I would like to introduce you to the plopping method today. This is a method that is in 3
different variants and I use at least one of them with each one
of my washing routines, sometimes two of them.
In this article you will learn which three variants these are, how to use them, what you
needed for this and what exactly all this is supposed to do for your hair.
What is plopping?
Roughly speaking, “plopping” means pushing your hair up. Depending on
plopping variant, it either helps the hair absorb the styling products optimally,
excess water and product are squeezed out or the hair is optimally defined.
Which plopping variants are there?
There is classic plopping with a towel, wet plopping and micro plopping. Sounds exotic at first, but don’t worry, I’ll explain exactly what these terms are all about.
What do you need for plopping?
That depends on which variant you choose.
For classic plopping and micro-plopping you need either a smooth towel,
a turban made of smooth fabric or a cotton shirt. For wet-plopping you need a shower cap or cling film. However, I tend to prefer a shower cap – you can get this in any drugstore and it can be used again and again.
Below I present all three variants in detail.
Towel plopping
Towel plopping is plopping your hair with a towel. This variant of
Plops are the most common. When someone mentions the plopping, it’s usually this one
variant meant.
For towel plopping, as the name suggests, you need a smooth towel*, a turban made of smooth fabric* or a cotton shirt. Personally, I prefer a T-shirt, which I can recommend especially if you have very long hair, since the usual towel turbans are often a bit smaller. The exception is Miss Frieda’s* turban. Ann-Kathrin can even adjust these to your hair length if you wish.
What does towel plopping do?
For one thing, excess water is soaked up by your towel/t-shirt, leaving the
drying time is shortened. On the other hand, your hair is pushed into a position in which it
remain for a period of time, which increases the definition and durability of your curls
can. So that they don’t hang out so quickly.
Plopping application step by step
First you style your hair as usual, for example with leave-in conditioner, hair mousse and/or hair gel – whether upright or upside down is up to you. Just do it like you always do. Now, like in my case, you take your cotton t-shirt, lay it on the floor and fold in the lower end a little. Now carefully flip your hair forward, place it in the middle of the t-shirt, press the bottom of the shirt against your forehead, fold the other part with the sleeves over your head to the back of your head so that all your hair is inside. Finally, tie the sleeves at the front of your forehead. I know it sounds very complicated and since a picture is sometimes better, you will find instructions here by showing you exactly how to tie the turban again.
Now how long will your hair stay in that turban?
Minimum 15 minutes and maximum 1 hour.
Can you plop the hair overnight?
No, you should absolutely avoid that. The plopping is not a drying method,
but helps to remove excess water to speed up the drying process or get more definition. But nothing more. If the scalp is kept in this warm, humid climate for too long, bacteria can build up, which can lead to itching, dandruff and, in the worst case, fungus. Furthermore, wet hair is the most sensitive, so if you plop overnight and you sleep restlessly, which causes the hair to be rubbed together, then this can lead to hair breakage. Elisa has that in this article exactly mentioned again.
You’ve been plopping your hair for a while now, and then what happens?
Now you remove the turban and either let your hair air dry or you
blow-dry them with a diffuser attachment. You will see that after removing the turban your hair is pulled up nicely and defined.
Is towel plopping suitable for all hair?
This variant of plopping can be used on curly and wavy hair. Especially with light waves you could possibly get some definition out of it.
As far as hair porosity is concerned, it is basically also suitable for all porosities – but of course you should always watch your hair, especially if you tend to have excess moisture quickly.
I would recommend this variant for medium to long hair. Short hair does not achieve a good effect with this method and even has the problem that the hair is flattened.
wet plop
Wet-plopping means to plop the hair “wet”.
Wet plopping works a little differently than classic plopping and you need in
in this case a shower cap and possibly also a turban. This does not necessarily have to be smooth. You can also use a classic terry towel in a pinch.
What does wet plop do?
The main effect of this plopping variant is that the hair can optimally absorb the product previously applied to the hair and the hair is pushed upwards, as with classic plopping, giving it definition and more durability.
Step-by-step wet plopping application
It’s very simple: you wash your hair as usual, put leave-in/styling cream in your hair, press everything in well and then you put your wet hair upside down in a shower cap. You can now put a turban* or a towel over the hood to fix everything a little better and hair with low porosity benefits from heat, so that would be a second positive effect. You then leave your hair in the shower cap for up to 30 minutes, then you remove it and you could now put a styling gel on your hair – it is also possible to put this on the hair before wet-plopping, you have to test how it suits you best.
Now that the hood is removed, you could either blow dry directly or let your hair air dry, or you use towel plopping or micro plopping again – you also have to test which combo works best for you.
Is wet plopping suitable for all hair types?
no I would say it is best recommended for hair with low porosity – simply because this hair cannot absorb products as well as, for example, highly porous hair. With low-porosity hair, the cuticle is more closed and it is more difficult to get the product into the hair. In the case of highly porous hair, the cuticle layer is open and product can penetrate very quickly, which means that this type of plopping is not necessary. If you know that your hair is highly porous and tends to have excess moisture quickly, then this type of plopping would not necessarily be suitable for you.
In addition, the variant is suitable for all hair lengths. Elisa likes to use this variant for her short to medium length hair.
Micro plopping
Micro-plopping is a quick way to squeeze excess water and product out of your hair, ultimately reducing drying time a bit. Kneading it up can also create more definition.
Micro plooping application
You style your hair as you normally would, such as putting a leave-in and gel in your hair, giving it a good pat, and then taking either a smooth towel or a cotton t-shirt and using it to push your hair up and remove thus excess water and product. You can then either blow dry your hair directly or let it air dry. So a really quick variant ????
What some also like to do: You put your leave-in/styling cream in your hair, then press per
Micro-plopping out the excess water and only then do you apply your hair gel or mousse to your hair. As always, this is a matter of experimentation to see what works best for you.
Is this plopping variant suitable for every hair type?
Yes, it definitely is ???? this is the fastest and also the most uncomplicated variant of plopping.
Plop before and after
On the left picture you can see my hair without using one of the three plopping variants. You can see very well from the base that it is flat and without volume. In the picture on the right, I’ve plopped my hair with the usual towel twist. The approach has significantly more volume.
My own plopping experience
For me, plopping is simply part of every washing and styling routine. Especially that
Micro-plopping and classic plopping are the variants I use most often. Think
Hair is low porosity, medium thick and I have a lot of 2 b/c waves and that works above all
the towel plopping wonderful for getting great definition and the durability of my
lengthen waves.
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