Seriously, the 12 year old inside my head wants to laugh every time I hear this word…so what the heck?
I learned this technique, not knowing it was an actual thing, a couple of years ago when a friend posted on Facebook how she slept with her wet hair soaked in conditioner & wrapped up in a t-shirt and had AMAZING curls the next day…no frizz, and beautiful bounce and definition…so, I tried it…guess what? Same result…best. Hair. Ever.
So, did we do it right? Well, not really. But it worked. It’s really not a good thing to regularly sleep with soaking wet hair wrapped up tightly…but, that’s a story for another day. Also, if you’re really doing it right, you shouldn’t need to leave your hair constantly saturated with conditioner…in the end, that’s going to lead to build up and weighed down hair. But guess what? There are no hard and fast rules in this curly hair game…you find what works best for you, and go with it! And share the love…you never know who might benefit from your knowledge or experiments…good or bad!
So, what is a plop, and how do you do it?
Plopping is a curly hair technique of protecting the curls in that stage between wet and dry. Using the right towel or t shirt will absorb excess water, without sucking too much moisture out like a regular terry cloth will do. The technique will also help to give your curls beautiful definition and bounce.
Here’s the 411 on what you need, how to do it, and what to avoid:
- What you need:
- Soaking wet hair.
- Your favorite styling products.
- A soft cotton t shirt, or a great hair towel made from microfiber or bamboo cotton.
- How to do it:
- After applying stylers, flip your head upside down, and ‘plop’ it onto the towel or t shirt. Your hair will all be ‘accordioned’ into a pile ontop of your head.
- Wrap Up your towel or t shirt, secure, and you’re done!
- Leave this in for 5-10 minutes, longer if desired. Some recommend 30-60 minutes.
- Unwrap your hair, and air dry or diffuse.
- What to avoid:
- Every one with curls learns very quickly to NOT touch your hair while it’s wet, especially after applying styling products…do your best to not disturb the curls, especially with dry hands, while wet.
- Terry cloth towels, or anything else extremely drying. These can simply pull too much moisture out of your hair. Curls need moisture to form without frizz.
- Insanity. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to do all of this perfectly, ok? We are all perfectly imperfect – as proven in the video below…where you’ll notice my towel is inside out. Who cares, right? You are beautiful just the way you are!
And that’s it, in a nutshell! You can also find lots of video and pictorial (one I find particularly informative is linked here) how to’s to wrap your t-shirt securely! I haven’t used a t-shirt in quite some time…as I found that my Bamboo Towel to work best for me, and it dries very quickly after use!
Much Love,
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I love this, Cindi. 😊 I’m sending love to you, my fellow curly girl. Years of my life were spent straightening my hair. Perhaps you can relate? It wasn’t until a major health crisis resulted in me losing most of my hair caused me to stop going through that damaging routine. Nowadays, I embrace the curls and do everything I can to protect them. We are unique, you know?
I agree with you – the plop is an interesting technique. First time I heard the word, I had the same reaction as you… “Wha? What is THAT?!?” I’ve tried this method quite a few times since, but can’t seem to get it right for me. I’m not sure if it’s the extremely hard water we have, the texture of my hair or the combination of the two. All I know is my hair goes flat and lifeless when I try to plop.
It seems the only method that works for me is washing, conditioning, patting dry with towel, applying leave-in conditioner, and then a curl defining cream. Clip back my bangs so they dry with some definition, and then let air dry for several hours. Once nearly dry, I gently ‘crunch’ the curls to release some of the tightness.
I love your instructions, though. I guarantee you plenty of curly girls are going to read this and absolutely love it. When plopping works, it’s a curly life-saver. 😁
Sending my love to you and yours. God bless you! ♥ Thanks again for commenting on my guest post at When Women Inspire, “5 symptoms of heart disease in women + prevention tips.”
Curls can be incredibly fickle! And, yes, it doesn’t work for everyone FOR SURE! Hard water here too…seems as long as I clarify once a monthish, I can manage that. It’s really quite fascinating to me all the different methods we can try! Thanks for such a A GREAT comment with so much information! It just adds so much value to this post!