Does Scrunching Your Hair Damage it? Why/Why Not?

Scrunching your hair is the most common thing you may do. But at times, it may feel like you’re damaging the hair.

While looking for the reasons for damage, it seemed vague. Not all professional stylists draw a clear line on this topic. So a confusion remains here on the scrunching topic.

So, do you also have the same question-does scrunching your hair damage it?

Well, in most cases it does damage the hair. But it’s mostly dependent on the method of scrunching. If you use your hand, towel, clips, and bands, the hair won’t be damaged. But if you use heat and chemicals for scrunching, the hair can be damaged.

As everything depends on the methods, it’s important to know the scrunching procedures. We’ve explained them step by step. So check it out.

What Does Scrunching Your Hair Do?

Well, scrunching is a popular hair technique. It helps to get curls and waves on the hair. Though there are a few steps in the process it’s the main idea.

It’s mostly done on damp hair. So that when you scrunch, it can create curls or waves. If you have curly hair, scrunching would round up the curls. That would mean that you’ll have amazing full curls. 

The same goes for wavy hair as well. You’ll either get full-on waves or curls. 

Now straight hair also has the effect of scrunching. It can give the hair beach waves or loose curls.

Apart from these, it gives the hair extra volume. If you have totally flat hair, scrunching would improve the hair texture. The hair will look volumized.

So you can skip saloon costs and still get amazing hairstyles. Because most hairstyles add a punch when it’s done on wavy to volumized hair. So you can have those hairstyles too just at home.

However, you might have to worry about hair damage after scrunching or styling. So read on.

Does Scrunching Your Hair Damage it?-Explained!

Well, scrunching doesn’t necessarily have to be damaging. But it depends on the method you choose to scrunch your hair. There’s a lot of ways that we use to scrunch our hair. Not all of them are good as we mentioned before.

Some scrunching methods may lead to frizzy hair all over the head. Some will suck out the moisture from the hair. So let’s see which popular scrunching techniques can cause damage. 

Using Heat Can Damage The Hair

It’s the most popular and easiest way to scrunch your hair. You take a curler to have the perfect effect. Or you may use a hairdryer. 

In that case, you dry the hair and keep scrunching it. At that time, the heat might be higher than 150 degrees. This range is harmful to your hair.

The heat will dry up the hair and make it frizzy. While you scrunch the dry hair, it tends to break a lot. Ultimately, you’ll have strawy hair with breakage issues.

So this technique is not advisable if you’re wanting to scrunch your hair.

Using Hairspray Can Damage The Hair

Another thing you might have tried is hairsprays. It’s commonly used among scrunchy hair lovers. 

All you have to do is spray the chemical and scrunch the hair. Then the chemical will help in keeping the curls enact.

But some of the spray chemicals might get to the scalp and cause irritation. Because they contain ingredients like polyvinyl alcohol and denatured alcohol. 

The sprays also strip off the moisture layer from the hair. So the hair looks extremely dull if done frequently.

But don’t get disappointed just yet. Because there are safer ways that you can use to scrunch the hair. For that, you have to just scroll down.

What Are The Safe Ways to Scrunch The Hair Without Damaging it?

As we’ve already mentioned, scrunching can be harmful if not done properly. For example, heating up the hair with curlers or straighteners will damage the hair.

You might even have hair smelling burnt after using the straightener. So to avoid all of these, we’ve mentioned some ways to scrunch your hair and look fab.

Check them out right now. But before that, have a look at this quick comparison of the methods we’ve explained.

Now you have an idea about the different methods, move towards the detailed procedures.

Using Towel to Scrunch 

Using a towel is one way to scrunch your hair. It’s one of the easiest ways to scrunch as well. While it is the easiest way, you need to go for the right towel. A microfiber towel would be the wise option to choose.

It will ensure that the hair doesn’t face breakage. Your hair won’t be frizzy and dull looking at all. So let’s describe to you the steps of towel scrunching. 

Step 1 of 3: Wet Your Hair

The first step of scrunching is to wet the hair. So you’ll have to wash your hair with shampoo. Then condition the hair properly. Try to condition the roots as well. So that the hair’s overall moisturized and shiny. 

After conditioning, wash the hair with water. Make sure that there’s no product left on the hair. Now comb the hair with a thick bristle comb. So that there’s no tangle left on the hair. Take some lukewarm water and wet the hair again.

Then hold your hair and gently squeeze dripping water. Keep squeezing until there’s no excess water on the hair but the hair is wet fully.

After that, move on to the next step.

Step 2 of 3: Add Mousse to The Hair

Now take some good mousse in your fingertips. Then start applying them to the hair. The trick is to choose the perfect mousse for the hair. Because that’s a game-changer here. Because poor-quality mousse can eventually damage your hair.

So you need to go for high-quality mousses. Here’s a suggestion you may get benefitted from. So have a look.

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Sheamoisture Curl Mousse 

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Nexxus Mousse

Once you get the mousse, apply it all over the hair. It will help with the scrunching as it’ll hold the curls.

Step 3 of 3: Scrunch The Hair With Your Towel

Finally, it’s time to scrunch your hair. But first, wrap the hair with a towel. And then start scrunching from the ends. Then keep moving towards the scalp. Wrapping the hair with a towel will ensure a good grip on the hair.

So the scrunching would be smooth. You’ve to keep scrunching until the hair is dry and you’ve gained the perfect effect.

Then you’re ready to go out.

Using Clips to Scrunch

Another way of scrunching the hair is using clips. You can use large hair clips or pins. After getting the clips, move on to the steps.

Step 1 of 3: Prepare The Hair for Scrunching

So the first step is the same as the towel method. Here, you’ll have to wash and condition the hair. Then get rid of excess water from the hair. And check twice if the hair is fully damp. If yes, then move on to the next segment.

Step 2 of 3: Clip The Hair Sections

Now divide the hair into ½ inch sections. After that, put one end of the clip on the bottom of the hair. Then start rolling the hair upwards. When the roll reaches closer to the scalp, stop rolling further. Now you’ll see a small bun has been built for that section.

Now close the hair clip. You can also secure the bun with 1 or 2 extra clips as well. Now continue this for all the sections. Now you can use a light hairspray on the hair buns. So that the hair stays in place. You can spray in a little amount, no need for excessive spray on it.

Then wait for the hair to dry up completely.

Step 3 of 3: Scrunch The Hair by Hand

After the hair is dried up, remove the clips. Start scrunching your hair by hand. After 5-7 minutes, stop scrunching and add a little bit of mousse to the hair. Then scrunch for another 5 minutes. And you’re done completely.

Tying Rubber Bands to Curl Hair

You might have a big event tomorrow. You definitely want to look fabulous with volumized curls. So you’re looking forward to scrunching. That’s why we came up with this overnight scrunching technique. To your surprise, it won’t damage the hair even a bit.

So let’s see how to do it. First, before going to bed, wet your hair. Then wipe off excess water with a cotton cloth. Now hold all the hair together. And tie a tight rubber band in every half-inch of the hair.

Do tie bands as closest as possible to the scalp to the very edge. After that, sleep like this. 

In the morning, scrunch the hair with your hands. you’ll be surprised with your hair. Because you’ll have perfect waves that would look as if done by a professional.

If you want tight waves,  don’t comb your hair. If you want loose waves, go for it. You can style the waves just as you like. 

Braiding the Hair to Achieve Curls

Another way is to scrunch the hair is braiding. It’s quite similar to the rubber band process. But here, you’ll have to braid the wet hair. 

Now you can make a regular braid if you want beach waves. But if you want noodle-like curls, then go for a fishtail braid.

Or you can have a full-on curl by french braiding the hair. After you decide on the curl type, start braiding the hair. After that, tie the braid end with a tight band. And attach bobby pins to ½ inch intervals of the hair.

Finally, wait overnight and untie the Braid the next morning. Now start scrunching the loose hair for 10 minutes. And you’ll be surprised by the results.

Using Curling Rolls to Scrunch Hair

Who doesn’t know about curling rolls? The beauty industry has been using rollers to curl hair for ages. But mostly, people pair curling rolls with hairdryers. But here, we’re going for no damage scrunching methods.

As usual, spray water on your hair and make it fully wet. After that, divide the hair into ½ to 1-inch segments. Then roll each segment with a separate curling roll. Then attach it with the scalp. Repeat the method for all hair sections.

Finally, wait for 3 hours and dry the hair naturally. Or you can use a mini hand fan to dry out the hair if you’re in a rush. And finally, when the hair is properly dry, detach the curling rolls one by one.

Scrunch each section one at a time. Finally, you’ll have curly hair ready to do any hairdo. 

So that’s it with the scrunching hair knowledge. Hope you’ve learned the no-damage methods properly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Endnote

Hope you had a great time learning does scrunching your hair damage it. Well, we had fun writing it. 

But here’s one bonus tip for your patience. You can make aloe gel at home and apply it to the hair. When you’re done applying, roll the hair up and secure it. When it dries up, it’ll be curly and scrunched.

Well, if you have further queries, comment below.

Thank you!

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Katharyn Riedel

Katharyn is a passionate expert in the field of nail care and nail art. She has been fascinated with the art of painting and designing nails since she was a little girl, and her passion has only grown stronger over time. With years of experience in the industry, Katharyn has become an authority on all things nails, and she is widely respected for her knowledge and expertise.

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