You found the perfect hair products, you go for regular trims and you sleep on a silk pillow to preserve your precious locks, your pretty much an expert in all the ways you can protect your hair. However, you might be missing a trick, it’s time to drop that cotton towel, and take your hair game to the next level by switching to a microfibre towel wrap. A relative newcomer to the beauty scene, these ultra soft and super absorbent towels, to be used after washing your hair, are shaking up the beauty scene.
We are all guilty of rushing out of the shower in the morning, eager to be at the desk on time, vigorously rubbing and squeezing as much water out of our freshly washed hair as possible. You quickly whip up a makeshift turban from your cotton towel as you grab a sip of the morning coffee and take a quick bite of a croissant. Unbeknown to you this familiar morning routine could be ruining all of the hard work you have put into your haircare. When worn, the heavy cotton towel pulls down on all the delicate hair shafts, while rigorous drying and rubbing can leave the hair knotted, frizzy and damaged through friction. This causes the unruly hair to be a nightmare to blow dry and style properly as you grapple to manage the frizz.
If this sounds all too familiar, it is time to switch to a microfibre hair towel. The aim here is to prevent damage to the hair rather than waiting until the harm is done and then investing in multiple time-consuming and expensive products. It is first important to understand the science behind how hair acts when wet: when water is applied to hair, the hair absorbs the water causing the cuticle to swell up leaving it in a vulnerable, weak state. And now for the technical part, rather than the hair now consisting of only strong protein to protein bonds, some of the bonds across the length of the hair have now become hydrogen bonds, which are not as stable and can be broken and damaged more easily. Drying hair quickly minimises the time spent in this vulnerable state.
Without having to rub the hair aggressively, the microfibre version of the towel wicks away water from the hair at a much quicker rate than cotton towels due to its higher density of fibres compared to its cotton counterpart. The softer material creates less friction and therefore, less frizz. And unlike cotton towels it then displaces the water to the other side of the fabric rather than absorbing it, meaning the water can be evaporated away from the hair. This not only going to save you time in general but there is a reduction in the minutes spent using a hot, damaging hairdryer as the water has been removed more quickly.
As a cotton towel is made from organic materials, bacteria can thrive in its damp and warm environment when wrapped around your hair. Dirt and bacteria tends to sit on the surface of cotton which could be transferred onto your hair or scalp, not great considering the effort you go to get the perfect locks! On the other hand, the microfibre version is able to pick up and bury dirt and bacteria particles in its dense fibres, locking them away from your freshly washed tresses. Giving it great green credentials in the fact it doesn’t have to be washed in between each use.
A further benefit of the microfibre towel is its ability to stay in position rather than unravel at the slightest movement like a cotton towel, especially important for those of us with a long list of things to do! Its ability to stay put means you can use it to cover the hair as you sleep when leaving on an overnight treatment or hair oil without the product transferring to your bed linen.
Hair Lovings microfibre towel (which can is available here).
