Durags: Choosing and Tying One

Fabrics

Silky polyester is the standard and the best all-round choice: smooth, cheap, easy to wash, and it compresses well when tied properly. Velvet looks better and feels heavier but grips the hair more and compresses less, which makes it more of a going-out piece than a working one. Mesh is lightweight and breathable for hot nights or under a helmet, and it holds a pattern least. Silk is the most comfortable and the most expensive. If you are training waves, silky polyester is what to buy several of.

The seam is what people get wrong

The center seam running down a durag will press a line into your hair if it sits directly on the crown, and that line shows in the morning. Position it so the seam sits flat and centered, smooth the fabric outward from the middle of your head toward the edges before tying, and make sure there are no folds across the front. A durag put on carelessly leaves creases exactly where you were trying to lay the hair flat.

Tying for compression

Place the front edge of the panel at your hairline, hold it there, cross the ties behind your head, bring them around to the front and cross again, then take them back and tie at the nape. Two full passes is what creates even pressure. Tie firmly enough that it holds without a headache, and let the tail hang or tuck it. If you can slide a finger under the front edge and it stays put, that is about right.

When to wear it

Directly after brushing, so the pattern sets in the position you just brushed it into. Overnight is standard. Thirty minutes after a brushing session during the day also helps. What does not help is wearing one over hair you have not brushed, which flattens rather than trains, or wearing one so tight for so long that it presses on your hairline. Tight compression along the front edge for hours every day is its own kind of tension.

Care

Wash them regularly. Durags collect pomade, oil and sweat, and a dirty one puts all of that back on clean hair. They are cheap enough to own several and rotate. Replace one when the ties stretch out or the fabric loses its smoothness, since a stretched durag cannot give compression however you tie it.