TikTok Claims You Can Use a Pasta Strainer as a Hair Diffuser, So I Tried It

I'll be the first to admit that I've done some weird things in the name of beauty. I've tried curling my hair using a coke can (and probably not the way you're thinking), dabbled in making my own lip stain with Kool-Aid, and even applied my makeup with a spatula. And while I thought my days of using kitchen items for beauty purposes were behind me, a new social media trend showing people diffusing their hair with pasta strainers would convince me otherwise.

I have thin, fine hair that is also frizzy. I don't typically air-dry or wear it wavy very often and instead prefer to give myself blowouts once or twice a week to last me three or four days. Still, for the purpose of testing this new colander trend, I started out by washing my hair (on a nonwash day, no less).

To test the hack, all I needed was a pasta strainer and a blow dryer. To see whether using a pasta strainer worked better than a traditional diffuser, I decided to do one half of my hair using my regular method and the other half using the TikTok hack.

I started off by dividing my hair into two sections: the left side and the right side. While my hair was still damp (but not sopping wet, about 10 minutes post-shower), I took a dollop of the Biotera Styling Mousse ($12) and scrunched it evenly into my hair on both sides. I was only recently introduced to this product, but it's become one of my favorites when styling my hair into waves or curls because it doesn't leave a crunchy feel and it smells amazing.

Biotera Styling Mousse

From

$12

$12 at Amazon

Then I grabbed my Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer ($429), put on the diffuser attachment, and began drying just the left side. I love the Dyson blow dryer because it works quickly and efficiently, and I often need to get ready in short time periods. The end result looked as it usually did — wavy but not too curly, and a little on the frizzy side.

Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer

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$429

$429 at Sephora

Next I took the right side of my hair and gathered it in the pasta strainer. I won't lie — it immediately felt like the pasta strainer was way too large for my small amount of hair, but I made it work. Once I got everything inside (which didn't take much effort), I held it up to my ear and began blow-drying the strainer directly. I had to check on my hair a few times since I couldn't tell how quickly it was drying, but after five minutes I was finished.

In the end, the side using the pasta strainer did look less frizzy than the side without it, which I would assume was due to the fact that there was a barrier between my hair and the hot air. However, it looked like the side that was hit directly with the diffuser had a bit more wave to it, especially around my face-framing pieces, which could be thanks to that more targeted heat.

Overall, while I think the pasta strainer is a nifty hack to keep in my back pocket if I ever find myself without my diffuser (and somehow with a pasta strainer), I think I'll stick to the more traditional methods of drying my hair.