Night Hair Help! Or maybe morning hair?

[Aeowen]

My hair has now reached almost mid-back, which is great! Yay! But now I'm getting to the point where it takes all day to dry. The problem with this is that I live quite far north of the equator and it gets cold in the winter (Boo). The second challenge with this is that I sweat at night. Like...a lot. Brushing my hair in the morning results in an itchy scalp and weird fuzzy hair. Not brushing it is...er...not an option. My hair has a good bit of wave that it is developing as it gets longer.

So, what do those of you who are night-sweaters do? Blow-dry? Freeze to death in the morning? I hate to blowdry it as I've gotten so far with minimal trims & damage!!

[AMD]

I'd like to know the answer to this as well! I'll be watching this.

I don't really like to use blowdryers or hooded dryers because I get frizz on top of using heat.

[Crumpet]

Have you tried a satin sleep cap? My hair looks AMAZING after a night in the sleep cap...as in better than if I had it blow-dried amazing. I usually don't have to brush in the morning or I just have to do minimal styling. Its worth a try and its also healthy for your hair.

[woodswanderer]

I'm not a big night sweat person, and I don't suppose you meant freeze literally in the morning, but actually, once upon a time I really did just freeze in the morning during winter. When I was in college, I would shower in the morning and walk to class (about 20 min) with my hair still kinda wet. It would just slightly freeze on the way and I could hold sections of it horizontal. As soon as I went inside it thawed and was fine. I know this all sounds sort of terrible, but it never seemed to cause any breakage, and I never seemed to get ill from it. Maybe your hair has to freeze really stiffly to break off. It isn't an issue anymore, because I never have to walk very far in the cold first thing in the morning anymore...just out to my car and across a short parking lot at work.

[Anje]

Possibly an odd question, but how warm is the room you sleep in? I realize there are other causes for profuse sweating, but if you "sleep warm" as the outdoorsy set phrases it, it might be worth ensuring your bedroom is plenty cool. I tough it out in the summer (as opposed to seeing what the AC's performance limits are), but prefer my bedroom roughly about 62°F at night, and I tend to sleep cold. When it's warmer than that, there are often fans blowing across the bed.

[Aeowen]

I've tried satin sleep caps, but they don't stay on my head :-/ The room I sleep in is actually quite chilly. I go to bed and I'm "comfortable to a little chilly" and I wake up all sweaty.

I did indeed mean freeze literally with regard to wet hair. I have to walk a fair amount as a "commute" to work, and in the winter snow and ice it will freeze. Regardless of the damage or lack thereof relating to it, coming into work with icicle dreads probably wouldn't be acceptable in my profession!

[jacqueline101]

I agree could your home be excessively hot or one room be warm. If I get hot I sweat alot. As far as your care routine goes you will have to decide what works for you and your hair. Good luck on the sweats.

[Firefox7275]

My hair has now reached almost mid-back, which is great! Yay! But now I'm getting to the point where it takes all day to dry. The problem with this is that I live quite far north of the equator and it gets cold in the winter (Boo). The second challenge with this is that I sweat at night. Like...a lot. Brushing my hair in the morning results in an itchy scalp and weird fuzzy hair. Not brushing it is...er...not an option. My hair has a good bit of wave that it is developing as it gets longer.

So, what do those of you who are night-sweaters do? Blow-dry? Freeze to death in the morning? I hate to blowdry it as I've gotten so far with minimal trims & damage!!

If you are getting frizz/ poof/ fluff/ fuzz and "a good bit of wave" that suggests you are not 1b but 2a at least - in which case brushing damp wavy hair is what is causing the issue. IMO stop brushing your hair entirely, leave the sweat to air dry off before styling, with fingers or a very wide tooth comb only. Brush only when bone dry.

If you don't want to work with your waves via the Curly Girl method, I recommend leaving your hair secured as long as possible. I can get my 2a-2c hair pretty straight and calm by washing, smoothing and tying back when wet and then just leaving, taking it down to brush makes it smooth for a few minutes but poofy when done. Also applying my leave in conditioner to wet hair BEFORE towel turbanning helps reduce the end poof, no idea why either of these work but they really do!!

Could you wear a silk lined hat made of natural fabrics on the way to work? Or a hat made of a sweat wicking technical material? The heat of your head should keep it from freezing, and the fabrics should absorb liquids. Otherwise you probably are best blow frying your roots only. The most damaging aspects of blow frying are higher temperatures (use a low setting), round brush when wet (smooth with your palms or finger comb or try a Curl Easy Pro brush), and going to bone dry (blow dry the moment you arise, leave it just damp enough to air dry before you leave the house).

[jessj48]

Do you know why you sweat so much? Maybe you could see a doctor to check to check your sex hormones and thyroid hormones? If you can fix the sweat problem it would solve the hair problem.

Otherwise, having a towel on your pillow and braiding your hair near the top of your head so it's less likely to get sweat on it. Is the sweat mainly on your roots or does it get all over? It might be a bit cold but you could try drying your hair in front of a fan so you aren't getting the heat damage from a blowdryer.

[Aeowen]

My kids, unfortunately, are night sweaters too. Nothing wrong with thyroid nor female hormones that is measurable by the docs. I always just figured our bodies were really working hard at that repair thing LOL!

Regarding the waves, I am getting wavier as I get longer, that is true, but my hair once it kinks funny (like sleeping on it often does - it will pull the ends straight) ends up looking really funny. What I probably ought to do is revisit CG, I haven't really tried it since my hair has gotten longer.

What I haven't tried though, is just misting it in the morning. That may indeed be the trick! If not, I will try the hats!

I'm not sure what braiding near the top of my head means though...I might be dense today! I sweat everywhere, but it is mainly my hairline plus any hair that touches my neck that ends up looking bad. I toss and turn a LOT and usually lose braids at night.

[Anje]

Eh, makes sense that you wake up warm. I do that sometimes, usually when I've piled blankets on because I was cold when I went to sleep. :-P It very likely could just be how your circadian rhythms work -- there tend to be body temperature fluctuations involved.

My personal experience is that sleep bonnets take a week or two of wearing before you stop ripping it off and hurling it across the room in your sleep.

[Aeowen]

Thanks Anje!

I'm going to try plopping tonight and misting in the morning. I don't have any client coming in, so I might be able to get away with it!

[jessj48]

I'm not sure what braiding near the top of my head means though...I might be dense today! I sweat everywhere, but it is mainly my hairline plus any hair that touches my neck that ends up looking bad. I toss and turn a LOT and usually lose braids at night.

Lol, I'm dense too this morning. I'm having trouble figuring out another way to phrase this. I meant something like this, except a braid not a ponytail.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/817469/thumbs/m-LEONA-CLOSE-620x930c.jpg?8
Then you could flip it above your pillow and be less likely to lie on your hair and get it sweaty. It might help with the sweat on your neck, but it wouldn't do much for your hairline.
Looking at your current hair length though that might be hard, so it probably isn't the most useful advice. I should really check people's hair length haha.

[Aeowen]

Oh - I haven't updated that in awhile!!!

Got it!

So, I tried plopping and my hair was full of curls in the morning, but they drooped really fast. Going to have to figure that all out!

Thanks for everyone's help!!