So you’ve come home from a long day at work, you take a shower, and you’re faced with a dilemma: should you take the time to dry off your hair, or should you jump straight in bed? We’ve all been there, and for many of us, we’ve opted for the latter. While going to bed with wet hair isn’t the worst thing in the world, there are certainly a number of risks you run into when it comes to your hair health after a night of sleeping on a wet head of hair. Follow our guide below on the dangers of sleeping with wet hair, along with some valuable tips for what to do if sleeping with wet hair is unavoidable.
The Cons of Sleeping with Wet Hair
Let’s get one thing straight: if you can avoid it, you should never fall asleep with wet hair. For starters, wet hair is inherently more porous and less structurally sound than dry hair, making it much more susceptible to breakage. When you toss and turn your head at night, the friction of your hair against your pillow can be a recipe for damaged, broken hair. As if that weren’t bad enough, when you fall asleep with wet hair, the warmth of your head against the pillow combined with the dampness of your scalp leads to the perfect breeding ground for fungi and bacteria. The result? Sleeping with wet hair can be a recipe for frustrating scalp conditions like dandruff, dermatitis, and eczema.
How to Sleep with Wet Hair Safely
Despite the negatives associated with sleeping with wet hair, there are times were doing so is unavoidable. With that being said, there’s a number of precautions one can take to make sleeping with wet hair as safe and risk-free as possible.
Sleep with a Silk Pillowcase
Silk pillowcases have seen a recent boost in popularity over the years, and aside from being excellent for your skin, these smooth materials provide a frictionless material to prevent your hair from breaking and tangling while tossing and turning at night. As an added bonus, these pillowcases are exceptionally breathable and cool to the touch, helping to prevent any bacterial or fungal infections from a hot or humid environment in the scalp.
Tie Your Hair Back
To keep your hair from being tangled and knotted, one of the best things to do with wet hair is to tie it back in a knot and away from your face. Doing so will keep your hair organized and tucked away, free from getting twisted and pulled in your sleep.
Apply a Leave-In Conditioner
To keep your hair protected and coated while you sleep, apply a rich leave-in conditioner that seals and coats the outer cuticle layer to keep it soft and smooth, allowing it to glide against your pillowcase to prevent breakage. To make things even better, sleeping with a leave-in conditioner can provide the sort of intense boost of moisture that dry hair types crave!