How to Increase Shrinkage in Curly Hair with Microplopping

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Are you looking to enhance your curl pattern and encourage shrinkage? In this video, I share how you can use a HairRepear Towel to increase shrinkage and bounciness in a step-by-step routine.

Step-by-Step Routine

1. Prep

After washing your hair and rinsing out your conditioner, wrap the hair in the HairRepear towel. I prefer to wrap it loosely to avoid breakage and avoid twisting your hair super tight.

The HairRepear towel has a loop in the back that you can put the end of the towel through to hold it in place while you do your skincare and makeup. It’s made from Premium 100% Combed Cotton Interlock fabric which is completely flat on the surface. This is different than a standard microfiber hair towel which has tiny little fibers that cling to delicate curls and cause frizz.

Here’s the texture compared to a regular terrycloth bath towel, which you definitely do not want to be using on your curls because of these longer fibers that cause frizz, and it’s too heavy for wrapping your hair causing breakage.

If you don’t have a hair towel, a T-shirt is a better option than a bath towel because it has a flat texture similar to the HairRepear Towel. However, the HairRepear Towel is more absorbent and the large rectangle shape makes it easy to wrap and plop your hair.

I like to damp style versus style soaking wet which helps me achieve more volume and fullness. I use the hair towel to soak up the excess water on the scalp, but then I spritz the lengths of my hair with water.

2. Styling Products

Apply styling products, starting with curl cream or a leave-in conditioner for moisture. If you’re looking to encourage curl clumps and enhance curl shrinkage, look for a curl cream that contains starch ingredients and proteins. 

Top it off with a gel, which creates definition and provides hold. I prefer to use strong hold gels to prevent frizz and help the curls last longer. They will also hold their shape better compared to using light-hold gels.

3. Style

Styling the curls is optional, but if you’re trying to encourage curl shrinkage and bounce, you will want to use a method such as brush styling or finger coiling. I prefer brush styling because it’s quick and helps to smooth out frizz. The more clumped the curls are, they tend to last longer and it prevents them from being stringy. Avoid creating curl clumps that are too thick or else your curls may droop if they’re too heavy and weighed down.

4. Microplop

Microplopping is essentially just scrunching your hair while holding a towel. This helps to encourage the curls to bounce up and will significantly reduce your dry time.

Hold a damp section of the HairRepear Towel which will prevent the towel from soaking up too much of the product in my hair and reduce frizz. Gently press your hair up toward your roots and squeeze. To increase the curl definition at your roots and create root volume, lift your roots using your opposite hand and scrunch all the way up. You can also try the open palm scrunch if you find that regular scrunching where you squeeze your palm together causes frizz.

If you’re someone who likes to style with your hair soaking wet, then you’ll definitely want to microplop to soak up that water before you diffuse or air dry. It’s not good for our hair to stay wet for a long period of time, so we need to get that water out to prevent damage.

If you find that you get frizz after microplopping, just wet your hands and smooth in a little bit of a strong hold gel. This happens for me in areas that are more high porosity and are damaged because they can’t hold onto moisture. This will also result in stronger hold because you’re layering gel onto damp hair, and the more water in your hair the less hold your gel will give. If your entire head is high porosity and very damaged, then you want to be very cautious with microplopping.

5. Diffuse

Diffusing is one of the key ways to increase curl shrinkage. Did you know that diffusing safely can actually be better for your hair health compared to air drying for hours on end? It can prevent damage from hygral fatigue.

Diffusing helps to set the curl shape into place right away and sets your gel cast which protects from frizz. When you air dry, the curls are elongated from gravity and the moisture in your hair. Diffusing only takes me around 10-15 minutes and my hair is “done” versus air drying for hours and having to go around with it not finished.

I like to lay my HairRepear Towel out on a flat surface, flip my head over, and plop my curls onto the towel. I then hover the diffuser around my head to set the gel cast. This prevents the curls from elongating from gravity. After a few minutes, I flip upright and finish diffusing normally.

After your hair is completely dry, use a bit of oil to fluff and scrunch out any unwanted gel cast.

Microplopping vs. Not Microplopping

I also wanted to do this same styling routine without doing the microplopping step to see how my curls turn out.

Can you tell a difference? My curls are more elongated on the side where I did not microplop. I also had more hold and less frizz when doing the microplopping routine because I add an extra layer of gel after microplopping.

Microplopping vs. Plopping

You may have seen the traditional plopping technique that is often used with hair towels and T-shirts, so I wanted to compare this method to microplopping so you can see the pros and cons of each.

Which method do you prefer? I prefer microplopping because I have more control over my results and I’m able to squeeze out more water without pressing all that product onto my scalp.

Bonus Tips for Shrinkage

• Ensure your hair is free of buildup, because buildup from products and hard water can weigh down curls.
• Heat damage causes straight ends that won’t bounce up. Get regular trims to maintain healthy ends.
• Protein and bond builders will restore your natural curl pattern. Use them monthly if you have damaged hair and always follow up with a protein-free deep conditioner.

Don’t forget to check out HairRepear Towels on Amazon.

For more help with curl shrinkage, read this post on How to Improve Curl Retention.