I had a really cute 'do' and it took me no time at all. The curl lasted all day, even in the 101 degree heat and humidity.

I have always loved trying new things with my hair. I have had several colors, some I loved, some I won't be repeating. I have had short hair, long hair, and everything in-between. My last short hair experience was a little more than I had bargained for. When the stylist got out the clippers and gave me a hair line and shaved it up the back, I knew it would be a long time before I tried anything like that again. It has been almost 4 years since that hair cut and I have really long hair now. I am loving it and how easy it is to take care of, but I don't like that there isn't much 'adventure' in it. These days it is either in a messy 'mom bun' or in a side braid. Both of these options are quick and low maintenance, but getting boring.

In my quest to find fun things to do with my hair, I remembered reading about rag curls. I knew that was the primary way of curling hair before hot irons and other contrapions were invented, so I decided to give it a shot. I ripped up an old receiving blanket into about 10 3"x12" strips and began rolling my hair. I was doing it in the living room, while watching the telly with the husband. He hadn't paid much attention to what I was doing until he looked over to see these rags on my head and was a little worried for my sanity. This isn't the sexiest look, so don't be surprised if your husband keeps his distance for the evening. Maybe it didn't help that I decided to do a little pampering and also had a mud mask on...?

I took my time getting ready for church Sunday morning and panicked a little when I realized it was nearly time to go and I still had my hair in rags. I put the husband on untying duty and getting the things out of my hair took no time at all. I was surprised at just how curly my hair was -it had shrunk a good six inches because of all the curl. In order to relax it a bit, I did a little 'head banger' move, and 'whipped my hair back and forth' for a bit. I stopped when Cam told me I was going to hurt myself. Because I was in a hurry, I just pulled the sides back and pinned them with bobby pins. I had a really cute 'do' and it took me no time at all. The curl lasted all day, even in the 101 degree heat and humidity. When I woke up this morning, I still had an abundance of curl.

I had a couple of friends ask me to tell them how I did it, so here is my attempt at a tutorial:
STEP ONE - Make Your Curlers

I used one of my son's old baby blankets. It made the perfect rag for my rollers. I folded it in half and cut it along the fold. I then put slits on the edge about 3" apart. Next, I hand ripped from the cut to the edge of the blanket to make my strips. Since I left the two halves of the blanket together after cutting the seam, I was able to make 2 strips / rip. Easy.

STEP TWO - Prepare Your Hair
Wash your hair as normal and towel it dry. Comb through it and put whatever product you use on it. The only product I used was a little of my home made detangler spray from mid-shaft to the ends. (because I have a little curl in my hair naturally and have to have help combing it out.) Let your hair air dry until it is just damp to the touch. You can also just spritz a little water on clean, dry hear if you prefer, or don't need to wash your hair.

STEP THREE - Roll Your Hair
This time I used ten rag rollers for my hair. The more you use, the tighter your curls will be. Roll your hair as you would if curing it. Do it in sections, combing each section before you roll it. I recommend parting your hair the way you would to style it, then grabbing a section and rolling it AWAY from your face. (So the finished curl spirals away instead of toward your face.) Getting the roll started is the tricky part, but you will get the hang of it quickly. If you put the center of the rag about an inch from the end of your hair and roll it from there, tucking the ends in as you go, you get a good, clean roll. When you have your hair rolled all the way to your roots (or, as close as you can get) tie the ends of the rag together. You have to tie them pretty tight to get them to stay all night long, but don't go too far with it, they can be really hard to get out if you tie them too tight. I just did what I guess they call a half knot.)

STEP FOUR - Wait

Mine were in for about 11 hours total. I chose to sleep on mine, which took a little getting used to, it wasn't bad at all. (not half as bad as sleeping on foam rollers - do you remember those?) If you don't have that kind of time, you can speed the process up by using a hair dryer on the rolls. The wetter your hair was when you rolled it, the longer it will take to dry.
The mud mask is optional, but highly recommended.

STEP FIVE - Remove Rolls

Simply untie the knots and remove the rags. DO NOT BRUSH your hair. Shaking your head will allow the curls to release and flow a bit. If you HAVE to, you can use a wide tooth comb to style your curls. Brushing or over combing will not result in a more wavy, relaxed curl, it will only give you big hair. (See image - I'm glad this look is no longer a fashionable one) Once your 'do is set, you can spritz or spray it with what ever setting spray you choose to use. Honestly, I didn't even do this. I like the feel of soft, natural curls without product.