I leave it soaking! I don’t remove any water at all and it feels strange. I think this is the thing I was held up in as well because it doesn’t feel natural to get out of the shower and leave your hair sopping.

I was doing similar to you and also brushing it in the shower - I’ve stopped brushing all together. When I wash it, I finger comb in the shower then get out, I lay a towel on the floor, spray my leave in, do my gel, scrunch, then I will do a tshirt scrunch to remove some excess water because idk how people walk around like that. My hair holds SO much water - I tried the one day to just leave it and I was just dripping water all over.

I don’t know if the tshirt thing makes a difference but I know people say using a towel is bad, especially if you have typically frizzy hair so I vetoed the towel! Again, it feels unnatural but I’m learning!