This invention relates generally to hair-controlling devices and more specifically to hair-controlling devices that are used in managing hair after it has been washed.
A variety of hair-protecting devices have been invented over the years which are designed to protect a woman's coiffure while taking a shower or sleeping. A typical example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,681 issued to Claunch which is essentially a bowl-shaped cap with a cut at the rear which permits the cap to be easily placed over the hair and then fastened and an elastic band around the perimeter of the cap that prevents the cap from slipping off the head. Hair protectors of the type described are typically made of a net material if they are to be used while sleeping and of a waterproof material if they are to be used while taking a shower.
Women generally find such designs unsatisfactory for managing hair after their hair has been washed. Instead, women typically utilize bath towels fastened turban style around their heads, as illustrated in countless movies during the last half century, while the dress or put on make-up.
There are a number of reasons why hair protectors of the type typified by Claunch have not satisfied this hair-managing need.
First of all, the hair protector is of rather limited volume and so constructed as to perch on top of the head with the hair packed underneath. These features present no particular difficulty when the hair is dry. However, with wet hair the situation is completely different. Compressing wet hair into the limited volume wet a hair protector can caused undesirable effects on the hair that make subsequent styling efforts more difficult. And the weight of wet hair, particularly for hair that is long, causes the hair protector to slide off the top of the head.
Second, the rear closure of the hair protector does not present any particular problem with dry hair. However, with wet hair, stuffing the hair into the hair protector and then fastening the closure at the back of the neck is not an easy task.
Third, hair protectors are typically made of either a net or waterproof material, both of which are unsatisfactory for managing wet hair. A more appropriate material for wet-hair control terry cloth or a similarly-absorbent material, but generally the top-of-the-head hair protectors do not support the use of such a heavy material.