I Tried 5 Different Heat Free Ways To Curl My Hair Using Household Items

Hair curling has been a lifelong obsession of mine but since I still want to keep my hair relatively healthy, using a curling tong daily isn’t ideal.

This means I’m always looking for ways to curl my hair without applying heat to it but this is not always an easy task. While my hair is relatively thin, I have a lot of it, so doing things like the popular method of pinning curls with bobby pins would probably take me over an hour to complete.

A working girl with three cats to feed just doesn’t have the time.

So I decided to find five hair curling techniques on YouTube that seem doable and can be recreated with household items…’cos it’s all about saving them dollarydoos, ammirite?

Note: With all of the techniques trialled, I started with freshly washed hair that was mostly dry but a little damp in sections. FYI: starting with wet hair is not going to work unless your hair dries super quick. In most cases, you’d wake with damp hair and therefore the curls won’t set.

I Tried Five Different Heat Free Hair Curling Methods Using Household Items:

#1. Braid

This is the technique most familiar to anyone who has grown up with long hair. I’ve been braiding my hair since high school. I generally do two chunky braids and it gives me casual beachy waves that aren’t too extra.

BEFORE:

(Yes, I missed a section. I’m actually terrible at braiding. Let me live.)

AFTER:

The waves are very subtle so it works for just everyday hair that you don’t need to do much with. Add a clip. Put it on a top knot. Whatever. It’s super chill.

Verdict?

It looked…fine. Nothing special but also it only took me about three minutes to do and I couldn’t even feel the braids as I slept, so there weren’t many negatives from the process.

#2. Sock Bun

Okay, so I’d never even heard of this before finding it on YouTube. It turns out this hair curling method is extremely popular online and it sounded genius.

You start with an old sock that you don’t mind destroying. Next you cut open the end of the sock where the toes usually are, which leaves you with a sock with two open ends. Finally roll the sock into a donut shape.

I imagine this would work just as well with one of those foam bun donuts but we’re sticking to the old school method here. Next up, tie your hair in a high ponytail, right on the top your head. Then slide the donut around your ponytail before pulling it to the end and rolling back on itself.

It’s very hard explain so watch this via Hey It’s Emily:

You kind of just wind the bun back on itself until it reaches your head. By the end it will look like a pretty cute bun, albeit a rather uncomfortable hair style.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Ugh. OK. This made my hair look frizzy and awful.

Verdict?

I hated this. As you can see from the results, my hair became a frizzy mess and barely left any waves. I really can’t explain how those YouTube girls achieved actual curls from this, all I can think is they must have very thin hair and not much of it. This did practically nothing other than leave me a giant frizzball.

That wasn’t the worst part though. Trying to sleep with a huge and heavy bun on the top of my head was some kind of fresh hell. I woke up with such a headache and sore neck. Tbh, I have nothing positive to say about the whole experience. I wasted a perfectly good sock for this.

#3. Paper Towel

Now THIS is a old fashioned technique I’ve wanted to try for years. It’s similiar to the fabric version, often done with old rags, but in my case I used strips of paper towel.

You basically start with heaps of strips of paper towel (I cut them roughly sized 20 cm by 5cm). Then grab your hair and start twisting it around the paper, drawing it toward your skull until they’ve rolled all the way up. Finish by tying the paper in a loose knot to hold the curl in place.

It’s not the easiest method to pull off but once you get the hang of it…it’s actually quite fun (I don’t get out much).

BEFORE:

Because I have so much hair, it took about 40 minutes to do. But I loved the whole vintage vibe. I felt like an extra on Downton Abbey and it was surprisingly comfortable to sleep in.

AFTER:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The next morning, I was shook. Woah, my hair is outrageously curly and ummmm yep, I looked insane.

Verdict?

This is a very dramatic transformation. For me, my hair was too curly as I don’t really dig ringlet curls. So if you want really tight curls, this is definitely the best technique. Otherwise, if your hair doesn’t hold curls well and drops quickly then this could work if you gave the look a few hours to settle.

Unfortunately, my hair hold curls a little too well. As the day wore on I thought the curls would drop but nope, they remained and started to tangle together.

By the evening, I actually looked like I was carrying some kind of dead animal on my head. Please don’t call PETA on me. Imho, this technique is a bit too much work and the results are too extreme.

#4. High Buns

This is another method I’ve never tried, and one that sounded too good to be true. The hair curling technique was simple enough. Part your hair and twist into two high buns. The idea is that the twisting will then create spiral curls. Sounds fake, but OK.

I really couldn’t see this working and it took quite a few tries to get right. This is what it looked like before bed. It was not comfortable and I struggled to find a way to position my head on my pillow as I slept.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Ummmmmm. It literally didn’t do shit.

Verdict?

I actually think the twisted bun made my hair even straighter than it is naturally. Massive fail and I had an awful night’s sleep. Like the sock buns, I think this method would only work on people that don’t have a lot of hair.

#5. Headband

Now THIS is a technique I’ve actually done before. A few years ago it became a bit of a hack on Instagram for people wanting Victoria’s Secret level curls. I originally bought a specially made band (called the Aurora Band) but found it left my hair knotty, so tried using a simple fabric band and it worked a treat.

I’m getting ahead of myself. So you need to start with a headband, the kind you may have worn back at primary school, but grab one that isn’t too tight.

Firstly, place the headband on top of your hair, so it’s sitting just above your eyebrows. Then divide your hair into two sections and starting with one side at a time, grab a section and wrap it around the headband, turning away from you face.

This is hard to explain, here’s a GIF from YouTube via Trade Secrets:

As you pull the first section through, grab another section and add it to the next wrap around. Keep doing this until you have no hair left on one side. Then start all over again on the other side.

By the end all your hair will be wrapped around the headband. You can pull the headband from above your eyebrows to sit on top of your head while you sleep.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Yes, bitch. This worked so well. It looked my hair had been professionally done.

Verdict?

Winner winner, chicken dinner. After unwinding my hair in the morning, I adored my curls. There was so much volume and my strands were left in perfect wide-barrel curls.

As the day went on my hair looked even better. As some of the tighter curls dropped, I ended up with all these soft cascading curls and ngl…I was loving myself sick.

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So there you go! When it comes to heat free hair curling, the headband method definitely reigned supreme. It’s truly the only way to get GHD-inspired curls without using damaging tongs or irons.

If you’re wanting a super low-key vibe then just stick to a good ol’ braid and if you aspire to look like a demonic porcelain doll…have a go at the paper towel method…I dare you.