ok, after all the good suggestions i got yesterday, i oiled my super dry hair, then before bed last night rinsed it out and used pantenes restoratives to deep condition.  i didn't rinse it out, but toweled dried (squeezed gently, not scrubbing or twisting or turbaning!) and put it in a loose braid.  so now it's 8:30am and my hair is still super damp in the braid.  is this an issue everyone has?  when i was in high school i used to do this to my hair and wear the braid for 48 hours til it was dry so i'd get a crimpy look, but i figured a looser braid would help it dry.  is there anything i can do?  should i take it out of the braid and let it airdry?  

btw, i love this site.  i spent most of the night reading old posts, they're soooo informative!

On days when you CO it tends to take longer time for the hair to dry. On the other hand if you only WO then it dryes more rapidly.

I use a spanish fan (sunfeather) to airdry my hair a bit quicker and after that I braid.

Hair is going to dry much slower if you leave it in a braid than if you leave it loose. I have heard that braiding your hair while it's damp (not wet) is beneficial, but I have never tried this for myself.

It also depends on the texture of your hair. If it is very thick, very porous or very healthy, it will take longer to dry. Hair that is coarse, dry, thin or non-porous dries faster.

In the summer my hair will remain damp for 2 days if I braid it after towel drying.  

I have to let my hair down or leave it loose periodically for my hair to dry.