How to Make Hair Rags for Curls

Lightweight materials like sheets are ideal for making rags.

Rag curling is a method of styling hair that women have used for centuries. It works on straight, fine, thick and curly hair to create many types of curl. Also, curling your hair up in rags each night eliminates tangles in the mornings. Because you need no heat or chemicals to create the curls, it's also better for your hair than curling irons or rollers. All you need is a good supply of rags, which you can make yourself out of old fabrics.

Things You'll Need

• Old clothing or bedding
• Measuring tape
• Marker
• Scissors
• Bag

Instructions

1. Gather a bag of old fabric items that you no longer use, such as bedding or T-shirts. Fabrics that are soft and thin work best. It doesn't matter if the items are ripped or stained.

2. Wash and dry the fabrics before you begin cutting.

3. Spread out the fabric on a flat surface and use a measuring tape and a marker to mark out 1-inch-wide-by-6-inch-long sections. Rags can be cut up to 3 inches wide, depending on how tight you want your curls to be.

4. Remove buttons, zippers or other hard pieces from the fabrics. These might rust or tangle in your hair if rolled into it and this can damage your hair.

5. Cut the fabric where you've marked the strips. This size of rags is ideal for short to medium-length hair. For hair that is past the shoulders, cut the strips to twice the length of your hair.

6. Prepare at least 40 to 50 rag strips to curl one head of medium-length hair that is of medium thickness into 1-inch sections. Thicker hair might require more rags. Cut double that amount if you have very thick hair or if you want to curl hair into sections smaller than 1 inch.

7. Store rags in a sealed bag until you're ready to use them.

Tips & Warnings

• Flannel, nylon or cotton fabrics make soft, absorbent rags that allow your hair to dry quickly.

• Towels do not make good rags for rag curls because the fabric is very thick and it will take longer for your hair to dry.

• Avoid using denim or linty materials such as old sweaters for rags. These will transfer lint onto your hair and can hold moisture so your hair doesn't curl as it should. Denim and other stiff fabrics might also damage your hair.

References

• My New Hair: Rag Curls Tutorial
• Long Locks Hair Sticks Boutique: The Ultimate Guide to Curling Long Hair Safely