Problems with keeping hair damp all of the time?

[Nevermore]

I switched conditioners for CO recently and my new one makes my hair fluffier, so before I did my cinnabun tonight, I dampened my hair to easier to work with and on taking out the cinnabun, my hair was omfgsoft and nice. I'm inclined to dampen it most of the time now, but I was wondering if that would/could have any negative effects.

Thanks!

[Riot Crrl]

Mildew and mold, I'd imagine. I've never experienced that on my hair because I've been careful to air it out and let it get dry some of the time, but I've experienced it on scrunchies that I tended to use on wet hair.

[Igor]

I’ve kept my hair up pretty much every day for years now and I always shower in the morning and put it up damp. So far no problems

[WritingPrincess]

Hair is pretty sturdy, but I remember someone on the old boards saying something about being a scuba teacher (IIRC) and her hair being wet constantly, and eventually smelling awful.

[Nevermore]

Riot Crrl: I made a face like this O.O over the idea of mold and mildew on my hair. ACK. Now that that's out of the way, I probably would have drying-off periods just because I'm too lazy at times to do anything with my hair except comb it. So...maybe not all the time, but a good bit of it. Mold/mildew=DO NOT WANT!

Igor: Thanks for your input. That makes me feel much, much better.

WritingPrincess: I wonder if that has anything to do with it being something other than tap water her hair got wet with. I know scuba is sometimes taught in pools, so maybe it was the chlorine/bromine?

[Katze]

what about cold weather?

When my hair's wet, I get cold much more easily. I work "sitting around" (lots of correcting, planning, etc as a uni lecturer) and would be really hestitant to do this. Whenever I air dry, I have to bundle up really warm or I get chilled. So I mostly air dry while sleeping - under my down comforter, with a towel AND hoodie on, and BF AND a hot water bottle.

I can see the benefits of extra moisturizing - misting seems to do my dry, damaged ends really well, and since my mister's broken I have been just putting water and some oil or leave-in on my hair once a day. But putting it up damp just makes me shiver, i'm afraid...how do you deal with it?

(note, if you live in Florida, I get it. Here it's barely above freezing at the moment, cold, drizzly, grey)

[WritingPrincess]

Maybe. It's been awhile since I read that, and I think her hair was pretty much constantly wet for a period of months.

[Nevermore]

Katze: I live in the Florida panhandle. It gets to 30 degrees here in the winter at times, which I consider to be truly frigid, the way some people would view temps substantially below freezing. I have a very low tolerance for cold in general, but having my hair wet and up seems to be ok. I probably wouldn't do it on a very cold night though and when I move up to Boston, I'll be acquiring/knitting a number of scarves that will find their way over my head and ears as well as my neck whether my hair is wet or dry. You do have a point

WritingPrincess: In light of that, I'll probably just wet it half the time and leave it dry/down the other half. Too much of a good thing and all.

[longhairedfairy]

It probably won't be a problem unless it's CONSTANTLY wet, as with the scuba instructor, and as long as it's always kept clean (not saying you don't keep your hair clean, that was just an example).

[k_hepburn]

The thing I'd be worried about is that hair stretches when wet, and I figure if it was constantly pulled into tight up-dos when wet without being given a chance to dry out to its "normal" shape and length in-between that might damage the hair follicles over time. But I'm just guessing here.

katharine

[naturechild]

I wash my hair only/mostly at night then Mickey Mouse bun it. It is wet all night and sometimes weel into the next day if I continue a bun. I live in Northern Michigan with those good old 20- nights and I havent had any problems. If I wash in the morning I HAVE to bun so I dont go to work with tottlay wet hair ( I refuse to blowfry my hair) and most days I have wet hair inside the bun all day. Once again no problems. I have been doing this for years.

no yucky smell or anything.

[Emme76]

I can´t go outside with wet hair...it is soooo cold here in Sweden during wintertime that it would damage your hair. If it is damp, I put a hat on or a scarf...But since my hair is very thin it dries very very fast!!!!:D..so no problem with any mold here....:)!!!! If I just let it be...I think it will take about 10-15 minutes to airdry!!!/Emme

[Nevermore]

naturechild: Does a Mickey Mouse bun look like I think it does?

longhairedfairy: I chuckled at your post. It made me think of Bilbo and the ring, where one minute he's Bilbo and the next, he's all RINGRINGRINGNOWNOWNOW! and very scary, only here it would be *happily reading* GRAW! ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY HAIR IS DIRTY?! No worries, I know you weren't implying anything :)

k_hepburn: The stretching was one of the things I was concerned about, but I do wear it down a fair bit indoors, so it would get a break to go back to normal.

[Riot Crrl]

In my previous reply I was pretty much referring to leaving it wet 24/7. Swimming 10 hours a day and having it dry for a couple hours, probably nothing could grow. I hear of things sometimes like people putting deep conditioner in, covering it with a small baggie, with a fake ponytail over that, and leaving it for a couple weeks. That can't be good. :(

Emme76, yeah, freezing the wet hair is terrible! I've done it before on accident. I think it was worse than bleach.

[WritingPrincess]

I can't see anything wrong with freezing your hair. But my mom says it's not healthy for me to go outside with wet hair. I mean, as long as you don't actually bend it in half and snap it. It happened to me once, and I thought it was cool.

[Riot Crrl]

You can't see anything wrong with freezing your wet hair? I can, and I've done it. Ever freeze a bottle of beer or other liquid and it breaks? Pipes under your house? I've done both of those too.

Water expands when it freezes. When the structure of hair is saturated with water and freezing and expansion happens, structural damage occurs. That is the nature of freezing water within a structure. Hair is a structure. Plumbing is a structure. Meat is also a structure. Freezing meat doesn't degrade it so much as to render it inedible usually, but it certainly degrades it somewhat.

[ycelong]

I find that when I put my hair up wet in the morning and take it down before bed - it usually smells really good, just like the conditioner i used on it!
No mold here......

[jojo]

I suppose if you wet with an oil and water concoction then this would be more protective than just water, i always dampen my hair before bunning and braiding as it keeps it neat and ive had no problems. Interesting post.

[Moezland]

I suppose if you wet with an oil and water concoction then this would be more protective than just water, i always dampen my hair before bunning and braiding as it keeps it neat and ive had no problems. Interesting post.

I do the same thing - no problems as of yet *knock on wood*:D.

[1nuitblanche]

For two years or so, I put my hair up wet and it'd come down about 16 hours later and then get wet after 8 more hours, and it never seemed to cause any problems.

[mommy101405]

I always thought it was bad to put your hair up wet b/c it was more prone to breakage. Is that just putting it up with elastics.

[Nevermore]

I shudder at the idea of freezing my hair, so I'll be keeping it warm dry or not.

ycelong: That's what I've noticed thus far, I hope it keeps up!

jojo: I suppose I'll be booed out of LHC for this, but I own not a single hair-appropriate oil. We don't even have olive oil in the cabinet. I probably won't be getting any until I move out either, my mother has been on a crusade to make my hair as short and damaged as hers since I was a kid. She has curly hair that she gets cut, dyed, blowfryed, curling ironed, covered in chemicals and brushed to death every 7 weeks and keeps up the frying, brushing, ironing and coating with chemicals at home. I'm surprised she still has hair.

mommy101405: I think that has more to do with how prone to breakage your hair is to begin with. For me, wetting it down makes my hair easier to handle so I don't need to repeatedly re-braid it to make it stay, which leads to LESS messing with/possible damage. For people with finer/weaker/colored/otherwise not quite so tough hair, it might be a terrible idea.

Moezland and 1nuitblanche: Good to hear!

[CurlyOne]

I notice you live in Florida, I have been down there many times all through the year so you definitely have humidity which can be a whole other beast. He in super dry Colorado the innermost part of my updo is still damp by night (I wash everyday) since moisture gets sucked out of everything really fast I never worry about mildew. But with all the humidity down there you might want to keep an eye out for it. Not necessarily stop all together but you may want to leave it down in the evening to dry if you start to notice a problem.

[Nevermore]

Where I am in FL, the humidity is nowhere near what it is in the southern parts. Living in the panhandle is more like living in a northern state, just with palm trees and white sand. We usually get all day rain storms here instead of the sort of humidity that Orlando and Miama get, where your clothes stay dry exactly two seconds after going outside.

[WritingPrincess]

Oh, I see, Riot Crrl. I hadn't thought about any of that. Thanks for explaining.

[longhairedfairy]

longhairedfairy: I chuckled at your post. It made me think of Bilbo and the ring, where one minute he's Bilbo and the next, he's all RINGRINGRINGNOWNOWNOW! and very scary, only here it would be *happily reading* GRAW! ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY HAIR IS DIRTY?! No worries, I know you weren't implying anything :)

LOL, you just made me chuckle too:D

[eresh]

I always bun my hair after washing if I wash in the morning (it's just too long to airdry when I have to be on my way out the door....everything would get soaked), and I always mist my hair with water and a few drops of oil before making a braid or updo.

I never had any problems and I've been doing it this way for years now; no mold, no yucky smells, no damage, no freezing. If anything it has prevented damage (I see and feel the difference with before I started doing this) makes it soft and easier to handle, kept buns to stay neat longer and added a nice EO smell too :-)

[Nevermore]

longhairedfairy: yay! I was hoping someone would be amused.

eresh: And another yay! Good to hear and I have hair envy now, looking at your album. You have hair like a shampoo commercial for super long haired people, "use LongerHair shampoo and you can have hair this shiny too!"

[KaeleyAnne]

I used to consistently put my hair in a bun right after washing, and it could stay damp for two days if I left it in a bun, depending on the temperature/weather. I never had any problems, and my hair definitely stayed in the bun much better when it was damp and was smoother after taking it out of the bun.

[eresh]

eresh: And another yay! Good to hear and I have hair envy now, looking at your album. You have hair like a shampoo commercial for super long haired people, "use LongerHair shampoo and you can have hair this shiny too!"


Aaaaw you're too kind :)
Makes me blush
Believe me, I have plenty of bad hairdays ;-)
(but nothing to do with having damp hair a lot :))

[Nevermore]

KaeleyAnne: Another vote of "no problems, go right ahead"! Yay!

eresh: I'll trade my bad hair days for yours :P

[naturechild]

nevermore, Yes mickey mouse buns look just like they sound. I had them in last night and they always work like a charm if my hair is just slightly damp. This morning they were a little to damp still, but I have wave in my hair now when I usually have pin straight hair.

[Nevermore]

My gf would get a big kick out of Mickey Mouse buns then. I must learn to do them!