12 Ways to Keep Your Hair from Taking Over Your Home

I love my naturally kinky, coily hair! I think it's 99% fabulous. Why only 99%? The one thing I don't love about it is finding bits of it all over my apartment. Perhaps you've experienced this with your long, curly, or coily hair too. Here are a dozen tricks, treats, and habits I use to keep my hair from joining dust bunnies in a coup to take over my apartment.

Allies in managing shed hair: dust mop, microfiber towel, lint roller, vacuum, rubber mop, and drain hair traps.

1. Comb hair before getting into the shower. I usually spritz my hair with water then comb deep conditioner, coconut oil, or just water with aloe through my curls before getting into the shower. This reduces the shedding of hair that can clog drains.  
2. Stay in a confined area and wear a towel, t-shirt, or pillow case draped around your shoulders while combing, unbraiding, untwisting, styling, or trimming hair. This minimizes the area that you need to clean up later. You can just ball the fabric up and shake it out over the trash or compost bin before washing it.
3. Have a lint roller or vacuum nearby for clean up that way you don't have to wander about your apartment spreading shed or cut hair all over the place while searching for these things.
4. Never leave shed or cut hair laying around. Not only will your housemates hate you, but it's sure to wind up a dust bunny before you get to it later. Give your natural hair back to Mother Nature by composting it! (New to composting? Check out my Lazy Person's Guide to Composting.)
5. If you have a private backyard, deck, or rooftop, it's so nice to be able to do your hair outside on warm days. Not only will you not have to worry about shed hair, but you'll also enjoy vitamin D, fresh air, and fresh style!
6. Use a hair trap in sink and tub drains. I've found that inexpensive mesh wire hair traps are best for me, but your best choice will depend on your hair type and the placement of your drain. Try out a few different ones at the hardware store.
7.  If you already have a clogged or slow drain, check out my blog post on how to unclog drains without chemicals using a Zip-It.
8. Use a microfiber towel to dry your hair. They don't snag hair and cause breakage like traditional towels with loops do. I've also noticed that loose hairs do occasionally stick to them, rather than falling off onto the floor. Yay! I have two: one by Aquis and another from DevaCurl. I prefer the Aquis, but both are fine. I've read of people using t-shirts too!
9. Wear your hair in protective styles like twists and braids. These minimize daily shedding and reduce breakage. Black Girl Long Hair is a great resource for inspiration. There are also thousands of natural hair bloggers on YouTube.
10. Become besties with your vacuum. I love my Miele Olympus Vacuum. I prefer canister vacs because they have attachments you can use to easily suck up hair from various surfaces like the floor (even hardwood), upholstered furniture, and clothing. Just always be sure to choose attachments and adjust settings according to surface. Beware of buttons too!
11. If you don't have a vacuum, a dust mop is a great alternative for wood floors. If you already have a microfiber mop, you could just purchase a dust mop head and cheer yourself for saving space and resources! Step outdoors to shake dust and hair from dust mop after each use.
12. Another vacuum alternative is a rubber broom. In my experience, it's not great for catching my shorter hair, but it is exceptional at catching longer hair, cat fur, and big ol' dust bunnies. There are lots of varieties of rubber broom and some are better than others so read reviews. (I use the one my boyfriend bought from TV years ago but I'm not sure I see it was listed on Amazon now. Sorry!) Rubber brooms work on various floor surfaces, including carpets.

Did I forget anything? How do you keep your curly, kinky, coily, long, whatever hair from taking over your apartment?

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