4 Best Soft Bonnet Hair Dryers For Black Hair 2024

What’s a soft bonnet hair dryer, you ask?

Well, you must have used a hard bonnet hair dryer in a salon before. You get your hair all wrapped up and you head under that, flicking through a magazine. If not, you’ve seen them do it in the movies, right?

Either way, you should know that bonnet hairdryers offer some unique benefits compared to other styling tools such as hairdryers and curlers.

Our Top 4 Soft Bonnet Hair Dryers For Black Hair – Reviewed

In this section, we’re going to check out 4 of our favorite soft bonnet hair dryers for afro hair. To keep it balanced, we’ll look at two dryers that have their own motors, and two that are hair dryer attachments. You’ll see a wide range of prices, styles and brands, so that you can pick the one that suits you the most.

Laila Ali Ionic Soft Bonnet Dryer, Purple

This soft bonnet dryers is one of Laila’s. It’s a self contained unit with a motor, meaning you won’t have to use a hairdryer to make this baby work for you. Laila Ali takes her products seriously, and her logo is, ‘Superior Styling Tools For Salon Results At Home’. So we know the product is going to live up to the hype! This soft bonnet dryer uses ionic technology, which helps the hair to retain moisture. This means your hair’s much less likely to get damaged and break off. It also has four heat settings to choose from, so you can be sure you’re comfortable at all times.

We love the purple color and the sleek design of her logo – it makes the soft bonnet dryer look like a sleek bit of styling kit, rather than a clunky machine.

Laila Ali is certainly an achiever! The daughter of Muhammad Ali was an undefeated super middleweight boxer for 8 years, for a start. As if that weren’t enough, she then went on to present a whole heap of TV shows, released a cookbook, saved Hulk Hogan’s life, and released a line of hair, beauty products and styling tools! Talk about superwoman!

Glow By Daye Bonnet Hood Hair Dryer Attachment

This soft bonnet attaches to your hair dryer. This is one of the more expensive options out there at around $20, but we feel it’s worth the investment. Glow By Daye are famous for their satin bonnets, but we love that they’ve branched out and given us something new. And since they’re so experienced in bonnets, who better to do it?!

Perhaps one of the best things about this soft bonnet is its practicality. It comes with its own drawstring bag, and can fold up to become truly tiny! You can carry it around in even the smallest purse with ease, perfect for if you need to travel light. It also comes with an adjustable drawstring and a chin strap, to make sure you can keep it in place while it’s drying. Otherwise, the force of the air could make it float clean off your head!

Gold N’ Hot Professional Ionic Soft Bonnet Dryer

Here’s another motor-powered soft bonnet dryer you won’t need a hairdryer for. Don’t you just love the gold and white color scheme?

At around $45, it’s the most expensive soft bonnet hair dryer on our list, but that shouldn’t necessarily put you off. Now, you may see that there are quite a lot of negative reviews on its Amazon page, but we have to be honest – the vast majority of motor-powered soft bonnet dryers do. We’re not sure if it’s a particularly hard product to get right, but consumers aren’t fully happy with the offerings on the market as yet. However, remember, 73% of the reviews for this dryer are positive, which is a huge majority!

One thing to keep in mind, though – on this model, the hose between the motor and the bonnet is pretty short. So if moving around when you’re using it is important to you, perhaps this isn’t the model to go for.

Teanfa Soft Bonnet Hair Dryer Attachment

This one is the cheapest soft bonnet hair dryer attachment we could find on the market right now. At just $4.99, this costs less than your lunch and can keep your hair styled for a long time to come!

The cap on this one is the biggest out of all we’ve looked at so far, too, so if you have a huge amount of hair, this might just be the option for you. Women with long, busy hair or flowing locs, this way please!

No, it’s not the most subtle of soft bonnet hairdryers, as massive and silver as it is! But when you’ve taken it off and shake your hair down, then you’ll be the belle of the ball.

Why Use A Bonnet Hairdryer?

Despite the name, bonnet hairdryers aren’t just for drying hair to finish off styling. Actually, they have a few different uses.

You can get a straight look or a curly look, without styling tools like flat irons or curlers! Yep, that’s right. A hairdresser might wrap your hair around your head to give a straight look. They’ll add curlers for a curly look, of course. By the time you come out from under the dryer, you’ll have a whole new style, without so much heat damage.

But some people use bonnet hairdryers for deep conditioning. Whether you use conditioning masks or hot oil treatments, bonnet hairdryers are wonderful for making the process more effective. The heat makes the cuticle of the hair open more, so the product can penetrate more deeply. Hello, extra conditioning!

Soft bonnet drying can also be great for wigs. If you’re a wig wearer, you’ll be the first to know that styling them can sometimes be tricky. Tugging and pulling during styling can cause hair to shed, or even whole wefts to fall out! Using a soft bonnet hairdryer avoids these issues, by drying without all the force often used.

What’s The Difference Between Hard And Soft Bonnet?

Hard bonnet hairdryers are the ones you find in the salons. They’re usually attached to salon chairs, so you can sit comfortably while you’re having your hair dried. Alternatively, they might be on wheels, and the stylist wheels it over to your styling station, to place the bonnet on your head.

But if you want the benefits of a bonnet hairdryer at home, it’s much more likely you’ll go for the soft bonnet option. For one thing, who has the space for a big old bonnet hairdryer in their house?! A soft bonnet dryer is much more practical. You can pack it away when you want to use it, and put it in a drawer.

Another reason you’ll go for a soft bonnet at home is the price! A typical salon hard bonnet dryer runs at around $100. With soft bonnet dryer running between $5 and $60, it’s easy to see which is the more economical choice!

Which Type Of Soft Bonnet Hair Dryer Should I Buy?

There are two main types of soft bonnet hair dryer.

Perhaps the most popular – and definitely the cheapest – is the hair dryer attachment. Just like any other hair dryer attachment, this fixes on to the end of your blow dryer. These can be priced as low as $5, so they’re a great choice if you’re just trying out soft bonnets and want to find out if they work for you.

The other type of soft bonnet dryer comes with its own motor. While these dryers are more expensive, they don’t require a hairdryer for use. This makes them more practical, particularly if you are traveling.

Best Soft Bonnet Hair Dryers For Black Hair Conclusion

So that’s it! We’ve rounded up our top 4 soft bonnet hair dryers for black hair. Do you prefer the hairdryer attachment style, or the one with its own motor? Do you think a budget option might be best for you, or would you prefer to invest in something that may last longer? Whatever you choose, we hope you’ve learned a lot and are ready to make your next purchase.

Happy styling!