Natural Hair Tip: An old cotton tshirt

I am used to washing my hair and waiting for hours for it to air dry. I mean hours! I would wash it around midday and it would only be dry by around 10am the next day. This is partly because I wash my hair in sections and keep it in braids until it dries (unbraiding would help with the drying but also causes tangling for me)



I was considering buying a microfibre cloth but my twitter buddy CHM has saved me quite a lot of money! The tip she gave me was really simple, use an old tshirt instead of a towel.I know, I bet you have read this before too, just never tried it..........you should!



This weekend I tried it out! I did not actually use an old tshirt because I didn't have one but the perfect substitute was an old cotton top which I had placed into my 'clothes I don't care about' storage (You know those clothes that you break out for camping or moving house or painting....)



1. It was a lovely thick fabric which soaked up the water really well. A thin tshirt may not work as well and cotton as a fabric is ideal for drying.

2. I squeezed out each braid gently and my hair went from wet to just slightly damp in seconds.  

3. The top is much softer and less abrasive than a towel

4. I can envision that if my hair was free, the cotton top would have cut the air drying time to around 2-3 hours. 



I did try previously to use a paper towel as suggested by reader Kadiane, but I am a tree hugger. The paper towel really does work better than the cotton top but for me, the cotton top has top environmental marks being both recyclable and reusable. The microfibre cloth purchase is postponed indefinitely.



How about you, do you air dry your hair or do you get bored and just blow dry it?  Have you tried the old tshirt method?