If you frequently sleep with wet hair, we suggest investing in a silk pillowcase. Silk doesn't retain moisture well, thereby allowing your hair to dry faster. More importantly, it's slick and produces less friction when compared with a cotton or flannel pillowcase.
Bowman suggests flipping your head upside down—it may dry faster this way—and blasting it with a hair dryer until it's damp, not wet. Then, twist your hair into four loose buns (secured with scrunchies), and call it a night. If you have naturally straight hair, a single bun will give you a looser wave.
"Silk doesn't absorb or pull moisture from your skin the way traditional cotton pillowcases do, leaving hair hydrated and frizz-free." Plus, according to Richy Kandasamy, a hair colorist and a member of R+Co Collective, resting your head on this fabric will keep textured hair fresher and less "slept on" upon waking.
Hair is at its most fragile when wet, so if you go to bed with it damp and proceed to toss and turn against a pillow, you run a higher risk of breakage. But aside from being rough on your delicate strands, hitting the pillow with damp hair puts you at risk of developing skin infections, primarily on your scalp.
Separate hair into two sections, then twist in opposing directions and fold into a bun, suggests beauty expert Christina Marrale. Secure loosely with ponytail holders and release both buns in the morning.
If you have short hair, sleep with it down since tying it up would cause too much friction and pressure on your scalp. If you have long hair, you're going to want to tie it up to protect your strands, especially the ends, from getting snagged or pulled as you sleep.
Going to bed with wet hair can make your hair look greasy when you wake up in the morning. This is because your hair produces an oil called sebum that coats your strands. If you don't have time to dry your hair properly before bed, this sebum will stay on your strands and make them look greasy.
1 Most people go to sleep in the most comfortable position they can find, but promising research is showing that some positions may be better for you than others. Side sleeping can cause or exacerbate shoulder and neck pain, and contribute to muscle imbalance.
Sleeping and going out with wet hair cannot give a person a cold. However, doing so may have some disadvantages, including hair breakage and an increase in yeast and fungal overgrowth on the hair. People may decide that they should alter their routine to allow more time for drying their hair.
Carme likes to wash hair at night, and let it air-dry while she sleeps. “Remove excess water before using a towel,” she adds, “Flip hair upside-down to encourage air flow before fluffing your hair up into your fingers, and lift the root to speed drying time. You can also go outside to help it dry faster.”
Which one you choose comes down to a few factors, like price and preference. "I like satin more because it's less expensive than silk, but it's also smoother than silk, reducing the friction between the hair strands and the pillowcase," says Dr. Isfahan Chambers-Harris, Trichologist, Ph. D.
Blending satin with synthetic fabrics can result in fabrics that can be much more flexible and smoother than real silk, which is a great benefit to hair and scalp. "Satin is much more forgiving, as it moves with the hair which reduces the friction between the hair fiber and the pillowcase or surface," explains Hill.
Whilst we know a high ponytail can cause damage, a high, loose bun is a much better option. There are a few methods to make a high bun. You can firstly, use the same method as a low bun, where you twist the hair around itself.
Set hair in a lose plait and wrap it around your head as much as you can. To prevent even more frizz, you can also wrap your head in a silk headwrap and gently dry when you wake up. In the morning, remove your braid and comb through your hair with you fingers. Set with your favorite hairspray.
After leaving the shower, start by dabbing off excess water with a microfibre cloth. Avoid rubbing the hair vigorously, as the friction causes the strands to tangle and generate frizz. Then, keep your hair wrapped for 10 to 15 minutes.
Drawbacks of Sleeping With Wet Hair. As wet hair dries overnight, some water evaporates into the air and some becomes absorbed by pillows and other bedding. Sleeping on a warm damp surface can create an environment near the face and scalp that might cause problems.
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.
While excessive heat can cause damage to the surface layer of the hair, air-drying can cause trauma to that inner lipid layer, which will make your strands weaker as a result.
However, fine, delicate hair types should be especially careful and avoid sleeping with wet hair to minimize hair loss and breakage. Water proteins form weakened hydrogen bonds when the hair is wet as opposed to the stronger protein-to-protein bonds found in dry hair.
Women who share a bed tend to sleep on the left side for safety and security. They also are more likely to sleep closer to the radiator.
Sleeping on your side offers several benefits. It promotes healthy spinal alignment and is the sleep position least likely to result in back pain, especially when supported with pillows. Side sleeping also may reduce heartburn.
You May Feel Unstable in Bed
For those of us that move around a lot in our sleep, have to sleep on a slight incline, or share the bed with a heavier partner, having one leg bent up can act as an anchor to help with weight distribution and stop us from migrating around the bed.
Washing your hair at night gives it more time to dry naturally, which is great for the health of your scalp and hair. Exposing your hair to the highest heat setting of your hairdryer when you're in a hurry can cause severe damage.
So, if you're sleeping with wet hair, you allow the fungus to replicate in the warm environment and feed on the excess oil. So, this can aggravate your dandruff and force you to wake up every day with an itchy head.
For this reason, many people with curly hair prefer to wash their hair in the morning to give it plenty of dry time. You should also take note of your hair's porosity. This will determine things like how long it takes your hair to dry and even plays a part in how your hair absorbs and retains moisture when you wash it.