweetie]

I tried to search it and find the answer myself but the new search engine is worthless. forgive me!

Anyways, I have natural bsl hair that takes forever to dry.

I showered and bunned last night at 11 before bed and now (1 PM) it is STILL damp! I remember reading something about porosity and the speed your hair dries but like I said, I couldn't find it.

Can someone clarify for me? Does this mean I have porous hair? Non porous? And most importantly is there anything I can do about it?

TIA

 

[Eritreladiee]

Well, I personally haven't read up on porosity and all that, so I'm definitely not an expert or anything. But, I would assume that your hair would need to be drying loose if you wanted to measure how porous it is. The fact that your hair is tied up in a bun, you should expect for it to still be wet. That's how my hair is too when I wet bun... a day will go by and it'll still be wet. Perhaps a looser bun would speed up the drying process

 

[sensi sweetie]

Well, I personally haven't read up on porosity and all that, so I'm definitely not an expert or anything. But, I would assume that your hair would need to be drying loose if you wanted to measure how porous it is. The fact that your hair is tied up in a bun, you should expect for it to still be wet. That's how my hair is too when I wet bun... a day will go by and it'll still be wet. Perhaps a looser bun would speed up the drying process

Oh I guess I should have mentioned my hair takes forever to dry no matter HOW its styled. Bun, twists, braid outs, or even just out. Its not super thick, but it is fine/kinda dense along with its length. None the less even when I leave it fully out it can take a solid 3 hours to fully dry. I feel like all that water chillin in my shaft is weakening my strands

 

[shunemite]

No! You just have thick long hair, you're blessed! Your hair holds onto moisture, I wish I had that problem. I have a few friends like that, who have to sit under the drier for over an hour and the hair is still not dry. One friend recently tried to air dry in a ponytail and 2 days later, it was still damp. Me, on the other hand, if I wrap my hair after a shampoo and conditioning and do housechores, within 2 to 4 hours my hair is dry WITHOUT heat. With heat, 20 minutes. Why? Coz I have fine hair strands. My hair dries easily, gets blown in the wind easily, and I can't put heavy products on it coz it gets weighed down just like that.

 

[sensi sweetie]

No! You just have thick long hair, you're blessed! Your hair holds onto moisture, I wish I had that problem. I have a few friends like that, who have to sit under the drier for over an hour and the hair is still not dry. One friend recently tried to air dry in a ponytail and 2 days later, it was still damp. Me, on the other hand, if I wrap my hair after a shampoo and conditioning and do housechores, within 2 to 4 hours my hair is dry WITHOUT heat. With heat, 20 minutes. Why? Coz I have fine hair strands. My hair dries easily, gets blown in the wind easily, and I can't put heavy products on it coz it gets weighed down just like that.

Aww, ty babygirl. you made my day

bumping for anyone who knows about porosity!

 

[Poohbear]

Hair Porosity

Porosity is the measure of the hair's ability to absorb moisture. This is determined by the condition of the hair's cuticle layer (the overlapping scales of the hair shaft), and is rated as low, normal, and high. In normal, healthy hair, the cuticle is compact and inhibits the penetration of the hair shaft by moisture - both moisture going in, and moisture coming out. When the cuticle is overly compact and prevents the penetration of the hair by moisture it has low porosity. Hair with low porosity is harder to process, and is resistant to haircolor and perms. Low porosity hair must usually be softened prior to other chemical services. Hair with high porosity is hair whose cuticle layer is open and the hair too-readily absorbs moisture. Overly-porous hair also releases moisture easily and becomes dry and is easily damaged. Acid-balanced conditioning treatments are used to contract the cuticle layer and lock-in moisture on overly-porous hair.

Extreme caution must be used when performing chemical services on overly porous hair to prevent damage. Haircolor will take much more quickly and strongly in overly porous hair (and semi-permanent and demi-permanent haircolors will fade much more quickly). Perms and straighteners will process much faster in high-porosity hair as well.

To determine the porosity of your hair, simply feel it - both when wet and when dry. If the hair feels straw-like and rough when dry, or if it feels gummy or slightly rubbery when wet, then you probably have a problem with overly porous hair.

©Hairfinder.com

Source: Hair Porosity and how to determine or measure the porosity of your hair

 

[hannan]

Yeah, I airdried my hair out and it was dry in about 3-4 hours.

 

[AfroKink]

So if your hair takes forever to dry it can mean that you have low porosity?

 

[My Friend]

That's a good thing to have.

 

[D.Lisha]

Ok well...seems like my relaxer didn't take too good.
My mommy left it on for about 15minutes....and it seems it came out kinda tex-laxed.....does this mean my hair has low-porosity? Or my mom jst didn't let the relaxer sit in my hair long enuff?
This whole porosity issue has always had my head like everytime......

 

[thecurlycamshow]

My hair takes forever to dry and yes it's thick upon thick. I usually don't care about it drying until winter roll by I've learned to wrap my hair in a t-shirt to soak up the excess moisture and my hair will dry within 2 hours.

 

[PrincesscurlyQ<3]

when i was relaxed it only took an hour for my hair to air dry, and 15 minutes to blow dry. now my natural hair, thick type 4 a/b takes about 6 hours to air dry, in 2 strand twists it takes a day. my hair is sl .

 

[Phaer]

My hair takes forever to dry as well, I once washed my hair around 9pm, fell asleep face down, and woke up with my hair still wet. I find that if I do cornrows it dries a little faster, but if I just leave it in a puff it, will take double the time.

 

[divachyk]

I understand the text book meanings of porosity but I don't understand where my hair falls because this is what I've observed -- My hair dries super duper fast if it's left bare, without leave-ins. My hair takes a very long time to dry when leave-ins are applied. Why might that be?

 

[omegachick31]

I have low porosity hair and I attribute this to why it takes my hair so long to dry accompanied by the fact that it also takes it a minute to get wet. I have really been focused on the issue of porosity because I believe it plays a far greater role in retention than is realized. It has been suggested that low porosity is a good thing but as someone who possesses this property I'm not entirely convinced. Yes it's hard for moisture to escape but once it does it's hard to replace it without a consistent and constant moisture regimen, so you either have to wash your hair more frequently or moisturize heavily several times a week. Also the theory is that low porosity strands have more protein content so from my experience I don't need to use any heavy protein treatments or reconstructors and when I have I had lots more shedding and breakage. After realizing that I had low porosity hair I shifted my moisturizing habit and virtually eliminated heavy proteins and my hair is shedding probably 1/4 of it's previous rate(I only comb to detangle my hair once a week) anyway I'm still researching and just thought I would chime in.

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

how quickly or slowly my hair dries depends on how much moisturizing product i use. if i use an Herbal Essence conditioner, it will take all dang day for my hair to dry. if i use a regular moisturizer cream, my hair can be dry in 3-4 hours. ♥

 

[Amoreofcurls]

Has anybody thought of sitting under a dryer?

I have low porosity as well, and my hair, especially my ends, hold on to moisture for dear life...I like to style my dry stretched hair and usually have to wait almost a whole day for it to fully dry...


Do you think it would be too much to sit under a dryer after washing then proceed with styling?