Alternative Plopping Methods : Hair Nets and Hooded Dryers

My last blog on plopping with a T-shirt got a lot of hits and positive reviews, so today I'm going to share a couple of alternative methods if T-shirt plopping worked well for you. Unless you're one of the few who can air-dry perfect curls, you're likely using a dryer with a diffuser attachment. This is the ONLY way I can dry my own hair, as air-drying makes my curls flat and frizzy (and takes forever) and a hair dryer itself is a disaster.

T-shirt plopping worked really well for me. I kept the T-shirt on for about 40 minutes and was able to diffuse my hair afterward for an excellent result. I like it SO much, in fact, that I got to thinking.... is there a way to FULLY dry my hair by plopping without having to sleep with a t-shirt on my head or wait 40 minutes and STILL have to diffuse?

If you haven't visited the Curl Talk Forums on Naturallycurly.com, you should. There are some great women with some GREAT insight, and since dealing with curly hair is so much different than dealing with straight hair, I've gotten advice and ideas from some of the members there that I've never even thought about or read about elsewhere. One of which is the concept of the hooded hair dryer. You know that I'm talking about... the thing you sit under when you get highlights or color; the thing all the little old ladies getting perms sit under while their hair is setting up. The thought of having my own hooded dryer seemed silly to me, as my curls are pretty long. No real point in drying the top of my head while the bottom sits soaking wet. That is, until I found plopping. Now my hair is gathered at the top of my head and in the perfect position to be dried hands-free.

With or without a hooded dryer, I found great tutorial about using a hair net to plop curls, vs. the T-shirt method. WHY would you want to try this? A net allows air to penetrate through the material, thus allowing you to use a hair dryer (sans diffuser) to dry curls quicker OR air from a hooded dryer to penetrate right through the netting into the hair instead of getting stuck inside the heavy cotton material of a t-shirt. Check this out!

If you're looking to find the same nets she is using, Sally DOES have them for $2.39. If you're a beauty club member there, only$2.09 each. Can't beat that with a stick. These nets were made to fit over a full set of rollers, so they are nice an oversized and will fit over your hair even if it's very long. If you're looking to find them, they look like this:

Jac-O-Net Triangle Veil

What's great about this video is that she shows you a way to use a regular old hair dryer to get great curls. But I have decided to take it one step further and go the hands-free method. I found this amazing hooded dryer on Amazon.com and it was delivered to my doorstep today!

Tourmaline Tools by Hot Tools Professional Dryer 

My thought process behind this purchase is this: I'm going to spend 15-20 minutes drying my hair everyday, whether it's a wash day or a refresh day. Instead of spending that 15 to 20 minutes in my bathroom holding a manual dryer to my head, I could spend it sitting in a chair, sipping coffee (or wine, if it's evening!) reading and relaxing. Is it worth it to me to spend $110 to get BACK 15-20 minutes of time each day? Absolutely. So, tonight is my first go. I'll take pics of the process and results. If you find any tips or tricks I haven't heard about, please share them! I love hearing new ideas.

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