Blowdrying & Airdrying

I used to get so many tangles with just air drying loose and the dryness/shrinkage made me shed a bit.  I am finding much better results by putting my hair into braids during the washing/conditioning process and letting them air dry in braids after applying a nice, thick creamy leave in conditioner.  I have to have quite thin braids though to speed up the drying process - like 10-12 braids.  I have thick hair!  It doesn't take long for me though as I braid every night anyway and my hair is very managable as a result.

If you start the wash in the afternoon/early evening, partially air dry and then go to sleep in your braids with a satin cap then you could finish off in the morning with the blow dryer?  Less heat needed, so less damage.  I don't blow dry at all.  I just put shea butter on my slightly damp hair after I've unbraided in the morning.  It seems to have fixed my problem with shrinkage and shedding.

Have you ever tried wrapping your hair and sitting under a bonnet dryer? It will still come out straight that way and you won't have to blow dry.  Blow drying is the worst thing to me.  I just hate it.  I  have to do it sometimes though because my hair takes forever and a day to dry but i only blow it for a few minutes after I take down my wrap.

You mentioned heat protectants, they are good to use but they will not protect the hair 100% from any type of heat.  They may help reduce the damage somewhat but you can still get a lot of damage if you use heat frequently or improperly.

A lot of ladies air dry their hair in braids or buns vs. loose to keep it from being so tangled.  I usually do it in two braids but this takes a lot of time to dry.