Heeeeeelp!   I washed my hair last night the normal way- in fact I even conditioned more than I usually do (I normally use a normal conditioner, this time I substitued it for Tresemme's deep conditioning masque since I knew I would be putting it up in rags) and pat towel-dried the rough off and let the rest dry naturally as per normal.  When it was mostly dry, but still damp, I then put my hair up in rags.  This is the first time I've done it myself - I think the last time I had my hair in rags I was 12 and my mum put them in... admittedly I did put in too many (I ended up with frizz as opposed to ringlets, but you live and learn).  However, my hair which is very fine and is normally silky smooth now feels very dry and brittle.  Is this a by-product of the ragging?  Should I forget about ringlets and stick to emphasizing my natural waves by merely plaiting my damp hair instead?  Or did I do something wrong?  And what should I do about my hair now?

What sort of rags did you use?  There might have been something about the fabric, or perhaps some detergent residue.

When I do rags, I braid and then just rag the ends of the braids so they don't come out all straight.  My hair is so fine that two braids is plenty for tons of waves.

Is the masque something you've used before?  If not, it may have something in it yr hair doesn't like.

I would (if this happened to me) probably wet my hair to remove the waves, then either oil my hair lightly with jojoba oil or wait a day and do a conditioner-only wash with a trusted conditioner.

I hope this is helpful!

My first guess would be the conditioner.  If it has protein in it, you may have a buildup from that which would cause brittleness.  Try a vinegar rinse to remove any build up.

The fabric may have had something that reacted to the conditioner on your hair.  Specifically a fabric softner on the fabric. Depending on how damp your hair was, your conditioner and the fabric softner could intermingle and cause the brittleness.  This should be temporary - shampooing and/or a vinegar rinse should resolve it.

I've also found that if I have small braids, or used too small of rollers, my hair will be frizzy and feel dry and brittle.  A quick dunk in water will usually return my hair to its normal softness.

Thanks, gals!  I've used that conditioner before with no problems, so I think it was probably something to do with the fabric - I've done a conditioning wash and it's returned to normal.  Panic over!  :D  Next time, i'll try using a different fabric, see if that makes a difference.