Who wants to spend a whole day washing natural hair? Not me. I will admit, there was a time when it literally did take me a whole day to complete the process. I would spend several minutes shampooing, up to an hour or two deep conditioning, a few hours detangling, all night air drying in chunky twists and a few hours the next day twisting. Sigh. However, I have gotten tired of that lifestyle and have found some ways to shorten the task. In this article, I’ll share two of my faster wash routines (outside of the wash and go) that may hopefully give you ideas of where to cut corners:
1. HEATLESS OPTION:
If I want to avoid using heat, I have to accept some level of shrinkage (not a lot), but that is usually fine with me. This routine is one I’ve done sporadically and it works out well when I don’t have much time on my hands. Here are the details of each process:
Wash – 10 minutes:
I first finger separate my hair (i.e., not finger detangle but finger separate an old chunky twist-out, chunky braid-out, or set of big twists) which takes no more than 10 minutes. Then I put my hair into up to eight big twists. I bend my head over the tub, wet it thoroughly, dilute some shampoo with water in a squirt bottle, and squirt the mixture onto my scalp and roots. I massage for up to 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. The goal isn’t to get my hair super duper squeaky clean but clean enough.
Deep condition and detangle – 45 minutes:
This is one area in which I’ve shaved off a lot of time with the realizations that:
1) finger detangling for hours does not benefit my hair any better than a few minutes of finger separating followed by gentle comb detangling with conditioner AND
2) so long as I keep my hair in a fairly “detangled” state (e.g., protected) between washes, the detangling process goes by easier.
After washing, I squeeze and blot out excess water from my hair and then apply a detangling conditioner (e.g., Suave Coconut, Tresemme Naturals), comb detangle and then apply a deep conditioner (e.g., ORS Replenishing Pack, ApHogee 2-Minute Keratin Reconstructor) on top of that focusing on the ends. I do this section by section until the last one, leave the conditioner on for another 5-15 minutes (with each of the four sections twisted and clipped), and then rinse section by section.
Plop to dry – 15 to 30 minutes:
This step is really easy and just involves me sitting with a towel wrapped around my hair for that time period while doing something on the computer, watching a show, etc. The goal is to get my hair anywhere from damp to damp-dry – but not completely dry – for styling. (My hair is still in twisted sections at this point.)
Moisturize, style and done – minimum of 20 minutes:
Finally, I moisturize and style into big twists or braids (for twist out or braid out), which can take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes.
2. LOW OR INDIRECT HEAT OPTION:
When I don’t have much time but also don’t mind using a little heat, the following routine is usually my go-to these days. My aim is not to get my hair bone straight or completely dry but very stretched and almost dry in a short amount of time. Here are the details of each process:
Wash – 10 minutes:
Same as above.
Deep condition and detangle – 45 minutes:
Same as above.
Plop to dry – 10 to 15 minutes:
Same as above but for a shorter period of time. The goal is to remove excess water and get my hair closer to damp than damp-dry.
Moisturize, protect and low-heat drying – 30-45 minutes:
This is something I did a couple years back and to which I am recently returning. Again, my aim is not to get my hair bone straight or completely dry. Rather, it is to get my hair very stretched and almost dry in a short amount of time. I like to use wet-to-dry flat iron with steam vents (on medium heat) for this but a blow dryer can also do the job. Heat protectant is a must, though.
Style and Done – minimum of 20 minutes!
Moisturize and style into chunky twists or braids, which take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes.
How do you cut down on your wash day?
