The best pillow cover for your hair is silk or satin. If your budget does not have room for silk or satin pillow cases, you can get the same effect by wrapping your hair in a silk or satin scarf, says Rascon.
Is it good to cover your hair while sleeping? Yes, covering your hair while sleeping can be beneficial, especially if you use a satin or silk pillowcase or a hair wrap. These materials can reduce friction between your hair and the pillowcase, minimizing hair breakage, frizz, and tangles.
Without proper overnight protection, hair can weaken and sometimes even break during sleep. “While you are asleep, your hair may be subjected to unintentional friction and pulling caused by tossing and turning,” explains Dr Ophelia Veraitch, who leads the hair clinic at Cranley Clinic, London.
Braid Your Hair Before Bed
All you need to do is put your hair into one or more braids (depending on the type of waves you want to achieve) while your hair is still damp, and you'll wake up with gorgeous beachy hair in the morning.
Mulberry Silk Pillowcase
Brooklinen is well renowned for its cozy sheets and towels, but the bedding brand also makes all-star silky pillowcases. Its mulberry silk material is breathable and naturally cool to the touch, two features that guarantee less friction damage to your hair and skin.
“Whether it's cotton or silk, the pillowcase you sleep on at night doesn't influence your hair loss in any way,” Fox says. Outside of medical or hereditary causes, “the things we do that create hair loss are the things we do mechanically to our hair,” including heat styling and rough handling.
Keeping your hair in braids reduces friction between your hair and pillow, reducing hair breakage. Amp it up, and get silk pillowcases for even less friction! It also keeps your hair tamed and more structured, resulting in less snarls and frustrating tangles when you wake up in the morning.
When to wash. Rossi generally tells his patients they should wash their hair once or twice per week. But if you've had chemical treatments that can make your hair drier — such as bleach, perms or relaxers — you might want to wash it less than once weekly to avoid breaking or brittle hair or split ends, he said.
Should You Tie Your Hair Up At Night? 'It's much better to tie your hair up before you go to bed, particularly if you have long hair, so that it doesn't tangle during the night and suffer breakage the next morning when you try and brush it out,' explains Dr Alia.
Brush and detangle hair
To help minimise knots and reduce damage, it's important to detangle your hair before you rest your head down for the night. Giving your hair a good brush will help to distribute its natural oils, for healthy, shiny, moisturised hair.
The benefits of sleeping on a silk pillowcase are most pronounced for hair, experts say, because the smooth surface reduces friction and thus breakage.
Silk pillowcases are wonderful not only for hair loss, but also for other challenging hair types, such as thin, frizzy, or curly hair. When it comes to thin or fine hair, a silk pillowcase offers a gentle, nourishing environment; read our blog on how silk pillowcases are just one way of managing fine or thin hair.
A pillow protector that's certified by the AAFA to reduce dust mites can help. "They have microscopic pores that are too small for dead cells and hairs to pass through into the pillow," Kao explains. And dust mites have a tough time building their homes without a food source.
What's the Difference Between a Pillow Protector and a Pillow Case? A pillow protector is essentially a pillowcase that zips shut, rather than having an opening at one end. It encases the entire pillow and shields it completely from the outside.
Is it normal to find hair on your pillow? Yes, within reason. We're constantly shedding hair so finding some on a pillow isn't surprising. However, if you find a large clump of hair on your pillow day after day, you may want to consult a doctor to be sure there is no underlying medical condition.
If you've noticed a few hairs on your pillow in the morning, in the drain during your shower, or on your shirt throughout the day, don't be alarmed. It's totally normal. Of the hair that's on your head, 90% of it is in the growing phase.
If you're showering and sleeping on damp hair...
Whether it's a leave-in conditioner, an oil, or a shine spray, there are tons of hair products ideal for overnight use. If your hair is on the dry and damaged side of the spectrum, opt for a leave-in conditioner to quench your hair so you wake up with soft, supple locks.
Brush or comb your hair when you get up in the morning.
If you plan on wearing your hair down, finish up with a little hair gel or a touch of hairspray. Brush your hair with a boar bristle brush while the hairspray dries to keep the flyaways at bay.
Sleeping with wet hair could cause it to tangle more, particularly if you move a lot in your sleep and come morning, it could be difficult to comb through.” The horror doesn't end there. Travers also says that sleeping with damp hair may cause fungus to grow on your scalp.