why is it we do not go to sleep with wet hair?

[redneckprincess]

I have been very caucious about not going to bed with wet hair ever since last Dec. or so when I first found LHC and started lurking for hair care advice.

I just wonder if it is because it causes funky wave patterns and creaces or if there is a damage resion behind it. or maybe I am missing the point all together

[SimplyViki]

Well, hair is weakest when it's wet. Tossing and turning causes friction, which causes damage. But I go to bed with wet hair anyway - I can't make myself get up early enough to wash it in the morning, and I don't have time other than right before bed to wash it. And I won't blow dry it. So, wet to bed it is.

[Presto]

My hair does best when I sleep on it wet. I think it's called pillow plopping. I apply all my leave ins during my shower right before bed, lay a small towel on my pillow, and sweep all my hair up above my head.
This gives me the best curls ever. I guess the results would not be the same at all for more straighter haired folks. You might dry some creases into your hair in funky looking spots. For me, the more funky the better! :D

I don't toss and turn much, I'm pinned into a smallish bed by my DH and two cats. I'm never laying the same way when I wake up though, so I'm not frozen in place either.

[Carolyn]

I sometimes go to bed with wet hair. My main reason for not doing it is the strange waves and general hair funkiness I wake up with in the morning. I've I am going to braid the next day, I don't worry about it. I am going to get nasty looking braid waves anyways. If I plan to do a ponytail where I want nice sleek, straight length I'll let it dry before going to bed. In the summer it feels really good to go to bed with wet hair. It's kind of personal air conditioning. I've never thought I damaged my hair from sleeping with it wet.

[harley mama]

I most always wash (CO) my hair at night so, I go to bed with wet hair. I never considered it damaging to my hair. I am more concerned about having a wet pillow! The advantage of going to bed with wet hair for me is that I wake up to nice curls!

[Heidi_234]

I second the posters above and add - who said we don't? :p ;)
I think it's more a personal preference, rather than LHC-wide pearl of wisdom everybody follows/not follows.

[Arctic]

I almost always shower and wash hair last thing in the evening and go to bed with wet hair. Though my hair is not anything to call home about, and I have some mysterious breakage so don't listen to me :poot:

[Lemur_Catta]

I try to go to bed with straight hair, or if I can't do that, I will let it air dry as much as possible before bed. One reason for that is that I don't like the strange waves :D and another, expecially in the winter, is that I don't like being wet when I sleep. I want to be warm and comfortable XD

[Elfe]

I hate it, because it is so cold to sleep on wet hair and I get weird hair.

[Shermie Girl]

I don't go to bed with wet hair because I find it uncomfortable. I don't like having a bunch of cold, wet hair all over the place and a damp, clammy pillow is just... eeewwww! :shudder:

I have never noticed any damage from it, tho.

[embee]

I prefer not to go to bed with wet hair, although slightly damp is ok... it will dry during the night. Often if I go to bed with wet hair I'll get chilled during the night. If it's only slightly damp I'll wear a sweatshirt with a hood: comb the hair straight down my back, put the sweatshirt on, put the hood up, and let my body heat dry the hair while the sweatshirt keeps the hair from getting twisted and tangled.

I've found that damp bunning is exactly that, damp. After 12 hours, after 24 hours, still damp. I don't like that at all, as damp hair is more fragile. I keep expecting it to begin to smell moldy! ;)

[heidihug]

I always wash my hair before bed. I spread it out above my pillow, and I rarely have problems with kinks or creases, even though my hair is quite straight.

[may1em]

I don't like to go to bed with WET hair because it's super uncomfortable and chilly-making, and also don't go to bed with loose wet hair, because then I'd get both strangled and wet.

But I do overnight damp sets all the time - damp bunning, braids, hair wrapping. I can get my hair looking really nice like that. Sunday night, I washed my hair, squeezed to damp with a microfiber towel, and then put it into five braids. Super waves in the morning!

[JamieLeigh]

It's just uncomfortable to me to try to sleep in wet hair. I don't like a cold, clammy, wet pillow. I quit doing that years before I found LHC! :p

[Sheltie_Momma]

If I wash at night then I go to bed with wet hair, here is what I do. I put an old t-shirt around my neck, then pull the hair through and push the shirt back on my head so that the collar of the t-shirt is like a headband the shirt covers my canopy and a lot of the length, it ends up looking kind of like a head covering/nun's veil. Does that make any sense? To sleep I plop it all up over the top of the pillow. It seems to dry much less frizzy in there for some reason. Although it looks kind of silly and is, of course, still quite wet in the morning & needing to be bunned into submission.

[redneckprincess]

thanks...I guess I just always thought of it as a LHC thing.ha ha...maybe I will try it to see what kind of funky waves I get... I can always re-wash it or CO in the morning if I dont like it

[dernhelm]

I wash at night and go to bed with wet hair (not dripping, but still pretty damp). I do the pillow plop also and it works wonderfully for my curls. Haven't noticed any damage from it.

[maegquare]

I don't like to sleep with my hair wet because it won't dry. I can't sleep with it loose because it will break or get very tangled. If I braid it wet, it won't dry.

[fluffybunny]

I sleep with it wet, wearing a microfiber turban. I can't stand wet hair directly on the pillow.

[metalgypsy85]

I fall asleep with damp hair sometimes. It actually makes mine feel softer when I wake up. I've never had any problems with it.

[Stevy]

On days when I wash my hair, I wash it right before I go to bed and leave it to dry overnight. I've never had any problem with it, and it's much less annoying than having wet hair for hours on end when I'm awake. :)

[Rohele]

Like others have said, I don't go to bed with it wet because it's uncomfortable. I don't even like going to bed with it damp, because it ruins the waves, but often I haven't washed it early enough to avoid it being damp.

[LittleOrca]

I don't goto sleep with wet hair because I always end up with a major headache the next day if I do.

[Anje]

I often go to bed with wet or damp hair. Wet is a bit uncomfortable, but damp seems to work just fine for me. I usually shove it in the sleep cap, just like I normally do. This tends to encourage waves, and while it's not fully dry in the morning, the cap protects it from pillow friction.

[wintersun99]

.............

[Sylvanas]

The few times I've gone to bed with wet hair, I have ended up with a runny nose, sore throat and aching neck/shoulders. I discovered it was made much worse by sleeping next to a window that is not 100% insulated.

If you don't experience any symptoms, I see no reason not to go to bed with wet hair. Just try to keep away from the draft :)

[KajiKodomo]

I go to sleep with wet hair all the time. In fact, when I do, I end up with some pretty nice wurls. My hair takes hours to dry (and it's only barely chin length!), so I don't like letting it dry during the day (and when I do, I usually end up with big frizzy poufy hair!).

[ale]

I prefer to sleep with dry hair, but sometimes it's damp when I go to bed, and I don't feel any discomfort...I just sleep, and when I wake up it's dry!

[Aer]

I think its mostly because of hair damages easier when wet. Plus my mama always said that in the colder seasons, going to bed with wet hair could make you sick.

[Ryanne]

I'd rather not sleep with wet hair, feels just weird, but I don't go out of my way to avoid it.

[Xandergrammy]

My hair would be a tangled frizzy mess if I slept with it wet. I'm a very active sleeper. :gabigrin:

[shadowclaw]

My hair just ends up funky-looking if I sleep with it wet. Weird crooked waves and the like if I sleep with it down, and I imagine there would be extreme braid waves if I braided it wet. I very rarely sleep with it wet because of the funky morning look, and also because wet hair is uncomfortable for me to sleep with.

[dearladydisdain]

I go to bed with wet hair all the time, always have. The only bad thing is it gets wavy and annoyingly poofy.

[spidermom]

I think the first thread I've seen about it being a bad idea to go to bed with wet hair. Sometimes I wash it before bed, then put it over to rest above my pillow for sleep. It gives me a lot of curl; I like the results a lot. I do have to readjust it during the night because I'm a tosser and turner.

[RancheroTheBee]

I don't do it because it makes my hair look like a complete mess. :eek: Even if it's a little bit damp, it seems to crimp up while I sleep.

[Rivanariko]

I tried not to when I used to sleep with my hair down because it gave it all sorts of kinks and waves in weird places when I woke up, since I toss and turn a lot while I sleep. Now I braid my hair at night, so it doesn't really matter.

My mom was taught and always said that if you went to bed with wet hair you'd catch a cold, so that's part of why I try to avoid it, I guess. :shrug:

[girloctopus]

My hair takes so long to dry that I usually end up going to bed with my hair damp/wet. Washing in the evening is most convenient for me.

[Islandgrrl]

I don't go to sleep with really wet hair. I get too cold. But I often go to sleep with pretty damp hair. It always comes out fluffy and really nice when I do, too!

[daeana]

my parents have always told me that going to sleep with wet hair will cause me to have headaches for the rest of my life. it seems to be a Chinese thing. they've never tried to explain the science behind it, though, no matter how much i ask.....

[teela1978]

I usually sleep on wet hair... not soaking, I towel dry it first. But I tend to shower right before bed, so it sits in a towel for a bit, and gets thrown above my pillow quite regularly.

[Climber]

I frequently sleep with wet hair. Since I wash at night, it's inevitable. I'm just used to it, I suppose.

[MsBubbles]

If I go to sleep with wet hair I wake up with it greasy.

But then, if I go to sleep with dry hair I wake up with it greasy...:rolleyes:

[eresh]

I always wash my hair at night, so it's wet when I go to bed.
I keep it in a braid to sleep every night, so also when it is wet.

[freznow]

Whenever I wash, I go to sleep with wet hair...

I've never heard of this supposed LHC 'rule'.

[emeraldfaery]

I used to go to bed with wet hair all the time. I kinda got out of the habit of showering at night, but when I do, I go to bed with it wet. The only bad thing that comes out of it for me is damp pillows. :D

[Shadow Walker]

I only sleep with wet hair during the week, I find it cooperates a lot better in the mornings when it's still damp by the time I wake up. If I go to bed with it dry, then my scalp is greasy by morning and the ends curl up and annoy me.

[florenonite]

I never sleep with wet hair because my mum told me it can make the pillow mildewy. I've been known to go to bed with damp hair (usually braided or bunned), but never wet enough to soak through the pillowcase to the pillow.

[Anywhere]

I don't sleep with wet hair because in the winter when its below zero outside (my house is almost 200 years old so it doesn't hold heat well) it gets chilly in my house too, and I don't want to wake up sick. Also, my hair just gets that puffy 80's look if i sleep on it wet, and it usually won't dry 100%.

[Beatnik Guy]

I'm another damp/wet hair sleeper. I wash, surf LHC a bit, sleep. :wink:

[Gumball]

I don't go to bed with wet hair because it's:

A) Wet

B) Cold.*

*Until it just becomes some mutant form of muggy, warm wetness.

Had I enjoyed it that much I would just fall asleep outside while it's raining. :p I also shower in the mornings, so if it was for whatever reason damp bunned it's a lot more dry in the evening. A very slightly damp braid I can deal with. Just no wetness while loose (it wouldn't be loose even if it was dry). If I got too uncomfortable a wet braid is super easy to keep out of the way.

[WritingPrincess]

We don't? I never knew that. I wash at night fairly often, especially in winter, and I usually braid it while wet and go to bed. Sometimes I bun. Did I miss something big here?

[lyria]

I always shower in the eveing so my hair is either wet or at least very damp when I go to bed and either just dry, or pretty damp when I get up. I've done this for about as long as I can remember and never had a problem.

[Chloris]

I wash my hair at night and then braid it and sleep with it damp (I lightly towel dry, so it isn't soaking wet...). I find this helps lessen the frizz (I lift the braid up, by the way, so my back isn't actually on the hair).

[RocketDog]

I have very fine hair that 'crimps' and goes frizzy very quickly - going to bed with wet hair only seems to make both of those worse for me.

[Fencai]

Personally.... I cannot stand a wet pillow.... gross!!!! Im VERY funny about my pillow. In hotels, I'll put a towel over the pillow or just bring my own.... don't mess with my pillow!

[Elvi]

I never wanted to fall asleep with wet hair, as my hair gets impossible asymmetric waves and may get tangles and very messy that way.

[Bellona]

I wake up with a rat's nest on my head, out of control cowlicks, and really bad knots and tangles if I sleep with my hair wet. It happens even when it's not wet when it's short and I can't put it in a braid, though.

[elianne]

Personally.... I cannot stand a wet pillow.... gross!!!! Im VERY funny about my pillow. In hotels, I'll put a towel over the pillow or just bring my own.... don't mess with my pillow!

I am EXACTLY the same way about my pillow.... very particular, and I just love my pillowcase. SO knows not to mess with my pillow too, haha!

Also, my hair is pretty thick so if I sleep with it wet it will still be damp in the morning, which I dislike (too cold/clammy on my scalp.) Now that I am wearing my hair with bangs, they also dry pretty funny if they're even the slightest bit wet when I go to sleep.... (think hair in every which way ;) )

[23_seconds]

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[PseudoScot]

I sleep with it wet/damp sometimes. Less so in winter. No damage noticed here.

You will just want to check that your bed/headboard doesn't touch wet hair, or is OK getting damp. Wet hair + some [wood] headboards = bad!!!

ETA: If you are concerned about tangles, try satin pillow cases. They are great.

[Curlsgirl]

I don't like going to bed with mine wet but damp is very good for my hair too. I think it's the same concept as plopping for curly hair. It helps keep the length from weighing the curls down as much and I wake up with really nice curls. I try to time it some my hair is maybe 75% by the time I go to bed so when I wake up it's almost dry. I never heard it's bad either.

[Feline]

I don't like going to bed with my hair sopping wet, but usually do so when it's still pretty damp. This seems to work for me, it dries overnight and only needs a comb-through in the morning. The only time I get major tangles is when our cat Fuzzball decides to lie on top of my still-wet hair- for some strange reason, he loves to lie on wet stuff, especially wet towels, but including my hair. No idea why. :crazyq:

[CaityBear]

I can't because when I wake up, my hair looks greasy! Even if my hair is 80% dry and I sleep on it, my hair looks greasy. I've tried switching pillow cases and even with a just washed case my hair still looks greasy.

But now I've decided if I have to shower at night and end up going to bed with wet hair then I'll just do rag curls because then it doesn't get that greasy look.

[Teacherbear]

I go to sleep with damp or wet hair at least once a week. Whether I go to sleep with it wet or dry I mist it every morning.

[Quixii]

I pretty much always go to sleep with wet or damp hair, because pretty much all of the time I take my showers at night or late afternoon.

[Cherry_Sprinkle]

I go to sleep with damp hair pretty often.. in the winter I try to avoid it simply because I freeze :)

[janiejones]

I like the term pillow plopping....and I do also like how my hair dries (the opposite of many people) when I wear it wet to bed. I braid it in either 1 or 2 braids and somehow it turns out less crazy than if I let it dry during the day, probably because I'm not out in the wind or touching and readjusting my hair at night. And I move around a lot in my sleep as well, so go figure...

[Solitude]

I pretty much always go to sleep with wet or damp hair, because pretty much all of the time I take my showers at night or late afternoon.

Ah yep. Wet/damp hair sleeper I be. Didn't realize it was supposed to be an LHC thing not to do.

[prittykitty]

I can't sleep if I go to bed with wet hair and besides my hair would be a disaster the next morning if I did that. I have to be warm and dry when I sleep. Also, a shower is what gets me going in the morning, along with washing my hair. This has been a lifetime thing.

[julya]

I tend to wash my hair before bed, and will go to bed with my turbie twist on. I do usually take the turbie off at some point in the night.

[Katze]

I go to bed with damp hair since I shower nights - even when I don't wash it (which is often) I oil the underlayer since it is coarser and oil works better on damp hair.

When I go to bed with freshly washed hair, I wake up with more body and wave than if I had let it dry hanging down.

My husband, also a fine wavy, does the same...but mostly because he is lazy.

[nowxisxforever]

I go to sleep with wet hair all the time! I flip it up over my pillow and it dries that way, it dries really nicely overnight, possibly in part because I sleep in a cold room :)

[freckles]

I don't find it comfy to sleep with wet hair, but I will on occasion. As long as I braid it, it seems alright in the morning :)

[LutraLutra]

I don't like the feeling of a damp pillow, and my hair feels cold and damp too :shudder: I also wake up with a gaint tangle of hair, so no damp hair in bed for me.

[Ally<3]

I do this quite a bit. Give me soft waves some days, and puffy funkiness other days. Luck of the draw. It's a time issue for me, though.

[ZeppHead]

I would never go to bed with wet hair and wont even lay down with wet hair. It will dry strange on one side and I am a worry wort when it comes to damage. I don't know if it causes damage but if there's a chance, I stay away from it!

[Ermine]

It's an individual thing I think. Personally, I can't go to bed with wet hair (damp hair maybe) because it makes my scalp very itchy and flaky. I think it encourages fungal dandruff or something.

[Leoslaire]

If I wash at night, I have to put my hair in a ponytail or it is ONE HUGE KNOT when I wake up! I find it's best to leave a little conditioner in it to keep it from knotting. I can't stand to put a towel on my pillow, so I let the pillow I slept on air out, and change the pillowcase if I have to sleep on it wet.

[Lianna]

I go to bed with towel dried hair in a bun everyday. Is that damp or wet? (sorry English isn't my first language) To me, wet was dripping water while damp isn't. It would be kinda crazy to go to bed with dripping wet hair.

[MikeGP]

I do it time to time and have never noticed it doing any damage only making my hair dry a bit funky and possible giving me tangles. Takes my hair FOREVER to air dry so I just have to go to sleep with it wet sometimes.

[InTheCity]

Because "we" would wake up looking like medusa.

[Rosake]

If I go to bed with wet hair I usually braid it, and then I have pretty waves : ) i dont think it will break easily when it's braided.

[katsrevenge]

I sleep with it wet all the time. All it does is give me prettier curls.

[Cowgirl16]

I go to bed with wet hair all the time, the winter not so much.

[Messyhair]

I sleep with it slightly damp because my hair never gets a chance to dry on wash days before I have to go to sleep. I just never liked having the wet hair against my face, but the sleep cap solves that problem. :)

[Nae]

Well, it makes my pillow wet. Which makes it hard to sleep. I can also never predict how it will look when I get up. Sometimes it is fab! Looks like I went to some high class salon but then there are the other times.....the horrible Sasquatch times, the times when I wake up looking like a groggy yak. It is like playing Russian Roulette.

[RitaCeleste]

My hair turns out funny when I sleep on it wet. I do wake up looking like Medusa, it would be okay if it was always on both sides but usually one is flatter and one has curls sticking out. But I've been playing in the pool late at night with my ex and sleeping on wet hair anyway. Sometimes its just gonna be wet when I go to bed. If it looks really messed up the next day, I can always re-wet it.

[GALISH]

Usually sleeping with wet hair leaves my strands particularly silky and shiny but it also turns into some strange waves that I don't like at all so I avoid going to bed when wet.

[owlathena]

we dont?


I go to bed with wet hair just about every night. :shrug:

[MissAlida]

My reason for not going to bed with wet hair is, I think , the weakest, but it keeps me from doing it : cold. Whenever I tried to fall asleep even with a slightly wet hair, I got cold, and I hated it. I want to feel comfortable and warm, so it's not anything regarding the hair health. Though I probably wouldn't like the wave pattern either.

[Druida]

I go to bed with wet hair all the time!
It's the only way for me to get root curls, otherwise the weight of my hair just pulls my roots mostly straight.
My hair is long enough that it just hangs over the top edge of my pillow without getting everywhere and tangling. I get great curls and not a single tangle when I sleep like this. :p

[Tehillim408]

I love going to bed with wet hair! It gives me the most amazing texture in the morning. My hair also seems to be softer when I let it dry overnight like that. I simply place a towel over my pillowcase to keep the pillow from getting wet.

[Joliebaby]

I do :D I wash in the evening thought I try to do it at least a couple of hours before I go to bed so it's not sopping wet.

[EmiliaF]

I don't use any heat on my hair, so I have to wash in the evening to let it dry overnight...

[Angeletti]

I hate getting my pillow wet and I'm afraid that I'll wake up with weird kinks and creases in my hair, or that my hair will still be wet in the morning.

[Kdc0180]

I LOVE to sleep with wet hair since I wake up with beautiful waves. If I don't my hair is a frizzy mess... :/

[Darkhorse1]

I go to bed with damp hair because I wash at night. Sadly, i'm not fond of the waves I get, because it's been so humid, I resemble a chia pet, so I tend to use a towel over my pillow to absorb moisture as well as friction and try to have it damp before bed, not wet/wet.

[MonaMayfair]

I've never gone literally to bed with wet or damp hair, but I have fallen asleep on the sofa a few times with damp hair.
Every time I've woken up with a sore throat...

[MoonlightShadow]

oh..i just sleep with damp hair in a bun o.o....it would be a big mess if i slept with loose wet/damp hair and hard to detangle in the morning :'(....and then it would break off alot and just end up a dry mess :'(

[Eishe]

Personally I've got nothing against the waves you get from sleeping with wet hair loose or even against getting my pillowcase wet, but most of the time my hair ends up getting in a large mess of tangles if it's even slightly damp and that's not even slightly amusing. If I'm really tired I'll probably braid it slightly damp, otherwise I wait for it to air-dry or just get up an hour early and have the shower in the morning.

[longcurlygirl<3]

I just plop :) nice curls

[Peashy]

I often go to bed with damp hair. It's not that I really prefer it that way, just that I tend to wash later on in the day. I don't much like the weird kinks I sometimes get but my hair always seems to look nicer the day after a wash - more shine and smoother. As a result if it dries overnight it has had more time to pass in order to calm down this way and so looks nicer during the day and is more manageable than if I wash during the day and try to get it dry before work.

[whitestiletto]

I go to sleep with damp or soaking wet hair several days a week for years, on a cotton or flannel pillowcase. My hair is APL with no split ends. I also like the way it looks the next day, after drying in this way.

[Dr. Girlfriend]

I sleep with my hair wet all the time, despite everything my Mom told me about catching a cold if you go to bed with your head wet. I've never gotten sick from it, and I've never noticed any damage either. :)

[Persephone94]

I hate it when my hair is still damp in the evening. When I wake up the next morning it is virtually impossible to detangle it. So I try my best to avoid wet hair in bed.

[IndigoAsh]

I don't sleep with my hair wet because I wake up with greasy hair(I have no idea why).

[akka naeda]

I do every time I wash my hair, unless it's in the summer and my hair air dries in the sun. It's still damp when I come to unplait it and comb it through in the morning. Using the oil shampoo has lessened the drying time considerably though.

[kamikaze hair]

Well i'm the biggest sook you'll find when it comes to cold weather, and especially now, here in Adelaide its REALLY cold and winter time. I hate a wet pillow and also find it to be my own personal air conditioning if i go to bed with wet hair so i dont. I also find that i wake up with a blocked nose and if i have been sick in the past three weeks, its like i'm back there again and all of a sudden sick. Health wise for the hair though, my hair looks absolutely awesome when i go to bed with it wet, cause the curls form quite well and springy. But purposely giving myself a cold every night for gorgeous hair is not my idea of a fun time. :poot:

[seaj]

I don't sleep with loose wet hair often, but when I do, I sleep on my back with all my hair pulled towards the headboard. Usually wake up with really nice volume at my roots the next day. Most nights I don't toss and turn too much so I never have any issues with tangles or kinks.

[punkcatknitter]

I don't like to sleep with wet hair b/c I always sleep with a bun in and if it's wet at night it will still be wet in the morning and I keep having paranoid thoughts about my hair mildewing or something...

But mostly I was early in the day if I can b/c I think my hair looks best freshly washed and air dried without anything else being done to it. :)

[tmolly]

I usually sleep with damp hair. Yet even though I pull my hair up and over my pillow so I'm not sleeping on it, I manage to get funny bumps on the crown. I think I'll try wrapping it in a t-shirt habit-style like some others have suggested. I can then use a leave-in or oil too (I usually don't, for fear of my face breaking out from touching my hair or pillow). Love the idea of containing the hair in a breathable loose material. Must find a shirt with a tight enough neck now -- maybe my son's, lol?

[Larki]

I go to bed with damp hair often. It doesn't make a difference for my hair.

[Marika]

I usually wash my hair in the afternoon around 5 pm (after work or other duties). If I wash it any later, it's still damp in the morning and I don't like that. For some reason, it doesn't dry while I'm sleeping even though I wear my hair down to bed

[Creagan]

When my hair was shorter I always wore it to bed wet. I liked how it made my hair fluffier and how I didn't have to bother with showering during the day.

But now that it's waist length, I NEVER sleep on it wet. If I braid my hair, like I usually do at night, it will still be drenched when I get up in the morning. If I wear my hair down, my pillow will get drenched and it'll wrap itself around my neck and throttle me while I'm sleeping. (Wet hair clumps, so it's like having a thick rope slowly start to choke me.) And then it might be wet in the morning.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I wouldn't because I wouldn't want the pillow to get damp. I could cover it with a bath towel, but then it just doesn't feel right any more. Also sleeping on damp hair gives me erratic, mind-of-their-own waves and I'm not keen on those.

[maegalcarwen]

Well I guess for some people it doesn't matter, for some its gross, and for some - like me - it just turns the hair into a frizzy, uncontrollable mess.

[Wosie]

My hair actually seems to look better when I go to bed with it damp (not wet! ;o), it gets smoother and less frizzy. It surprised me, as I seemed to remember that my hair used to look greasy if I went to bed with it damp and took a look at it in the morning. :hmm:

[chen bao jun]

Since my hair takes two days to dry, I go to sleep with wet hair at least two days a week. .(I wash once a week) It's in braids though (which is probably why it takes two days to dry--but I can't seem to keep it moisturized enough without braiding after I use leave in conditioner). Sleeping with a wet head is not nearly as miserable as using a blowdryer (I'm not talking about blowdryer damage, I'm talking about the misery of holding the blowdryer up to my head for one+ hours while I dry my very thick hair).

[Aime33]

I don't usually go to bed with a wet head, don't particularly care for the feel of wet hair on my neck, but I don't go out of my way to avoid it. If I happen to have washed my hair too late for it to air dry (I haven't used a blow dryer in forever), I place a towel on my pillow and then I put all of my hair over my head/pillow and sleep that way.

[animetor7]

I just get cold when I sleep with wet hair, so it's a feeling thing more than a hair problem thing. Although I also toss and turn in my sleep so my hair gets tangled when I sleep with it loose, and I like to not disrupt my natural pattern while my hair is drying.

[Nymphea]

I usually go to bed with damp hair, and it actually improves my wave pattern. I think it's the individual thing - someone likes it, someone doesn't. For someone it's working, and for others it's not.

Personally I don't mind sleeping with wet/damp hair.

[meteor]

Since my hair takes two days to dry, I go to sleep with wet hair at least two days a week. .(I wash once a week) It's in braids though (which is probably why it takes two days to dry--but I can't seem to keep it moisturized enough without braiding after I use leave in conditioner). Sleeping with a wet head is not nearly as miserable as using a blowdryer (I'm not talking about blowdryer damage, I'm talking about the misery of holding the blowdryer up to my head for one+ hours while I dry my very thick hair).
I'm just like that, chen! :) 2 nights of wet hair!
Now, of course, I'm worried about damage to cell-membrane-complex from keeping hair wet for so long (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229938/) but I hope it's not that bad... :hmm:

[lilin]

Hmm, I would think whether it's especially damaging would depend on how you sleep. It might be different for someone who stays pretty still and sleeps on something silky versus someone who tosses and turns all night and sleeps on something rougher?

Personally, I don't like to sleep on wet hair simply because mine is quite "suggestible" and I wake up with all kinds of weird shapes. :D

I usually wash in the evening and it's dry by the time I got to bed. Takes a good few hours to fully dry. It dries a little faster if I'm out in the wind or whatever, but it makes my waves fuzzy, so I prefer not to do it in the morning and have to go out with wet hair.

[martyna_22]

I get headache and sore throat from sleeping on wet hair. Or at least the last time I tried. And all the times before that, when I was literally forced by circumstances to do it. I shudder at the very thought of it! shudder:
As for hair health, I don't know much on this topic.. But all the tossing and turning at night seems to be slightly damaging, with wet hair even more so.

[martyna_22]

Ugh, double post. And I'm just seeing it now..

[lilin]

I'm just like that, chen! :) 2 nights of wet hair!
Now, of course, I'm worried about damage to cell-membrane-complex from keeping hair wet for so long (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229938/) but I hope it's not that bad... :hmm:

Wow! That's really interesting...

I never considered even a couple extra hours of wetness could do that.

Their conclusion seems to be that touch-up blow drying on the coolest setting is the least harmful to hair?

[meteor]

Wow! That's really interesting...

I never considered even a couple extra hours of wetness could do that.

Their conclusion seems to be that touch-up blow drying on the coolest setting is the least harmful to hair?

We had a few interesting threads on this, for example, this one might be helpful: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=119003
I'd say it's only one study, and the results were surprising, so take it with a grain of salt, and I do hope they'll research this CMC damage further. But it appears that quick and heat-free drying is best. So drying with a fan or in a well-ventilated warm area is probably best. Wet-bunning keeps hair tightly contained so makes drying times longer. But it's probably OK, unless you are walking with wet hair all the time.
There is this fanning technique by Madora, presented by LauraLongLocks, which speeds up drying time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbgB6WhMl4Y

[lilin]

We had a few interesting threads on this, for example, this one might be helpful: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=119003
I'd say it's only one study, and the results were surprising, so take it with a grain of salt, and I do hope they'll research this CMC damage further. But it appears that quick and heat-free drying is best. So drying with a fan or in a well-ventilated warm area is probably best. Wet-bunning keeps hair tightly contained so makes drying times longer. But it's probably OK, unless you are walking with wet hair all the time.
There is this fanning technique by Madora, presented by LauraLongLocks, which speeds up drying time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbgB6WhMl4Y

Yup, definitely. I'd want to see a lot more work on it, particularly with washing routines that don't allow for as much hair expansion as SLS shampoo alone does. I wonder what affect pre-oiling would have as well. But it's certainly interesting! Thanks for the links.

[GetMeToWaist]

For me its just so uncomfortable - i hate it. My hair also goes all messy and frizzy, like the hairs dont go together they all stand apart.

[MeganJoan]

Ever since I stopped using heat I've been going to bed with wet or at least damp hair whenever I wash in the evening. My hair takes hours to dry, so there's no avoiding it unless I wash in the morning (it varies). One good thing about super straight hair thay refuses to hold curls well is that even if I wake up with a weird look it's usually gone in an hour or two.

[lapushka]

Ever since I stopped using heat I've been going to bed with wet or at least damp hair whenever I wash in the evening. My hair takes hours to dry, so there's no avoiding it unless I wash in the morning (it varies). One good thing about super straight hair thay refuses to hold curls well is that even if I wake up with a weird look it's usually gone in an hour or two.

A blow dryer, when used sensibly won't give you heat damage. If you can hold your hand in the airstream comfortably (without it feeling like it burns), then you're good to go. I'd blowdry, but that's just me. When I had BSL hair I went to sleep with it wet in the summer (with a towel on my pillowcase) and not with it soaking wet. It still hadn't dried in the mornings! No way that was a good way to get it to dry!

[Frankenstein]

I wash my hair late at night so when I go to bed it's usually still at least a bit damp. I just stuff it into a satin pillowcase and wrap it around my head - it's usually almost dry when I wake up. Before LHC, I always went to bed with damp/wet hair worn down.

[Nadine <3]

I don't go to bed with wet hair because it makes my pillow case smell like wet animal and I wake up with crazy person hair.

[lapushka]

I don't go to bed with wet hair because it makes my pillow case smell like wet animal and I wake up with crazy person hair.

Yes, that too is one of the reasons I stopped doing that, especially when it got longer. I normally have wild waves, this was waaay wilder. I can take wild, but not wiiilder. :lol:

[yahirwaO.o]

I wash mine pretty much every night like1 or 2 hrs before sleeping. The only thing that annoys is the constant feeling of wetness on my scalp and polliw, other than that, even waking up like a mad person doesn't bother me at all (brush and spray).

I like how blow dryed hair looks, but I just prefer to let it air dry as much as I can before I go bed!... and yes I sleep with it down!

[Hairkay]

In winter most times it will still be a bit wet at bedtime. I'll go to bed with it like that and there's a good chance it'll be dry by morning. I don't use a hair dryer on my hair even though I still have an old one 10 years old. That one I tried using a handful of times before Noticing that my skin doesn't do well with the heat and my hair looks best air dried. I'd grown up on air dried hair which worked so why change it?

[sommer]

Personally I like to sleep with the wet hair, it looks very good on the next morning :) But it's son uncomfortable that for the last time I try to do this not so often as usual.

[Qz]

I will sleep with damp braided hair, but not wet hair... there's a huge difference to me. If it gets my bedding wet it's beyond damp and not "sleep-able" for me.

[may1em]

I get the best wave definition from sleeping on damp, loose hair. I put it behind my head so I'm not lying on it. It's uncomfortable, so I don't do it often, but it looks so nice in the morning.

[lithostoic]

It would never dry and it'd get weird kinks in it

[Horrorpops]

I go to sleep with wet hair sometimes and I get the most curly spirally hair (which I never get from letting it air dry upright!) :)

[Five of Five]

Mine will simply not dry if I go to sleep with it wet or damp, because it is squashed against my head and the pillow and gets no air.

There is also a really high probability I will wake up the next morning with a cold. Yes, I know that this is supposed to be an Old Wives' tale and that a cold is caused by a virus, but it happens so reliably that I have learned to avoid it at all costs.

[daPerley]

95% of the times I wash my hair it's at night right before bed, I don't sleep on my hair (I either put it behind me or over the pillow) so I don't se any extra damage in it. Just an easy way not to be in need to get up early in the morning just to walk around with wet hair all day. :)

[cat11]

I go to sleep with wet hair sometimes and I get the most curly spirally hair (which I never get from letting it air dry upright!) :)

Yes, same!! My hair is really thick and the weight has made my hair so much less curly now that's its longer but I notice when it dries completely over night it dries the curliest because no weight.. and then I have spirals again.

I always sleep on wet hair because I have to wash my hair at night, now :p I flop it over the pillow though. It doesn't get rolled on.

[Horrorpops]

Yes, same!! My hair is really thick and the weight has made my hair so much less curly now that's its longer but I notice when it dries completely over night it dries the curliest because no weight.. and then I have spirals again.

I always sleep on wet hair because I have to wash my hair at night, now :p I flop it over the pillow though. It doesn't get rolled on.

Yes! That's what I was thinking too :)
I also try to lie my hair over the pillow so maybe that helps as well. The only thing is I try my hardest to fully dry it before bed in winter because I can wake up terribly cold... But the rest of the year it's great :o I actually find the results are more predictable than braid waves etc for waves and curls as well :p

[maborosi]

I go to sleep with wet hair all the time. It's getting too long to worry about fully drying it before bed. I either just leave it up in the turbie twist, or throw it into a silk cap.

[FantasyBoudicca]

If I sleep with wet hair, my hair wakes up tangled and far too wavy for my tastes, so I prefer to use a hairdryer on the few inches or so closest to my scalp before going to bed, the few times that I shower late enough in the day to actually have wet hair rather than just damp hair when I sleep. I'll never use a hairdryer on the ends, so I just sleep with the ends wet and comb them out in the morning.

That and if I sleep with wet hair, I will almost always wake up sneezing and look like ol Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by noon that day. I'm pretty sickly as is (my record stands at ending up feverish for most of a day after sneezing for all of two hours - great job, me) so sleeping with wet hair isn't the best idea.

[Jadestorm]

I think it's one of those things where different people have different experiences and opinions. :) Sure, if you toss and turn a lot your hair may get damaged more when it's wet. My reason for not going to bed with (even slightly) wet hair is simply because first of all I hate that feeling and more important: it never gets dry that way. I wear my hair in two side braids to sleep and I never understood how people can braid or bun their hair wet and it drying that way. If mine is even slightly wet when I go to bed it will still be just as wet when I wake up. Same thing when I do it during the day. Say my hair is mostly dry but not quite completely and I have to braid or bun it for some reason. When I take the bun/braid out many hours later it's still wet. :rolleyes:

[timeschild]

My hair turns into a fluffy mess.

[tigress86]

My hair is the softest in the morning after I wrap it under a silk scarf at approximately 70% wet. I wrap my hair to straighten it, but I have a theory, that since my hair is very porous, this also helps it retain moisture. Unfortunately sleeping with hair this damp can also give me headaches so I don't practice this very often and let it dry a bit more before wrapping.

[lapushka]

I think it's one of those things where different people have different experiences and opinions. :) Sure, if you toss and turn a lot your hair may get damaged more when it's wet. My reason for not going to bed with (even slightly) wet hair is simply because first of all I hate that feeling and more important: it never gets dry that way. I wear my hair in two side braids to sleep and I never understood how people can braid or bun their hair wet and it drying that way. If mine is even slightly wet when I go to bed it will still be just as wet when I wake up. Same thing when I do it during the day. Say my hair is mostly dry but not quite completely and I have to braid or bun it for some reason. When I take the bun/braid out many hours later it's still wet. :rolleyes:

That's it for me as well. In the summer... might be okay. Was okay when my hair was still BSL and stayed on the towel that was put down. I don't want wet hair anywhere near my bedding (moldy sheets, anyone?) so no, not for me.

[Cg]

My hair is always braided at night, so it would just not dry if I left it damp. Sometimes it doesn't even dry from just barely damp.

[MlleMC]

That's it for me as well. In the summer... might be okay. Was okay when my hair was still BSL and stayed on the towel that was put down. I don't want wet hair anywhere near my bedding (moldy sheets, anyone?) so no, not for me.

Moldy sheets? Can this really happen? I've been going to bed with wet hair for as long as I can remember, and I've never had any problems with, except the few nights when my apartment is cold before the landlord starts the heating.

I've recently discovered that if I put a dry t-shirt on top of my pillow, my hair is fully dry by morning (otherwise it would take until lunchtime). I must say that I move very little at night though, so I don't really get damage from doing it. And my hair looks better when it dries overnight.

[nekosan]

As child, I used to sleep with wet hair all the time; we just put an old towel in the pillow to absorb moisture. I lived in high altitude desert, so no problems drying overnight. It used to get quite tangled, and when the strands of hair dried with tangles, they stayed kinky and tangled easily during the day. We used tons of some spray-in detangler that came in a pink bottle.

I sleep in braids now. If I go to sleep with wet braids, the interior is still damp in the morning, and I don't like that. I prefer just going to work with it wet and letting it air dry. (It's relatively fast, since my hair is thin and fine, and I live in a fairly arid area.)

[Kandy25]

I too sometimes don't have time to either hot dry my hair or wash it before hand. But strangely, whenever I've slept with wet hair, I've got the perfect curls. :)

[polarnatt]

Moldy sheets? Can this really happen? I've been going to bed with wet hair for as long as I can remember, and I've never had any problems with, except the few nights when my apartment is cold before the landlord starts the heating.

Yup, molding can occur. When I was a kid I always slept with wet hair, and the result were yellow, stained, gross pillows even though we washed them regularly. Never had actual mildew (although who knows what was inside the pillow), but it started to feel icky and I never sleep with wet or damp hair anymore.

But if it works for you and you don't have any problems, it's probably fine. Just remember to wash your pillows more often than you normally would and/or change them completely more often.

[Cg]

Mold growth probably depends on the climate.

As a child I always slept with wet hair which did not dry overnight in my northern, humid area. I placed two folded beach towels over the pillow to protect the case (never thought about protecting the hair, it was just hair). In the morning I hung the towels to dry. Never saw any mold on them, but summer was short so probably the furnace reduced the humidity inside.