Heatless Stretching
As we all know, heat can be damaging to the hair if used incorrectly. Heat damage will cause curls to loosen and give the hair a straight limp look that does not revert with water. Oftentimes, if there is significant damage, you will need to cut off the parts of the hair that are damaged. One way to try to avoid heat damage is to reduce direct heat use. Below are a few ways to incorporate heatless stretching into your wash day.
You will want to use these heatless techniques on your wash day when your hair is clean and well moisturized. Your hair should still be wet when attempting these stretching techniques because your curls are most pliable when wet.
Common heatless stretching techniques include:
1. Bantu knots
- Section hair into small sections and twist/twirl each section into small knots
2. Two strand twists/Braids
-
- Section hair into small sections and two strand twist or braid each section. Would recommend pulling the twists/braids into a ponytail/bun when drying to try to help stretch hair further. You want the twists/braids to be as straight as possible when drying.
3. Banding/Threading
-
- Section hair into small sections and use hair ties or thread to wrap each section of hair. As the name implies you are banding the hair with string or thread to stretch out the hair.
4. Perm rods
-
- Section hair into small sections and wrap around perm rods. Some will sit under a hooded dryer to speed up the process, but if you want to completely avoid heat then can let hair air dry. I enjoy using heatless stretching, but will mention that heatless stretching may not get your hair as straight as using heat. I have also noticed that my ends tend to tangle more when using two strand twists/bantu knots when ends are not properly trimmed as the curls will start to clump together. Also if you have low porosity hair, it can take a long time to air dry hair. But it may be a good idea to give your hair a break from heat on occasion and these can be great alternatives to stretch your hair.