This T-Shirt Hair-Drying Hack Will Change Your Life

If we told you the cure for frizzy, unruly hair was an old T-shirt, we would expect one of the following reactions: an incredulous laugh, a dismissive scoff or a disturbed stare — or all three, in quick succession. We don’t blame you. It’s hard to look at that ratty high school gym class tee and picture it being the hair-taming miracle you’ve been praying for, but today we’re sharing a trick that may just change the hair game forever. All you’ll need is a plain cotton tee.

Here’s How the T-Shirt Hair Hack Works

Instead of drying your hair with a towel post-shower, swap it for a T-shirt. Here’s why:

“When hair is wet, it becomes weaker and softer,” explains hairstylist Isabella Vázquez. “If we use a regular towel to dry it, the grooves of the towel become aggressors to the cuticle of the hair. Towels absorb all the moisture from our hair, when what we want to do is absorb the excess water without stripping it of the moisture that helps the hair from becoming frizzy.”

So why a cotton shirt, you ask? Vázquez says the T-shirt will absorb excess water while preventing frizz. “Because T-shirts do not have the rough grooves of a towel, the flat surface allows water to sink in and slides over the hair instead of roughing it up.”

Another great alternative to using a T-shirt is trying microfiber towel. We like the NuMe Microfiber Hair Wrap because it’s lightweight and will give you the same smoothing benefits. This drying method works especially well for curly-haired people who are all too familiar with frizzy-hair fiascos. Unlike a thick, fluffy towels, a T-shirt or microfiber towel will dry your strands without disrupting your natural curl pattern.

Tutorial: How to Wrap and Dry Your Hair Using a T-Shirt

STEP 1: After washing your hair, take a cotton tee and use it to gently wring out any excess water. Then, gather your hair and wrap the T-shirt around it and gently squeeze to sop up the water.

STEP 2: Flip your hair over upside down and pull your hair through the opening of your T-shirt so that the opening stretches around your hairline.

STEP 3: Twist the T-shirt until you reach the end and tuck it underneath the opening at the nape of your neck.

STEP 4: Leave the T-shirt on for 10-15 minutes, undo and style as usual.

Some women prefer to put product into their hair before wrapping it up in a tee. Experiment with it to find the combination that works best for your unique hair type. If you like to style your hair after you shower, run some mousse or styling cream through your strands before twisting it up in the shirt. For nourishing oils or smoothing serums, apply to strands once you’ve let it down from the tee. When your hair has dried, either naturally or by a blow dryer, you should notice how smooth it feels!

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