How To Do Heatless Dressing Gown Curls

Want curls without the heat? Try this dressing gown hair curls hack.

Sick of spending hours styling your hair for it to just go flat after an hour or feel dry and brittle from heat? Yeah, us too. But we might have found an answer to our problems…

Heatless dressing gown curls. Go to sleep to wake up with gorgeous curls and waves without the hassle. We’re so sold.

Bouncy locks with minimal effort, this classic TikTok trend is showing no sign of slowing down. Luckily, dressing gown curls are super easy to achieve, you’ll be trying it in no time.

Caught your attention? Read on to find out just how easy dressing gown curls are.

Last updated: 12th November 2024

Jump to:

• What are heatless dressing gown curls?
• How to do heatless dressing gown curls: step by step
• How do you make dressing gown curls stay?
• Do you do dressing gown curls on wet or dry hair?
• Do they damage your hair?

Heatless dressing gown curls

So, what are dressing gown curls?

They’re exactly what they sound like — curling your hair with your dressing gown and zero heat. A dream. This creates effortless waves and curls that will have hairdressers green with envy.

Dressing gown curls can be done wet or dry. We just recommend spraying some leave-in conditioner if it’s dry to help it out a little. Overall, it’s a heatless style that won’t damage your hair and simply leaves it looking bouncy and full of volume. It’s especially great for those who like to sleep with their hair damp and want to wake up and go!

Dressing gown curls on TikTok

There are a ton of dressing gown curls on TikTok you can watch but they all replicate the same method. Here’s our favourite by @toni.florentina:

See how simple it is? Just grab the dressing gown tie/rope and twist/braid your hair around it (wet or dry). Then go to bed or do the house work for a few hours with your hair tied. Voila! You’ll have heatless dressing gown curls.

This is ideal for hair that doesn’t keep the curl or if your hair is already damaged from heat or colouring.

If you don’t have a dressing gown, many brands and shops sell curling sets that make it even easier.

Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set — Look Fantastic, £11.25

Revolution Haircare Curl Enhance Satin Curling Ribbon – Look Fantastic, £4.80

We love these heatless curling kits because the satin keeps hair smooth and frizz-free while retaining moisture in the hair to give you soft, bouncy, tangle-free curls.

GLOV® Pink Coolcurl Heatless Hair Curling Tool Set Box – Look Fantastic, £14.32

Get 22% student discount at Look Fantastic with Student Beans. Plus download the Student Beans app to discover more exclusive discounts from your favourite brands.

How to do heatless dressing gown curls: step by step

Step 1: Prep your hair

For optimal dressing gown curls that last longer, make sure to start on slightly damp hair (this helps to stay in place around the dressing gown tie). Spray in some leave-in conditioner at this stage too, if you want. This will help your hair be softer and less frizzy. Volumising mousse can be used at this stage, too.

Step 2: Part your hair

Split your hair wherever you normally part your hair. We recommend going for a middle part, especially if you wear a side part typically, as a middle part will give you more volume once the dressing gown curls are ready to be taken out and ruffled to your normal parting.

Split the hair into two sections down your parting and lay the dressing gown tie down across the top of your head. Clip into place.

Step 3: Get twisting

Take the first section of hair and twist it around your dressing gown belt, from top to bottom, and then secure, grabbing the next small section of hair each time you wrap it around the robe belt. Once done, secure, and repeat on the other side.

Step 4: Sleep on it

Catch up on your beauty sleep, start a movie marathon, do the gardening — do whatever while waiting for the curls to form. If you want to speed up the process, use a hairdryer on a low or cool setting but for a truly heatless method, just get some shut eye and wake up with fab locks.

Step 5: Shake it out

In the morning, unravel your curls and shake them out! Lock in the curls with some hair oil and hair spray to make your curls look bouncy, shiny and keep them in place. We love to wait until we’ve done our makeup to give the hair spray some time to set before unravelling our curls. To complete you look, check out all our best makeup dupes.

If the curls are winding down a little, check out our recommended Dyson AirWrap alternatives and where to find them.

How do you make dressing gown curls stay?

There’s a few ways to make your dressing gown curls stay and last longer, including:

• Twist the hair tighter around the belt/tie — this will make the curls tighter and take longer to drop
• Spray a light misting of hairspray after taking it out from the belt/tie but before you brush/comb out the waves
• Use a gel or holding product before twisting the hair into place

Do you do dressing gown curls on wet or dry hair?

You can start with dry hair or slightly damp hair to create your curls. Damp hair will typically help the curls last longer but if your hair is too wet, you may wake up with hair that’s still damp and not properly formed into curls.

A top tip is to blast your roots upside down with your hair dryer for maximum volume before setting your hair. This gives the rest of your hair a chance to dry a little before you wrap it up.

Do heatless curls damage hair?

Dressing gown curls are one of the best, least-damaging ways to get luscious curly or wavy hair. However, like with most things, there’s always a chance you can cause some damage unintentionally.

You could damage your hair if you pull it too tight around the belt/tie. This can also be uncomfortable to sleep with. If your hair is too wet, the hair may break as it’s more fragile the wetter it is.

If you’re using a curling kit, then the satin ones are a great idea as the the satin helps to avoid hair breakage for silky smooth curls.

And that’s it! You’ll now have wonderful curls to wear all day long. Get student discounts on beauty products when you sign up to Student Beans to save cash on creating flawless robe curls at home.

Looking for more healthy hair & beauty hacks? Check out our guide on silk hair bonnets and the best Korean skincare for healthy and radiant skin.