new thread
After showering, I like to soak up most of the moisture by patting a towel on my head for about 5 mins, after that I MUST comb my hair for it to look 'manageable' when it's fully dry (which takes 2 hours to air-dry nowadays) so I comb the ends very carefully to make it look even and straight, and to get rid of some of the wet look.
Anyway, back when I was growing my hair for six months in the summer, I used to towel dry, then shake my head from side to side so that I can get most of the water out. I'm thinking of doing this again but is it really a good idea? I don't seem to remember any tangles resulting from doing that and it used to make my flat, wet hair strands loosen up from eachother which makes combing my hair an easy procedure rather than combing all of the joined flat wet hairs.
Oh, and from past experience, I just have to comb my wet hair, otherwise it looks frizzy and tangled whilst dry.
After reading up on towel drying, I like to avoid it. The water that's left on your hair to dry releases oil ONTO the hair after the water evaporates, whereas the towel sucks in the water, and thereby, the oil.
So I take my hair and gently 'twist' the excess water out. Since my hair is shorter I have to do it in sections, but some people might be able to get away with just one twist.
Twisting puts strain on your hair, and since hair is weaker when wet, you run the risk of causing damage from the twisting action.
What I do is gently squeeze as much water out as I can, then lightly towel dry my hair just enough so it doesn't drip, then let it air dry.
Jim
Actually, I've read that hair isn't weaker when wet, just more flexible. If it's stretched too far, it'll be damaged. That's how breakage happens.
By 'twist', I mean I wrap it into a shape that I can swueeze the water out with, not twist all the water out. I should've been more clear.